UEC PVR or PACE?

R

rogerwe

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
639
Reaction score
19
Hi Guys,

So after trawling the DSTV forums I've summarized the pro's and cons of
the new UEC HD-PVR decoder:

Pros:
  • Boots faster
  • More responsive
  • Runs Cooler
  • Much better RF output

Cons:
  • Video stutter during initial playback after fast forwarding
  • More fan noise
  • Ugly

The "more responsive" and "better RF output" are big advantages in my
books (I have a small TV in the kitchen that runs on RF) but it comes at
the price of video stutter and fan noise.

You'd think they would have fixed the obvious problem of video stutter
problem after their extensive testing. Me thinks this problem is a
serious one that they can't fix.

So i'm sitting on the fence and I don't know which one to buy. Has
anybody else installed the UEC PVR yet and any more feedback to help me
make my decision.


What do you guys think?
 
I got the UEC PVR.

The slight video stutter is strange, it happens some times and doesn't happen other times but really it's not noticeable for me and Multichoice is aware of the problem and hopefully fixing it.
More fan noise which you can't even hear is because its keeping your PVR HDD cool, you don't want it to overheat and die :P

It's not actually ugly, I thought it looked siff when I saw it on the UEC website but it actually looks pretty nice and plain and it fits in with the DVD player, its slightly thinner and wider than the Pace PVR.
It must be better than the Pace PVR because Multichoice insisted I bought the Pace PVR lol. Also the UEC PVR has a S-Video out and a slightly faster processor.

At the end of the day its DSTV's crappy firmware that causes the problems :(
 
Last edited:
For what its worth, somebody responded with the dimensions of the UEC. I needed to know by how much I need to build my cupboard outwards.

UEC HD PVR Dimensions:
Width: 43 cm
Height: 5.6cm
Depth: 29cm

Pace HD PVR Dimensions:
Width: 38.8 cm
Height: 6cm
Depth: 26.5cm
 
The review you are talking about came from me, at the moment I'm still using my Pace as my main decoder but I think I'm going to switch & make more use of the UEC.
MC have said they are in the process of fixing the video stutter so once that is sorted I dont see any other major cons to it

Another pro is that is seems to handle HDCP issues better

As for dimensions remember to take into account the number of cables you will have going out of it
 
Last edited:
Smurfatefrog said:
MC have said they are in the process of fixing the video stutter so once that is sorted I dont see any other major cons to it

Another pro is that is seems to handle HDCP issues better

As for dimensions remember to take into account the number of cables you will have going out of it
Click to expand...

Great, thanks. I didn't know about the HDCP being better as well.

Good thinking, those HDMI monster cables also occupy alot of space.
 
Hi Guys,

For me the big issue is power consumption, which decoder consumes less. I also saw a post that the PACE model consumed the same amount of power in standby as in normal operation, has this been fixed with the Altech model?

Regards
 
Chances are the Altech model consumes the same if not more than the Pace model.
 
I have the UEC device. Did not want to buy an old unit. Here is my 2cents. It makes allot of noise only when the TV is off, seeing that the surround sound kills any other sounds.

The only problem other than the video stutter is bad image quality but I don't think it's device related and from what I can see on the forums it's just MC not broadcasting fps.

Problems(Software):
Scheduled recordings selected from the tv guide and not set up as time based recordings loses it names. Eventually you sit with "No Name" in your play list
I also had some scheduled recordings discarded after coming back from standby mode.

And I agree it's really not that ugly!!!
 
I am moving house on 1 Feb and need to get a new dish/decoder etc.. What type of dish you reckon would work best with the UEC pvr? I am down at the coast so I would guess the fibreglass one?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X