johndee Posted May 21, 2008 Posted May 21, 2008 Has anyone got a Strong 5440 and added a external hard drive? I was going to get one, and had a play. It would not read files on my hard drive (Not too surprised), but I found first it would not add (I had formated it as FAT), then it would not read or format the drive, a new 500Gig Samsung which I know works since I was watching "The colour of magic" on it the night before. JB
crispycream Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Has anyone got a Strong 5440 and added a external hard drive?I was going to get one, and had a play. It would not read files on my hard drive (Not too surprised), but I found first it would not add (I had formated it as FAT), then it would not read or format the drive, a new 500Gig Samsung which I know works since I was watching "The colour of magic" on it the night before. JB I bought one of these recently and had similar problems at first. I did not realise, and there is nothing in the manual about hard drives having to be formatted as FAT32. I tried all my drives and could only get it to reconise one! when I checked I found the rest were all NTFS. I reformatted an old 40GB external HDD as FAT32 and this worked OK. I also got it to work with a pen drive, but at 512MB it filled up pretty quick on high def content. Files are saved as .TRP's and it will not reconise MPEG2's that have been recorded or transferred onto the external drive. I googled, but there is nothing to convert TRP's to MPEG's at the moment. I really wanted it for the HD capability and the ability to pause live TV, I was a bit disappointed when I found out that it would not play MPEG's, but for $299 I think it is well worth the extra over a quality HD STB.
johndee Posted May 25, 2008 Author Posted May 25, 2008 I bought one of these recently and had similar problems at first. I did not realise, and there is nothing in the manual about hard drives having to be formatted as FAT32. I tried all my drives and could only get it to reconise one! when I checked I found the rest were all NTFS. I reformatted an old 40GB external HDD as FAT32 and this worked OK. I also got it to work with a pen drive, but at 512MB it filled up pretty quick on high def content. Files are saved as .TRP's and it will not reconise MPEG2's that have been recorded or transferred onto the external drive. I googled, but there is nothing to convert TRP's to MPEG's at the moment. I really wanted it for the HD capability and the ability to pause live TV, I was a bit disappointed when I found out that it would not play MPEG's, but for $299 I think it is well worth the extra over a quality HD STB. Thanks for that. I had decided that it would not recognise NTFS, which is why I formated as FAT. I will have to see if they will let me have another play with a FAT32 formated drive. Had you looked at AVS tools for video converting? I have never used it, but I have used the AVS video player, it seems to play formats that I could not play on anything else, including VLC. JB
mddawson Posted May 25, 2008 Posted May 25, 2008 Just wondering what you can do with the video inputs, eg can you record the RGB input onto an external HDD?
davidl1503559772 Posted May 25, 2008 Posted May 25, 2008 Files are saved as .TRP's and it will not recognise MPEG2's that have been recorded or transferred onto the external drive. I googled, but there is nothing to convert TRP's to MPEG's at the moment. VideoReDo recognises .TRP files natively as MPEG streams. The 5490 PVR captures in this format. You can configure VRD to automatically recognise these through Tools>Options>File Types then type in .trp in the Add New File Type box and click Add Entry. Great software.
zakanrg1503562352 Posted May 25, 2008 Posted May 25, 2008 I bought one of these recently ..... but for $299 I think it is well worth the extra over a quality HD STB. Hi crispycream Where did you get the Strong 5440 for this price? I went to the local Retravision the other day and they had these for $449 but the guy told me he could do it for $399. Thanks z
crispycream Posted May 25, 2008 Posted May 25, 2008 Hi crispycreamWhere did you get the Strong 5440 for this price? I went to the local Retravision the other day and they had these for $449 but the guy told me he could do it for $399. Thanks z I got mine from "Webprice" see link: http://www.webprice.com.au/page/shop/brows...on_set-topboxes I ordered on line and picked it up from the Melbourne warehouse 2 hours later. Really good service. Shipping was only about $6 if you were not able to collect, but I couldn't wait.
