Visionsat IV-200 PVR Plus reviews

[grasshopper]

I’ve been testing this unit for three days now and it works as good as my Coolsat 7000 PVR. The only different is it’s cheaper than Coolsat 7000 by 30 to 40 dollars. You will get more bang for your bucks with this unit.

All the features on this recever is the same as Coolsat 7000 PVR, like Flashing it by USB Memory stick, time shift recording, pause Live TV… This unit are also supporting by NORW (Coolsat’s Coders). I guarantee you won’t be disappointed , whether you’re a Pro or just a Newbie.

This is what I like about this receiver, after you flash your receiver with the latest bin. Go to Dish setting and hit the Red Button, it automatically detects how many sats you have and then sets it up for you. After it’s done with dish setting, it will automatically scan all the sats that you have. Remember, you don’t have to be a Pro to use this unit, it’ll save you a lot of headaches by not having to go through the Dish Settings like other receivers. Autoroll for DN & BEV within seconds.

I’m very impressed with the picture quality & sharpness, it’s as good as Coolsat 7000 PVR. They’re both equal in picture quality… To be honest with you, I can’t really tell the difference between these two receivers. The Remote Control is small and very nice, it fits right into your palm and all the buttons are right by your thumb.

Go here for the Specs of this receiver:

http://www.abadss.com/forum/ivisions...html#post91977

You can compare Two latest bins from Norw:

They are all same features...

http://www.abadss.com/forum/ivisions...04-2007-a.html
http://www.abadss.com/forum/coolsat-...04-2007-a.html

Please go here for the receiver’s guide and files:

http://www.abadss.com/forum/ivisions...-pvr-plus.html


Once again, I highly recommend this receiver for all Newbies and members that need to upgrade their receivers.

One stop for all your needs at Coolsat | Viewsat | Sonicview

Thanks to ABAdss, Site Sponsor, Mods, Site Helpers and all the members here for supporting and having faith in me.

Grasshopper

[carpenter1]

Have to agree with you and the auto setup for the antenna settings makes the beginner an expert. They don't need to know what type of LNB or dish they have because the receiver will scan and setup all.

Here is a C/P

Welcome everyone. Isn't this exciting? A USB PVR with all of the features we need including a great price!

The Visionsat IV-200 hits the market at a great time. With so many new USB PVR units debuting, Visionsat finds its place as one quality and well priced STB with easy to follow menus and setup. The Visionsat IV-200 is very similar to the coolsat 7000 having many menu options and functions alike.



Satellite Setup

When you select dish setup from the installation menu, you have every option needed to set up your satellites. First select the satellite [screenshot], then edit your settings for lnb type, lnb frequency and diseqc. Pressing ok on your remote control brings down a drop menu. You can also manually input the frequency for your lnb if you do not see it in the list. Truly a simple setup screen having everything right there. From the very same screen, you can select channel search at the bottom....

Channel search

Channel searching is another very user-friendly process in the Visionsat IV-200. If you have selected channel search from the dish setup menu you are taken to a screen [screenshot] where you may select the type of search you would like to do. By first selecting the search mode, you may choose from auto, manual, blind or advanced. Now slide down to search type where you may choose from FTA channels, All channels or TV only. Now just decide whether you would like network search on or off and press ok at start search. You are now scanning [screenshot]. If before you scan you think you need to check on the settings once more, you may select dish setting from this menu and check or change any settings. We have included a few sample screenshots here of the scanning process.

Once you've scanned in your channels, Visionsat has a great channel list manager. Easily manage your channels.

Motor setup

Visionsat does have a nice motor setup menu and it functions well. You can choose from 1.2 or usals. Inputting your lat and long is easy to follow and for those of us that use this function, motors that is, it is so nice to see this simple setup and have it function well.

A few onScreen options...

You can easily access the PIP display by pressing the Blue button on your remote. It has a nice little print of 4 boxes on it, so it is easy to identify. You can also adjust audio and video from the on-screen-display. We have uploaded several screenshots of options in the Visionsat IV-200. Please be sure to visit the gallery to see them all.

Updating Firmware

From the factory the USB port is accessible and usable. With your unit off simply insert the USB stick or attach your USB supported HDD and then turn the unit on. If new firmware is present on the drive, the Visionsat sees the firmware and displays a message. [screenshot] asking you if you wish to update the firmware. Press the ok button on your remote and you are updating. [screenshot] The entire process only takes seconds. We'll cover the USB formatting process a bit further on in the review, we just had to let you know how fast and simple it is to update channels or Firmware in the Visionsat.

Recording

Recording with the visionsatIV-200 is also a user-friendly procedure. All you do is press the record button on the remote and you are recording. You can stop the recording anytime by pressing the stop button on your remote. You can also reserve a recording by pressing the record button while in the epg. A nice feature I might add. Play back is also rather simple. By pressing the playback button on your remote, the screen appears showing you all of the recordings on your device as seen here. Navigate through the list and select the recording you would like to view and you are watching your recorded program. Thats it... very fast and simple. Play back quality is very good!

Hard Drive formatting.

