Sonicview SV-360 Elite-dual tuner pvr/multimedia system

[arboristman]

CP
Sonicview SV-360 Elite-dual tuner pvr/multimedia system
STANDARD DEFINITION


SONICVIEWUSA just released their newest STB in the 360 series, the SONICVIEW SV-360 Elite Dual Tuner. Let me repeat again, yes is TRUE Dual (2) Tuner, this will allow you to view 2 different program on any different satellite/TP (not limited to same satellite and TP). Not just that, you can also View and record 2 different program/record 2 different program all at the sametime, and plus more.

Here is the bonus guyz, just got a message from SaCoDi "after reading the 360 Elite cpu services manual, 360 Elite capable to playback other video format with quick conversion (using small video converter sw) without have to pay extra buck to purchase other box can do particular the samething with only single tuner, we will keep you all update on the progress, btw we also working on this same feature on the HD8000 too."

Is this a big bonus or what guyz, the Sonicview boyz are just amazing, they're quietly working in the background, never promises but alway delivered the best.

Full Spec.

* DUAL (2) Tuners : Blind Scan Supported
Dual Recording & Playback Simultaneously
USB 2.0 Supported : 3 Embedded host ports
Time-Shift mode supported
Recording Capacity depending on External HDD Size
(80GB -> 40 Hours, 160GB-> 80Hours, 200GB-> 100Hours)
Powerful Trick Mode Supported.
Fully MPEG-2 & DVB-S Supported : STi 5100 MPEG Chip-Sets
32 Bit RISC CPU
64M Byte DDR SDRAM/4M Byte Flash
128K Bit EEPROM
PIG (Picture-In-Graphic) Available
PIP (Picture-in-Picture)
Component output (Y, Pb, Pr
USAL Supported
256 Colors & User Friendly GUI for Easy Control
The Fastest Booting & Scan Speed
Highly Speedy Channel Changing Time.
S/W Downloading with Serial Port / USB 2.0 Port
Digital Audio Output
Parental Lock Function using Master PIN Code
6000 Channel Programmable
100 Satellite Programmable
Background Graphic Display for Radio Program Channels
Easy-to-use User Interface
Various Aspect Ratio with4:3, Letter Box, Full Screen & 16:9
Highly Speedy Channel Changing Time : Less than 1 Sec.
Channel Sorting by FTA, CAS, Satellite, Alphabetic Order & Network
8 Favorite Channel List Group Programmable
Highly Speedy Channel Changing Time : Less than 1 Sec.
Close Caption Supported
Multi-Picture Flame Screen Available
14, 9,16 Flame Screen & Thumbnail View Selectable
Zoom In-Out Function for Watching Screen
Automatic NTSC / PAL Detection and Simple Video Converter (NTSC <->
PAL) In On-Screen Display Menu
Useful RCU Key-Functions for Channel Find, Edit and Signal Strength Display
1 Year Manufacture Warranty. Made in KOREA

end c/p
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these will be going for around $199.99 USD (at time of this post)
the lnb out ports read: 700ma

user reviews will be added shortly.

[RICKSBEACH]

This is a post from another fta site.

SV 360 Elite Review, Initial Impressions

I just returned from a vacation to the greater Los Angeles area where I had an opportunity to visit three different satellite stores (all are site sponsors on various forum sites). I wanted to see all of their operations first hand as some users on other forums have complained about alleged scamming and slow shipping from one of the vendors (NOT the site sponsor here on xxxxxx). Of the three shops (xxxxxxxxx), xxxxxxxx impressed me the most by their depth of knowledge, friendly staff, and extensive inventory. They were able to assist customers with not just receivers but dishes, motors, switches, LNBs and virtually anything related to FTA. Ken, the manager, allowed me to handle a production model of the new SV 360 Elite which I had commented on briefly in another thread while on the road (before the 360 was officially launched for public sale).

The SV 360 Elite has an attractive appearance with a sleek black translucent front panel that blends well with most contemporary LCD and plasma television sets. When power is turned on, the SonicView logo is illuminated with a back-lit neon-like blue lighting that reminded me of the back-lit logo on a Sony Vaio desktop computer or the logo on a Lenovo laptop. The SV-360 Elite is a true dual tuner receiver which means that you can watch one channel while recording another, regardless of which satellite or transponder those channels are located on. Previous “dual tuner” receivers allowed the viewing of one channel while recording another only if both channels were on the same bird or transponder.

The SV 360 Elite’s dual tuners require you to connect two separate RG6 LNB cables to the receiver in order for the dual tuner feature to work. True FTA is supported under the factory bin directly out of the box and because of its dual tuners, not only can you watch one channel while recording another, the PIP (picture-in-picture) is pretty impressive as well. The 360 Elite is an SD receiver and not HD as some users have assumed. There is an HD model of the 360 available but it is not the Elite. I believe the HD model is simply labeled SV 360HD. Based on photos, the HD model appears to be only a single tuner receiver and does not have the dual tuners featured in the 360 Elite.

This is the first receiver that I have seen with three (3) USB ports; two in the rear and one in the front. That greatly simplifies hooking up a hard drive for PVR, a second USB device for photo viewing (jpeg files) or music playback (MP3 files) while leaving the front USB port free for bin updates and other tasks. At the time I visited xxxxxxx, the SV 360 Elite was not yet released for sale and Ken, the manager, told me that the expected retail price of the unit would probably be around $220. SonicView has since launched the 360 Elite and xxxxxxxxxxxx is offering it for $199 which includes free shipping. It should be noted that their prices on all products are competitive with any other vendor and Ken said that he would match any price if it was from a factory authorized dealer and the dealer actually had product in stock.

