joele

Strong did the same for me "first time we have ever heard that problem, blah blah" even though I found many people online telling me they called Strong support with the same problem.. Pretending there are no problems seems to be the standard procedure at Strong..

The Beyonwiz DP-lite worked very well for me with ICETV The Strong units (5492) has been endless problems, the beta 1.19 firmware at least gives you all channels now (ABC + SBS were missing before) but is still buggy if you turn the unit off and back on again (within an hour).. Can't recommend yet, but they are working on it..

Well the icetv issues were certainly not network or icetv related, firmware 1.19 (test firmware) goes a long way to resolving the ICETV issues I was having, particularily the missing ABC and SBS networks.. Just a bit sad the feature was added in January and only now do we even have all the guide feature fully working (and 1.19 isn't even official yet)..

I don't think it is network.. 1) As it seems to only effect a couple of stations ABC/SBS 2) My Beyonwiz DP-Lite with icetv works perfectly, but the Strong has constant problems.. 3) Some of the problems like not loading when turned off and on too quickly has been admitted by Strong (I have in email), just not fixed.. The other problem I have and have seen others with is the rebooting on skip.. Most of the time you can skip forward and back with the remote, but sometimes, especially as the unit fills up it will just suddenly reset when you skip... It happens less often with the current firmware to previous ones, but still happens from tmie to time, I can't recall my Beyonwiz ever just reseting...

Sorry, there is unfortunately little I can do to prove it, as I don't get bills sent to me. One of the guys on whirlpool who got "HD gold with iq2 and showtime movies for $50" said he is happy to post copies of his bill for anyone who wants to see.. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-repli...34618#r26134618

So it still has the known outstanding ICETV issues that the 5492/5495 has? Related to the guide not populating for some ABC/SBS channels the majority of the time.. Also does it have the 5492/5495 issue that when watching back HD contact from 7Mate (and GEM sometimes) when you skip forward a few times it drops the volume really low and you have to hit volume up or down on the controller to fix it? If they have fixed these problems I hope they pass it own to us (5492/5495 owners)...

I think the best deals are possible when they call you back (I think it is retentions) a week after you book in your disconnection, after refusing all the deals offered by disconnections.. Though I suppose you have to really be prepared to disconnect..

P.S. Whirlpool has a big thread on deals people have gotten from retentions (at callback a week later not at the point of disconnection), and the level of deal I got is not unique apparently..

How does ICETV work on it? I find the 5492/5495 very unreliable with ICETV, i.e. a number of channels say 'no information' fairly often in the guide and complete failure of the guide if you turn the unit off and back on again quickly (known problem with the strongs according to ICETV)... Not that it matters that much but are the menu's any less ugly than the previous model? ;-) Speakind of 2TB drives does anyone know what format is required when replacing the drive in the previous 5492/5495? and how large a drive it can handle?

OK if you can only afford a cheaper unit AND don't want to use ICETV (at least for the time being) have a look at the Strong 5492, they are dropping in price as the new model with line-in recording (for say foxtel) is coming.. There is a store in QLD selling out the stock on ebay for $340 shipped (I bought mine from them).. It isn't perfect but since firmware 1.15 (make sure you upgrade if you get one) it is rather stable to be honest, except with ICETV where they say they are still working on resolving issues in the firmware.. It covers about all the missing points mentioned above for the Soniq, and even though they have had problems in the past and we complain a lot to get them fixed they have fixed most of the problems and even adding features not present on the initial release (auto padding, auto timeshift, PIP, file trimming)... If you want to use ICETV then the strong isn't the best choice (at least with the current firmware) and I would say the next cheapest option (which is reliable) is a Beyonwiz DP-Lite, I think the general concensus is you will negotiate the best price at JB Hi-Fi..

They are eager at the moment, I was on over $80 a month and called to disconnect, they kept making offers down to around $50 a month, I kept saying NO NO NO for maybe 10 minutes and he eventually got the message (poor guy sounded so upset too).. A week later another guy called (that was less annoying than the disconnection guy) and offered $29 a month with IQ2 and all the channels I had before (contract free)...

One way or another (it seems especially true with PVRs) you get what you pay for... I was very happy with my DP-Lite for the month I had it, I only sold it due to Foxtel bending over backwards to get me to stay with IQ2.. lol.. I tried out a few cheapies and they are all rubbish in my opinion (in one way or another), the Strong 5492 I kept is quirky but generally works (with latest firmware) but not as smooth as a toppy or Wiz..

If it crashes mid recording it will lose the current recording completely and I think it can corrupt the recording database. I have had my foxtel IQ box do the same thing (twice) in the 2+ years I have had it.. I would suggest upgrading the firmware and also reseting to factory settings and format the HDD.. Just in case anythign there is still corrupted..

Unfortunately it has the same MD5 as the test 1.15 firmware going around, so still some annoying bugs, for me anyway.. Actually found another problem with 1.15, when scheduling from ICETV the show names come through for 7,9,10 but ABC (and I think SBS) just shows the channel name not the show title. I don't think it is a ICETV issue as sending the same shows to my DP-lite works fine (with correct title).

