November 9th, 2010
Topfield Freeview Playback Recorder (TF5810 – 500GB Black)
- Topfield 5810 Freeview Playback receiver
- HDMI Upscaling to 1080i
- Twin Tuner PVR
- Massive 500GB HDD allows up to 250 hours of recording
- USB for fast file transfer
The Topfield TF5810 PVR is an incredibly specified personal video recorder featuring HDMI with HD upscaling of Freeview to 1080i, a huge 500gb hard disc, two digital tuners for simultaneous recording and viewing of multiple channels, support for Setanta Sports and file transfer to/from a PC via USB. Get the most from digital TV with this amazing “Toppy”.
Rating: 
(out of 28 reviews)
Price:
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505772 items found. Showing results 1 to 15 next page
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Review by pmov for Topfield Freeview Playback Recorder (TF5810 – 500GB Black)
Rating:
Big selling point on this box is a truly great picture (1080i video upscaling is very impressive) but, despite this, the Topfield is hard to love. Operationally the unit is fiddly, inconsistent and buggy. Manufacturer admitted to me some problems they know of (make sure you have firmware version 5.15.09+).
Cheap bargain-basement remote needs a complete redesign to lay buttons out logically and give prominence to often-used commands. The unit has a VERY bright blue display and power button light which, even when off and just showing the time, is almost but not quite as distracting as the annoying scrolling title display whenever you watch anything (which of course cannot be adjusted or disabled).
It seems to detect timer clashes well but I don’t trust it’s going to do what I tell it to do when presented with solutions. If you’re watching a recorded program and the second timer starts recording something, it switches the programme you’re watching off (without leaving a bookmark so you’re back at the beginning when you resume playback). And, as mentioned by other reviewers, I’d prefer a 430mm wide case to match other DVD players/hi-fi separates.
On top of this I’ve had problems with unit refusing to play some recorded programs, random resetting of aspect ratio to 4:3 (from 16:9), random deletion of series timers (making it difficult to trust the unit to record everything you want) which has made the whole owning experience so far something of an endurance test.
On the plus side people at Topfield are easy to communicate with and respond promptly. I’m about to reformat hard drive and install latest firmware. Wish me luck.
Review by Mr. P. Wood for Topfield Freeview Playback Recorder (TF5810 – 500GB Black)
Rating:
As far as I can tell the issues identified by other reviewers have been sorted. It’s easy to use, easy to upgrade and a pleasure to own.
A quick tip regarding the issue with not being able to turn off the box without losing a ongoing recording. You can simply set the timer to turn off the box automatically, just use 10 minutes. If the 10 minutes elapses and the recording hasn’t finished it simply waits until it has before turning off.
Review by DebbieG for Topfield Freeview Playback Recorder (TF5810 – 500GB Black)
Rating:
If i can i will start with a couple of small negatives. For me the back-light around the power button is too bright and focused making it distracting, especialy in low light. I live in a weak signal area for freeview no matter what transmitter i point the arial at but only 2 channels seem affected by this…ITV1 and CH4 give a jumpy but watchable picture all the rest are fine.
The good stuff: Lots of features, easy to use, looks good, i like the feel of the buttons on the remote control.
The USB transfer between the recorder and PC works a treat although to watch a programme on the PC takes 3rd party software as the recorder uses the “.REC” format, easily found by Google though.Still with USB…The firmware is easily updated too.
I WOULD recommend this to anyone that is thinking about going for freeview and/or needing to replace a worn out VHS machine.
I would have given it 4.5 stars but the rating wouldn’t let me.
Review by PJ Online for Topfield Freeview Playback Recorder (TF5810 – 500GB Black)
Rating:
UPDATE: I have now had a firmware update and loaded the new version of MyStuff. It’s now running smoothly and recording everything I need and some of the wife’s stuff ;) . I did have a slight problem in that the first unit failed after a year, but as it has a 2 year warranty it was replaced quickly and the new one is better. As for TiVo, it now controls and records from a Virgin Media box. Works well until someone knocks the IR blaster or the box decides to throw up a dialogue box that needs to be OK’d to remove. (Use Pace 20020 code to get Tivo to control the Cisco box)
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.
Review by Mrs. P. Rickard for Topfield Freeview Playback Recorder (TF5810 – 500GB Black)
Rating:
Recently received my 5810 from the helpful folks at Firebox and just in the process of returning the box.
I got it all set up with the standard firmware and HDMI connection to an 1080 HD screen. Digital TV never looked so good and standard EPG and recording all fine.
Having been through the basic set up I thought ‘time to do the really interesting stuff’; link up to the PC and download the MyStuff TAP. The box now hangs during its booting routine and goes no further! Topfield support say issues with latest MyStuff and 5810. Toppy.org.uk say MyStuff is tested as compatible with the 5810.
I will update this review once I get a clean box back from Firefox and try the MyStuff TAP again. Meanwhile, you have been warned!
UPDATE NOV 2010 – DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT
1. Remote is rubbish – cheap and you have to press too hard. The OK button has now stopped working rendering the box next to useless and I refuse to pay a further £30 for a replacement because…
2. Series recording is unreliable. This is the major big fault.
3. The standard system software is basic and clunky (eg. records every instance of a series on every channel, search facility is very limited, deleted watched recordings is painful, no search on recordings etc.)
4. The much vaunted TAPs that are ‘easy to add’ aren’t easy to add.
5. It’s too noisy for living room use.
I have now set up a cheap laptop (nice and quiet) under the a Samsung LCD screen with a keysonic RF keyboard, loaded Win 7 and a twin tuner, added an extra 320GB of USB storage, hooked up the aerial feed and am successfully using the rather wonderful and slick Windows Media Center for recorded and live TV. This is also giving me access to iPlayer, ITV Player etc, multi region DVD playback, iTunes and of course the InterWeb in general via a Wireless N network.
Keysonic ACK-540RF Wireless Mini Keyboard with Built in Touchpad
Hauppauge WinTV NOVA-TD Diversity Dual digital freview USB 2.0 TV tuner stick
Netgear Wireless-N 300 Router with DSL Modem
WD My Passport Essential schwarz 320GB, USB 3.0
Consign your PVR to the bin and get a laptop under your TV is my advice. Windows Media Center is finally delivering on the Topfield promise plus loads more.
I definitely got burned on this one. Snog, Marry, no… AVOID!