Ferguson: FPVR1T

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Steve, Brentwood on January 26th, 2007
Well I am clutching at straws here looking for ideas to solve a problem. Thinking I needed a PVR I bought one just before Christmas a ‘refurbished’ (yes this may have been foolish) Ferguson FPVR1T. The retailer is reputable but the unit only had a thirty day warranty. Setting aside there was no literature or cables the unit worked for a week and then chose to ignore commands from the remote control. They are still not on speaking terms or communicating in anyway. Christmas used up the warranty and I seem to have just an expensive 80Gb hard drive as a spare for the computer unless anyone out there has a useful answer, source of spares, or circuit diagram. I know some will make the suggestion so I have changed the batteries; the remote is detected by learning remotes so it is transmitting something. Of course the receiver may want English but the remote maybe sending Double Dutch or gibberish if it’s defective but I need an alternative remote to find that out. As the manufacture has alas gone bust I’m looking for any constructive ideas. I am quite adept with a soldering iron avo scope or if necessary all else failing, sledgehammer.

just4funUK on January 20th, 2007
Have just got a Ferguson FPVR1T. Am made up with first impression's. Can only set 8 scheduled recordings. Have noticed there are updates to increase this. 1) How is this done? 2) Also are there any any disadvantages with the updates.

David Piggford, Swansea on July 23rd, 2006
just upgraded to version 1.9 of the software for Ferguson FPVR1T (access devices box) 32 recording slots? (used to be 8) rewind live tv, & subtitle recording... my missus will be well please as 8 slots wasn't ideal!!

Steve, S on July 23rd, 2006
Brill now with new software update can program up to 32 recording slots ..... and slo mo feature with playback, well worth the ££££££££

Nigel, Rowlands Castle on April 16th, 2006
Had a Digifusion 100 that was playing up and finally the power supply packed in so used an old power adapter that I found in the shed to get it going again but then the Digi box would show 'hold' on the display so took it back to Curry's and exchanged it for a Fergie FPVR1T. Now I find from digitalspy that the problem with the Digifusion was the power supply I used wasn't up to the job and had I contated Digifusion they would have sent me a new meatier one as it was a known problem! Doh! So, I have no longer got a twin tuner Digifusion box that would allow rewinding of live TV and would record 2 different digi chanals whilst playing back a previously recorded program - but instead I have a fergie FPVR1T that DOESN'T allow rewind of live TV and can only alow you to record the digi channel that you are watching. :-( The menu system of the fergie is fast and easy to use unlike some freeview boxes I have used (My old Thomson TUTV box was abysmal as pressing any function/text button took ages to respond and the program info was very rarely available). Pity about only having the one tuner. If ferguson can fix the rewind issue via a software update then I'd give this box 7/10. As it stands compared to the Digifusion, I can only give it 5/10

Shaztaz, Manchester on February 12th, 2006
This is more of a question - I had my old DAEWOO faulty set top box replaced by the FPVR1T recently - besides the problem with not being able to receive any ITV and Channel 4 channels (and I live 5 miles from Winter Hill!) which may mean getting a better aerial, I noticed today that some programmes had not recorded on the timer as programmed. Then I spotted the reason! The digital clock has gone back by one hour for no explainable reason - ie no power cut, rebooting etc - though this shouldn't alter anything as it's automatically set from installation. What I can't find any info on either in the set-up options, manual or online is how to reset the clock to the right time. I've tried everything like unplugging, disconnecting, rescanning. Can anyone help? Otherwise I haven't had any other problems. We'll see if reception of the missing channels improves with a new aerial. In comparison with the Bush PVR I bought before Xmas at the same price , the Ferguson is easier to use and at least it gives the correct programme details unlike the Bush freeview player/recorder. That always shows the previous programme's details - ie Emmerdale instead of Corrie! So I have 2 supposedly state of the art PVRs that both have their faults - if only I had just 1 perfect machine that functioned fully I'd be happy! (I ended up with 2 because I replaced the DAEWOO with the Bush one not realising I had it under extended warranty and could replace it for the same value as I paid for it 3 years ago - ie £100 as they were back then which got me the new 80gig Ferguson! Enough waffle - can anyone suggest what I can do? Just don't want to have to get the calculator out every time I programme the Fergie so the right programmes get recorded. Cheers all!

