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14 Day EPG

Frederick Carver

Frederick Carver

Member
Hands up all those who would like to have a 14 day EPG as some rival PVRs have.
We can then go on holiday knowing that our scheduled programs will be waitng for us when we return.

I am sure many HDR FOX T2 owners would like to see this feature added in a future software update, and it would make it more competitive in the PVR market.

Please add your comment if you agree.
 
Sounds like a good idea but is the 8-day aspect of the current EPG an over-the-air limitation beyond Humax's control? 3View were working on a 2-week EPG downloaded via the web but seem to have gone remarkably quiet on the subject. There's no denying it would be really useful for more of those 'coming soon' teasers that are too far away to show up on the 8-day EPG
 
Chris Green said:
Sounds like a good idea but is the 8-day aspect of the current EPG an over-the-air limitation beyond Humax's control?
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The standard DTT EPG covers "today" + 7 days. Given the problems that have occurred in the past with third-party EPGs - such as the 4TV 14-day EPG which disappeared in 2010 leaving a number of PVRs with no EPG - I'll stick to the standard one, thanks.

If you're going on a two-week holiday series link should still pick up most things you'll want to record. One-off programmes, eg films you absolutely must see, you can always schedule manually. You would be slightly more vulnerable to changes in the timings in the EPG while you were away than if you scheduled the recordings through the EPG but at the end of the day, hey, it's only telly. There are catch-up services online, and must-see films can be bought on DVD.
 
Good point. It could be worse, like the extremely annoying Guide+ EPG on my Panasonic TV (luckily, it's of zero use to a PVR owner) that has bloody adverts scrolling. Of course they didn't start ill I'd owned the set for 6 months - what a surprise.
 
Many Topfield owners have their boxes permanently hooked up to the internet and get 14 days EPG info downloaded from the Radio Times web site. So it can be done.
 
gomezz said:
Many Topfield owners have their boxes permanently hooked up to the internet and get 14 days EPG info downloaded from the Radio Times web site. So it can be done.
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I had this on the Toppy, and it worked a treat (after the initial, ball-ache of a setup!). However, once you get beyond 12 days, I found that there were a lot of "To Be Announced" for various things, especially films. I think having 14 days EPG may be just too much; do you REALLY need it? As has been said, you probably wouldn't miss a series record.

However, having said all that, I do think there is scope for downloading an alternate EPG, even if it's 8 days from a provider like the Radio Times. It would be useful to see Film reviews, or more of a synopsis on documentaries or whatever. The current EPG is rather lacking in its description.

Also, while I think of it, there is that scare that while you're away they start showing Red Dwarf again from the beginning (when it was funny), or Blackadder II, and you just have to record it. $ky+ users have apps for their Android or <spits> iPhones which allows you to set a record on your own box. This would be incredibly useful to have, and (I suspect), rather easy to do.

Perhaps all this is in development, and we'll expect an update with version 1.03! :)
 
MrPloppy said:
Also, while I think of it, there is that scare that while you're away they start showing Red Dwarf again from the beginning (when it was funny), or Blackadder II, and you just have to record it. $ky+ users have apps for their Android or <spits> iPhones which allows you to set a record on your own box. This would be incredibly useful to have, and (I suspect), rather easy to do.
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But then I'd have to be looking at what's coming up whilst I'm away. That is almost never going to happen, there are bettter things to do whilst not at home.

Of course the fact that I'd have to buy a smartphone does not make me the least biased :) My current phone doesn't even have a camera.
 
Sky+ remote record can be done online or by SMS, it doesn't have to be a smartphone.

I used to be able to schedule recordings on the EyeTV box connected to my Mac using the TVTV online EPG. As you say, it means keeping an eye on TV schedules when you're actually supposed to be doing other stuff, so I hardly ever used the facility. Even when I did there was a reasonable risk that I'd end up with a recording clash. TVTV was also very poor at keeping up to date with EPG changes. I cancelled my subscription when I realised that I hadn't used the service for over a year.

I stick to my previous opinion: series link will get most of what you regularly record, and anything you do miss you can probably get via a catch-up service or - this being Freeview - it will be repeated sooner or later.
 
A 14 day epg will never happen on this box.
Humax would have to rewrite their EPG software and agree a licencing deal with a provider - and that would cost them money and result in no return.

Remote record could be an option however now that the box is online and is not that complex to setup.
 
A 14-day EPG would still be no good to me if I was going on holiday for 3 weeks, I would need a 21-day EPG for that!! My point is that you have to draw a line somewhere. Freeview must impose some deadline on the broadcasters for submitting their schedules, so if you go too far into the future you'll get to the point where they haven't submitted the information yet.
 
You can schedule timers on a Topfield by SMS message too.

The other option that should work with any PVR is to hook up a Slingbox so you can schedule timers from a computer anywhere in the world (except Libya at the moment of course).
 
Another good way of capturing far off programmes with the Topfield running Mystuff is to set up a TextSearch, assuming you can spell of course. Unlike Keyword searches on the Humax and the 3View box, these actually set timers once the parameters have been spotted on the EPG. This allows you to work way in advance of even the new 'Book Me' system.
 
Unless they do something silly like start spelling MotoGP as Moto GP of course. Or Formula 1 as Formula One or F1. You need to box clever and anticipate any whoopsies like these. Mostly though the programme title and description will match that given in the 14 day programme listings you see on such as the Radio Times web site, so just hope the coffee boy slated to update the EPG that week is not a pedantic English graduate who cannot resist "correcting" what they see.
 
Yes, I guess it's a case of being careful what you wish for. A text search for 'Moto GP' would find both MotoGP and Moto GP with or without the space, but 'MotoGP' wouldn't find Moto GP with a space. Fortunately, using the words 'Grand Prix' did allow the Topfield to shrug off the change from ITV1 to BBC1 a few years back but only because the actual words searched for were the same. As you say, I'd have been stuffed if BBC1 had called it the F1 GP.
 
Just reading through the firmware code and noticed this line of text:
"When Freeview is selected, the Freeview EPG will be displayed. Select Non-Freeview to display the HUMAX EPG."

Maybe they already have something they are working on?
 
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