Members are cautioned about prices quoted by some fleabay vendors who often quote a low price but tack on an outrageous “shipping and handling charge” to make up the difference.

[arboristman]

c/p

SV-360 Elite Doesn't act like a beta!
Got it today and it loaded like a charm. It's my first experience with a dual tuner box, but that went very easy too. Setup and scanned sats on both tuners in short order, hooked up my WD MyBook 500GB usb HDD, formated it to fat32 on the box, went into the epg and scheduled my first recording there. It kicked off just like you would expect and I was able to go to another channel on the 2nd tuner and watch tv!

I'm now playing back the movie that I recorded and it looks great.

You can manually enable/disable timeshift by pressing the red button on the remote, and it works as advertised.

Team Sonicview hit a homer with this box!!!

My VS9000HD has been in beta for something like 7 months and it doesn't work this well!!!

..................

Press pip to bring up the other tuner in the pip window, now press the button located two buttons over to the right that has a square on it with a little square in the top right and an arrow (this is the button for switching to the other tuner by expanding that window). You are now viewing the other tuner which can be identified by the tuner icon in the info bar (first icon from left and will show either T1 or T2). You can now change channels on that tuner.

.............

I have 2 separate runs coming into the box. If you get one, you will notice during your antenna setup that you do a setup for tuner1 and tuner2. One of the options to select is if you have a separate line in, or if you are using loop out. It's actually coded into the bin.

Also, if you're watching one channel and decide to change channels, say to 200, when you press 2, it comes up with 2 entries for 200, one for tuner1 and one for tuner2. Kinda cool.

I also just verified that it also works with my WD Passport 250 GB USB HDD, which is usb powered. Neither my VS9000 or SV8000 would do that.

[arboristman]

found some pics:

[arboristman]

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[arboristman]

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[mrfusion]

Like a kid at a candy store, I opened up my SonicView 360 and plugged it in to my 2 lines. The SV360 was the last piece of my home entertainment puzzle (until the 360 HD comes out). I am converting to satellite from Shaw Cable, where I had a Motorola 6412 Dual Tuner HD PVR.

At first glance, the 360 was going to do what my 6412 did, with the exception of not having HD. However, upon closer examination, it does seem to do the following:

1. Allow me to record a TV series. With my 6412 I could highlight a program in my EPG, press record, and then tell it to record all new episodes (or repeats). With the 360, I have "VCR" functionality, where I can select the channel and time of day to record. It's a step back from my 6412, but better than manually selecting programs to record.

2. Abstract the details of Tuners. Personally, I want to be able to simply record something and not care whether it's Tuner 1 or Tuner 2. With the 360 I have to watch with Tuner I record shows onto and if I'm watching Tuner 2 and a recording happens, I have to switch to Tuner 1. I didn't have to do this with the 6412.

3. Effortlessly record. If one of the Tuners is recording, and I'm in the menus, looking into the EPG, and doing other tasks that take cpu cycles, it takes away from my recording. I went to watch a recording and there were continuous segments of poor quality audio and pixelation.

I've come to the conclusion that the 360 "does the job" but it doesn't do it as well as other products available from my cable provider and Bell. Am I going to abort satellite just because receiver isn't as "slick"? Hell no. I'm writing this so that people who are like me, and are considering a move to FTA Receivers w/PVR, know what the differences are.

I can set my parents up with a Motorola 6412. I wouldn't consider setting them up with a 360 -- the PVR functions are much less user friendly in comparison. In the week ahead, I'll see if my kids (5, 8, 9, and 10) can figure it out.

--mrfusion

[haddad287]

360 Elite PVR


First Impression
As soon as I open the box I saw a box that is nice looking, black, and looks good just by looking at it. You really dont get that with every box, I mean who would open a box and look at the reciver and KNOW that its good? Thats how it is. And when you turn it on it is even looks better with the word SONICVIEW at the top right cornor lighted in bright blue.

Setup
The setup was pretty cool and easy, all I had to do is go into the menu then Installation and Dish Settings and everything is there for you!, and it scans a full satellite (ie. Nimiq 1) in under 3 minutes. And that is the power of scanning of the sv360. And after I scanned all of my sats, I want into Channel Edit and that feature is also cool, with a 1 hit button delete, move, and rename. I got my full setup (scanniing, rename, fav's, moving) in under 20 minutes.

Remote
This is waht really surprised me, the remote is a nice looking remote and very cool button texutres. And the thing that surprised me was how strong the remote is in changing and actavating the sv360, I mean I can be more than 5-10 meters away and have the remote poinng the opposite of where the reciver is, press buttons and it still is working even though the remote is far away, and mean and from now on you dont need to worry on pointing exactly at the reciver, point anywhere you want!

Other Features
What is the work in Sonicview 360 Elite PVR that stands out, of course! Its PVR. And that feature is really cool, I can record, fast foward, rewind, pause, stop and play wheneevr I want, and the most coolest function of the PVR is te recording and playback. I and record as much as my flash drive/harddrive can hold, and then I can plug it in my cpu convert the file into MPEG and watch it on my cpu. The Quality is perfect! its like watching in HD almost, I mean come on? what other tv or cable box and record and then watch on your computer?

Overall
Overall, I think this is the best box I have tested so far, there may be other boxes for me to test, and I will get to it in the future. I say only one thing and that is thank you Team Sonicview! Your the best!