For our testing, we used a usb stick of 256 mbs and a Western Digital 100 gig external hard drive. Both formatted and both used the same procedure. When you begin with a new drive.... After you have attached your device, navigate to the utilities menu and select Format USB. Once selected you will be prompted with a menu warning you that all data will be lost. Select ok on your remote and the format begins. When complete you will see the format complete message. If you are formatting on your computer prior to attaching your device, the format is fat32. The Visionsat will easily format for you, so you probably can save the time and just let the Visionsat do the formatting.

Summary

To summ it up on the Visionsat IV-200.... The IV-200 is a nice well rounded STB that offers plenty of options. Easy user-friendly recording and playback, Crisp OSD, a nice EPG, a built in card reader. and a good price to boot! The Visionsat IV-200 offers everything you would expect from a USB PVR. Hmmm good functionality and a good price.. what would you say!

Visionsat Company website http://www.inteltechnologyinc.com

[grasshopper]

Thanks for the input Carp. I think this unit is one of the best in the market right now and it is very easy to use. one touch setup, I like this feature.

GH

[woodcreeker]

The one touch setup feature sounds great. Someone still has to initially set up the dishes, though. I wonder how well this would work doing an auto-setup with a motorized dish setup? Maybe if it can retrieve the positionings, which it would have to be diseqc 2.3 receiver or a usals 2. Plus the motor would have to be usals 2 or diseqc 2.3 I guess I am getting up a generation there. It has to be a 1.3 or usals receiver so it will not be able to do this. Oh well !?

I can see this receiver does what everyone should always do when upgrading their receivers. It performs a factory reset, meaning it deletes the antenna settings and the entire channel list before the bin upgrade.

Will give lots of people more enjoyment and a lot less programming problems!

Sounds like a slick unit, there, guys, I may have to get one and check it out!

Nice Thread Grasshopper !!

[carpenter1]

It doesn't work for Motors because it only scans the diseq. switches and the LNB's but will not activate the motor because it would take all day searching all the satellites. If someone has installed a Motor then they know how to setup their own settings and it will be a lot faster. This auto setup is only for stationary dishes with switches and bells and whistles but not for Motor use.

[arboristman]

it has the new virgoSE chip like the pansat 250sm will have.
see runs pretty smooth hey GH?

[arboristman]

this is a sister/sub co. of coolsat i take it?

[carpenter1]

I'm not 100% sure about that but I know the the same coders release them for both.

[grasshopper]

Coolsat and visionsat are the same family. one guy own Coolsat and the Cousin own Visionsat

[arboristman]

thanx,that what i figured.

[No_PaRoLe]

Visionsat IV-200 PVR Plus

• Features
• USB 2.0 Host Support(MP3 Player & JPEG Viewer)
• MPEG-II Digital & Fully DVB Compliant
• Blind Scan
• Multi-LNB Controlled by DiSEqC Control Version 1.0, 1.2 and USALS
• Multi-Satellite Search
• Support 9-Day EPG
• On-Screen Display with 16 bit Color Full Resolution
• Favorite Channel Groups
• Powerful Channel Control by Favorites, Lock, Skip, Move and Delete
• Channel Sorting by Alphabet, Transponder and CAS
• Multi-language Supported (OSD & Menu)
• Closed Caption Support (OSD and VBI Insertion)
• Maximum 5,000 Channels Programmable
• Multi-picture Display
• Zoom Function in Pause
• Parental Lock / Receiver Lock
• CVBS Video & Audio Output via RCA
• Component Y/Pb/Pr Output via RCA
• S-VHS Video Output
• Optical & Coaxial Output for Digital Audio
• Software & Channel Database Upgrade via RS-232 & USB
• Universal Remote Control
• Smart Card Reader (Option)

Visionsat IV-200 PVR Plus
The Visionsat IV-200 PVR is a low cost PVR solution for the FTA market. This unit has fully functioning recording for a low price. Over the years the cost of FTA units have been decreasing yet the quality and the functionality of these machines are steadily improving. The IV-200 is not the only PVR option on the market but it maybe to the most cost efficient.
Let us take a look at some of the features…..

EPG



The electronic programming guide is probably one of the most important features of any STB. The EPG provides the ease of allowing you to scroll and view channels without just flipping blindly. The Visionsat IV-200 PVR Plus, like many other FTA units, has a fully functional guide. The guide allows for full screen view of you programming while scrolling thru the guide. The transparency is set enough in which you can view the guide and continue to view your programming. A wonderful feature of the EPG is the ability to view programming for the next day by one click of a button instead of scrolling thru the entire programming for that day. When viewing a particular channel in the EPG you can also press the EPG button again and it will lay out the entire schedule for that channel for the next few hours. This is really great when a particular program plays the entire day and you are looking to a particular time to view or record this programming. Since this is a PVR unit, it is great that you have the ability to record right from the EPG. You can find a particular program that you want to record in the EPG, press on the button and this program is set to be recorded at that date and time. The duration is automatically set and nothing else is needed. The EPG has so many great features that it is difficult to praise them all in a short review. Another great feature is the ability to load the EPG for 3 or 9 days right from the guide. There is no need to go to any other menu options to do this. This option is right where it needs to be, in the EPG portion of the unit.

