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On offer today is a brand new Space?Standard Definition Digital Terrestrial Receiver & Twin Tuner PVR (Personal Video Rec ...Price: $98.00

Is this an HD box?

thanks dewitkate, I was going to ask the same thing and can this pick up analog signal as well as digital? Oops I mean can you pick up UHF channels?? Can you please advise... Thanks

does this product have timer recording function also does it have a hd tuner?

Looks like an SD unit. Most HD units shout it from the treetops. Also, I think Ray has a twin HD unit for sale; http://ozab.com.au/goods-428.html Still a good price for any PVR. Can I ask how easy is the interface? I need to find a couple of easy to use units for old age pensioners.

I'm sure it is the same (rebadged) as my DigiCrystal PVR unit which I can confirm is for SD channels ONLY. My unit does NOT receive the HD channels. Also, this unit only has composite AV output (yellow video, red + white audio) which is very low def by todays standards. On the plus side though, my unit works fine and I hardly ever watch anything live, I record everything I want, and watch later skipping through ads. Oh - and the price (under $100) is way cheaper then I paid for mine a year ago, and its HDD is 160Gb whereas mine is 80Gb. Good value but be aware of the SD limitation.

I guess my question is the same, is it a High Definition Tuner or Standard? The description is not clear, so I am assuming that it only Standard Definition as the equivalent unit from DSE is $400 in HD

can't be high definition with only composite i find it strange that anyone would make a stb with ONLY composite sorta beats the purpose of digital tv

hi all, sorry for the confusion! did not realize it was missing such important info. yes it's standard def, i have now clearly stated that in the ad, to settle any future speculations :) cheers ray

hi again, it's digital tuner only, can't receive analog channels. timer (scheduled) recording is supported. as far as how easy the interface is, i am afraid i can't tell as i haven't used it myself, anyone? thanks ray

Ray, Can you please advise if you can tune in UHF channels? Thanks

hi lifeiscrazy, yes UHF channels you can tune in, but with digital contents only, e.g. SBS Digital channels, One Digital etc. cheers ray

i think it might have been a bit confusing when i said "it's digital tuner only, can't receive analog channels", as all commercial tv stations are broadcasting their programs simultaneously in digital and analog format, if you have a digital tuner, basically you can receive all available programs they have for you, in other words, there is virtually no need to use any analog tuner. please do note that, high def tuner is a different matter, it allows you to receive HD channels with HD contents, but again, most, if not all, commercial stations do broadcast their HD programs in standard def digital channels as well, so in terms of tv programs you are not missing out much by having a standard def stb. cheers ray

Thanks Ray, I guess if it doesnt have an analogue turner, it wont pick up channel 31 as they are not digital yet. Also I run a video modulator which tunes into UHF channel, so I gather this unit wont pick up the channels? Thanks Sharon

yes sharon, you are right, if channel 31 does not broadcast in digital, then unfortunately this unit won't pick it up, not your modulated UHF channels either. cheers ray

oh drats... do u have anything with an analoge turner in it? Thanks

no sharon i am afraid i don't, unfortunately, and i am not sure if anyone makes any "analog pvr" at all, because when you think about it, we had vcr's for that purpose, didn't we? and hard drive is only for recording digital format signals, i.e. 1's and 0's, it probably wouldn't make too much sense to "digitalize" analog channels just to save them onto hard drive, because digital pvr's are so readily available. if, however, you want to digitalize your old vcr collections, that is all valid and possible, you will need a thing called video capture card/device (which we also have). but it is a very different topic altogether. cheers ray

Hi Ray, I see that this unit has a twin tuner. Does this mean that you can record two programs at once and watch a pre-recorded program at the same time? Cheers Dave

Just to help clarify more for those who are looking at this unit. Ray correctly states that most HD content is available on SD, but be aware in the country most HD is not re-broadcast on SD. For instance in my neck of the woods ONEHD is only available in HD, as is GO!. And for Sharon ; Don't even look at buying an "anologue only" anything. The digital roll out is underway and in 3-5 years there will be no anologue signals anywhere. Still, sub $100 is a very good price.

thanks pursya! i forgot about the country issue... i think analog will be switched off between 2010 and 2013. ray

Thanks Purysa for the info, I realise that. As this box is only SD, I was hoping to utilise it for another purpose. I use a rf modulator to send HD content to a UHF channel and I want to be able to record the UHF channel to the pvr, But I think I will have to wait until they design a digital modulator that is not over 2000. So whilst I could use it to record SD TV, I have a dvd recorder to do that. Just really wanted the twin turners to record and watch, but I think i will wait until Ray finds a nice HD twin turner PVR thats a nice price :). Thanks Sharon

dave, this "twin tuner" only allows you to watch one and record another at the same time, to be able to record two and watch a third recorded one at the same time, you need a "true twin tuner" pvr. i know, it's a bit confusing, took me a while to figure out too. i guess in that sense it should have been called "1.5 tuner", but seems the industry has adopted those names, so i just follow :) cheers ray

i'm working on that sharon...so stay tuned :) ray

So this can can get all channels marked with "576i SD" resolution? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_terrestrial_television_in_Australia#Channels Untill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_terrestrial_television_in_Australia#Analogue_switchoff ?????

Hi Ray, Could you please indicate who is the "German technology and software" manufacturer? The blurb states that the software can be updated via RS232 however we need to know the manufacturer website to go to for this software update. I've search the web high and low for "Space®" and there is no indication of this brand. "thebanjo" mentioned it might be a DigiCrystal PVR unit however there is no similar unit on their website. Any assistance with finding additional manufacturer details would be appreciated. Cheers, Mike.

hi mike, i must apologize first! after reading your post, i did some investigation and found the "German technology and software" was an error! it was inadvertently copied from a similar model of another brand we have. i have now removed it from the ad. sorry for the mistake! however, if you feel your purchase decision was influenced by that, i am happy to refund you, please contact us at admin@ozstock.com.au. regarding the "upgrade" claim, i can only say that if and when the manufacturer has any update or upgrade, we can try to obtain that and email to our customers if they need it, but currently it doesn't look like it's possible to download such update/upgrade from any website because there isn't one. again, please contact us if this is of concern to you. thanks ray

Thanks Ray, I will be watching....:)

From reading the specs and comments, is it correct to assume that the unit cannot be used to play DVD's? We are looking to replace a DVD player. apached

I picked one of these PVRs from your shop today. I set it up; everything seemed to go fine. I recorded a few times. When I press the PVR list, it shows all the recorded items. But when I select any item, the display says the item size is 0 MB while the duration of the recorded item is correctly shown. Whenever I try to play any of them, it trys to play it for a few seconds and goes back to the displayed channel. I even tried formatting the hard disk, switched it off / on at the back etc. Even when I tried recording using EPG, it recorded (?) the contents requested but nothing is actually recorded (!) and nothing recorded plays. Can you suggest me what else I should do ?

I purchased this unit through ozstock and had it delivered by post. Unfortunately I am having exactly the same issue described by sri (above) I have been offered the choice of a replacement or a refund. If it does work, the unit seems to be good value. Just wondering if the unit really does work?