Korea’s Topfield is arguably the top name in producing Digital (or Personal) Video Recorders (PVR). You may have heard of TiVo , Strong or a host of other names catering to the home entertainment sector but Topfield’s specs seem to outshine everything else available for the moment.

But is it easy to set up, easy to use for someone who’s a novice at Satellite TV reception?

We’ll give you a first-hand account of the latest Topfield model, the TF5500PVR, from the perspective of a newcomer.

Simply put, a Personal Video Recorder is the next step up from VCR and DVD recording.  When combined with digital reception and digital display it makes for a supreme home entertainment setup.

Advantages of HDD recording include instantaneous access to dozens of hours of recorded programs which can be easily organised.

Usually features like Picture-in-Picture, dual recording and simultaneous playback are also part of the PVR adventure.

The 5500 arrived with an S-Video cable, remote-control with two AAA batteries and a manual in German and English.  This particular model is the satellite receiver as opposed to the terrestrial version of the 5500.

The Topfield 5500 is a further refinement of the 5000 series.  Main difference between the two models is a better display with more information and Conax embedded.  Conax is not of much use here in Australia – perhaps more suited for Northern European users --and the better display is, of course, a subset of the on-screen display but nonetheless very handy to have.

As mentioned before, this review is written from the perspective of a newcomer to satellite reception.  There are an infinite number of potential users out there for whom satellite TV has been out of reach up till now.  With the push for digital TV from governments and digital broadcasters alike, and set-top boxes becoming increasingly more affordable, the satellite option has become very attractive.

We’ve chosen to approach this review not from the usual “techie” write-up, waxing eloquent about all the specs, but rather from a newbie background who wants to know how simple or complicated it all is.

So what else is needed to make things happen?

The satellite dish is the most obvious requirement.  They range in size from mobile dishes that you can take along in your motor home, to the mesh dishes, over 2 meters big.

I opted for a 85cm dish which should be plenty for domestic use.

We were lucky in that we've had satellite Internet connection before so the mounting mast and cabling were still there.

We chose the least expensive dish option, a simple, fixed dish (we might check out the sophisticated motorised setups later). This means that if you want to do the installation yourself you are going to be up for a lot of fiddling in getting the dish pointed at the right satellite.

First up, you need to know which satellite to go for.  I chose the Optus B3 which is located at 152 degrees East.  There are some handy utilities on various web sites that can translate this satellite position into an aiming point above the horizon.  You need to know your exact geographical position, best determined by the use of a GPS receiver.

The latitude and longitude of the dish’s position will then give you an elevation angle and azimuth (how many degrees off North).

This is pretty hard to do without the use of an electronic tuner.  So I called in the experts.

There’s no free lunch nor free “Free-to-Air” (FTA) when it comes to Satellite reception.

Let alone when you want to subscribe to FoxTel or any of the other services.

Most of the channels are encrypted, locked until authorized by the provider.

The Optus C1 bird carries the same four terrestrial stations that we can receive here in rural Western Australia. But these stations are encrypted too for some reason and to get access you need to buy a CAM smartcard.

The CI CAM, also known as a Common Interface Conditional Access Module, is actually a piece of hardware that slides into a CI slot in a digital satellite receiver. The Topfield has two of these slots. These modules cater to a variety of different type of encryption systems. Irdeto, CryptoWorks and ViAccess are such encryption systems. The Irdeto smart card can then be inserted into the Irdeto CI CAM.
The use of the Irdeto CI CAM with an Irdeto smartcard allows the user to view Irdeto encrypted channels, such as on the Optus C1 bird.

We tuned the dish to Optus C1, searched for channels but it needed a previously authorised Optus card.

We then aimed for the B3 which doesn't require a card.

Tuning is quite a simple affair with the right tools but it really pays to have this done by a professional.

I noticed also that the previously acquired channels from the C1 were still visible on the Browse List after we tuned to the B3.

You can, of course, delete them manually so that’s not a big deal.

The older Optus B3 satellite is not as powerful as the C1 but the acquisition level and quality we got was quite sufficient for an excellent reception.

Being a FTA satellite you may expect a menu of religious broadcasting and ethnic stations from mainly SE Asia and the Middle East. Who says religion and politics don’t mix? On the Optus B3 they certainly do!

Connecting it all up

There are several ways of connecting all the gear and the Topfield gives you the whole range. They include S-Video, Scart, RF and RCA plugs. Plus a USB2.0 and RS232 port.

And, of course, the connectors for the twin tuners.

The manual is reasonably well-written and quite an essential guide to knowing your system. I had to refer to it quite often which means that satellite TV reception is not quite an intuitive affair yet for the uninitiated.

Especially for those folks I would suggest that Topfield includes a glossary of terms and a section on “selling” the big features. In other words: tell prospective users what they can do with the unit before going into the nitty-gritty. The way it is now means that you might stumble upon a neat feature if you work your way through the whole manual. Most electronic manuals are like that, unfortunately, and with more features on every new model it becomes harder and harder for most consumers to get the most out of the box.

A Quick Start Guide would also be great.

Any new field that you begin to explore brings its own jargon and abbreviations – certainly in such a technological area as satellite TV reception and recording.

How about this little gem: “it supports DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and USALS(DiSEqC 1.3”? (that all has to do with commanding a motorised dish if you want to lock on to different satellites).

