Digital STBs

R

Ross Vumbaca

Guest
Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.

I've had a quick look around, and I see some pretty cheap STBs at Dick
Smith's, especially the "Bush" branded ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations against these "Bush" STBs before I
potentially waste my time/money? Alternatively, does anyone have any
suggestions for a cheap and simple digital STB? Don't need anything
fancy, just access to digital channels and hopefully some reliability
(i.e it won't blow itself up).

I've never bought or played with one, so I don't have any experience
with them.

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Ross..
 
Ross Vumbaca wrote:
Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.

I've had a quick look around, and I see some pretty cheap STBs at Dick
Smith's, especially the "Bush" branded ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations against these "Bush" STBs before I
potentially waste my time/money? Alternatively, does anyone have any
suggestions for a cheap and simple digital STB? Don't need anything
fancy, just access to digital channels and hopefully some reliability
(i.e it won't blow itself up).

I've never bought or played with one, so I don't have any experience
with them.

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Ross..
Find one thats reasonably cool to the touch , the one and only stb I
Click to expand...
bought from dicks was not.
 
"atec77" <atec77REMOVE@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:gd214g$kbe$1@aioe.org...
Ross Vumbaca wrote:
Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.

I've had a quick look around, and I see some pretty cheap STBs at Dick
Smith's, especially the "Bush" branded ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations against these "Bush" STBs before I
potentially waste my time/money? Alternatively, does anyone have any
suggestions for a cheap and simple digital STB? Don't need anything
fancy, just access to digital channels and hopefully some reliability
(i.e it won't blow itself up).

I've never bought or played with one, so I don't have any experience with
them.

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Ross..
Find one thats reasonably cool to the touch , the one and only stb I
bought from dicks was not.
Click to expand...
I'll second that, I had a DES brand unit, worked ok, ran quite hot. I ended
up replacing the electrolytics in the things PSU. Maybe also test the unit
in the shop if possible. The DSE unit I owned had a very slow response when
changing channels and the sensing of button presses on the up/channel
selection was crap, ie if you dont press long enough the channel doesnt
change, if you pressed for a little bit longer it would jump multiple
channels.
 
David L. Jones wrote:
On Oct 14, 9:43 pm, Ross Vumbaca <ros...@au.com.optushome> wrote:
Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.

I've had a quick look around, and I see some pretty cheap STBs at Dick
Smith's, especially the "Bush" branded ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations against these "Bush" STBs before I
potentially waste my time/money? Alternatively, does anyone have any
suggestions for a cheap and simple digital STB? Don't need anything
fancy, just access to digital channels and hopefully some reliability
(i.e it won't blow itself up).

I've never bought or played with one, so I don't have any experience
with them.

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Ross..

I had to replace the electro's in my Digicrystal PVR.
Topfield are the ducks guts, but expensive.
I've heard quite good things about the Bush units.

It's all about usability really. Little things can really bug you,
like unstable firmware that resets your channel list, load audio pops
when an appliance switches on or your garage roller door opens and
closes. Screen freezing up for extended periods because it can't
recover from an arror. Unfortunately you usually don't know these
things until after you buy one and try it in your situation.

Get a HD box, the image image quality is MUCH better, and not just
because it's HD. Try watching fast moving sports action on an SD box,
it's awful, the MPEG compression makes it almost unwatchable
sometimes.
Plus you get extra channels on HD.
No need for a HD TV to get benefits from a HD box. But HD boxes start
around $90-$100 or so.

Dave.
Click to expand...
I had reasonable success with a Strong STB about $60 from Hardly Normal.
Does HD. Runs cool. Occasionally needs a power cycle ( switch on the
back of the unit - wonders ! )

--
Regards,

Adrian Jansen adrianjansen at internode dot on dot net
Design Engineer J & K Micro Systems
Microcomputer solutions for industrial control
Note reply address is invalid, convert address above to machine form.
 
On Oct 14, 9:43 pm, Ross Vumbaca <ros...@au.com.optushome> wrote:
Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.

