Fusion FVRT200 Digital Video Recorder 80GB

Whirly

Just a warning from someone who actually had one of these...

I owned the FVRT200 for 6 months. It was great - simple to use, reliable and a revelation. The only problem was that it once wiped the whole library for no reason.

However, after around 5 months it started locking up regularly. Needed the power turned off at the plug. Of course, anything recording was lost.

Then, just about 6 months after I bought it, it locked up and I did the usual. Only this time it never recovered - just sat there doing nothing.

I did a search and found that there were lots of people who had experienced the exact same issue at 6 months. Now, to me, that suggests there is something very wrong with one of the components. Some have suggested it is the PSU but others disagree.

Luckily I got my money back and got the Thomson DHD4000 from argos. Same ease of use and has been pretty reliable so far. The engneers also seem to update the firmware quite regularly and actually listen to users and give them what they ask for!

Anyway, my warning. If you buy one of these boxes make sure it is from a reliable source who won't mess you about when (and I do mean when) it dies.

A couple of bits of info:

it's not 80hrs recording - it's around 55. And if you use Long Play it randomly deletes your whole library.

I hear Digifusion has been taken over by Beko. Not exactly a high quality brand.

pud77

There is also the 40gb FVRT100 version for £76.97, delivery is not free with this one though.....

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111739/rb/20165558530

golddustmedia

pud77 wrote:

There is also the 40gb FVRT100 version for £76.97, delivery is not free with this one though.....

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111739/rb/20165558530

Do yourself a favour and don't waste your money on the FVRT100.

I bought one from Currys last year, it was problematic continuously. I had 1 replacement and still problems persisted. Probs included locking up, refusing to show any channel, deleting recordings etc etc. Finally it stopped altogether and I was able to get a refund as Currys no longer stocked it.

Was ok when it worked but it seems inevitable that it will fail at some point (many owners have similar problems).

cigar_2

golddustmedia wrote:

Finally it stopped altogether and I was able to get a refund as Currys no longer stocked it.

It's probably your old box (and mine) that eBuyer have got hold of after being reconditioned!! :rotfl:

blinky

Very few PVR's are perfect. The Topfield's are about as close as it gets.Notes on Fusion 100/145/150/200 rangei) Library deletion / corruption. Often caused by using compression. It is not the only PVR which does this. In general compression should be avoided on PVR's.ii) Lockups. By far the most common cause is the PSU. Initally the PSU was an inadequate 2 amp model. More lately this has been replaced by a 3 amp model where the issue is less common. Many users buy a third party PSU - link on the Digifusion forums at digital spy.The Digifusion's are very popular PVR's. Some customisation can be done, e.g. removal of menu backgrounds, upgrading the HD, cross-flashing the firmwares. Another reason for the popularity is that it is possible to read the hard drive on a PC using the appropriate software.

MSE_Martin

DO REMEMBER WHEN THINGS GO IN THE WEEKLY E-MAIL SHOPS STOCK OFTEN DISAPPEARS AT SPEED.

What's the deal?

Freeview boxes, which allow you to recieve free-to-air digital TV channels on your analogue TV, can be had really cheap these days (see my previous sub-£20 freeview thread), and that's great since the switchover to digital TV begins as early as this summer for some people. It also means that the digital equivalents of VCRs - freeview boxes which can also record onto built-in hard disk drives, have come down in price too. See 'what do they do?' below for more info on how they work.

There are now a few capacious refurbished models available for less than £100.

Where can I get one?

Single tuner boxes: These won't allow you to watch one freeview channel while recording another, but you can still watch back a previous recording while recording something new.

• DigiFusion FVRT95 Freeview PVR (80GB, New) £59.99 in-store at Netto As part of its weekly special offers, bargain supermarket Netto is offering this capable box for less than £60. It's available from 7 June onwards, but you'll have to rush; they will only be selling 1000 units nationwide, and when they're gone they're gone.

• Ferguson FPVR1T Freeview PVR (80GB, refurbished) £58.74 in-store (£68.74 delivered). Morgan Computers* also offers this ever-so-slightly cheaper box, with the same capacity.

