Xfactor - X1 review

[arboristman]

brand: Xfactor

model number: X1









the X1 is a standard definition unit.non dvr/ or regular unit like the viewsat ultra/sv 4k/iconS550/captain 7100 for example.

full specs are posted here:
http://www.abadss.com/forum/1014-xfa...-features.html


review:


This ones pretty decent.
though new to the market it still needs some tweaking.surprisingly they have it cleaned up and running fairly stable already.
pretty much the biggest bugs left is the extended epg doesn't fill very well.there is allot of blank spots and some ch's simply do not want to fill.
i believe at best only 12 hrs or perhaps a full day on some at this point.so not very impressive.
the other largest bug is very slow seeking through the guide.and some glitches between channel changes,and other pix issues.
it does have a nice menu system.and easy to update.
the hardware is impressive with a 216 mhz chip and a huge 128 mbs of ram.
with software tweaking,hopefully this one becomes a speed demon with full 9 day epg's.

probably at this point a great secondary unit.however it is stable enough to provide full time tv enjoyment as well.
keep your eyes on releases for software improvements.they seem to come quite regularly.
jpg viewer,but pretty much beta stage.
same with the mp3 player.
both work though,though you can tell beta stage for each.

overall,id still consider this one beta stage.but with only a few things cleaned up could be a very nice performer.

let's take a look at menu system and overall GUI(graphic user interface)


the main menu:






updates slick and easy via simple usb stick.a must have today for sure.if a unit doesn't come with this,you may as well keep on looking.





file list.here you can play your mp3s and pic viewer.
you need to select mp3's one at a time still and no slide show support for jpg yet.they work.but pretty basic still.but hey,some stbs for this price or even higher don't even have this support.silly in today's standards.these features are considered the norm today.so great to see xfactor has them.





few osd options:




basic parental lock:





it does have record timers,external dvr/dvd burning fans!!
and it does work good.
you can set them manually here.(in shot shown).
and you can set on the fly in epg mode as well.(not shown).however once set in the epg mode,there is no indicator mark,no check box or highlight to show the timer is there and has been set.but it will tune to channel on event start for your external recording device.big thumbs up there.

[arboristman]

tv settings:




motor setup:




has sort by sid options.as well as full ch name off/on:




easy sat setup and channel search options.good scan speeds as well:





this ones in fairly good shape now.keep watching this one for improvements.
i'l keep this updated as it progresses.as it seems to be quite often looking at release notes/dates.
for the same money,i can't really advise going with this one yet over say a cw 700 or captain 7100.
but wont be surprised that changes soon if this team keeps doing what they have been.
this ones a real beast.once they match the software to its hardware,this could totally blow the doors off some others.
we'll keep you guys posted. so be sure to check out the xfactor section regularly! and i'l update this to reflect any advancements.

if you already have a unit,don't hesitate to grab one of these and enjoy watching the progress being made as well.i have a feeling this could really end up being a top performer.keep your eyes on it!

[basscat02]

I found that a click on and off of the back switch starts the tv picture rolling, only way to stop it is to hold down the center button until it clears. It did this on the 2 tv's I tried it on.
Definitely needs work on EPG filling.
Picture with a-v connectors is pretty damm good.
Multiscan leaves some channels out that individual sat scan picks up.
Just started playing with it. Thanks Arb.. I will post results as well as I make my way through it

[arboristman]

yeah i noticed that with multiscan too.

another thing i forgot to mention,the favorites works good too.
its different,you need to go into favorites in the menu to rename them,but you need to edit/add the channels by pressing the ok button.

actually allot of options there when you press the ok button.

another nice feature i forget to mention is when you press info once,you can press the red button to search other channels whiles viewing.

it has a search channel keypad.but no search event keypad.

