Pansat 6000

[Mr Tony]

you have to turn it off (standby) to utilize the timer record (they call it prerecord) function

You can set timers to record or just to turn to the channel. If you set it to record, it kicks on, gets a picture, starts recording. When the amount of time you set is done, the unit kicks off.

 

[JackR]

Not using the timer function, just setting record function from EPG, should I put into standby mode or leave the STB on? Does it make a difference which?
JackR

 

[Mr Tony]

I dont understand the question.

To use the timer function, you have to turn the unit off. Since the EPG doesnt work for almost all the channels, its a moot point. You have to manually set them

 

[JackR]

Your right! Thanks for your input.
JackR

 

[tman6800]

I havent seen the 6000 yet but if it is half as goos as you say I guess I will be on my way to get it thanks for the review

 

[dcpete]

More on USB Drives and power

Since you guys pointed me to this thread, maybe I can contribute just a little. It's kind of cool that this unit has a removable 2.5" hard drive cartridge. I don't see any pictures of the cartridge, so I can only guess what it looks like. If you go out and look for 2.5" external drives for laptops, you will see a couple of different types in regards to power. If there is a single usb connector, then the drive is typically a 4800rpm or less. Seagate in particular makes a line of 5400rpm drives, which I believe is the fastest 2.5" drive on the market. This drive has a special split USB cable. One connector is dedcated to power, the other for data. You must plug both usb connectors in to power the drive. Sound familiar?

This probably bodes well for the 6000. My guess is that they designed the usb cartridge to be able to handle these 5400 rpm drives. If you have a 4800rpm drive, then one cable/connector is probably enough. Otherwise it's nice they can handle the faster drives with two usb connectors. The drive capacities they mention also make sense. I just bought a 120GB Seagate 5400rpm drive for my laptop. This is the largest commonly available 2.5" drive out there. (I saw commonly available because I did see a Seagate 160GB on the shelf once, but have never seen it since. That 160 would probably work as well.).

As an aside, I wonder why they didn't go with 3.5" drives? The capacities are up to 500GB now and are a lot cheaper than 2.5" drives. Of course you would need external power for those. I would prefer the larger drives myself.

Well there's my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

Chris

 

[skin]

Thanks for the review. I bought one of these recently and really like it.

 

[Mr Tony]

no problem

welcome to the forum

 

[mastermesh]

how much does it cost?

 

[Mr Tony]

most placed sell it between 450-500 bucks but there are deals out there

 

[mastermesh]

Hmmm... http://www.gosatellite.com/pansat-6000hxc-1633-ctg.html says

This unit features 2 common interface slots, which can accommodate DVB PC-Card based decoders (Viaccess, Nagravision, Nagravision 2, Irdetro, Astoncrypt), along with PVR capabilities

Does that mean that you could use this in place of something like the receivers dish network, etc. give their subscribers, and it'd all be in one box?

 

[Mr Tony]

no

It does have 2 card slots but both providers that use DVB type cards (Dish Network & Bell ExpresssVu) only activate thier boxes

 

[kymics]

I dont understand the question.

To use the timer function, you have to turn the unit off. Since the EPG doesnt work for almost all the channels, its a moot point. You have to manually set them

I have a TiVo box that I use to manually record timers (no subscription), and something that I appreciate is the ability to record a timer even if I'm watching TV at the moment. For example, I'm just watching the news and then a message comes up to warn me that it's about to change the channel to record a scheduled program. I have an option to continue the recording as scheduled (default if nothing pressed) or cancel the recording and stay on the same channel.

I'd think with the Pansat that there might be times where you just want to be able to browse channels but still have it record stuff as it comes up. Otherwise, you'd have to keep a mental/paper list of your recordings and make sure that you turn off your receiver in time. Seems like extra work.

 

[zepol_wube]

Duh, please educate me, what happened to the post I put here yesterday? Did I put it in the wrong place?

 

[Mr Tony]

I broke it off to its own thread

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=83879