Suitable "Toppy" replacement?

H

HDRW

New Member
Hi Folks, first time in here.
I have two "Toppys" (TF5810PVRt) which are starting to play up regularly. One of them seems to have trashed its disk, maybe losing about 200hrs of unwatched recordings!

So I'm looking for a suitable replacement, and from what I've read, the HDR-Fox T2 seems a likely candidate.

Any comments on its suitability, and whether there is a better bet? I am a reasonably picky user, wanting most of the goodies available (and usually some that aren't!) so things like the ability to stream to other parts of the house via Ethernet (which the Toppy can't do) would be very welcome.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Howard
 
HDRW said:
So I'm looking for a suitable replacement, and from what I've read, the HDR-Fox T2 seems a likely candidate.

Any comments on its suitability, and whether there is a better bet? I am a reasonably picky user, wanting most of the goodies available (and usually some that aren't!) so things like the ability to stream to other parts of the house via Ethernet (which the Toppy can't do) would be very welcome.
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The HDR-Fox T2 with custom firmware can do the streaming; you would need to list other requirements to be sure it could do everything. The only problem is that they haven't been in production for some time so you will be buying second hand and the only catch up service available is iPlayer. The hardware is reasonably robust but like any other piece of electronics will not last forever and a second hand box will probably need a new hard drive at some point. The alternative is latest FVP-5000T; this seems to be reasonably well regarded and will do the streaming, has three tuners to allow four simultaneous recordings, has two years warranty (if registered), a reasonably comprehensive range of catch up services and the software is still being improved. The main complaint is that the user interface is a bit sluggish.
 
Martin,
Thanks for your reply. I basically want everything the Toppy will do (!) such as two tuners, decent EPG, the thing where a programme that is split by, say the News, will have all its parts recorded, Series Record, skip for a time to easily get past adverts, and any extras like Accurate Recording that are available. Network connection is a definite bonus, especially if programmes can be uploaded to a NAS (the Toppy only has USB1 as a way to do this, which runs at about real-time x 2, so a bit darned slow). Not really worried about Catch-Up - I have an Amazon Fire TB stick and find I only use iPlayer anyway.
I'm not worried about the age aspect - I replaced my 1999 Rover with a 2003 Subaru this year :) and realise that disks don't last forever. I don't feel that paying about 5x the price for a new one is worth it.
So thanks again, I think I will be going for the HDR-Fox T2 - eBay here I come!
Cheers,
Howard
 
Several ex-Toppy user have moved on the Miraclebox but (even more so than a Toppy) needs a lot of TLC from the user to get it running exactly the way they want it:-

http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20627

Personally, the Fox-T2 running the custom firmware would be top of my list if I was needing to get a new Freeview PVR today, maybe finding one from one of the usual remaindered stock sites. Like you I am not bothered by a PVR having any "smart" features such as catch up. That is what my Android tablet and a Chromecast dongle are for.
 
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