Twin Tuner boxes: These will allow you to record one freeview channel while watching another.

• Matsui M802 Freeview PVR (80GB, refurbished) £70.49 in-store (£80.49 delivered) Morgan computers* is selling this budget box for £58.74 before delivery (you can get it at this price by visting one of its stores). It has the same capacity as the box above, twin tuners, one touch recording and a 6 month warranty.

• Dabs Value Twin Tuner Freeview Box (160GB, refurbished) £95 includes delivery. Another refurbished box, this time from web retailer Dabs.com*. This unbranded box's best feature is its 160GB hard disk, which gives you (according to the blurb) 77.35 hours of recording time in high quality. It also includes twin tuners, auto set up, and a six month warranty from Dabs. There were none in stock when I checked, but I'm reliably informed there will be in the next couple of days.

Refurbished?

This means that these boxes have been sent back to the factory and repaired, so they may be slightly scratched. They also have a shorter (6 month) warranty. On the plus side, these refurbs will all have the latest firmware (the software which makes them work), so any bugs spotted when they were first released will have been ironed out.

What do they do?

These boxes, known as Personal Video Recorders (PVR) allow you to watch and record free-to-air digital television. Boxes with two (digital) tuners allow you to watch one channel while recording another (some allow you to record two shows at once) on to the hard drive. Obviously, the larger the hard disk, the more you can record; 80 GB equates to around 45 hours of decent quality viewing, though this varies slightly between models. Think of them as a digitally updated version of the old faithful VCR, except once you get up and running, they're actually much simpler to use.

To record a show all you need to do is find it in the on-screen listings guide, and press a button- the box will do the rest. The listings guides include (at least) the next 7 days of TV, so if you like you can just surf through and select all the shows you want to watch in advance. Take full advantage of this and you can come home to something like your own personal TV channel, cutting out all the stuff you don't care for (and fast-forwarding the adverts). You can also pause TV shows in progress, and the box will record ahead so you can catch up in your own time.

Anything else I should know?

If you're a Sky customer, then it's probably worth steering clear of these since they won't allow you to record Sky programmes easily. Furthermore, as of July 1, Sky will only offer Sky+ boxes, which have more extensive features (such as recording every episode of a series automatically), as well as offering more storage space. If you're an existing or ex sky customer, you may be able to phone and get one for very little too (see this thread).

If you intend to keep deleting shows after you've watched them, then all the boxes above should provide enough space. However, if you think you'd want to store them for longer, it may be worth investing in a cheap dvd recorder; this way you can burn your favourites to DVD and watch them later without clogging up the hard drive.

Seen one cheaper? Please post it below.

PS, Thanks to Burtie for the original post.

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Burtie_2

These are refurbished DigiFusion FVRT100 with a one year warranty.

Firmware upgradable, record two channels while watching a recording.

There was 106 of them yesterday but now only 78, get them while they last!!

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(16874)DigiFusion-FVRT100-FreeView-Set-Top-Box-with.aspx


UPDATE 08 June...These are currently back in stock (266 at time of writing)

Fatal_Swan

Great price, 3% quidco at Microdirect too.

It's a bit of a shame this one only comes with a 40gb hard disk though, I guess that's about 20 hours of recording. Though the hard disk can probably be upgraded for anyone confident with doing that sort of thing!

martint123

Fatal_Swan wrote: »

It's a bit of a shame this one only comes with a 40gb hard disk though, I guess that's about 20 hours of recording.

According to the guff:-

"This new technology stores over 40 hours of FREEVIEW TV programmes onto its hard disk, Using SCT (Super Compression Technology) meaning there is no need for video tapes andyou will always have something to watch! "

Looks like a useful FAQ including info on upgrading the disk size at:- (but 137gb limit)
http://jargongeneration.com/FVRT100/FAQ.htm

robmcdougal90

After doing a search looks like they have a problem of freezing, scroll down for reviews
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/a20512/digifusion-fvrt100.html