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In some countries (your mileage may vary) there is an implied statutory warranty that the product will operate properly for the reasonable lifetime of the product. This is ADDITIONAL TO the express manufacturer's warranty. It doesn't cover wear and tear and obviously doesn't cover abuse either, but does mean the product must function properly and do what it is supposed to do. If it doesn't, you are entitled to a remedy: a refund, replacement, etc., to be mutually agreed between you and the seller.

Most consumers are ignorant of their statutory warranty rights, so when a manufacturer provides a 12 month warranty consumers think if it breaks a day after that they aren't covered. Not true, though they may have to approach the manufacturer directly instead of the retailer. Another is that when a manufacturer advertises "a lifetime warranty" you already have one by law anyway, so they are only telling you what they have to give you anyway. And finally it means that Extended Warranties are usually a complete waste of money: They are getting you to pay for a right you already have by law anyway.

Again, your mileage may vary. Talk to your local consumer affairs bureau to find your local rules. Be warned that retailers can be real pricks about warranties , and sometimes consumer affairs will need to come in with a baseball bat and remind them if your statutory rights. Manufacturers would prefer it if you didn't know any of this. Also sometimes a manufacturer will insist you pay for return shipping or drop off at your own expense. Check your local laws: they might be obliged to pick up the cost or do this for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code Implied Warranties US
http://www.apple.com/au/legal/statutory-warranty/ Statutory Warranties AU
http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=84941 Statutory Warranties AU
http://www.consumerlaw.gov.au/content/the_acl/downloads/consumer_guarantees_guide.pdf Most Recent Laws AU
http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/consumer/article/-/9803967/worthless-warranties/ Extended Warranty


One bonus tip for reading this far: Merchants often trick people into accepting warranties with clauses waiving your statutory rights, no returns signs and the like. It often works by dissuading from trying, but if it goes to a small claims court the judge will draw a big line through them.

This forum has a lot of information on the subject: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=32846

Whilst this is specifically about Australian DTV channels, I would expect the concepts would be the same for the US implementation.

The main things to note are that you need to have your Rabbit ears HORIZONTAL (or VERTICAL), but NOT in a V shape, and typically very short.

The PDF linked from this posting shows you how to set your rabbit ears up: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=70193

Where I live we are in "Band 5", and the total length of the antenna should be 215mm. I can't get my rabbit ears that short. They are about double that at their minimum. They do work, but when the 'loose it', the entire picture goes and it starts squeaking.

This forum has a lot of information on the subject: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=32846

Whilst this is specifically about Australian DTV channels, I would expect the concepts would be the same for the US implementation.

The main things to note are that you need to have your Rabbit ears HORIZONTAL (or VERTICAL), but NOT in a V shape, and typically very short.

The PDF linked from this posting shows you how to set your rabbit ears up: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=70193

Where I live we are in "Band 5", and the total length of the antenna should be 215mm. I can't get my rabbit ears that short. They are about double that at their minimum. They do work, but when the 'loose it', the entire picture goes and it starts squeaking.

Shoulda bought a Topfield (thought you got away from the Topfield fanboys by avoiding dtvforum.info, didn't you ;-)

- upgradeable HD (I've got a 250G in mine, others have done 400G+)
- full twin tuner (record 2 timers while playing back a recording)
- full 7-day EPG (not just "Now & Next") uploaded from PC
- USB port for downloading recordings to your PC - make DVDs with proper menus, directly from the digital stream, with no analogue loss.

Admittedly, they cost 5x as much as your Humax. But even the Humax 9000T can't do 2 & 3, and I'm not sure about 1 either.

"At 5400 rpm they'll be slow at recording"?

No, you're wrong.

Off the top of my head, I can name at least 2 SD DTV PVRs which use 5400RPM, ATA-33 drives - the Topfield 5x00 series, and the Humax Smart.

Note that both of these machines can simultaneously record 2 SD DTV streams while playing back a third from disc. That's 3 streams (2 write, 1 read) of ~6Mbps each, for a total of ~18Mbps. Or, roughly 2.5MBps (note "B", not "b").

Assuming a sustained transfer rate of 10MBps for a 5400RPM ATA-33 drive - which, honestly, is on the low side; it's more like 15~20MBps - that's still about 4 times faster than the ~2.5MBps you need for the above 3 video streams.

"At 5400 rpm they'll be slow at recording"?

No, you're wrong.

Off the top of my head, I can name at least 2 SD DTV PVRs which use 5400RPM, ATA-33 drives - the Topfield 5x00 series, and the Humax Smart.

Note that both of these machines can simultaneously record 2 SD DTV streams while playing back a third from disc. That's 3 streams (2 write, 1 read) of ~6Mbps each, for a total of ~18Mbps. Or, roughly 2.5MBps (note "B", not "b").

Assuming a sustained transfer rate of 10MBps for a 5400RPM ATA-33 drive - which, honestly, is on the low side; it's more like 15~20MBps - that's still about 4 times faster than the ~2.5MBps you need for the above 3 video streams.

Not all Toshiba's shipping products actually work - I purchased a J35 PVR and am having terrible troubles with it and I am not alone. Looks like their slipping.

For those not familiar with DVB, this is used in Europe for satellite and terrestrial TV transmission.

Currently in Australia all major tv channels transmit standard definition digital (576i) and some transmit some programs as HD. Unfortunately the recent England rugby tour isn't :)