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| Brand: Thomson
Category: CE
Buy New: £105.94
New (1) Used (1) from £94.99
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 2309
Media: Electronics
Shipping Weight (lbs): 7.8
Dimensions (in): 17 x 10.8 x 5.1
MPN: TUTV+ DTI6300-25
Model: TUTV+ DTI6300-25
EAN: 3244480299548
ASIN: B0014DPECQ
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 20
 Excellent recorder, but a few bugs September 6, 2008
J. D. Bacon (UK)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Thomson Top Up TV - 250Gb Freeview Twin Tuner Digital TV Recorder br /This model is available with either a 160 or 250GB disc. I have had both . Both machines are identical with the only differences being the capacity of the Hard drive and therefore the recording capacity and price. br /When this machine works properly, the results are excellent and there are really no other models on the market that gives this level of functionality and quality at this price. With an RGB and digital audio output, the picture and sound quality is outstanding with no noticeable degradation whatsoever when played through my 28" CRT widescreen and Dolby audio amplifier. Also you can record two channels simultanously and watch an earlier recording all at the same time. Recordings are set really simply. Just select the programme you want to watch from the 14 day EPG and press the Record button. If you are recording a series, you will be presented with an option where it will ask if you want to record all furture recordings from that series. It also intelligently knows not to record repeats, e.g. if the same episode is shown again later in the day, it wont record it twice. Another advantage is that it can record radio programmes in the same way from the many radio stations available on Freeview, though the 'series' feature doesnt function with the radio channels. br /Now lets look at the negative aspects. If you have read most of the other reviews, you will notice that there are some teething problems with this model. However most can be overcome quite easily and I will show you how this can be done. The only major ongoing problem that Thomson have failed to address is the tendency for recordings to go back to the beginning if you use the fast forward (FF) feature during playback. However if this happens you can normally quickly return to where you left by FF at a fast 64X. br /Now lets look at some of the problems, and how they can be overcome br /1) The recording capacity is not as long as Thomson claim: This is because the 180 hours quoted is an estimate and is based on the compression ratio of the channel you are watching. If you record BBC, you will take up about 2 gb per hour, while some of the other channels only use 1gb per hour. Also if you like me decide not to use the topuptv option, you must switch off these channels manually in the TopupTV option or you will lose a huge amount of recording capacity even if you dont subscribe to topuptv. br /2)Poor quality signal strength: just remember that most Freeview transmitters are running on very reduced power and will continue to do so until analogue switch off in your area. Replacing your aerial with a high gain and also a wideband variety (in certain areas) will often remedy this. The Freeview webpage will advise you if this is a problem br /3) 'Series record' feature fails to work when I first used the machine: This is normal until the 14 Day EPG is downloaded. This can take upto 24 hours after initial set up. br /4) Occasional freeze ups, missed recordings, and all other technical problems are increasing and becoming intoloerable: Most of the time, a simple disconnect from the mains and re-boot will solve this. however as time goes on, these bugs may increase. There is a solution to this, but its not in your instruction manual. You have to remember that your Thomson recorder is really a computer, and like all PC's you will have to reinstall software and every so often format the Hard drive. There is a complete Reset option. This will restore the units settings to factory settings and delete all your recordings Simply press MENUSETUPHELP, then press GREEN, RED. Then select the RESET option. Your machine should now reset itself After this you will need to update the software, so press MENUSETUPHELP, then type 1397.This will take you into the Engineers Menu. Select option 17 'Force next oad'. Push OK and leave the machine ON for an hour. It will then download the latest firmware upgrade, and your recorder will be like new. If the HD gets corrupted, you can also test and reformat the Hard Drive from this menus if necesssary. Most of the problems that other people have experienced in these reviews can be solved by using this procedure. br /In summary, the Thomson Digital recorder is tempremental, and the software side needs attention. However these problems can be overcome and depite these problems, the price and features warrant a 5 star rating in my opinion. br / br / br /
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