I always found the auto-tune feature brought in stations that were scrambled too. I always had to go back and remove those channels. Analog television is much faster than satellite or digital cable when changing channels. It would take a long time for a satellite or digital cable unit to go through all of the channels seeing as each one would need at least 3 seconds before the unit would know whether or not it was a good channel. I guess it might be less painful doing it this way than programming it yourself. I never found auto-tune to be perfect though.

Since their is no way in the SC world to create an ALL-SUB channles guide like Bell does, suppose there was a set-up features that would auto-tune each channel, check for authorization and store that as an ALL-SUB list.
<SNIP>

How usefull would something like that be??

Very useful. It's what we have to do manually now anyway. Why not automate it!

-Mike

[QUOTE=digitaldude]Since their is no way in the SC world to create an ALL-SUB channles guide like Bell does, suppose there was a set-up features that would auto-tune each channel, check for authorization and store that as an ALL-SUB list.

It would work well but you would need manual edit for channels like 401 (tsn alt.) but the quide if so filtered would be a plus for everyone.

I think the auto-scan would be a good idea if it could be done. I realize it would take a while to go through all of the hundreds of channels, but it would be quicker than programming them manually. Plus we wouldn't have to think so much. Haha.

How about being able to record from the AV inputs on the front of the receiver? I could throw away my VCR!

Yes, it would likely take a while.

I think you'd want it to clear itself during a channel map change, so that when new channels come one, you scan again.

If you change your package, you could ask it to rescan again.

How usefull would something like that be??

I would like a manual scan like that VERY MUCH!!! Once in a while, I just have to launch it and the problem is settled. Or better, Automatic launch at a preset hour (say like 4:30am) so it always sets itself if i tell him to do it. Can be a default value of yes/no and when, in the setting's parameters.

I would LOVE that! That's a problem I have with my old receivers as well. As soon as there is a change in the lineup, I don't see it. When there is a free channel for a while, I don't see it. Now I would!!!

I have a few suggestions for navigation features:

1. I would like the ability to go to a specific point in a recording by time.

i.e. Press "Info" and then select a new "2 Go To" menu item and then enter 120 which would take me 1 minute 20 seconds (or 120 seconds whichever is more intuitive) into the recording. No need to fast forward, skip etc.

2. What if we had a feature where if you are watching a live/recorded show and I press 10 (1 then 0 buttons) and then the Skip Backward button, the show would Skip Backwards 100 seconds (Assuming the default 10 sec Skip Backward). This allows you to for example skip an advert where you are normally pressing the Skip Forward button 6 times, press 6 then Skip Forward. It would be limited to 99 auto presses as 3 numbers would select a channel.

I don't think that these would be that difficult to implement? What do others think?

That would be an awesome feature.
Especially since the skip and FF/REW seems a bit clunky.

...
I would like a dialog that asks the use to confirm the deletion of a recorded show. I am always inadvertantly deleting shows because of too many key presses in the buffer. i.e. A simple "Are you sure you want to delete the show" request from the system...

I must be getting too familiar with the box.
I accidently deleted an important show.
At least it comes on again later.
I need to slow down and READ what the heck I'm doing.

Sure hope they put in a safety net like requested above on the next release.

Am I too late to add a suggestion to make the cases black?

Isn't the new 315 BLACK??

Maybe they'll make a revised 315? in black that does the new guide goodies.

Better yet, make the box skinable.
Choose you covers and LED colours.

I like the idea of an external DVD writer and/or a network feature, but I doubt this will happen due to copyright issues.

As for the auto-tune feature, on most of my receivers I have my favourites list, and that works fine. For one of my receivers, I've essentially done a parental lockout of all channels I don't subscribe to and they no longer appear in the guide. I took this approach with that receiver because it gets turned-off every night.

I would also like to see the receiver capable of receiving off-air programming as my monitor does not have a tuner and I have no way of receiving local programming (other than what's already on StarChoice).

I'd be extremely interested in a post next version count of just how many of the requested features people actually asked for get delivered along side the fixes.

