Woohooo!!! Thank you very much. I figured there must have been some very simple device like you've just highlighted, so thanks for the info. I'm off to Woolworths as we speak!!!

Even simpler, you can get 2 into 1 RCA adaptors (You will need 3, 1 for each cable). They are not very expensive, and you can leave everything permanently connected.
I had one of the cheap switches at one time, it was not too bad when I got it, but it developed a lot of cross-talk quite quickly and became unusable.
JB

Thanks, but just one question with the 2 in 1 RCA Adaptors.....how does it then choose between the DVD and STB if they are both connected into the 2 in 1 RCA adaptor?

The problem with the 2-into-1 plugs is that they do not provide any isolation of the source devices. They simply 'short' their outputs together. Joining them into the input of the playback device.

This will change the characteristic of the load that each output device 'sees', which usually results in a problem (poor video quality, audio problems etc.). it would also change the input characteristic that the playback device 'sees' to something other than what it was designed for.

Some sort of switching unit is better, so that only one device is connected through to the playback device at a time.

The Reject Shop sells these for $8. The brand is Sansai.

Thanks, I'll check those out myself

Got mine last week has been really good no problems yet

Mine's good, too. The only thing I don't like is the lack of any LED or display to show the unit is actually ON (this is the black model; the silver model has a display).

I wouldnt worry too much about the colour of the stb your starting to sound like a woman who cant pick what colour outfit to wear. As long as it works fine i think thats the main thing

I got a bush dfta12hd about 3 weeks ago. It's locked up a few times .. and then last night it just died. There's no getting it back.

The lack of any lights or anything on the front display sucks .. you don't know if it's on or not. I had quite a few lockups happen on it during the day before it packed it in.

Back to Dick Smith tomorrow I guess. I went out and bought a Topfield this morning (which was what I originally wanted).

As I was told this morning .. "If you want something good for nothing .. it's usually good for nothing"

I hope you guys have better luck with your units than I did!

Thanks

Yeah, I mean who the hell these days makes an electronic device without even a cheap LED to show the unit is on?? Crazy.

Just purchased and installed the Bush DFTA10HD on a Samsung CRT 69cm.

So far all seems good, picture quality is fine, channel change seems quick enough and set up was nice and easy.

The only thing that I dislike is the interface for the program guide and the fact that you can only view the guide for each individual channel, rather than having all the channels down the side with times along the top (like a spreadsheet view) with all available programs listed therein.

Having just installed a brand new Panasonic 32" LCD for the in-laws last weekend and seeing for myself the guide it has built-in, it would be nice to at least have a similar like set-up available on this box.

The box being silver fits nicely into my current set-up. I purchased it from Tandy where the sales guys was pleasant and I even ended up getting a bit of a discount.

Could anyone who has one of these please let me know if the following info indicates the latest updates ...

SYSTEM INFO:
DVB HD7710 APPLICATION
Hardware Version: 92212102
Current Software version: 71221-V3.01
Update Date: 08-01-11

Cheers
dean77

These Set Top Boxes are no more..
Both models removed from range by DSE/Tandy/PWR, they're clearing the last ones out at either $99 or $129.
Looks like they've hit an agreement with DGTEC, as even the little Bush SD Box that they've had in some varient (Orange or Yellow box) for 18mths+ now is gone, and about to be replaced by DGTEC SD box.
The Grundig units (Bush Owned) are staying though.. So I presume people just don't like the bush brand.

They are still sold in Big W last time I was there. I don't know why they bother making just SD boxes. They should all be SD/HD boxes, even if you have a TV that's not full HD you can still get the extra HD channels, so why SD only? to save a few bucks? It only adds to the confusion.

Well the reason in my opinion is because why would companies and retailers throw away stock of SD boxes when they can sell them instead? I think they are starting to phase them out slowly, but still, they do sell and with freeview next year there is more use for them, alot of households dont give hoots about the extra channel on HD im talking about your average punter, some people just want to watch clear tv so i guess thats probably why they still sell SD boxes.

