Tom Doyle :: TALK

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Well well well, finally UPC are starting to deal with the Dodgy box situation that has been rife in this country for the last few years. Rather than try offer a better service, they have gone after the dealers.

One dealer of the notorious Starview and Eurovox dodgy boxes is to be sued by UPC and Nagravision for importing and selling devices that allow consumers to access subscription content for free.

You can read the full article here > http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tv-firms-sue-man-for-836492m-over-no-fee-cable-1520096.html

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• Eurovox EX5000 PVR Review
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I got my hands on one of the new Eurovox PVR EX5000 to try out and so far I’m pretty impressed. (Thanks to the guys at EuroVox Ireland (www.eurovoxtvireland.com))

The Eurovox PVR is miles ahead of other alternative cable boxes such as the Starview. Not only is the EPG far superior, they just seem to have got the simple things right. Transitions between channel changes is smooth, the onscreen graphics are a lot less obtrusive and it has graphical indicators that make more sense than those on the Starview.

The Eurovox PVR EX5000 also has the brilliant feature - pausing live TV. No longer do you have to miss the important bits on your favourite show when you need to use the loo or make yourself a cup of tea. With one click of a button you can pause the show and revert to it when you have finished doing your bits.

The Eurovox PVR EX5000 also has a recording facility. You can use either the EPG or set a timer to record your favourite programs.

As far as I’m aware, the Eurovox PVR EX5000 doesn’t come with a built in hard drive. You have to buy a hard drive as an extra. Prices for the Eurovox PVR EX5000 start at €189 without a hard drive from eurovoxtvireland.com. With a hard drive, prices start from €250.

Oh and if you plan to use one of these illegally with one of our cable providers, beware that the PVR is for normal cable and the Eurovox TX is for MMDS.

If I had one problem with the Eurovox PVR EX5000 it’s that you can’t rewind TV. With the new NTL digibox PVR option, you can rewind the channel you have been currently viewing. I’ve found this to be extremely useful!

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For quite some time now, NTL/UPC have had a thorn stuck in their foot. That thorn is something commonly known as a “dodgy box” or the official name “starview box” / “The box”.

The dodgy box allows non technical home users hook on to a basic NTL / UPC analog line and receive digitial TV including fully subscription based channels - free of charge.

In fairness to NTL, they’ve tried everything they can to beat these boxes. From sending out sensational rumours (i.e. a rumour that viruses could be sent down the line to these boxes) to constantly disrupting the service by changing the encryption code. Although I’m sure it suceeded in removing the “plug n play” type users, who don’t understand why their TV doesn’t work when it’s unplugged, it certainly hasn’t deterred those who know what they are doing.

So how can they really beat these rogue thieves from stealing their service? Well I think it’s quite simple and they seem to be making a step towards this.

Personally, if I think a service is good enough, I don’t mind paying extra for value. Recently NTL/UPC sent me a letter stating that they were upgrading all digital customers in my area to facilitate the new services they have coming online. In cable forums across the UK and Ireland, the rumour is that they are doing this so that they can start using a new encyption that will make the majority of these dodgy boxes as useful as a doorstop.

In the letter they mentioned that they were offering a new “DVR service”. This is NTL/UPC’s attempt at competing against the might Sky’s - SKy Plus, that allows you to pause and record live TV. Unlike Sky, they were offering this new service at only €5 per month, with no charge for the upgraded device. I thought, why not? €5, it’s well worth it.

So it got me thinking of what else they could offer:

1. Improved DVR service
   Although the new service is much welcomed, it’s not a patch on Sky Plus. The interface is slow and doesn’t allow certain things like Sky Plus does.
2. More Channels
   I think they could easily offer more channels to their package. Just by adding free-to-air channels, surely there’s little if any cost for them to do this. They recently removed my beloved Scuzz music channel without any notice - this was a free to air channel, that I’m sure they weren’t paying for.
3. A True Digital Service
   It’s taken a while for NTL to offer even the basic pause live TV function, but some interactive functions would be really nice, like shopping online etc. Or even just the ability to “click the red button”
4. Interactive Gaming
   Not something I’d personally use that often, but a drawer none the less.
5. Cheaper Price
   Obviously I’m going to say this, but the price comparison between NTL/UPC and Sky is just non existent. Sky just offer a greater package, even though they are slightly more expensive. This could be a huge turning point for People to use NTL / UPC over Sky.

The DVR is a step in the right direction, but I know they could offer a lot more.

In fact, a quick review on the DVR system isn’t very impressive. It’s apparently a Thomson 6000 series device. The EPG is slow to load and quite finicky. Other pet hates are the fact that you can’t record from an external device, even though it allows you to channel it through it.

Anyway, I’m just giving out now

All in all - if there was an improved, value for money service on the table, I believe people wouldn’t be bothered trying to hack the network with these dodgy boxes.

Updating a starview box, if you don’t have any friends to do it, can cost anything from €10 - €50. Why would they bother with the constant updates when you have a cheap, better alternative?

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Ever since I posted a review on The Starview / The Box this site gets at least 300 unique visits a day for starview related queries.

Since I’m no expert on the subject, I avoid answering any questions and simply leave the comments to grow as long as there is nothing illegal going on.

One question that I’ve got a lot of personal emails on recently is how to get missing channels back on The Box. Apparently Channel 4 and Sky 1 have disappeared.

So if you are looking to get these channels back, you should check out David McGettigans Blog, in particular his post on the latest channel dump for Dublin - http://www.davidmcgettigan.com/?p=169

I hope this helps all those who have been in touch!

A few months ago, I wrote about these new Starview boxes that allow you to get access to all NTL digitals channels, with a basic NTL analogue connection (illegally of course). I did my own research at that stage and found that they worked a dream.

Since then, I’ve been keeping my eye on developments on this front, hoping that I am proven right that NTL will actually find a way to prevent this. So far, everything NTL do to counteract this has been simply a waste of time. The speed at which the developers of the software for these boxes can find a way around the changes is phenomenal, which causes a minimal distruption to service. I’m sure it would be a nightmare for most users of the box to find out ways to get round these changes, but for the technical savvy, it’s a simple task.

Anyway, a friend of mine purchased one of the new Starview box’s, now called TheBox or Starview 2. This guy is as technical as an apple and instead of trying to figure it out himself, took the easy option of calling on me. So, I went and had a look at TheBox for him.

Although it’s more expensive than the original Starview, it’s not much different at all. Specifications are exactly the same, even though it’s advertised as being an upgrade. Looking closely at the system, the only change really is the EPG (Electronic Programming Guide). In the past, when you scrolled thorough the channels to see what was on next, it would also change the channel. Very frustrating and quite useless! Now though, you can scroll through the channels to see what’s on, without changing channel. Another new addition is the time beside the info for each channel and it also shows what’s on next.

LEGAL NOTE:
It is illegal to receive subscription-based television airtime without paying for it. It is also illegal to connect this item to equipment that you do not own, without prior consent.