New Strong Pvr - Srt-5492

[PatrickM]

Logitech has a web page for their Harmony remotes that can tell you if your devices have entries in their setup databases. They can also learn from the original remote.

The STR-5405E comes up as being supported on the page. You may want to check your other gear there too.

I have a Logitech Harmony remote (525, I think) and it works fine with the Strong 5492. Cost me $47.95 from Big W.

[PatrickM]

The whole thing sounds like a hamfisted way of managing timers and shutdown anyway. On Beyonwizes, if a timer causes the PVR to start from standby, it will return to standby when the recording finishes, unless the PVR receives commands from the remote. Otherwise timers don't cause it to go to standby. If there is a current recording when you use the remote to tell the PVR to go to standby, or one is due to start in the next 5 minutes, you get a popup asking if you want to cancel the shutdown, stop the recording and shut down immediately, or shut down when the recording has finished. If you do nothing, the popup times out and shuts the PVR down when the recording finishes.

IIRC Topfield HD PVRs behave similarly.

I couldn't agree more - it is a very hamfisted way of managing timers and shutdown. Unfortunately it isn't the sort of functionality you find out about until afer you buy the unit - and it certainly didn't occur to me to ask in advance because I didn't expect it be behave in such a deficient manner. Bottom line is though that Gavin from Strong says that nothing will change unless they get sufficent requests/complaints from users - he says that I'm the first to complain which I find amazing. So, if anyone out there has a Strong and agrees, please send them an email complaining about it.

[KISSMAD]

I recently bought as Strong 5492 and am pretty happy with it except for the way the unit behaves when turning off with timers. I emailed Strong about it and Gavin from Strong replied that in over a year of the product being on the market, I'm the first person to complain about it. Can I therefore urge everyone who agrees with me to email Strong and ask them to fix their software.

I complained about this feature in the 5405 ages ago to Gavin when I was having problems with the unit.

When I found out that the 5492 had the same feature, it was the first reason why I decided not to buy the 5492.

I will not look at another Strong product until this annoying feature is fixed.

[PatrickM]

I decided to return the Strong since Strong have no interest in fixing their product and the feedback from others on this forum simply confirms what I had suspected. I bought the unit from The Good Guys and thankfully, I had no problem exchanging it for a different brand. Got a Topfield 2400, cost me $141 more than the Strong but at least it works!

All I can say is that if you are considering a Strong, don't – you will regret it.

Thanks everyone for their comments and insights.

Regards,

Patrick

[kool_boarder]

New firmware V1.24 now available.

Hoping this fixes unwanted reboots with my SRT5492 DVR (affectionately known as "Piece of Crap" by my wife & I).

I did notice slightly less reboots with V1.23 than V1.14, but still lost a few programs that were recording at the time.

Reboots usually occur when watching a recorded program and then selecting the skip forward / back or fast forward / rewind option.

The SRT5492 will then reboot and anything recording will be lost.

Very frustrating... Wish Strong would get their act together.

Will never buy another of their products!

[PatrickM]

New firmware V1.24 now available.

Hoping this fixes unwanted reboots with my SRT5492 DVR (affectionately known as "Piece of Crap" by my wife & I).

I did notice slightly less reboots with V1.23 than V1.14, but still lost a few programs that were recording at the time.

Reboots usually occur when watching a recorded program and then selecting the skip forward / back or fast forward / rewind option.

The SRT5492 will then reboot and anything recording will be lost.

Very frustrating... Wish Strong would get their act together.

Will never buy another of their products!

You have far more patience than me. I also experienced the reboot and lose the recording instead of rewind problem (with 1.24 firmware loaded by the way) and decided that that was sufficient grounds to declare the product completely defective and returned to the shop and chose a different brand.

[uhf 2]

You have far more patience than me. I also experienced the reboot and lose the recording instead of rewind problem (with 1.24 firmware loaded by the way) and decided that that was sufficient grounds to declare the product completely defective and returned to the shop and chose a different brand.

I had my box for 7 months ,I took it back to HN on the weekend & paided the extra for a tivo, at least it works

I WILL NEVER BUY STRONG AGAIN . Just say that it is not fit for purpose & no questions asked

[PatrickM]

I had my box for 7 months ,I took it back to HN on the weekend & paided the extra for a tivo, at least it works

I WILL NEVER BUY STRONG AGAIN . Just say that it is not fit for purpose & no questions asked

7 months! You do have a lot more patience than me. I had mine for a week.

