Coles have an MTV High Definition set top box with HDMI on sale for $49.00
12/03/2009 to 18/03/2009

http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/10729

Is this any good? All I want to use it for is to view HD channels on my analogue TV, seems like a good price but then again I'm totally new to the HDTV world. Any help would be cool.

You will have to take a look at the back of the STB. If it has a composite SD out port then you can view the HD channels on your analogue SD TV. It will just downscale the hd picture and output it through the sd output.

What's the MTV brand like? Rubbish or good?

$49 should be a hint.

The old adage, "You get what you pay for" is certainly very true in Hi Fi gear.

Before you give up on it if you think it's not working press with the "res" button and cycle through the different resolutions.

Too bad they didn't mention this in the troubleshooting section, and too bad nobody answers their 1300 support number as it's disconnected lol

Oh well, their loss, as I took mine back now and got a refund, because the menu wouldn't show up on my TV.

Just out of interest did the menu show up on the LED on the STB?

I went back to Coles and picked up the one I earlier returned. Read my other post , on the other thread about what happened

$49 is a bargain, i really want one, hope to connect to a high def monitor with the hdmi cable, do they come with hdmi cable and a vga port?

No HDMI cable comes with it. Vga port yes AFAIK. Not sure what a vga port is

Bought one tonight after seeing it in the catalogue and after connecting it to my old LG Plasma monitor it with a hdmi to dvi cable it worked brilliantly no hdcp problems. and after learning about the res button it works through the composite cables. Too bad it doesnt have an optical out,

They have been advertised at $109 since they first appeared on Coles shelves ,that price is about the average price of the cheapies other chain stores have been selling so $49 is a good price for a short time.

Very short time. It seems all Coles have sold out.

Last night I watched TV and had a really good experience, because the quality of all channels is like watching a DVD now. And I couldn't watch SBS or ABC before due to static and ghosting, but now they look like a DVD.

A great buy for $49. I just hope its got the legs to last at least 1 year.

Good point.

Can someone list all the channels I should have on my Favourite list that broadcast something different to each other at certain times?

So far I have:

SBS HD
7 HD Digital
Ten Digital
ABC2
ABC HDTV
NINE HD
ONE HD

Is there any other channel I need to add to that list to get different content to watch?

Thanks.

Got one today for the telly in the bedroom. Pretty good for the price. Some functions a bit fiddly (EPG), but overall it seems ok. One problem though, I can't get it to display the time correctly, there are only options for each state or none (which seems to be GMT), but no daylight saving or manual.

Mine displays the time, but one hour behind, e.g when its 6pm it shows 17:00 (5pm)

Yep, that's the problem, but can it be fixed or will it only be right during non daylight saving time?

If you find a fix, let me know please.

Out of that list i would say you are missing 7sd which has different shows to 7HD a couple of times a week.

Thanks

All three commercial channels have different programming on their SD and HD channels, though to be fair 9 do have very few differences as a rule and theirs tend to be in the wee hours. So both 7SD and 9SD probably ought to be there.

Also, if he's after all unique programming, then SBS2 is missing from his list as well.

Not much help for some I know but not all have sold out - the two Coles stores near me (SA - Newton and Firle) had quite a few each left this afternoon.

Coles at northlands (perth) have a heap for anyone looking.

looking for one in Melb? Any ideas anyone?

Yeah, saw some in my local Coles this morning. But they are now $69.

And which Coles would that be ? Thanks

I went to Noble Park Coles in VIC but they were $69 and only standard def.

The time on mine has been jumping ahead one hour, on several occasions. I would reset the time to QLD time, then press the epg button and after about 30 seconds it would advance the time by one hour. Sometimes it would advance after a couple of hours had passed. I phoned the Yale Prima number 1300 366 155 to see if they knew of this problem and was told that they did. I spoke to Sam who advised me that a firmware update would be available on a cd in a week or two and took my name and phone number and told me he would advise when the f/w is ready to be sent out. So anyone concerned about this time glitch should phone Yale Prima and also leave their name and number to be able to receive the update

I have found my unit generates quite a bit of heat when in standby. I have an AWA SD STB and a Fortec Star Ultra Satellite STB and both standby at about 1/3rd of the temperature of the MTV. At least it has a rocker switch on the back so that I can turn it off. Perhaps it is the voltage regulators? Anyone else noticed theirs gets hot?