It would be nice if Beyonwiz at least put a red led on the front panel to show it is recording, I agree 100% with that, but I can live without it.. I do also like that it automatically shuts down after a recording if it comes on to record and no one presses any buttons until it finishes.. It means when I am away it will come on and off to record shows as it needs to.. I think the 5492 v1.15 volume issue effects all HD channels?

I have the 5492 and a Beyonwiz DP-Lite.. The 5492 is OK for my personal use, it works most of the time but does have a number of little 'bugs' and new firmwares fix some bugs but cause others.. The DP-Lite is ideal for the loungeroom in my home, though a little less featured (no front panel display) it operates MUCH quieter than the 5492, and is MUCH more stable, I actually haven't found a single bug yet. (In the 5492 I noticed problems, albeit small ones, from day one). It also has nice features like automatically returning to standby if it comes on to record something when no one is home. The 5492 can go to standby after recording but you have to manually set auto-off on each recording which is useless if you use ICETV to set recordings. I would be hesitant to buy the new 5495A model as I fear it may be a little less stable on release than the current model which has undergone a number of firmware updates to provide stability, and in my experience still has problems. The DP-Lite costs a little more, most people I have seen online say they negotiate at JBHIFI for one and manage to get it at around $460..

Well I did get somewhere, I guess.. I email strong support who said I should email ICETV support.. So I emailed them and they responded that it is a known bug in the 5492 if the unit is turned off and then on again too quickly (not sure how much of a gap you need), and that Strong know about it and will hopefully patch it one day.. Funny that Strong support didn't know that and just sent me to ICETV support... I will say all in all it is NOT a bad unit, almost all other units at this price point either don't support ICETV or have more problems... It is just these little bugs need to be sorted before they release the new model 5495A and possibly lose interest in finishing off the remaining problems...

ICETV gives you the ability to schedule recordings over the internet, also gives a better EPG as it downloads all channels for 5 days at a time.. Anyway partly solved, my unit when I scan channels creates duplicated i.e. sbs3 and sbs4 have the same id as sbs1 so deleted them, one hd and abc1 were just duplicated (why the strong does this i don't know). So I manually configured my stations on the strong and now icetv works much better. I do still have a problem if I turn the unit off and immediately back on again (unauthorised error) but if I wait it eventually works again.. They need to sort that apprently on the ICETV forums it was an error they used to have and fixed in a previous firmware (I guess it is back again?)

That's fine, are you saying you had problems if icetv before or not? and are you using icetv without problem now? EDIT: Just to update I have upgraded to the beta firmware (1.15) makes no difference to the performance of ICETV for me (did a factory reset too)..

Anyone have icetv working on this unit? First time I entered my settings it said 'authorised' and was downloading some channels but had 'no information' for ABC1, SBS2, SBS3 and ONE HD.. It was ok apart from the missing channels until I turned it off and back on again, then it said 'unauthised' and refuses to authorise again.. I am running the latest firmware 1.14

I am getting reboots with 1.14 too now.. Both on skipping too quickly and also after I set something to record then I go into the timer menu (after it has started recording).

Actually I have paid to get my aerial upgraded and the Strong is working fine now.. It is annoying as I good great signal with two tvs with inbuilt HD tuners (Toshiba and cheap Teco) and a cheap HD Olin tuner, but the strong couldn't get abc or ten very well, and couldn't get sbs at all.. Maybe it should be the Weak 5492 :-) That said though with the 114 firmware and paying to overdo my aerial it works well now.. Of course that pushed the cost up a lot.. LOL..

well worked out my problem, it is the weak tuners in the strong unit I believe.. Even just watching ABC and Ten they struggle to provide enough signal for the strong unit. My Toshiba and cheap Teco tvs inbuilt tuners have no problem, neither does my cheap olin hd settop box, but I guess I should have bought the Choice comparison review earlier as they pointed out the underpowered tuner in the 5492..

I bought this unit recently and am using v114 firmware and it works OK except for the following.. 1) I can watch back a recording fine and fast forward and rewind, but when I start a new recording and also whenever I use the skip function (to jump forward or back in say 30 second blocks) the sound stutters and takes about 5 seconds to settle down and get in sync to the video every time I use it.. 2) Just watching channel 10 last night and I was recording ABC at the time, and it would have frequent episodes of stuttering video and audio, the signal said it was at 65% which was still green so I assume that wouldn't be an issue? Even did the same just watching ABC, though less often (ABC was over 80% signal strength). Maybe it was the rain. LOL 3) Recording shows and then using file manager to copy them off.. If I record a movie the 'Filelist' will show the name of the show but I cannot copy/backup from there, so I go into file manager but the names are different (more obscure). I also can't play from file manager so it is hard (unless you do it right away) to work out which show is which? I then also tried renaming the folder in filemanager so later I could work out what was what, but after renaming you can no longer play it as it disappears from the 'FileList'. I contacted Strong and all I got back was to try a factory reset (I have done that) and they said beyond that they don't know.. seemed hopeless tech support.. Are these simply known problems?

that is the noontec v9t here... itis available from a number of online retailers, just use google ;-) http://www.noontec.com/En/Products/MovieHo...1442412903.html