Audio/Picture Quality

The picture quality of these lower priced units are really shocking. You would think that you would lose quality when you a purchasing lower priced unit. The manufacturers are continuing to give you great wuality for a low price. This goes the same for the audio. Although on this particular unit my Dolby Digital is a lot lower than normal, the sound quality is still excellent.

Software/Features

I have never owned a PVR unit but I am impressed with what I am seeing from the Visionsat unit. I love the features. Let start with the ability of easily loading upgrades to the unit. Upgrading unit via the USB port will be the dominant form in the future. The IV-200 has the USB upgrade function. Simply stick in a USB thumb drive and select the software that you want to upgrade to. It is that simple. The unit reboots itself, do a factory reset it you wish and done. USB loading takes seconds instead of several minutes like loading via a serial cable.



Upgrading is not the only software feature that is impressive. The utilities menu also has various different options. When the USB or hard drive is inserted into the USB port you have the options of playing MP3’s. Now you have your own built-in MPS player. It does not stop there. You also have an image viewer. You can view different picture formats as a slideshow. This is great for birthday parties and special events at home.
The data transfer option under the utilities menu has everything you need in case you have multiple units. In this section you can transfer all system data to USB storage, transfer only the channels, or only the key data. Transferring only key date lets you take your USB device from unit to unit instead of entering long key strings in you other IV-200 receivers. Of course there is the ability to load all of the above from the USB storage device. Like other new units on the market, the unit has the ability to create your own channel list. Although I have not tested this option, you should be able to transfer the channels data to others units via the channel transfer options in the utilities.



The unit was very easy to setup. It was setup in a matter of minutes. As I said before you can literally load upgrade in second and the scanning is one of the fastest I have seen. From time of taking the unit out of the box, upgrading software and scanning, you can be watching TV in less than 10 -15 minutes. This is a great unit for the newest of users. Easy loading and easy setup are some of its main benefits.

PVR Features

As I stated earlier there are many great PVR option in the IV-200. You can record directly from the EPG without any effort. Just simply press one button while in the EPG and the unit will record that program at the designated time. The IV-200 also has the option of instant recording. Just like a VCR, press the record button and it starts. Another great feature is the instant playback capabilities. Instantly playback what you recorded or just wait later to view.

Hardware

Main Processor
Conexant Virgo(32-bit RISC CPU 180 MIPS) CX24302-13AZP -150Mhz
Memory
Flash-ROM : 2 MBytes
SDRAM : 32 MBytesAudio / Video & Data IN/OUT
CVBS Video Output (RCA)
S-VHS Video Output (Mini-DIN)
Y/Pb/Pr Video Output (RCA)
Audio L/R
RCA(Volume and Mute Control)
AC-3 Dolby Digital (RCA & Optical)
RS-232C
9 pin D-SUB (Male) type, Transfer rate 115Kbps
USB 2.0 Host Support
RF Modulator
RF Connector
IEC 169-24, Female
Frequency
CH 3 : 61.25MHz
CH 4 : 67.25MHz
Output Channel
CH 3 / CH 4
TV Standard
NTSC-M
Preset Channel

This is the first PVR unit that I have tested. I am very impressed with the wide range of features that this unit includes. Visionsat may not be a well known name in the industry but its product seems to be second to none. The OSD programming is excellent. It was done sparing no expense and attention to every detail. The price of this unit is extremely affordable at a cost of about $130.00. My only disappointment was that it only came with a 64mb USB adapter and that the ability to pause programming and resume where left off was a little tricky to figure out. You have to press the record button and then pause. This will enable the time-shifting feature. I would rather just press the pause button and have the unit automatically know that it is to begin recording and playback upon pressing the pause button again. This may be including in releases to come.
In my opinion this is a really great unit and for the price of $130.00, this is a great choice for a PVR unit.
__________________

[grasshopper]

Very good review No_PaRole, here is my review for this unit:
http://www.abadss.com/forum/582-rece...mpression.html

[No_PaRoLe]

This is a great review GH and Satbum was right on with what he said. I have posted my review and it seems that we are all on the same page. This is a great unit. You basically get the Coolsat 7000 and its support for far less...

[grasshopper]

Originally Posted by No_PaRoLe

This is a great review GH and Satbum was right on with what he said. I have posted my review and it seems that we are all on the same page. This is a great unit. You basically get the Coolsat 7000 and its support for far less...

Yup - it's very much the same as coolsat 7000. You'll love this one

[clamchowder]

I'll be using super dish 121 and dish pro 500 w/quad LNB. Can I use this receiver with the dishes that I have without going through all the troubles? Would you recommend aVisionsat – IV 200 PVR Plus for dummy like myself?

[grasshopper]

Originally Posted by clamchowder

I'll be using super dish 121 and dish pro 500 w/quad LNB. Can I use this receiver with the dishes that I have without going through all the troubles? Would you recommend aVisionsat – IV 200 PVR Plus for dummy like myself?

It has a Auto setup feature. one click, it will setup all your dish setting and scan everything for you. Yuo don't have to be a Pro to use this receiver. If you have any questions please post in the right forum and I will help you there.

Thanks

GH