Jon Sharp, Cornwall on February 9th, 2006
I bought this unit to replace an old ondigtal phillips box and was initially impressed. However I am now having the problems other users have mentioned that sometimes you change the channel and it misses the picture but brings up the audio and displays it as an audio channel. This used to happen daily but now I find that the aerial amplifier I used to need with the old stb is no longer needed as the ferguson seems to work better with a weak signal and since I have removed this the problem only happens once a week. recording of programs is excellent quality and easily setup through the epg. I keep checking to see if ferguson have released a software upgrade to solve the problem with the blue screen/channel problem and if they did I would give this box 9/10

Jeremy, Bicester on January 30th, 2006
First one wouldn't record and picture showed wavy lines -straight back to Currys, no problem exchanging. Second one is excellent with very easy installation and faultless picture. Only noise is an occasional click when playing back a recording (which is so simple a moron would have trouble making a mistake). The recording list shows the name of the recored program so no more guessing which video has the program you wanted to watch. Single tuner is fine as I've got an IDTV so I record a Freeview channel with the Ferguson and watch another digital channel on the telly. Overall it makes my crappy old VHS look fit for the dump (which is where it's headed), is easy to use and with 40 hours of recording time is ample for my needs. 10/10

SPW, Aberystwyth on January 21st, 2006
Easy to tune, simple good quality recording. But seems to drop channels. Every time I move off c5 I need to do a full retune to get it back! Similar probles with several other channels.

Philiph, Hull on January 19th, 2006
Yes, very impressed for the price. Occasionally on surfing, it fails to render a picture, so you just get a blue screen, and have to tune in again. It's crashed once in Teletext mode in a fortnight which (I suppose) is a reasonable rate. Numerous favourites lists available, but each is restricted to 20 channels which seems a little daft. I've got around that by rearranging my 'core' list, and putting the rubbish to the back! I was impressed that you can rename the channels (so Sky Travel can become Sky Three without having to retune). It's a shame the modulator is missing, because many of these units will be expected to be strapped to older TVs in bedrooms etc which may not have a Scart. It means you can't pump TV round the house too easily too. The volume control DOES work. It doesn't control your TV, but controls the unit's volume. So you set the TV volume once, then use the receiver's volume from then on. Picture quality more than adequate for my needs. Seems quite sensitive to weaker signals too.

Simon, Essex, England on January 8th, 2006
I've had this box for a month now and in terms of features and ease of use it is superb. However, there are a few down-sides. Picture quality is noticably poorer than my old Pioneer DBR-TF100, it doesn't have an RF modulator (i.e. the coaxial output is just a through for the arial input - it doesn't contain the decoded digital channel), the remote cannot control your TV volume etc so you always need your TV remote handy too and it has a couple of annoying bugs: Occasionally it mistakes a TV channel for an audio only channel and just plays the audio with no picture. Putting the box in stand-by mode and then turning it on again (from the remote) always rectifies the problem. The other problem is more annoying. Occasionally it simply refuses to display top-up TV channels and to rectify this it is necessary to turn the box off and on at the mains. Fortunately doing so does not make the box lose your scheduled recordings or any other data but it is a complete pain as it happens at least once a week and I just know that one day I'm going to schedule a recording and all I'm going to get is a blank screen because I won't be there to turn the box off and on again. As it stands I would give this box 6/10. If Furguson fix the bugs it would get 8/10.

Andrew Holsgrove, Burnley on December 31st, 2005
Literally just got it home, but I'm very very impressed. Interactive works a treat, Recording seems good, only downside was hoping to have a buffer so I could rewind part of the programme, but apart from that it seems great. Very Impressed

Jim, Surrey Hills on December 19th, 2005
A first class single tuner machine, there is none better. No hard drive noise whatsover, either when recording or during playback. Impossible to tell the difference between 'live tv' and a 'recording'. It has a slot for TUTV. No noisy fan, because it doesn't have one, and the machine powers down in standby mode. I would consider this to be the best single tuner machine on ther market for design, build, and performance, and all this for £119. Made in the UK, this beats all the foreign competition by a mile. Forget all the others THIS IS THE BEST OF THE BEST.