511 replies to this topic

[ozboyz]

Hello.

Thanks for the info on the Topfield, and now my next question is where do I buy one of these beauties from?    I live in Sydney and have noted the topic has been brought up with the Strong box ie should we buy on line or is it better to find a local store and therefore have the benefit of face to face help.   Also does anyone know of retailers who are offering good deals?    I see that most retail at $1099.    

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
many thanks
Alan

[j s]

I paid $995 at Dave Ryall HiFi at Dee Why.

Sydney HiFi now stocks them too apparently.

[digitalboy]

  I bought one from NAPF Electronics (West Ryde) for $949.  I know this is very good price.  They demonstrated well too.  Not sure how many more left though.  Go and grab quickly.

[hardvd]

$950- from NAPF @ Rockdale back on the first day they came out

[Koops]

Anyone have any really good prices for retailers for us potential customers in victoria?

[dyson]

I bought the TF5000PVRt at MELBOURNE VISION & SOUND:
440 BRIDGE RD, RICHMOND
Phone Number:
9427 1633

I paid $990 last Thursday (6/2/2004). I tried the $949 price on them, but they wouldn't do it. They had only just got the model in for the first time that day.

[Koops]

That $950 price is pretty good. I'd be happy with $990 tho I suppose. I don't really want to pay the rrp of $1099 that I was quoted yesterday by a retailer.

[JasonBB]

Usually audio connections is a rip off, I got mine from there in December for $960 including a optical audio cable.

[Koops]

we'll found a price im happy with.

I rang Melbourne Satellites to see if they could even come close, mainly because their factory is not that far from my house but they wouldn't even budge from the rrp.

[wrbell]

Got mine from Hantrex about a month ago - free delivery too and price was just a little lower than the lowest mentioned in this post. Talk to or email Matt.

[Koops]

wrbell: I already have. I asked about the members price and it was the same as the lowest one that was already mentioned in this thread.

So for those with this pvr a couple of questions.

In the pdf on the topfield site it says

Quote

�� Powerful trick mode supported
�� Dual decoding (PIP)
�� Dual recording and playback simultaneously
�� Dual time-shifting & dual recording simultaneously

Whats this trick mode?
"Dual decoding (pip)" = picture in picture. easy enough.
"Dual recording and playback simultaneously" = recording 2 live shows to hd and playing a previous one back right?
"Dual time-shifting & dual recording simultaneously" ... hmmm I don't quite understand this one. I somewhat understand timeshifting but I am unsure as to how this last feature would actually work. Can someone please explain it?

Thanks for your patience

[fossil]

Hi Koops,
I think they got a bit enthusiastic with their duals....one too many!!!....Unless someone knows any different...
You can only timeshift the channel you are watching.
You can record on 2 tuners and watch and timeshift one of those channels at the same time, flipping between those 2 channels with PIP....also you can bookmark at anytime so that you can go to that spot again if you do flip channels.

foss

[Fox]

Okay - couple of opinions requested.

I'm starting to come around back to the Toppy.  

Was originally going to get one, but after hearing bad consumer reports on the glitching decided against it.   As mentioned above, almost picked up the Strong 5390 last weekend, but wasn't in stock so held off.  Now I'm pretty interested in the Toppy once again as you all seem to be fairly happy with your boxes (on the whole)  I am trying to decide whether to fork out the extra $350 (over the price of a Strong) for one.  Two tuners would be handy.

As was asked above, what is this "trick mode" that the Toppy brochure mentions?

Tell me how much you love your Toppy's!  Would you swap it for any other box on the market today?

PS. Does the Toppy come with a Scart or optical cable or neither?

Thanks

[Santa]

G'day,

If the Topmeistre is anything like the Strong (including the "Manuel"), then the term "trick mode" simply means FF/REW/PAUSE/JUMP etc. So the "powerful" trick mode means lots of jumping options. Correct me if I'm wrong! I think "trick mode/trick play" is a bizzare way of describing the most commonly used video functions! Maybe with the reliability/glitzyness of some of these units, they really are using magic and crossed fingers...

I'll leave price discussions to my next post...


