HD PVR woes continue
It is well known that MultiChoice’s new Pace HD PVR has been dogged with software problems and general bugs since its launch in August 2008. Many early adopters complained about the poor service quality, and even set up a WiKi (http://hd-pvr.pbwiki.com/) to track all the problems associated with the new decoder.
MultiChoice told users that they are well aware of the bugs, and released numerous software updates to try to resolve the long list of problems with their HD PVR. Unfortunately serious problems remain with these decoders.
According to the HD PVR WiKi: “There are many more issues that are not being logged due to frustration at the lack of progress as well as posts continually being deleted by the “moderators” on the DSTV forums. It is strongly recommended that you do not purchase this defective product.”
One MyBroadband journalist who recently took the plunge and invested in the new HD PVR and XtraView found out the hard way about the instability of the decoder. While the decoder worked perfectly when initially installed, the rather trivial dual view activation rendered the HD PVR decoder unusable.
The basic process of setting up and activating the XtraView service – a solution allowing you to link two XtraView capable DStv decoders – meant that the HD PVR went into a reboot loop without any solution. XtraView is a necessary addition to the HD PVR decoder if you want to enjoy dual-view functionality.
According to MultiChoice’s helpdesk the only solution to the rebooting problem is to bring the decoder into the MultiChoice service centre. They said it was just ‘unlucky’ that this problem occurred.
While many HD PVR users have reported improvements to the service since the software upgrades, complaints still abound – ranging from a lack of updates to the company’s poor feedback to HD PVR subscribers about service problems.
“Can someone at MultiChoice who does care about it’s paying customers please give us an update on what the latest status is with fixing the unstable and unreliable HD PVR,” one subscribers said in the DSTV forums recently. Other customers also gave MultiChoice the thumbs down on this product.
A demand for the older SD PVR decoders – which MultiChoice discontinued – has developed because of the continued problems with the HD PVRs.
It is however rumored that MultiChoice is planning to replace the current Pace HD PVR with another decoder which will enable dual view without the need to use XtraView or purchase another decoder.
It is not clear when this new high definition decoder will become available, but a source close to the company said that MultiChoice will first have to ‘get rid’ of the current Pace HD PVRs.
MultiChoice was not immediately available for comment.
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