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I have 7 or 8 set top boxes in the family, and the same with TV’s, some are rather old and some are quite new, three of the set top boxes were supplied by Sky and these all follow the same program number system, but in spite of so called up-grade, the latter ones actually have lost one function, the ability to set it to auto change program.
The early free to air boxes seemed only to have now and next electronic program guide, the SilverCrest65 however did have some advantages over the sky box.
1) No measureable power use in stand by mode.
2) You could delete programs you did not want.
3) You could set the program order.
4) It could be programmed to auto switch on at set time and on a set program, so although no record, it was easy to use with a recorder.
However you could not assign numbers out of sequence so you could not set it to have same numbers as the Sky box.
The terrestrial boxes also seemed to have problems with electronic program guide, and this was also true with the TV’s.
My Panasonic TX-32LMD70 would on a regular basis ask to be re-tuned, however it was very easy to re-turn when that happened, just press one button, and the program guide worked well. However my mother’s LG 26LC55 TV with built in hard drive was a real pain to re-tune, and there were blanks on the program guide, so setting it up to record was a bit hit and miss.
The small Aldi TV was my wife’s, so I never really used it. And the old cathode-ray tube TV’s are so old there is no digital input anyway.
So we needed some modern TV’s and set top boxes, The set top box was first, IceWessel from Maplin, idea was it had internet, so it would turn TV into a Smart TV, wrong, only internet I could get to work was the weather, however it was both terrestrial and satellite in one box, it also had option for cable, but we don’t have that, and the program guide also spanned both terrestrial and satellite and plugging in a USB stick or hard drive it will record simply select program on guide and press the record button. The terrestrial and satellite were seamless, you did not need to swap one to other, but the program numbers are not pre-set, very like the old SilverCrest65, easy to move the programs, and having ITV3 next to ITV3+1 does have some advantages. Down side the program guide is slow, some times you have to select the channel to get it to work, although it should do 7 days, lucky if you can get 2 days, and without program guide you can’t record.
Now moving to Smart TV’s the one from Tesco a Blaupunkt 43/134M-GB-11B-FEGUX as you can guess from number 43 inch has all the programs in Freeview order so program 10 is ITV3, however it will not record, and like the set-top box the 7 day program guide is slow, however it is better than the set-top box, and since it will not record you don’t really need a 7 day guide. It has 2 USB inputs, and seems to work well, for £150 on black Friday 2016 it was good value for money.
The Polaroid also about £150 from Asda is very different only 32 inch, but will allow one to record onto a USB device, as with set-top box program guide is slow and patchy. But the main difference is the program numbering. 1 to 99 only for analogue and 100 to 500 for digital, it does not need to be in sequence so you could leave for example 111 free with no program, you can change the numbering, but it’s a pain as you need to make the number free first before numbering or what ever was at that number will be deleted. Using as a computer monitor I find every time I start the PC I have to go to auto position it does not remember it. Once you have gone to the work to set order of programs it is handy having a logistical order ITV1, ITV1+1, ITV2, ITV2+1 etc. But Freeview is renowned for changing frequencies and programs so how long before it all needs doing again I don’t know.
However most of what I report here you only find out after you have bought the TV, so looking for another TV to replace the 14 inch cathode ray tube one in my bed room. But how do you select a TV when most of the pros and cons only are found after you buy it?
The Polaroid I can select programs with my phone. The Blaupunkt will display phone photos on the TV. I am sure both the so called Smart TV’s will do a lot more than I use them for, both a wireless LAN.
It seems to be a mine field selecting one. How does one select a new TV? My son uses a PC for the TV, so he can select films to watch. That’s another point the LG TV’s will record Freeview, but not any other input. There is nothing in the instructions to tell you this, you only find out after you buy.
The early free to air boxes seemed only to have now and next electronic program guide, the SilverCrest65 however did have some advantages over the sky box.
1) No measureable power use in stand by mode.
2) You could delete programs you did not want.
3) You could set the program order.
4) It could be programmed to auto switch on at set time and on a set program, so although no record, it was easy to use with a recorder.
However you could not assign numbers out of sequence so you could not set it to have same numbers as the Sky box.
The terrestrial boxes also seemed to have problems with electronic program guide, and this was also true with the TV’s.
My Panasonic TX-32LMD70 would on a regular basis ask to be re-tuned, however it was very easy to re-turn when that happened, just press one button, and the program guide worked well. However my mother’s LG 26LC55 TV with built in hard drive was a real pain to re-tune, and there were blanks on the program guide, so setting it up to record was a bit hit and miss.
The small Aldi TV was my wife’s, so I never really used it. And the old cathode-ray tube TV’s are so old there is no digital input anyway.
So we needed some modern TV’s and set top boxes, The set top box was first, IceWessel from Maplin, idea was it had internet, so it would turn TV into a Smart TV, wrong, only internet I could get to work was the weather, however it was both terrestrial and satellite in one box, it also had option for cable, but we don’t have that, and the program guide also spanned both terrestrial and satellite and plugging in a USB stick or hard drive it will record simply select program on guide and press the record button. The terrestrial and satellite were seamless, you did not need to swap one to other, but the program numbers are not pre-set, very like the old SilverCrest65, easy to move the programs, and having ITV3 next to ITV3+1 does have some advantages. Down side the program guide is slow, some times you have to select the channel to get it to work, although it should do 7 days, lucky if you can get 2 days, and without program guide you can’t record.
Now moving to Smart TV’s the one from Tesco a Blaupunkt 43/134M-GB-11B-FEGUX as you can guess from number 43 inch has all the programs in Freeview order so program 10 is ITV3, however it will not record, and like the set-top box the 7 day program guide is slow, however it is better than the set-top box, and since it will not record you don’t really need a 7 day guide. It has 2 USB inputs, and seems to work well, for £150 on black Friday 2016 it was good value for money.
The Polaroid also about £150 from Asda is very different only 32 inch, but will allow one to record onto a USB device, as with set-top box program guide is slow and patchy. But the main difference is the program numbering. 1 to 99 only for analogue and 100 to 500 for digital, it does not need to be in sequence so you could leave for example 111 free with no program, you can change the numbering, but it’s a pain as you need to make the number free first before numbering or what ever was at that number will be deleted. Using as a computer monitor I find every time I start the PC I have to go to auto position it does not remember it. Once you have gone to the work to set order of programs it is handy having a logistical order ITV1, ITV1+1, ITV2, ITV2+1 etc. But Freeview is renowned for changing frequencies and programs so how long before it all needs doing again I don’t know.
However most of what I report here you only find out after you have bought the TV, so looking for another TV to replace the 14 inch cathode ray tube one in my bed room. But how do you select a TV when most of the pros and cons only are found after you buy it?
The Polaroid I can select programs with my phone. The Blaupunkt will display phone photos on the TV. I am sure both the so called Smart TV’s will do a lot more than I use them for, both a wireless LAN.
It seems to be a mine field selecting one. How does one select a new TV? My son uses a PC for the TV, so he can select films to watch. That’s another point the LG TV’s will record Freeview, but not any other input. There is nothing in the instructions to tell you this, you only find out after you buy.