Bless you, my son.

[Emptor]

Koops,

Lots of people on this forum have purchased from hantrex, I have a few boxes from them and I have never been disappointed with the service, including the after sales service. They say somewhere on the site that they respond to all emails in 24 hours...but it's usually 24 minutes.

Also, just as a courtesy, they send out emails to all customers when their box has an update patch available...I got a Toppy and they sent me one just the other day. You don't get that from the big stores - so I'm happy to recommend Hantrex.


Fox, the toppy comes with a scart to s-vhs and rca calbe and a loop cable and an antenna cable. Oh, and a power cable too!

[Koops]

we'll i've taken the plunge and ordered one from hantrex. They had the best price (in my state) and from reports seem to have good after sales support.

Hopefully it should show up tomorrow for delivery in the melbourne cbd.

[hornblower]

Talk to the people at NAPF Wentworthville very nicely and they will sell you a Toppy for $899.00 even on credit card.

hornblower

[taycon]

Got a price of $960 from Rick Hart at Osborne Park - Perth the other day.
The Topfield guy was in there demonstrating to staff - pretty impressive.
Any other good prices in Perth?

[pheonix]

Taycon, I went to the Rick Hart warehouse in Belmont and was quoted $899 for the Topfield. I didn't get one cos I am still looking into what to buy. There are a few PVR's on the market now so trying to sus out what is the best????

[JasonBB]

hornblower, on Feb 12 2004, 07:13 PM, said:

Talk to the people at NAPF Wentworthville very nicely and they will sell you a Toppy for $899.00 even on credit card.

hornblower

I haven't seen it that cheap anywhere.

[hornblower]

JasonBB, on Feb 22 2004, 01:30 PM, said:

hornblower, on Feb 12 2004, 07:13 PM, said:

Talk to the people at NAPF Wentworthville very nicely and they will sell you a Toppy for $899.00 even on credit card.

hornblower

I haven't seen it that cheap anywhere.

You will find that now most retailers (e.g. Sydney HIFI) will price match or go lower than NAPF. It will depend on how you ask and what their bottom real cost is.

hornblower

[Yendor]

I tried to get Toppy in Melbourne (Hantrex, Melbourne sound & vision, etc).  No one would do for less then $1000.  So I rang Sydney, NAPF Wentworthville.  They quote $899 (first time, no haggling), for a total of $930 they are shipping it to Melbourne.  Should be here in a day or so.

My advice for people in Melbourne, try Sydney until the retailers here realise there are other places to get the Toppy.

[EarlyAdopter]

The same applies to the Strong 5390 too .... the prices are much better in Sydney .... as low as $530.  Elsewhere, the price is around $600 or higher.  Go figure !

[scritch]

I just returned my Panasonic 2140 and got a Topfield PVR - the Pana was causing me no end of grief (lockups, EMR sensitivity glitches and HOT). The Topfield is without a doubt one awesome piece of electronics. You really don't know how good watching television can be without one of these.

To keep this on topic - I got the Topfield PVR from NAPF at West Ryde for $879 - had to fight for it though (he didn't want to go below $900). Also he said they sell them as quickly as they get them, and most people are paying $949 (which is the price they have on the tag instore).

Oh also FYI, mine had the latest firmware in it as of today (24th Feb 2004) and there are no glitches in record/playback, even when recording simultaneously on both tuners. Signal strength on Tuner 2 with supplied loop back cable seems as good as Tuner 1 - so the big complaints seem to not exist on my machine.

Regards,
Shane.

[THarper]

scritch, on Feb 24 2004, 10:38 PM, said:

Oh also FYI, mine had the latest firmware in it as of today (24th Feb 2004) and there are no glitches in record/playback, even when recording simultaneously on both tuners. Signal strength on Tuner 2 with supplied loop back cable seems as good as Tuner 1 - so the big complaints seem to not exist on my machine.

Can you clarify please the date on this "latest firmware" from the onscreen menus on the Toppy? Is it the 30-Jan version that is available from the Topfield Australia website, or some newer version that hasn't been seen publically yet?

ted.h.