They knew HD channels were coming, so I don't know why they made only SD boxes. I guess, as you say, just to get people moved over to digital at the most basic level

True, a lot of viewers don't care much about the HD channels; that's probably the fault of the stations themselves not promoting them enough, or not putting enough different content on them.

Hi Slayer,

Good to hear you've managed to get at least one of your issues fixed.

Is there any chance of you provide a link so the rest of us can download the firmware as I'm having the same problem or the email address of the support team which provided you with this updated firmware?

Also, what firmware are you currently running and what was your old firmware?

Thanks in advance

Hi mate - do you happen to have the contact details for Bush in Australia? I'm having the same drama's you mentioned but basically gave up and have been using EyeTV on my Mac.

Thanks - R.

Is the Bush Black HD STB Model: DFTA13HD


http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bushhdstbrr4.jpg



their latest Australian model, and is it a good deal at $99

I'd love to get hold of the firware update too. My Bush DFTA12HD saga so far -

"Things began minor.

Among many other people, I was surprised the box does not have an on / off indication. This makes it just plain confusing.

Then we found subtitles cut in and out. Sometimes we need to press the subtitle button 10-12 times to get them to work. Other times, using the teletext button to turn on and off teletext restores the subtitles. Weird.

We’ve discovered that sometimes the box crashes for no reason. We’ll be watching a program, and the sound will continue, but the picture will be frozen. All buttons on the remote are inoperative. All buttons on the set top box are inoperative. The only way to get it working again is to power cycle the box.

And now the final straw. I purchased an HDMI cable to attach the box to the television. (I wanted to free up other TV inputs for other equipment.) Surprise, surprise! The box produces no HDMI output. Yes, I’ve verified the TV and cable are fine by connecting a laptop and picture was instantaneous. Pressing the Bush controls 50-60 times will occassionally bring up a 0.5 second flash of picture."

So, in summary, we are now referring to the box as the buLLshIT box

I've sent all this to BushAustralia (2 months ago) but didn't get any reply. Hoping desperately that the firmware upgrade will resolve some of these issues.

Hi,

I've managed to contact Bush and have upgraded the firmware of the STB.

If you contact Bush Warranty on 1800 509 394 and explain to them that you require the firmware upgraded then they are more than happy to do it.

When I contacted them, they wanted to know the serial number of the unit. They also wanted me to send them the STB (They were willing to pick it up as long as it was all boxed up) but after explaining that I knew how to upgrade the firmware myself and also saying that I had the proper cables (Null modem cable required), they were happy to email me the firmware files and directions.

[delete me]

I just got one of the DFTA13HD model from Big W, after returning the rubbish Tevion HD box to Aldi.

Gotta say I'm very impressed with it, especially for $99.
Easy set up, easy to read and use menu interface, and quick channel change. The learning-remote feature is also a handy bonus I love. Can use the Bush remote to volume change on the TV as well as change to and use my PVR when required - a nice touch!
The subtitles tool also works quickly and simply. I also like the "minimalist" aesthetics of the box itself, a nice clean look, plus has all the connections I need as well as a USB port for any updates I might wanna use.
Only shortfall is no optic toslink socket for digital audio. But for the price, can't have everything.

All in all a good value box.

Have you tried to see if the USB socket will also show JPG images?

All these Bush STB's come with a 12 month Warranty, its written on the side of the box 1800 509 394. According to their website if the box is faulty in the first 10 days they get to take it back to the store for a replacement and after this the STB will get an 'on site pick up' fixed and returned. That sounds amazing to me for a $99 product and i feel very sorry for the person who got conned into paying a service charge????

As for the 366 days, that ridiculous, how would the component manufacturer have any idea what the end warranty will be?

Not as yet, no.
Would love to be able to plug in an external hard drive and use it as a PVR, but that's not possible with the current firmware. Not even sure if this box would have the supporting hardware to make it a PVR, but I always get excited when I see a USB port on something.