[Dr. Zachary Smith]

Sad to hear about the problems people are having with the Strong 5492. I bought the 5494 a fortnight ago. So far (touch wood) it's been great! Does everything I want it to do. I bought it to upgrade from my Wintal PVR-X10A, which was only a single tuner SD PVR. The Strong now supplements our older twin tuner (SD) Tevion/Bush unit which lives in the bedroom (hasn't missed a beat yet).

I've owned a few PVRs in the past. Digicrystal 9000 (good basic unit like the Wintal), An absolutely horrible Hitachi unit (~so many firmware updates I lost count!!!), A Dgtec unit which now works okay after a number of firmware updates, the Tevion and now the Strong. The best "out-of-box" experience? The Strong 5494.

[bennos]

No problems with bringing it onto the PC then editing and burning onto a DVD disc. What I can't figure out is work how to edit a trp file once it's on the PC then transfer it back onto the Strong to watch on telly?! I want to combine several .trp files and remove the ads then transfer it back onto the Strong box.

Anyone done this?

[Matt LB]

Hi all, purchased 5492 6 months ago and have installed all updates and it has been working fine. Have been following this forum with interest ever since and appreciate the the writing of some very informed contributors.

I realise it's not a meant to be a high end media player and others have written on this in earlier entries in these forum. I'm hoping to play some movies in std codecs such as mp4, dvix etc through a USB device. Downloaded an episode of Rake from AbC in mp4 to a thumb drive and the dvr lists it in file manager as rake_10_01_07.mp4 but it doesn't show up in file list after the usb is set as the source drive. Is this because the codec isn't recogonised? Am I exprecting too much from this DVR?

So the main qeustions;

1. What video codecs does the 4592 support?

2. Given that low end strong units such as the 5423 set box recogonise lots of codecs will strong be upgrading the capabilies of the 4592 in this area?

Cheers,

Matt.

[DaveMews]

5492 is a PVR only, no media playback. The later release 5495A has media player + AV in.

[Matt LB]

Thanks Crusher, thought that was probably the case. What are your thoughts on the 5423 set top box as a media player compared with something like the Western Digital TV Live? Finding it very hard to get any reviews on the 5423 yet. Cheers.

[Valve Bounce]

I bought my 5492 to replace a 9 year's old Sony VCR which was on its last legs. I must say, for some quirk of personality, I have thoroughly enjoyed this machine and it does all I need it to do. I must be mad, simple, or just plain stupid. :

[petepurple]

I bought my 5492 to replace a 9 year's old Sony VCR which was on its last legs. I must say, for some quirk of personality, I have thoroughly enjoyed this machine and it does all I need it to do. I must be mad, simple, or just plain stupid. :

I also agree Valve Bounce. My 5492 has done everything I've wanted it to with only an occassional hic-up (nothing major and certainly not a huge inconvenience).

Peter

[Speedorhaste]

Sad to hear about the problems people are having with the Strong 5492. I bought the 5494 a fortnight ago. So far (touch wood) it's been great! Does everything I want it to do. I bought it to upgrade from my Wintal PVR-X10A, which was only a single tuner SD PVR. The Strong now supplements our older twin tuner (SD) Tevion/Bush unit which lives in the bedroom (hasn't missed a beat yet).

I've owned a few PVRs in the past. Digicrystal 9000 (good basic unit like the Wintal), An absolutely horrible Hitachi unit (~so many firmware updates I lost count!!!), A Dgtec unit which now works okay after a number of firmware updates, the Tevion and now the Strong. The best "out-of-box" experience? The Strong 5494.

I just bought a 5494 for my sister as it seems to have quite a simple and easy to understand interface. Does not have all the bells and whistles of my Wiz , but for someone who has continued to use a VCR to date, it looks like a good choice. I am also now considering buying the same unit for my Mum (this will be a bigger challenge - teaching my ocotgenarian mother how to run a PVR!). The two of them have been recording and exchanging VCR tapes for years, but with the same unit each, they can swap USB sticks!

My question is whether anyone has had bad experiences with this model? The only feature I can't find and would prefer to have is padding at the start and end of a scheduled recording. Can this be slotted in manually using the timer recording page?

