I'm looking at getting a cheap PVR and the Omni appears on the surface to have all the features I could possibly need and I can get it on ebay for $235 including postage. I'm just wondering if anyone who owns this :
-Has had any problems with it?
-Can it record two channels at the same time?
-Is it a reliable unit in terms of digital set top box and recorder?

thanks in anticiption of your replies
Geoff

Firstly, search is your friend.

Secondly, it's a "1.5 tuner" only - 1 record, 1 watch.

Thirdly, it seems to have no editing features at all. A bit more here.

Thanks I have actually already orderd this unit, its on the way in the post. I was checking to see if I bought a lemon.

I had a specific budget to work with and feature wise this unit suited my modest needs.

Once I have tried the unit I will post to asist other potential buyers, as this unit hasn't left much of a foot print on the internet, this was the onky place i could find any review of the item.

Perhaps I should have shopped around a bit more and picked a more reviewed item, but i'm inpatient and strike when the iron is hot, and have never been burned...........fingerrs crossed

Thanks
Geoff

I have just purchased an OMNI D530, and I am not too impressed with it at all. Let me know if you have had similar problems:

1. The instruction manual is nothing better than a diagram of buttons and a general description of what they do. but very little to explain how to use them.

2. There is NO way I can see how to set the time manually. The time seems to be picked up from teh Digital stream. Thats all and good. but here is brisbane, the ABC stream is 1 hour ahead thanks to daylight savings. You may think this is no problem at all. But if I am watching ABC the time is now 7:30. And I have a program on Channel 7 set to record at 7:30. It ends up taping one hour early. Not impressed

3. I had a lock up the other day, and the only way to fix it was to turn teh power off. When I restarted, it had lost all settings.. nice!

Maybe I can get around these problems with a firmware upgrade.. has anybody seen one?

2. There is NO way I can see how to set the time manually. The time seems to be picked up from teh Digital stream. Thats all and good. but here is brisbane, the ABC stream is 1 hour ahead thanks to daylight savings. You may think this is no problem at all. But if I am watching ABC the time is now 7:30. And I have a program on Channel 7 set to record at 7:30. It ends up taping one hour early. Not impressed


The Omni D530 does not comply with Australian STB specifications.
It seems that instead of selecting the correct zone (which is not selectable in the settings as it should be)
from the TOT (Time Offset Table) it selects the first entry in the TOT.
If you tune to a station that sends all Australian time zones to every market (as TEN & ABC currently do) the Omni D530 will select Zone1 in the TOT. Zone 1 does not actually exist in Australia and is a reserved entry.
Currently both the ABC and TEN have Zone 1 set to GMT +11 (AEDST) which is fine if you are in Sydney, ACT or Victoria. Anywhere else and you will have the wrong time.
Hopefully Omni will address this in a future firmware release.

I have a new Omni D530 - can anyone tell me how to install a new hard disk? I have tried to contact Galas but they don't seem in a hurry to return my call.

Thanks

Jeff

Just make sure your new drive has the jumpers set the same as the one you take out, once you boot it up you will need to go the HDD menu and format your drive, other than that there should be nothing to it.

Try Galas again, I have had to speak to them a couple of times regarding an prtable OMNI DVD player and they have been extremely helpful

Hi guys, been reading the forums quietly on the side for a while. Usually do a lot of Satellite threads on Austech!
Like most here I've had an Omni D530 since the Wharehouse had 'em for $199 back before Xmas, and have had the regular Channel shifting, wiping, but have put up with it due to no probs with the Hard Drive recording.
SO, my question to add to this forum is, Today I found the Omni site D530 Vers 1.0.0.1 upgrade.
Anyone installed it yet? If so, what were the improvements. Ta in advance - MitreBin

2 quick questions:

1) Where is the Omni site Mitrebin was talking about

2) I use an outdoor aerial, can I use one outdoor aerial for both recievers?

Cheers guys, from what I can tell these don't seem to be too bad for the price

Me again.. for some reason it wouldn't let me use that account again

Question 3:

How can I get the video file on the PVR to my PC, to manually edit it?

Here is the upgrade link for the D530

http://www.buyomni.com/drivers/Galas_D530_...de_20061124.rar

Avoid Omni at all costs! Why? Read on....

I have just been through a month long ordeal with Galas Electrical (who distribute Omni) with regards to a less-than-6-month old D530 PVR. Indeed it has been very reminiscent of my last prostate examination... a pain in the ass.

A few niggling problems to start with were:

* Prolematic S-Video output - with default settings the picture distorts when something bright white is displayed (a graphic for instance) & the colours also bleed & distort too. These can be reduce by turning down the 'brightness & contrast' & 'colour' settings in the set-up menu
* Brightness level is too high, blacks look washed out & grey & this can't be compensated for because the brightness & contrast are adjusted together (in unison) in the menu not separately
* Machine would reset by itself on a weekly basis, sometimes more, so all settings made in menu are reset (& timer record settings lost)
* Remote control signal very weak thus machine very unresponsive to commands (something which has been mentioned earlier) - this could only be overcome by copying the codes into a universal remote

I thought these problems may have been related to this specific machine so I swapped it over a week later but the next machine had the same problems.

But, the in spite of all of this the reason I ended up having to send it back to Galas was because it just died, completely died. Not so much as a single LED would light up, there was all of a sudden no sign of life whatsoever.

I took it back to Strathfield & they returned it to Galas. The machine I dropped off was as new, not a mark on it, but ultimately dead. The machine I received back, some three & a half weeks later, was obviously heavily used, scratched &... drum roll.... was just as dead as the machine I sent back nearly a month earlier. Galas swapped a dead machine for a dead machine & it took three & a half weeks to do it! if there was an award for the most incompetent company of the year Galas would have to be the odds on favourite.

In the end I managed to get a refund out of Strathfield, & I managed to get a refund for Strathfield from Galas in the process - although this took myself & the Strathfield manager nearly half an hour on the phone with Galas. The Strathfield manager also informed me that the exact same thing had happend to another customer only a week earlier (that is, Galas sending back a dead D530).

Do not under any circumstances buy Omni. Their products are extremely poor quality & Galas Electrical will not come to your aid if you run into problems. Galas are BY FAR the worst company I have ever dealt with (knocking even the dreaded Sony off the top spot). To say they are run by a bunch of monkeys would be insulting to monkeys. Even monkeys could learn how to return a ****ing phone call!... something which Galas, despite 7 opportunities, never once managed to do.

My Omni D530 PVR Died 6Months Old, I Rang Galas Service At 4pm Monday, A Recorded Voice Told Me To Ring Between Working Hours 9am To 5pm.
I Contacted The Warehouse Where I Brought The Unit, And Was Given Three Options. 1 Sent The Unit To Galas For Repairs. 2 Have It Repaired Locally And Send The Bill To The Warehouse. 3 Bring It Back To The Warehouse For A Full Refund. I Choose The Refund....

Hi all does any 1 know the pin code for this model as i have lost the manual and need for format a hdd in it as the 80gb sh!t is self.....

i have the "newer" but just as flawed D550...comes complete with a truck load of problems.....
i also would like the default pin code for formatting
cheers