How disappointing. Apparently I'm expected to leave my new Panasonic TV on
standby all night so thhat it can download the Guideplus EPG - in their
dreams!

Paul DS

--- from the Guideplus website ---

8 : Do I always have to leave the GUIDE PLUS+ unit on standby mode to
receive TV listing download from the Host Channel?

Yes. Since the GUIDE Plus+ system has to receive its downloads nightly using
the tuner in the GUIDE Plus+ unit, it is important that you leave your unit
in standby over night. Watching TV or recording has priority over the
downloading. So, if you leave the device on, the GUIDE Plus+ system will not
be able to receive data. Furthermore it is important that you do not
disconnect the GUIDE Plus+ unit from the power supply at all.

Paul D.Smith wrote:
How disappointing. Apparently I'm expected to leave my new Panasonic
TV on standby all night so thhat it can download the Guideplus EPG -
in their dreams!

Paul DS

--- from the Guideplus website ---

8 : Do I always have to leave the GUIDE PLUS+ unit on standby mode to
receive TV listing download from the Host Channel?

Yes. Since the GUIDE Plus+ system has to receive its downloads
nightly using the tuner in the GUIDE Plus+ unit, it is important that
you leave your unit in standby over night. Watching TV or recording
has priority over the downloading. So, if you leave the device on,
the GUIDE Plus+ system will not be able to receive data. Furthermore
it is important that you do not disconnect the GUIDE Plus+ unit from
the power supply at all.

We have two Philips DVD/HDD recorders that use the Guide Plus+ system and
the host channel is British Eurosport, Sky channel 410, so the Sky box is
left permanently switched on (not in standby but actually switched on) so
that it can feed the Guide Plus+ data to the recorders that are in standby
overnight.

"Paul D.Smith" wrote in message ...
How disappointing. Apparently I'm expected to leave my new Panasonic TV on standby all night so thhat it can download the
Guideplus EPG - in their dreams!

Paul DS

--- from the Guideplus website ---

8 : Do I always have to leave the GUIDE PLUS+ unit on standby mode to receive TV listing download from the Host Channel?

Yes. Since the GUIDE Plus+ system has to receive its downloads nightly using the tuner in the GUIDE Plus+ unit, it is important
that you leave your unit in standby over night. Watching TV or recording has priority over the downloading. So, if you leave the
device on, the GUIDE Plus+ system will not be able to receive data. Furthermore it is important that you do not disconnect the
GUIDE Plus+ unit from the power supply at all.

If the entire receiver / decoder combination is running, that's not what I call "Standby"

Sky are the worst for giving the impression to the user that a red light
means that the unit is consuming significantly less energy than the green light condition.

As a matter of interest, is your objection based on cost or fire-risk?


--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

As a matter of interest, is your objection based on cost or fire-risk?

Power saving/being green. I have some boxes which are on "standby" already
(PVR waiting to record) but I switch off wherever possible. Having a system
which requires me to watch one specific channel, and also leave the box on
overnight just doesn't sit right.

I suppose it's fine for Corrie fans but I couldn't tell you the last time I
watched something on ITV - no wait, tell a lie, I watched the footie on
Sunday. Do you reckon it will download enough EPG until next year's FA cup
fixtures ;-) ?

At least my Humax seems to download the EPG from a number of channels,
alebit some faster than others.

Oh, and do you know what the "Advertisements" on Guide plus are? I've
deliberately NOT set the postcode on mine because I'm damned if I want to
pay for a new TV, only to get lots of adverts.

Paul DS

"Paul D.Smith" wrote in message ...
As a matter of interest, is your objection based on cost or fire-risk?

Power saving/being green. I have some boxes which are on "standby" already (PVR waiting to record) but I switch off wherever
possible. Having a system which requires me to watch one specific channel, and also leave the box on overnight just doesn't sit
right.

I suppose it's fine for Corrie fans but I couldn't tell you the last time I watched something on ITV - no wait, tell a lie, I
watched the footie on Sunday. Do you reckon it will download enough EPG until next year's FA cup fixtures ;-) ?

At least my Humax seems to download the EPG from a number of channels, alebit some faster than others.

Oh, and do you know what the "Advertisements" on Guide plus are? I've deliberately NOT set the postcode on mine because I'm
damned if I want to pay for a new TV, only to get lots of adverts.

Looks like you have to pay extra for the adverts ;-)
My cheapo Vestel PVRs do not have the facility.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Power saving/being green.