[E+J]

Extracting shows:

I have noticed recommendations to use VideoReDo to be able to save shows onto DVD, from the original had disk or external drive. The program seems straightforward but could someone advise the process for getting the Strong5492's IDX, IFO and TRP files into the format that VideoReDo can use?

Thanks

Edited January 18, 2011 by E+J

[Scaryscooby]

Ok i maybe wrong but here goes. You cannot modify the files and replace back in the pvr, the info data files are then wrong.

The main files you need to convert are all but IDX, IFO, .TRP is the first then the numbers after.

i transfer the files to my pc if you recorded in HD then it might be quicker to transfer to ext H.D then run off that or transfer to pc strong is very slow transfering. The unit cannot be used at this time but it does still record. I use project X a free java based program, load in the files TRP first then the numbered 1s. mark the ads then tell it go it creates .m2v and .mp2, i input these to dvd authouring program or for file coversion IE .avi and go. i used videoredo but gave some wierd results.

Extracting shows:

I have noticed recommendations to use VideoReDo to be able to save shows onto DVD, from the original had disk or external drive. The program seems straightforward but could someone advise the process for getting the Strong5492's IDX, IFO and TRP files into the format that VideoReDo can use?

Thanks

[Scaryscooby]

Ok any ideas with my Strong 5492 anchor? past week the remote has been lagged, today it died i changed batteries and checked the voltage all good, i took the remote apart to check for moisture non or any contaminants. This pvr is useless with out a remote, i saw in a previous post about universal but its an aded expense if it dont work. Im in WA so no cheap stores. Its over a year old so no warranty.

My wife has now escalated her torrent of abuse for me buying such a pile of POO. I paid more for what i thought was a reputable company. In the past all my pvr's were cheap and nasty and i got my money's worth. Strong say this is the first they have heard of simple complaints like timers, its false. It would be a basic need to either confirm shut off or set the firmware not to shut off when a timer is going, even a $100 unit has that basic need.

[joele]

Strong say this is the first they have heard of simple complaints like timers, its false. It would be a basic need to either confirm shut off or set the firmware not to shut off when a timer is going, even a $100 unit has that basic need.

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..

[twood12]

I HAVE LEARNT TO LIVE WITH THE PROBLEMS

No other model has pip and records 3 programmes simultaneously at any price and they are a must have for me.

Missing close captions is the biggest problem – everything else I live with.

[twood12]

Hard disk lockup - gone back to strong

[jbee01]

Hi I just bought a 5494T too from HN for $387 which was a great price i think but I have a few questions i hope some one can assist me with.

1. Can i mark my place in a recording so I can got back to thye same spot?

2. How on earth do I stop it recording when a timer kicks in and i dont want it to keep recording?

3 I installe dit on Tuesday and all was well, and when i turned it on last night and tried to look at the program recorded the night before I kept getting a message "serching for the disk" I got this not matter what disk based operation I tried. I turned it off then on again and got the same, then about 3 mins later all was well?

Cheers - John

Sad to hear about the problems people are having with the Strong 5492. I bought the 5494 a fortnight ago. So far (touch wood) it's been great! Does everything I want it to do. I bought it to upgrade from my Wintal PVR-X10A, which was only a single tuner SD PVR. The Strong now supplements our older twin tuner (SD) Tevion/Bush unit which lives in the bedroom (hasn't missed a beat yet).

I've owned a few PVRs in the past. Digicrystal 9000 (good basic unit like the Wintal), An absolutely horrible Hitachi unit (~so many firmware updates I lost count!!!), A Dgtec unit which now works okay after a number of firmware updates, the Tevion and now the Strong. The best "out-of-box" experience? The Strong 5494.

[twood12]

Hi I just bought a 5494T too from HN for $387 which was a great price i think but I have a few questions i hope some one can assist me with.

1. Can i mark my place in a recording so I can got back to thye same spot?

2. How on earth do I stop it recording when a timer kicks in and i dont want it to keep recording?

3 I installe dit on Tuesday and all was well, and when i turned it on last night and tried to look at the program recorded the night before I kept getting a message "serching for the disk" I got this not matter what disk based operation I tried. I turned it off then on again and got the same, then about 3 mins later all was well?

Cheers - John

On the 5492

1. yes

2. stop button?

3. this happens

[jbee01]

On the 5492

1. yes

2. stop button?

3. this happens

Hi for the 5494 though

1 How?

2 nope stop buttun does not do it

3 OK