mini Scart Freeview recorder

roytom

Hi All,

Just wondered if anyone has one of the Mini Scart Freeview Digital TV Receivers that also record ! - they get advertised in the weekend newspapers and cost about £40 (excluding the cost of the SD card). So as far as I know they are mail order only. Anyone know where these are on the high street? (Robert Dyas did one of these but *without* the record function, so no good)

Here is an example of one:-
http://www.technologyinthehome.com/Shop/TV-AND-Visual/310-Neostar-Mini-Scart-Freeview-Digital-TV-Receiver-AND-Recorder.html

Could someone tell me if they also record sub titles? My current PVR doesn't, which for me being profoundly hard of hearing is a real problem. Also can the subs be turned on and off on playback - my first pvr did this (Digifusion) but it blew up.

Also the SD cards need to be high quality Class-6 ones - are cheap ones in WH Smith, Tescos etc ok for this use?

It would be great if they would do a twin tuner HD version of one of these but I suppose this is too much to ask for !

Thanks, Roy

roytom

I wonder if anyone could tell me if these will record the subs?

Thanks, Roy

vfish

The people in this thread seem to suggest it does

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/26/33661524-mini-scart-freeview-digital-tv-receiver.html

I was thinking about getting one myself so if you do get one perhaps you can update the thread?

shadd

Receive up to 75 subscription-free Freeview digital TV and radio channels and record them at a touch of button, all without the need for unsightly set-top boxes, with the Neostar TV Capture Mini Scart Freeview Receiver and Recorder.
TV Capture from Neostar Electronics is a compact unit that plugs into the Scart socket at the back of your TV. Not only does it receive up to 50 digital TV channels, including Film4, E4 and Sky News (as well as all the terrestrial channels – BBC, ITV etc.), but it will record whatever you’re watching or listening to direct to SD card or USB memory stick.

roytom

Hi All,

Yes I have got one of these and it is amazing for the price - its not the one from Neostar who "shadd" refers to. That one is the same model (I think) as the ones the papers sell, Independent, Guardian, Express etc

I got mine off ebay (half the price of the Neostar, although with mine the remote is not as good) - the software running it is identical to the Neostar one - and yes they record sub titles and they can be turned on and off during recorded tv playback. The subs are not burnt on.

Picture and sound quality are great - a few strange messages like "The Stream has Changed" on minor channels - this is nothing like as bad as my old pvr (Nichimen re-conditioned box from Morgans that had endless software and tuner problems).

*beware* the functionality of these boxes can differ, some will not record to the SD card, only read from it, which is a real disadvantage. Read the small print.

The printed manual with mine is abominable - and misses many important points, viz :-
>pressing red button during normal tv viewing goes direct to the recorded tv list
>during playback of a recorded prog you can advance on 10% (blue) and back 10% (red) - green toggles between subs on and off

All these boxes have a drawback in that the progs recorded are not named with program name only channel/date/length - which is going to be a pain when you have loads stored - this is plain daft as its all done in software and can be easily programmed by the manufacturer.

Lastly they say it does Teletext - not on mine it doesn't (perhaps thats why mine was so cheap, I hardly use teletext as a notebook is much better to use for info) - if anyone has got this to work I'd love to know how.

Regards, Roy

roytom

I'd like to add that these little boxes also play any MPEG2 file perfectly - the coloured buttons on the remote are used for navigation whilst playing the file. So any video files stored on your PC/laptop can simply be copied to an SD card and then played on this STB.

btw. the max size SD card these boxes take I am told is 32GB - the cost of these at present is too high to consider using them, but I assume in time the price will drop. I have ordered a 16GB card from Play.com and will post further here if all is OK using it with the PC and STB. The STB manufacturers claim the box works with any speed of SD card.

Its amazing what these PVR STB boxes can do for the money !

Roy

vfish

My proper pvr's remote has gone completely wonky, so I'm really glad that I bought one of these off ebay to play with.

I'm still finding it a bit strange not having twin tuners but my recording timers and timeshift are working fine and it's a nice picture. Definitely worth buying as a backup even though I never really envisaged using it at home (I bought it for using when we go on holiday - thought it would be nice to be able to bring any recordings I didn't get a chance to watch home again!)

Thanks again to Roytom for updating us on the buttons - I'm definitely finding it much easier to press red for my recorded programmes.

bo_drinker

Do you have to install the sd disc and memory stick for this to work ??

vfish

No, just stick them in when you want - it works perfectly well as a freeview box without them but obviously you can't record or timeshift.

Tmbr2

I have one of the Neostar Freeview recorders, but the manual is not that good really, I wonder if someone can tell me what the Time Shift function does regarding the Auto setting, I worked out how the Pause live tv works when the Pause option is on, but what is the difference between the Pause and Auto options in the Recording Preferences.

Thanks, Tom.:)

vfish

As far as I can work out - auto means you can always rewind until the last time you changed channel or for 2 hours (or however long you set it). The other you have to press pause to start recording and can play it on from the point.