[arboristman]

oh yeah.i forgot i had more to go through here lol.so here we go,

the search for channel:



this one has a powerful zoom.you can zoom up to 16 X!




this is all ch 100!



info bar:


the info bar pressed twice:



here are all your option when you press OK while viewing full ch mode:



here's the EPG! i like the colors.i don't go crazy over yellow.but man in a epg its pretty cool.i like how sv has yellow also.
this looks nice on the black background.


epg with info pressed:




ok i think i got about everything.

i noticed in the release notes they said something about working on mpeg.but i put one on a stick and it didn't see it.so they must not be done with that.

also i see "logo" support.but there's no logo file released yet either.
channel logo's like captiveworks have i assume? or perhaps a user logo for background? not sure,so if we need some sort of "logo" maker.id like to know what it is lol.i tried all kinds of pic formats.but of course if it is a "logo" as in "user logo" for background pic,we dunno what the size,resolution, format or anything it needs to be yet either.
so more to come by the sounds of things.

you can tell it really could be a top contender once cleaned up.
nothing is known about this brand nor the coders lol so we will just have to wait and see.
but for a new unit,im liking what im seeing here.and can't wait for future fixes of things.

[X-2U]

Abortistman,
Thanks for this detailed and informative review. I appreciate you taking the time to get involved and familiar with the X1 and I don't want to take away from anything you've posted here. I simply want to clarify a few things about the X1 so users can get the most out of their X-Factor. I'm not an expert or a ego head, just a guy who works closely with these receivers.

I wanted to clear up a few simple facts and procedural challenges that you faced in your testing prior to and maybe even during, your review.

First, the logo file loading option via USB, is not for adding channel logos. It's for adding a custom logo file to the box that is displayed during the boot up process and it probably won't be available for much longer.
Also, the autoroll feature has been defaulted off, until recently, to conserve resources during times of heavy EMMs. On current BINs it has been defaulted to on.
Next, I noticed that you scanned using the Detailed option. This isn't necessary when you're just scanning DN or B3V. The preset scan is extremely fast and accurate.
Lastly, you said... "I found that a click on and off of the back switch starts the tv picture rolling, only way to stop it is to hold down the center button until it clears. It did this on the 2 tv's I tried it on" This generally happens with the factory file as the X1 scans for NTSC output. It shouldn't happen but once.

Thanks,
X-2U

[tomcat01]

excellent thanks you for the clarification on certain features and procedures to help others with there new x-factor . really think it has a good future too but as for fta i would like to see more on the motor settings the uscals is really a miss and the motor funtions should be more straight forward and when you go to run a satellite by itself it kept defaulting me back to all satellites and sometimes in the list did not even show the satellite that i had scanned .. but it was there in all sattellies all in all nice reciever and really have enjoyed testing it .. arb has covered most of the things and if you are in the know please stop by and keep us informed thanks for your input ..

tomcat01

[basscat02]

The zoom feature is great and you can imagine some of the reasons to use that feature..lol...Also the PIP feature is great, you get 9 screens and then you can rotate to another set of nine, good feature there.
Thanks X-2U for your clarifications. I am enjoying playing with the unit. I think it is worth repeating that the picture quality is outstanding.

[arboristman]

cool!
thanks X-2U,buddy.
ok it will be a custom background.that's cool.
yeah no hurry for that of course.the other tweaks,issues etc,are of course on the front burner im sure.good to know what it will be though.

pics do not reflect to much on how anything is done,detail scan etc,i think the creator of these pics was just showing different options/settings.

anyway,looking forward to future progress.it appears this one could really be quite the animal once worked over a bit more.
brand new unit looks really impressive thus far.tell all the boys involved to keep doing what their doing (constant progress in release notes) and there wont be any holding this girl back.

[X-2U]

Originally Posted by arboristman

cool!
thanks X-2U,buddy.
ok it will be a custom background.that's cool.
yeah no hurry for that of course.the other tweaks,issues etc,are of course on the front burner im sure.good to know what it will be though.

pics do not reflect to much on how anything is done,detail scan etc,i think the creator of these pics was just showing different options/settings.

anyway,looking forward to future progress.it appears this one could really be quite the animal once worked over a bit more.
brand new unit looks really impressive thus far.tell all the boys involved to keep doing what their doing (constant progress in release notes) and there wont be any holding this girl back.

Thanks so much for climbing on board the X-Factor band wagon as a serious tester. Too many free-tvers out there doing the bare minimum to watch tv. Its nice to know the mods at ABADSS are not afraid to get their hands dirty and the FTA community is better for it.

Keep up the good work and we will be here moving forward to provide the highest quality support and service in the industry.

Thanks again,
X-2U

[mountaineer]

The receiver does have a nice look to it, the choice between clock or channel in the display window, I don't think i've seen that before, nice.