That would at least tell us if anybody out there is actually listening.
Most of the ones not listed in the poll seemed fairly trivial to implement, but would appear to add a fair bit of thoughtful value.

I was poking around the Rogers forums to see if their PVR was as full of bugs as Starchoice, and found that they've had success connecting external Hard drives to their HD PVRs to double, and even tripple, the storage capacity of the unit.

They've got a fairly significant list of bugs, but it looks like Rogers has had more success at exorcising the demons from the box.

Now I have to go off in search of threads comparing the two, as the only test I've done (putting SD Starchoice and SD Rogers side by side on my Plasma with the same programming) showed that Starchoice image was far clearer.

Bug fix before anything..... Get them working on fixing the current stuff before adding new features.

But let's see a searchable guide then followed by name recording.


DD- Is this Poll really going to make it to Motorola/Starchoice?

Cheers


Hey guys, I am a technical support agent that works directly for starchoice. Actually, I work out of the head office situated in Calgary, AB. I am here, not as the company as sent me, but becuase I stumbled upon this forum in my own web parusings. Ill try to answer any questions and explain anything that I can for you guys without stomping on starchoice's feet, as unfortuanly there is some stuff that I cannot divulge.

As far as the the the 530 is concerned, I agree, it has way to many bugs, and prob. should not of been released when it was. Although, I can say from experience, and call after call from customers that we did not anticipate half of the misfunctions, and heart-ache that the unit has caused us. The one thing that I can say is this. It is not hardware related, but completly software, meaning that it is all completly "fixable"

Unfortuantly our DVR users only account for about 4% of our customer base, being the reason that alot of the bugs have taken a while to work out. I can, however say, that there is a download comming in the midst of december that we will be refering to as our homebase download, to replace the "buggy" A8. The software is still in beta testing and has been in developpment for over 5 months. According to the software engineers, and the beta teseters (Whom are only staff due to company confidentiality), the software is wonderful. There will be more features in the DVR unlocked which will add functionality, and fluidity to the receiver. As I hear it, they have been trying for 2 months to crash the beta version, and have not been able to. So I, as much as you, hope that this will be the first large landmark with the receiver.

As far as some of the other posts that I read through. As far as a removable storage media (ie DVD-/+R, Removable HDD, or Flash media) we aren't able to incorperate anything such as that through starchoice. As you are all aware we are controlled heavily by the CRTC and the technology is based around HDCP, or High Definition Copy-right Protection, and we cannot include a feature in the receivers to allow recordings to be removed. However, this is a feature that I can see the 3rd part companies offering to add on.

The custamizable channel maps that some people have talked about, resembling bell's "All subscribed" button, we dont have for that very reason. Bell has a patened on the technology, and we are not allowed to incorporate anything like that into the recievers because bell owns the trademark, RR, and patened on it in Canada.

Again...The Gouvernment.

That is all I will answer for now... but any other questions, let me know, and I will do my best to answer or find out. Saves you holding on the phone :P

Take care.

Thank you very much for the insight. It's nice to know someone at Starchoice is listening. Do you know if others at Starchoice monitor this group?

Your response about the removable media is completely in-line with what I expected. I wonder, though, why Rogers' platform allows for external expansion? As I understand it, if you remove the expansion HD from the box that populated the drive, the data is unusable on another system.

If you're interested, here's the thread:

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23773&highlight=external+SATA+HDD%2A

Zeusus, keep coming around, I think you'll find a greate deal of constructive information from the users here.

"As I hear it, they have been trying for 2 months to crash the beta version, and have not been able to. So I, as much as you, hope that this will be the first large landmark with the receiver."

Give us real users a few hours and I'm sure we will crash it... ;)

"Bell has a patened on the technology, and we are not allowed to incorporate anything like that into the recievers because bell owns the trademark"

How about something like in the 300 and 400 series receivers... being able to lock out the channels you don't want to show up so we don't get that stupid "Not subscribed... " screen when we are channel surfing. We can lock the channels out of the guide but they still show up when we want to surf up and down the channels.