And there are the settings and frequencies to worry about. You’ll learn about LNBs, PiPs and PiGs. You’ll become familiar with Irdeto, Viaccess, Cryptoworks and other encryption acronyms. And that’s assuming you’ll know a thing or two about computer terms as well.

Daunting?

Perhaps. Unless you haul in a 12 year old expert from the street or get a professional to install, tune and set the scene for you.

But then again, learning new things is part of the fun and once you know how to pronounce things like DiSEqC 1.2, you’ll be considered a professional yourself!

One of the handier features on the Topfield 5500 is the ability to “rewind” the last few minutes of whatever you’re watching.

Press the Pause key when the phone rings and when you come back a few minutes later you will have missed nothing of the game! Time-shifting allows you to catch up.

So, in effect the system is always buffering the program you’re watching.

Did you miss that joke or comment? Just press the blue button and you’re going back by 10 sec increments.

The 5500 has dual recording (2 tuners) and you can playback when recording. That’s probably more than most people need but there may be occasions when several family members want to see different programs at the same time. And if you’re “lucky” enough to have access to 5000 channels, you’d be pleased to know the TF5500PVR can handle them all.

If ever you’d get bored flipping through the channels you might find some solace in playing any of the three games supplied: Pac Man, Bomb Hexa and ExBlock…

Picture-in Picture: sometimes it’s just nice to know when that program starts on that other channel without flipping back and forth through all the other stations. Just hide a small picture in any of the four corners and you won’t even notice it…

Bookmarks. Ah, I could write a whole chapter on the use of bookmarks.

If you record a lot it’s easy to lose track of where is what. Put a bookmark at the interesting sections to go back to later or at the beginning and end of the section you want to cut out and save. Or fast forward 30 secs at the time in the absence of bookmarks – handy to skip the commercials.

Electronic Programming Guide (EPG). Not all TV services have the list of their next programs available but it certainly is great to be able to know what’s going to be on in the next few hours (or days).

Firmware Upgrades. Even small MP3 players these days have the ability to upgrade their firmware when new features become available or when bugs need to be fixed. So also the 5500 (which, not surprisingly, can also play MP3s) can download upgrades from the www.i-topfield.com website or even OTA (Over-the-Air) via a couple of satellites.

TAP Applications. The manual is quiet about what exactly Topfield Application Programs are. But, in short, they are user-written programs for the Topfield range of receivers.                  

I have not experimented with these but there are quite a few aficionados out there who love this capability and make these programs available for all and sundry to download from Topfield’s site.

Aussie users should check: www.topfield-australia.com.au

I found the 5500 easy to work with. The Remote Control Unit (RCU) is well laid-out with good ergonomic design and buttons clearly marked. I never had to touch any of the buttons on the main unit.

Being a MIPS computer with a HDD recorder it takes a bit longer to start up that I would like: about 20 secs.

The 80GB disk with over 40 hours of recording is quite sufficient for now but when you realise how easy it is to record from two different channels, you’ll find the disk filling up fast. It is fairly easy to slide in a 160GB version though.

When recording I’d like to see the recording icon all the time. Sometimes, I wanted to switch the unit on and found it was still recording way past the program I had earmarked.

The 5000 series is chockfull with features. I’ve only highlighted a handful of the more interesting ones because otherwise I’d have to copy the manual.

I’ll probably discover more capabilities as I get more familiar with the box and that makes owning one of them fun. It’s doubtful you’ll outgrow these models quickly.

By the same token the absolute neophyte may be daunted by the steep learning curve.

If you can program your VCR clock you’ll be a good candidate to justify owning one of these top models. If technology baffles you, get a simpler setup (Topfield makes those too)  -- as you wouldn't use all of those advanced features.

My verdict: the Topfield TF5500PVR is a great satellite receiver which will open up a whole new world. Priced at around the USD880 mark (or just under EUR800) it’s not inexpensive but will provide plenty of value for money if you can handle all the advanced features.

TF5500PVR SUMMARY: Digital Satellite Receiver with Personal Video Recorder. Record over 40hrs on the 80gig HDD, twin tuners allow you to record one program while you watch another or record two programs simultaneously, picture in picture, MP3 Jukebox player, Slide show viewer, connect to your PC via USB 2.0 Port.

·                                 MPEG-2 digital and fully DVB compliant

·                                 2 tuners

·                                 SCPC and MCPC receivable from C/Ku band satellites

·                                 Capable of setting the frequency for SMATV system

·                                 5000 channels TV & radio programmable

·                                 Channel switching time less than 1 second

·                                 Favourite channel list editing

·                                 True-colour On-Screen Display (OSD)

·                                 Full Picture In Graphic (PIG) Function

·                                 Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for on screen channel information

·                                 Subtitle supported

·                                 Teletext supported by VBI insertion and software emulation

·                                 Parental lock facility by channel and program event

·                                 Program and channel information transfer from receiver to receiver

·                                 Firmware upgrade Over-The-Air

·                                 Exciting games embedded

·                                 S/PDIF for digital audio or Dolby AC-3 bitstream output

·                                 Recording capacity:44 hours for 4Mbps stream with 80GB HDD

·                                 Powerful trick mode supported

·                                 Playback on selected region repeatedly

·                                 Capable of dual decoding

·                                 Capable of dual recording and playback

·                                 Capable of time-shifting & dual recording

·                                 MP3 Player (Upload MP3's via USB and play through your stereo)

·                                 USB 2.0 supported for fast PC interface