Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
 Rubbish product - avoid at all costs April 13, 2010
D. Beard (South Coast, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased a 5810 in Feb 09, with a view to eventually adding some of the TAPS offered on the Toppy website. I "upgraded" from a plain old VCR, so the improvement in picture quality and multi channel recording was greatly looked forward to and initially it didn't disappoint.
To say I'm disappointed now is an understatement. From day 1, the 5810 failed to record, or decided to apparently record a full programme for the timer to zip through at 4 times normal speed on replay and I only had 25% of the programme recorded. It also starts late and ends early, which can't be padded if it's a series (one-off programmes can be).
It's now taken to freezing constantly. Any attempt to access my recordings and play causes a freeze and the machine has to be hard booted. I've just disconnected it and reconnected my old Panasonic VCR.
Those users who like tinkering and adding their own TAPs software will no doubt decry my lack of ambition in using this product. Yes the remote is rubbish and the EPG is a disaster (white on grey - brilliant!). But why should I have to muck around with a consumer product and treat it like a PC - it's just supposed to record and let me watch the programmes - how difficult can that be?
I'll call the Topfield HD, but other posts about this product don't fill me with much confidence. In summary, this is a terrible product and should withdrawn from sale.
UPDATE: 01 May 10: PVR now back from Turbosat (Tech Dept), with a brand new hard drive as the old one had apparently expired. It remains to be seen if it lasts another 12 months
 Topfield Twin Tuner PVR April 4, 2010
Mr. Dave Rowson (Bristol, UK)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I bought the Topfield TF5810 PVR with twin tuners just over a month ago and am delighted with it.
Firstly, the unit is dead simple to use. I've recorded standard programmes, set series records, stared playing back recordings WHILST THEY'RE STILL RECORDING (to skip adverts). Everything works well and is simple to use. When I first set the box up, it found channels from two different transmitters. Using a link on the Topfield website, I found the channel numbers for the local transmitter and retuned the unit using just the channels for the strongest transmitter. As a result, I have removed the duplicate channels that I originally had.
Secondly, Topfield release an API to their products so that programmers can create add ons (TAPs) to improve or add additional features. The TF5810 works brilliantly out of the box, but adding the MyStuff TAP gives you greater control over a number of features. For example, I have set the unit to record an extra 5 minutes at the start of each recording and an extra 7 minutes at the end. I've also used the TAP to improve the appearance of the programme guides, change the time period which is shown on the EPG and to reprogram four of the buttons so that I can skip backwards 1 minute, backwards 30 seconds, forward 30 seconds and forward 1 minute using the coloured buttons (useful when skipping adverts).
Thirdly, the Topfield has a USB port on the back so that you can connect a computer and transfer recordings to/ from the unit using a standard PC. I've also used third-party software (Puppy and Guppy) so that I can connect to the unit using my Linux box.
The only problem I have had, which isn't specifically related to the Topfield unit, is that the Topfield, in common with most PVRs records programs using a REC format (MPEG2 with TS). I am struggling to convert existing recordings into this format so that I can copy programmes which I had already saved onto the Topfield. From various websites I've visited, this is a common problem and one which I should be able to overcome.
All in all, I highly recommend this product. If you just want to plug it in and go, it is simple and works well. If you are prepared to fiddle and install some of the extra features available through TAPs then the product is well above the competition.
 Very very good, but somtimes bad... March 14, 2010
PJ Online
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I got a Toppy because my much loved Tivo could only record the basic analogue channels (connecting a freeview box is asking for trouble!)
The good.
If you are PC literate, and by that I mean you understand software installation and configuration, then the Toppy is a dream come true. You can download TAPs (Topfield Application Programs) that extend the functionality of the box, especially the user interface. I run MyStuff which gives similar functionality to Tivo giving me the option to record everything that has a word or phrase in it, so "star t" would record Star Trek, Star trek the next generation, Star trek the movie etc no matter what the channel, time, day, date. I have loads of these set up to record and file Series into thier own folders and films into a film library. This means we hardly ever watch live TV and there is always something on Toppy that I, and even my wife!!! wish to watch.
