We had ntl’s TV Drive installed today. The STB is a Scientific Atlanta – Explorer 8300DVB Spec sheet (PDF). which so far hasn’t exhibited any major problems. There’s a FAQ available here which explains a lot but my personal first impression is very good.
The picture quality appears better than the standard box with less pixelation on fast moving scenes, the guide is far better with none of the infamous “Searching for programmes…” more than 6 hours into the future (I set two series to record, the latest starting next Tuesday) and the interactive menus that I’ve tried have just appeared, none of the “Please Wait…” of the old box 🙂
The STB has 4 tuners, contrary to the FAQ, but one is reserved for data with ntl leaving 3 for TV. You can record up to 2 channels while watching a third but you can’t (as yet) record 3 together. This has yet to be tested by me but I’m sure it will before too long 😉
Anyway, as I said, first impressions are good. Let’s hope I remain pleased with it 🙂
Im pleased with my drive and the ease to record programs etc. Our viewing habits are changing already.
One thing i am wrestling with is my sound set up.
I have my pc linked to the tv and it looks great and i have 5.1 speakers connected to the pc sound card.
Ideally i would like to connect the tv to the sound card as well but just cant seem to work out what i need to do this.
The sound card has three 3.5mm jack leads to the speakers.
Maybe the best option is to buy a home cinema setup with speakers and then connect the 3.5 jack leads to the dvd/amplifier.
Any ideas welcome.
The ideal solution will be to use the existing 5.1 speakers.
You could get stereo throught the PC speakers, but 5.1 would be beyond my experience.
You’ll need a phono – 3.5mm lead, connect the phono ends to the TV Drive Audio Outputs and the 3.5mm to the Line In of the PC’s sound card. Bear in mind that you’ll have to adjust the volume through the mixer and it’ll always be heard, unless muted.