Also when I was talking to Yale Prima about the time fault I asked if the timer settings could be modified to be able to set a duration for the timer event, although setting one timer to sleep every day at midnight seems to work.

Does this STB have a native passthrough video mode?

any else having volume issues ?

I have no other sd or hd boxes to compare against, but different channels seem to have wildly different audio volume levels. Is this a SD vs HD broadcast issue, an antenna reception issue, or an issue with the tuner itself ?

It doesn't help that the hugely long volume control via the remote is so slow to adjust the volume (on that hugely long volume slider).
It makes channel surfing rather hopeless and frustrating.

any info much appreciated.

edit: cheers for your comments pneu.
I forgot to add that I'm just using the rca/composite outputs.

I'm guessing the box doesn't compensate for the volume difference between MPEG and dolby digital audio tracks. I had a Topfield 7100 HDPVR and it had the same problem, volume levels were so out of whack between SD/HD channels it was intolerable so I got rid of it. Other HD boxes I've had did not suffer the problem. Looks like this box is off my list.

having trouble setting up my set top box
is there any special trick to it

Perhaps post #7 has the answer that you need?

were is the res button

I assume that it's on the remote somewhere. I don't have one of these boxes.

It's the small grey button on the lower LHS of the remote just above the red and the green buttons.

I got two of these last week for family members. Both are using RCA outputs. Volume does change slightly when changing channels but hardly enough to be noticeable (unless you're looking for it). I would try to exchange your box if you can.

But I also have a Topfield TF7100 and don't see volume changes with that either - have had many other issues but not that one.

Went into a local coles today, but I wasn't too sure if the set-top box was the MTV HD one as theres no mention of it on the box.

Just wondering if anyone out there could help me out if this actual one was the HD one.

The model number on the front of the box ended in "767"

Thanks in advance.

The HD STB sold in Coles near me is model MTV819. It has the words "HD Set Top Box" written prominently on 5 of its 6 sides.

It is model MTV 819 named HD set top box, I noticed coles has now priced them at $119 so you may have to wait a few months for them to be on special again if they ever have a bulk shipment , most likely if they have only a few left they will drop the price again to clear them. I have picked up a couple of HDD MTV 250H machines this way.

As to the time issue although I am in Qld I have set mine to NSW/ACT time zone marked +10 hrs and it has not advanced 1 hour for 4 days now, I have tried all the other T/Z's and they jump forward or backward by 1 hour almost instantly. still waiting patiently the f/w upgrade advice.

based in WA if that makes any difference.


I've noticed a few issues with time and the EPG:-

time - seems to hope about a bit

(brief #i# epg)
epg - quite often gets confused (esp when channel swapping) showing either the previous channel's now and next (or worse still a combination of the current and previously selected stations now and next) program listings.
epg - showing stupid times like 00:00 for both now and next program listings

(full epg via button)
I can't recall the full details but whenever I've tried to use it, I scroll across to the rhs for a particular channel and never seem to get a full listing for most channels (i.e. i can see what was on from the start of the day, but not that evening's programming schedule) [I have not described things very well but suffice to say the epg is not very helpful].

any news on firmware updates ?
how would these be applied ?
Digifusion via 4TV had a great system back in the UK (for the full 7day EPG and firmware updates).

My elderly friend bought one of these MTV819 units and has now asked me to help install it. I connected the the antenna socket on the lounge room wall to the STB and the 3 output RCA connectors (1 video and 2 audio) to the same connectors on the TV. Then switched on the STB and the TV.

I get a very lousy picture on the TV which appears to be the Menu but all pixelated, and with multiple overlaps and in very pale colour. I then noticed a small green light glowing on the RHS of the display on the STB. In tiny printed writing alongside the light it says: "ERROR".

The light is not mentioned in the User Manual, as far as I can see, and so I have no idea what the error might be. Can anyone tell me please?

I can't find a manufacture's phone number or web site either! Otherwise, I wouldn't be having to make this - my first post. Can anyone supply this information too?

I stepped on the remote and its irrepairable. Anybody know where to get a replacement?

You could either get a universal remote or order one from a Coles Supermarket