I've had a quick look around, and I see some pretty cheap STBs at Dick
Smith's, especially the "Bush" branded ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations against these "Bush" STBs before I
potentially waste my time/money? Alternatively, does anyone have any
suggestions for a cheap and simple digital STB? Don't need anything
fancy, just access to digital channels and hopefully some reliability
(i.e it won't blow itself up).

I've never bought or played with one, so I don't have any experience
with them.

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Ross..
Click to expand...
I had to replace the electro's in my Digicrystal PVR.
Topfield are the ducks guts, but expensive.
I've heard quite good things about the Bush units.

It's all about usability really. Little things can really bug you,
like unstable firmware that resets your channel list, load audio pops
when an appliance switches on or your garage roller door opens and
closes. Screen freezing up for extended periods because it can't
recover from an arror. Unfortunately you usually don't know these
things until after you buy one and try it in your situation.

Get a HD box, the image image quality is MUCH better, and not just
because it's HD. Try watching fast moving sports action on an SD box,
it's awful, the MPEG compression makes it almost unwatchable
sometimes.
Plus you get extra channels on HD.
No need for a HD TV to get benefits from a HD box. But HD boxes start
around $90-$100 or so.

Dave.
 
On Oct 15, 8:37 am, Adrian Jansen <adr...@qq.vv.net> wrote:
David L. Jones wrote:
On Oct 14, 9:43 pm, Ross Vumbaca <ros...@au.com.optushome> wrote:
Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.

I've had a quick look around, and I see some pretty cheap STBs at Dick
Smith's, especially the "Bush" branded ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations against these "Bush" STBs before I
potentially waste my time/money? Alternatively, does anyone have any
suggestions for a cheap and simple digital STB? Don't need anything
fancy, just access to digital channels and hopefully some reliability
(i.e it won't blow itself up).

I've never bought or played with one, so I don't have any experience
with them.

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Ross..

I had to replace the electro's in my Digicrystal PVR.
Topfield are the ducks guts, but expensive.
I've heard quite good things about the Bush units.

It's all about usability really. Little things can really bug you,
like unstable firmware that resets your channel list, load audio pops
when an appliance switches on or your garage roller door opens and
closes. Screen freezing up for extended periods because it can't
recover from an arror. Unfortunately you usually don't know these
things until after you buy one and try it in your situation.

Get a HD box, the image image quality is MUCH better, and not just
because it's HD. Try watching fast moving sports action on an SD box,
it's awful, the MPEG compression makes it almost unwatchable
sometimes.
Plus you get extra channels on HD.
No need for a HD TV to get benefits from a HD box. But HD boxes start
around $90-$100 or so.

Dave.

I had reasonable success with a Strong STB about $60 from Hardly Normal.
Does HD. Runs cool. Occasionally needs a power cycle ( switch on the
back of the unit - wonders ! )
Click to expand...
That's very cheap for a HD box.
How long does it take to start up?, and how fast is the channel
switch?
I hope the stock issue has been resolved too, some time back you could
hardly find a reasonable priced HD STB in stock in Oz.

Dave.
 
Hi,

David L. Jones wrote:

That's very cheap for a HD box.
How long does it take to start up?, and how fast is the channel
switch?
I hope the stock issue has been resolved too, some time back you could
hardly find a reasonable priced HD STB in stock in Oz.
Click to expand...
60$ is cheap, I didn't think a reasonable quality HD box could be bought
for so low. I read about the stock issues with HD boxes, but there are
plenty around now in the stores. Maybe it was a pre-Olympic rush that
sold them out, and the importers/distributors didn't anticipate the demand..

Regards,

Ross..
 
Hi,

Ross Vumbaca wrote:

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the advice gents.

I bought a "Bush DFTA10HD" HD STB from DSE in the end, and I'm quite
happy with the quality and features, apart from all these scratch marks
on the front fascia that were probably there from the factory. Anyway
does everything my parents need, and the remote/interface was easy
enough for them to figure out.

In case it's of any interest, I'll mention that it has selectable aspect
ratio, which is useful for those 4:3 CRTs and apparently often a missing
feature from the low end STBs, from what I've read.

Regards,

Ross..
 