Anyway, I'm glad that things are progressing. Please continue to keep us posted if Hugh allows.

"As I hear it, they have been trying for 2 months to crash the beta version, and have not been able to. So I, as much as you, hope that this will be the first large landmark with the receiver."

Give us real users a few hours and I'm sure we will crash it... ;)

"Bell has a patened on the technology, and we are not allowed to incorporate anything like that into the recievers because bell owns the trademark"

How about something like in the 300 and 400 series receivers... being able to lock out the channels you don't want to show up so we don't get that stupid "Not subscribed... " screen when we are channel surfing. We can lock the channels out of the guide but they still show up when we want to surf up and down the channels.

Anyway, I'm glad that things are progressing. Please continue to keep us posted if Hugh allows.

Ill admit, the A8 Neptune version was just a bandaid.

The locks not working correctly in the 530 is a "bug" which is corrected in the homebase download.

Along with a few others, here is what I can recall from the last memo sent out.

-Problem with Dual tunning switching
-PPV order window
-HDCP/DVI lock-up/freez (makin DVI compatible with all HDTVs)
-Playback jumping
-Skip forward and Back feature redesigned
-Lost recordings
-Digitized recordings
-Alowability for recording of Galaxie/DXM stations
-Over-tunning, and under-tunning issues
-Smoother trick functions (Play, pause, rewins, etc)
-Confirmation windows for deletion, play-back, ppv order, ppv cost.
-Standard Def CC functionality
-Controled stream control
-Fix for the lose of 5.1 Dolby digital in recordings
-Smoother guide functionality
-Reinstated, and functional Caller IDD/IDDS
-Lock feautures and parental control fixes
-Black screen fixes related to DVI compatability
-Smoother channel changes
-Modem functionality
-Transponder ID switching compatibility and imporved functionality
-Smoother activation procedures (THANK GOD FOR US EMPLOYEES!)
(other things that i can remember that really wouldn't mean anything to the consumer, heh, Like DCII ascpii fix (which corrects random digitizing))
And like I said, that is all I can remember, they are having a 3 hour meeting at SC for all techs on just this new download. So there is alot more then that.


I mean they put these downloads through hell, believe me, I am no "upper floor" manager or anything, but I am sure that everyone at SC agrees, that we dont want to have a relapse of what happened when they first came out.

For lack of a better term we have been on Motorola's ass for these fixes.

I have faith in it, and that says alot, seeing as I am as annoyed with it as you guys are. And am as sick as saying, as you are hearing " A download is comming." You have to deal with it first hand, but I get call after call, with the first 10 minutes just taking notes about concerns. I mean there is frustration on both sides, and I can account frst hand for that.

Sounds like a pretty good likst of fixes. Thanx for the information.

Unfortunatly, as to my knowledge, the media as been designed so that if removed an automatic corruption will occur. I am sure that there is some way around this but I dont know enough about programming, and data recollection to really comment. I do know that we use a filetype a little different then what a standard HDD comes formated to, something I can't comment on, as I would loose my job.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The usb ports and Ethernet ports will probably never be ative in the receiver. If at all the USB ports may be used for interactive television when we launch that in a year or so. (Which yes, is in the works, a casino type idea) We are limited by the subscriber basis at the moment to launch anything out of the ordinary, very, very expensive. Although Anik F2 does carry KA band transponders (Used for Broadband) and there are a few companies leasing that space from Telesat at the moment - barret xplore, and an american company...I can't recall the name. We have blown off the dust and started to look into KA band internet.

I personally would be concerned with the weather reliability with that though.

But I guess if we offer the internet then we can offer VoIP and become a full fledged communications company. Which brings up another point... We are owned by shaw, and they make the final call. They will make more money using ground cable communication services then we would be able to using band technology. And untill that changes we prob wont see that advancement.

So many politics....

Cheers.

Zeusus,

As you say we 530 owners only account for 4% of the customer base but I think most of us are a pretty dedicated and loyal customer base. I love the unit and look forward to great things in the weeks ahead.

Do you have a date in mind for the download?