It has a hugh 500Gb drive and will save more than you can possibly watch. We have problems keeping up and the day will come when we will have to delete older stuff we need to abandon.
Twin tuners allow you to record up to 2 programs at once and watch another on the same multiplex as one being recorded. Sounds complicated but is not likely to cause you a problem, especially if you have a freeview TV as you wouldn't turn Toppy on to watch live TV if it was recording 2 other channels... How often are there 3 things on at once that you want to watch???
Picture and sound quality are excellent. It renders a very good picture on our 42" plasma with great sound on the stereo speakers.
It's quite reliable (see The Bad below), it's basically a simple PC which runs its own operating system.
The bad.
The remote is pants! Throw it away and buy a Logitech Harmony Logitech Harmony 885 Advanced Universal Remote Control . This allows you to set up one remote for all your AV kit and label buttons that make sense. I have the 1000 and this allows simple 2 screen access to all functions (Transport and File Management). It also controls all your kit in a sensible way (Watch TV - turns on TV, Watch DVD - Turns on TV, sets it to DVD input, turns on DVD, turns on AV amp, you could even get it to open the DVD tray on start up! Same thing for listening to CD etc)
TAPS are written by enthusiasts. This is a great source of innovation and improvement, however, they can crash. MyStuff will run for months and then it will seize up. The team are working on it and may have fixed it when you read this review. If you are not technically minded, then this will be a hugh source of angst and pain for you. I hate it but can get around it. My wife would take the box back to the shop. What you need to realize is that this is not an appliance, but a configurable computer that allows you to view and record TV.
Conclusion.
Don't let the bad put you off, the TAPS will get better and more reliable making this PVR a great asset to anyone's home viewing. Eventually, all Freeview boxes will have the functionality of Toppy, much the same as the Americans have Tivo and the Brits are lumbered with an inferior Sky+. If you haven't used Tivo you probably think Sky+ is great, I've used both and Tivo beats it hands down... ask my wife.
Topfield TF5810 video recorder March 5, 2010
Beryl Lloyd
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
the topfield tf5810 is the best recorder of its type, it took me all of 15 minutes to set it up after receiving it from amazon,it it the easiest thing to to operate, my wife loves to record all her soaps, and with 500meg bites she will never ever fill the thing up,i am over the moon with it, my friend has a topfield tf5800 and he thinks thats great too.
Buyer Beware......Topfield junk February 1, 2010
Leatherhood (London UK)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read good reviews on the Topfield which inspired me to buy one some 18 months ago. I deeply regret it now. The last six months have been a nightmare with it. And despite contacting Topfield via their website, they never get back. When we a buy a product we expect it to work as it is described to do so. I came across a forum about Topfield PVR's were people with complaints can get it off their chest as to why their Topfield is malfunctioning. We should not have to resort to forums in an attempt to solve 'bugs' in a product that was released as a fully working order system. The amount of complaints I have come across from other's who have fallen foul of Topfield's dodgy product, is amazing. Topfield should be sued.
The remote buttons can often fail to activate the machine, even though the infra red light indicates that the remote signal is transmitting but not carrying out it's instruction. The 'OK' button is especially bad.
Error messages popping up on screen stating hard disk is full when it has only used up 20% space?
Recorded programmes freezing at any point that the only way out is to turn it off at the mains to reset.
Often cuts short the start or ending of most recordings.
Topfield claim it can record two channels while watching a third. Oh yeah, pull the other one, after a few months the machine often switches channels.
The list is endless but I am making this review now as to date my Topfield is only good enough as a freeview receiver as the hard drive appears to have gone. Despite deleting everything recorded and reformatting the drive, whatever I attempt to record can not be watched as it freezes up. You can hear the drive making a noise a few seconds before it freezes up.
I'm binning this peice of junk. I see Topfield have released a new model now costing around £700 advertising itself as the very latest, let's wait and see what reviews that gets down the line.
Buyer Beware!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
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