Ross Vumbaca wrote:
I bought a "Bush DFTA10HD" HD STB from DSE in the end, and I'm quite
happy with the quality and features, apart from all these scratch marks
on the front fascia that were probably there from the factory.
Click to expand...
Check that there is not a clear protective plastic covering the front. A
lot of these units have one, and the plastic covering often looks
scratched, but when peeled off, leaves a unscratched panel underneath.

David
 
On Oct 16, 11:00 am, Adrian Jansen <adr...@qq.vv.net> wrote:
David L. Jones wrote:
Dave.
I had reasonable success with a Strong STB about $60 from Hardly Normal.
Does HD. Runs cool. Occasionally needs a power cycle ( switch on the
back of the unit - wonders ! )

That's very cheap for a HD box.
How long does it take to start up?, and how fast is the channel
switch?
I hope the stock issue has been resolved too, some time back you could
hardly find a reasonable priced HD STB in stock in Oz.

Dave.

Only a few seconds to start up. And channel switch is virtually
instant. Much better than the Samsung DVD recorder I just bought, which
is painfully slow.
Click to expand...
My Topfield 7010 takes about 10 seconds to start up, but channel
change is instant.

Dave.
 
Hi,

David wrote:

Check that there is not a clear protective plastic covering the front. A
lot of these units have one, and the plastic covering often looks
scratched, but when peeled off, leaves a unscratched panel underneath.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip! I initially looked for this plastic but could not
find it and assumed it was scratched, however I paid more careful
attention now and was able to peel it. It was so thin and tight, that it
wasnt obvious it was even there..

Regards,

Ross..
 
On Oct 16, 2:38 pm, Ross Vumbaca <ros...@au.com.optushome> wrote:
Hi,

David wrote:
Check that there is not a clear protective plastic covering the front. A
lot of these units have one, and the plastic covering often looks
scratched, but when peeled off, leaves a unscratched panel underneath.

Thanks for the tip! I initially looked for this plastic but could not
find it and assumed it was scratched, however I paid more careful
attention now and was able to peel it. It was so thin and tight, that it
wasnt obvious it was even there..
Click to expand...
I've encountered that many times. Some stuff I've had for years and
only realise it had an almost invisible film on it when it got
scratched or whatever. Amazingly good stuff.

Dave.
 
In article <48f485d3$0$18426$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>,
Ross Vumbaca <rossv1@au.com.optushome> wrote:

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a cheap and simple set-top-box for my parent's
analogue television.

I've had a quick look around, and I see some pretty cheap STBs at Dick
Smith's, especially the "Bush" branded ones.

Does anyone have any recommendations against these "Bush" STBs before I
potentially waste my time/money? Alternatively, does anyone have any
suggestions for a cheap and simple digital STB? Don't need anything
fancy, just access to digital channels and hopefully some reliability
(i.e it won't blow itself up).

I've never bought or played with one, so I don't have any experience
with them.

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Ross..
Click to expand...
I bought one of those Bush set top boxes - pic was OK but sound was way
out of sync with lips.

I rang their help line (same day I bought the unit) - and was advised I
needed to talk to their tech support line - but until I queried them, on
a hunch, they didn't want to let me know that to do that would cost me
$3.50 a minute

Retuned it, got a refund, and bought a Topfield - which is great

David
 
David L. Jones wrote:

Dave.
I had reasonable success with a Strong STB about $60 from Hardly Normal.
Does HD. Runs cool. Occasionally needs a power cycle ( switch on the
back of the unit - wonders ! )

That's very cheap for a HD box.
How long does it take to start up?, and how fast is the channel
switch?
I hope the stock issue has been resolved too, some time back you could
hardly find a reasonable priced HD STB in stock in Oz.

Dave.
Click to expand...
Only a few seconds to start up. And channel switch is virtually
instant. Much better than the Samsung DVD recorder I just bought, which
is painfully slow.

--
Regards,

Adrian Jansen adrianjansen at internode dot on dot net
Design Engineer J & K Micro Systems
Microcomputer solutions for industrial control
Note reply address is invalid, convert address above to machine form.
 
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