I wonder if you could flash the firmware from the Bush PVR onto this box?

All we now is someone to have the balls, chance $99 and to give it a go! (and no, that won't be me)

Hi All,

I am planning to get a HD stb for my parents sony 21inch CRT. WHich one would you suggest. THe bush DFTA13HD is for $79 on the Saturday 11/4 Good guys "Saturday bargain hunt catelogue". I also notice the Topfield TF7000HD STB for 169 in their catelogue too(which was nearly 2yrs ago cost $599)..


ANy suggestions..

PS: How about bush and TOpfield TF7000 picture quality compare with LG6100LST STB. I connect LG 6100 LST with my 42inch pana plasma for nearly 2 1/2 years and the pq is awesome, however LG model is discontinued. SO far i never have had Picture freezing or any other issues with LG(except delay in changing channels)

yes i bought the bush dfta13hd but it stopped working. only installation screen and menu available. Once i auto or manual tune it takes me back to first time installation screen. green light on set top box goes on and off without control. remote works. Any help???

Big W have a Bush DFTA40HD HD STB for $98 this week.

I just bought one. Here are my impressions (before I box it up and get a refund):

*HD and SD pictures look fine. If this is your one and only requirement for a HD STB then this is a good buy.
*The unit features a prominent USB connector on the front. If you think that this is to play video, bad luck. It's for audio and jpegs. WHY WOULD YOU ADVERTISE A STB AS AN "MPEG4 STB", give it a USB port then not let it play MPEG4 video through the USB port???
*There is an EPG, but no easy way to get a simple channel list. This wouldn't be much of a problem, except...
*TV stations seem to be allocated a number based on the order in which the automatic search receives them. Which means there is no logical order to channel numbers (at least here in Newcastle). NBN (Channel 9) at channel 1? ONE HD at 807??? Huh. You could renumber, but...
*There is no way to renumber your channels. You can change the order of the channels, which is a laborious process of selecting a channel, then slotting it beside an existing channel number. You can't just type in "9" for channel 9, or 1 for One HD. It's idiocy.
*The remote is cheap and nasty.
*The on-screen menuing software is slow and clunky
*The unit takes ages to boot.
*(and it doesn't have a nice LCD clock/channel display in the front, which my old SD STB did and I have just come to expect).

But the pictures seemed nice. And they looked stable. And it was $98. I hope Big W accepts it back. I really don't want it.

thanks for that feedback, I was considering that one but won't bother now

Hey guys,

I bought one of the DFTA12HD's for $99 out of BigW nearly a year ago, has performed faultlessly all this time. I decided to have a look into th Screen burn protection on my 42 Samsung Plasma yesterday and let it run the test signal for four hours while we went out. Came back and it was as if someone had put an army of little people inside the screen and highly polished each individual cell LMAO...when I watched the F1 last night - what a transformation in image quality - cars looked amazing !!!

I purchased one of these boxes today. The remote had no batteries and had TIVAX written on it and not BUSH and by the look of the remote I am supposed to have with it in the instruction manual, my one is missing a lot of the buttons the BUSH one has. Like mentioned before, the channels dont read correct. Our win tv station actually advertises that they are on Channel 8 and GO is on 88. This box says channel 8 has no channel in it's memory. I have been to other people houses and you get to know where the channels are as they are all in the same spot, but this box is not the same as the others. The picture and sensitivity of the Box is great. Does not seem to get hot like some other brands.

Hi there, I have one of these units also with the same issue. I have called Bush support; one operator said she would send me the firmware update files (but void my warranty) and the next one said there was no firmware update available for this model.

Have you had any luck with Bush support ? Shame to throw this unit away after less than 1year .. no receipt, no warranty !
Pete

Same boat as you guys, failed after about 1 year, wont purchase this brand again....I do like how it says in the first page of the manual "designed to give you many years of trouble free service" YEAH RIGHT !!!!!