Freeview HD PVR - Digital Stream DHR8205U

Hello Prof,

Thanks for your review and comments on the Digital Stream box, based on which I purchased the device a couple of weeks ago, and have been very happy with it

There's one thing I can't work out from the user manual, and wondered if you or any other owners could help me. I've managed to read memory sticks using the front USB slot, but I am interested in plugging in an external CD drive to view photos on CD, and I can't get it to work. I know the box supports external hard drives, but I can't find anything about external DVD/CD drives. I tried plugging it in, and the CD spins up OK, but I cannot find any pictures in the Media library (using the 'Media' button on the remote, the way I do with USB sticks).

The reason for this question is that our DVD player which we normally use for viewing photos has stopped working properly, and I'm trying to see if I can get around this by using our freeview box along with the portable DVD drive I use with my netbook!

Oh and apologies for no profile info or photo - I've only just signed up here.

Robert

Sorry, when I said interrupting the signal, I meant something else which is plugged into your TV (or AV amp) via HDMI and which, when turned on, might cause the TV to temporarily lose its connection and have to go through the HDMI handshake process again which would cause a loss of picture. It could be worth plugging the box into HDMI2 instead of HDMI1 (or some other HDMI port if 2 is in use) as I've seen reports of this solving the issue on some Panasonic sets (but worth a try on any set).

Afraid the DS won't read a CD drive (it uses a different type of file system for one thing). It'll spin up as the USB is providing power, but that's all it will do I'm afraid. Best bet would be to buy a larger external USB HDD and transfer all your pictures to this. The DS will read this just fine and you also wouldn't have to keep swapping CDs out!

do you still need an optical to output 5.1 or have they done an update yet to allow it to output through the hdmi cable? 

Hi there - still needs optical. It's been confirmed that a hardware restriction prevents 5.1 over HDMI for the Digital Stream, so this won't ever come as an update I'm afraid.

Professorhat, thank you for your review. I bought one of these at the weekend based on this thread and am very happy with.

Apologies for the misinformation! The new beta firmware has now proved that 5.1 is indeed possible over HDMI as it's working on mine as we speak! It would seem Digital Stream have managed to overcome the issues that made everyone report that it would not be possible, so excellent news as just HDMI to amp will be required once the latest update has been released (due end of June).

Excellent news, glad you're happy with it - another update due end of June which, as noted above, brings 5.1 over HDMI and Xvid/DivX media playback from USB drives as well as a number of bug fixes.

Feel free to post if you've got any questions.

Do you know if the current option for audio out via "Optical" being retained? I nee that as my amp doesn't have HDMI

Absolutely, the option for 5.1 over HDMI will be in addition to the existing ability to get this over the optical connection (and I can confirm 5.1 works over the optical connection on the beta update). So no worries!

Prof

Will the end of June update include the last update, or do I need to install that first ?

It'll include everything, so you can go straight from 3.57 (or whichever version you're on currently) directly to new June update (4.12).

Hi Prof,

     Hope you can help. I have just got one of these off ebay second hand.  Have i set it up right? rf in hdmi out to the tv? It is not recording when I press record it says "unable to record" when I try to rwind it says "unable to start time shift" is the box faulty? any advice would be more than helpfull cheers.

Sounds odd. Could be worth running a repair and formatting the hard drive. This can be done through Menu > Others > Disk > Repair Disk and Format Disk.

RF in and HDMI out to TV should be fine - are you able to receive TV broadcasts okay and see programmes in the EPG?

Yes I recieve picture, sound & programs on the guide. I tried to repair and format the disk Both times it said no disk to repai/format!! is the HDD removeable?