zakanrg1503562352 Posted May 26, 2008 Posted May 26, 2008 I got mine from "Webprice" see link: Hey thanks for that. Will have a look and find out how much delivery is to Sydney. z
crispycream Posted May 26, 2008 Posted May 26, 2008 Hey thanks for that. Will have a look and find out how much delivery is to Sydney.z I think that is a more realistic price for the features, as it only is a single tuner and no HDD included. I'm not sure how they could justify $449 when some HD PVR's with dual tuners are selling for not much more!! I am pleased with the unit, and it has some nice touches including some games (It was the first time I've played Tetris in years) and a full EPG. It also seems well made with a good display and a solid remote. I would be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts.
dlpnut1503560389 Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I think that is a more realistic price for the features, as it only is a single tuner and no HDD included. I'm not sure how they could justify $449 when some HD PVR's with dual tuners are selling for not much more!!I am pleased with the unit, and it has some nice touches including some games (It was the first time I've played Tetris in years) and a full EPG. It also seems well made with a good display and a solid remote. I would be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts. Seen these recently advertised for about $250 in Melb, does any one know if; 1/ These can play other files from USB attached HD (say divx, xvid, dat, avi etc), or does it only play what it records. 2/ Scart input, can it be directed via HDMI to a plasma panel. dvd scart out RGB> RGBscart in 5440> hdmi out to plasma. 3/ Can it also record input source supplied from Scart onto external usb HD. If it can do both 1 and 2, I will most likely get it, but not too confident if it is able to . I rang Strong but the Tech who knew the answers was not available. will have to follow up.
andy08 Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 Seen these recently advertised for about $250 in Melb, does any one know if;1/ These can play other files from USB attached HD (say divx, xvid, dat, avi etc), or does it only play what it records. 2/ Scart input, can it be directed via HDMI to a plasma panel. dvd scart out RGB> RGBscart in 5440> hdmi out to plasma. 3/ Can it also record input source supplied from Scart onto external usb HD. If it can do both 1 and 2, I will most likely get it, but not too confident if it is able to . I rang Strong but the Tech who knew the answers was not available. will have to follow up. Check the spec and manual on the Strong website. The spec lists that it's VCR Scart has A/V input(CVBS/RGB/LR). I don't think it will play DivX etc. from when I checked it out some time ago, unlike the 5023X. It does have a MPEG4 compatible tuner though which should future proof it in the event there is a move to MPEG4 broadcasts after 2014.
dlpnut1503560389 Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 Check the spec and manual on the Strong website. The spec lists that it's VCR Scart has A/V input(CVBS/RGB/LR). I don't think it will play DivX etc. from when I checked it out some time ago, unlike the 5023X. It does have a MPEG4 compatible tuner though which should future proof it in the event there is a move to MPEG4 broadcasts after 2014. I did have a look at the specs, it has two scart ports, and normaly one is input and the other is output, wasn't sure if the signal from input Scart can be directed to go out from hdmi to plasma. Anyway if I dont get any one who can confirm I am chasing this with Strong techo on Tuesday. Thanks for your feedback. Shame it does not do some of the media playing functions of its little brother 5023x.
andy08 Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 I did have a look at the specs, it has two scart ports, and normaly one is input and the other is output, wasn't sure if the signal from input Scart can be directed to go out from hdmi to plasma. Anyway if I dont get any one who can confirm I am chasing this with Strong techo on Tuesday. Thanks for your feedback. Shame it does not do some of the media playing functions of its little brother 5023x. I took another look at it myself. The spec in the Brochure seems to be at odds with the spec in the manual although I expect Strong will be able to confirm that the brochure is correct in respect of the VCR Scart. I can't see it not having audio input which is missing in the manual spec. The other (TV ?) Scart input in the manual mentions RGB loop thru and while I expect it would come out the HDMI output, I'm only guessing. Hopefully all will be revealed for you Tuesday with Strong.
Recommended Posts