OK, but check the actual power consumption when it's in standby. My new 46"
Sony has a miniscule 0.4W standby power, which is so small as to be
irrelevant and - in my view - completely ignorable. A quick check on the
calculator suggests that 19 hours on standby uses the same energy as just
over two minutes of watching. The case for switching it off at the mains is
extremely thin.

This is especially the case where people switch the telly (or PVR) on a few
minutes early, in order to populate the EPG.

SteveT

Two observations here. Firstly, considering this is not exactly a broad band
thing, and can take some time, then why does the system not allow the data
to be shared at low bit rate over all the channels output and download in
the background, and there you are?
Or, if they know when its going to be updated, then a system with a timer
that simply turns it on when needed and then goes back into proper standby
when its done.
The way its done from the description sounds like a bodge up to me.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Graham." wrote in message
...


"Paul D.Smith" wrote in message
...
How disappointing. Apparently I'm expected to leave my new Panasonic TV
on standby all night so thhat it can download the Guideplus EPG - in
their dreams!

Paul DS

--- from the Guideplus website ---

8 : Do I always have to leave the GUIDE PLUS+ unit on standby mode to
receive TV listing download from the Host Channel?

Yes. Since the GUIDE Plus+ system has to receive its downloads nightly
using the tuner in the GUIDE Plus+ unit, it is important that you leave
your unit in standby over night. Watching TV or recording has priority
over the downloading. So, if you leave the device on, the GUIDE Plus+
system will not be able to receive data. Furthermore it is important that
you do not disconnect the GUIDE Plus+ unit from the power supply at all.

If the entire receiver / decoder combination is running, that's not what I
call "Standby"

Sky are the worst for giving the impression to the user that a red light
means that the unit is consuming significantly less energy than the green
light condition.

As a matter of interest, is your objection based on cost or fire-risk?


--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
m...
Two observations here. Firstly, considering this is not exactly a broad
band thing, and can take some time, then why does the system not allow the
data to be shared at low bit rate over all the channels output and
download in the background, and there you are?
Or, if they know when its going to be updated, then a system with a timer
that simply turns it on when needed and then goes back into proper standby
when its done.
The way its done from the description sounds like a bodge up to me.

Simpler just to rely on the standard Freeview EPG which is continuously
updated from whichever multiplex the box is tuned to.

These extra EPGs originate from when the Freeview EPG was just now/next - I
don't see the sense in them now.

--
Max Demian

On 25 Jan, 20:50, "Brian Gaff" wrote:
Two observations here. Firstly, considering this is not exactly a broad band
thing, and can take some time, then why does the system not allow the data
to be shared at low bit rate over all the channels output and download in
the background, and there you are?
Or, if they know when its going to be updated, then a system with a timer
that simply turns it on when needed and then goes back into proper standby
when its done.
The *way its done from the description sounds like a bodge up to me.

The whole Guide-plus system is a bodge-up. Rather than being a useful
addition, it is a specific reason to avoid purchasing any device that
contains it. It purports to be an EPG like the usual Freeview or Sky+
EPGs, but it is no such thing. I have Guide-plus on a Philips HDD/DVD/
Freeview machine (thankfully I didn't spend any money on it). It has
the following interesting "design" features,

1. The program-listing for all of the digital channels is downloaded
from the ITV1 analog signal (which was switched off a year ago).

2. The download (which no longer occurs) only ever happened if the
machine was switched to standby by midnight and not switched on again
until 06:00. Any deviation from this would cause the download to
abort, but not before the previous download had been wiped out.

3. The set-up *insisted* on having a postcode, and the system would
not work without it, even though this is only used for adverts.

4. The EPG contained channels not available on Freeview and omitted
some channels that are available. I was told this was "by design" (a
strange choice of word). Since many of the easy-recording features
were accessed via the EPG, these features were not available for some
channels - it was also possible to request the system to record a
programme that the machine could not receive.

All-in-all a complete load of junk.

--
WH

Personally I will NOT under any circomstances buy any equipment which
uses Guide plus, and would warn anybody that if they buy Panasonic
equipment they will be stuck with Guide plus, advertising, clutterd
pages and all.
Many of the cheaper Vestel-made Freeview boxes automatically
downgraded to Guide plus some time ago. Each time I see one, I show
the customer carefully and without fail they ask for the normal
Freeview EPG to be restored, which you can do with these boxes,
fortunately.