I've been threatening to buy a PVR for the last 6 months, trouble was there was always something new around the corner. I started off planning to get the DigiFusion FVRT150, then moved to the Panasonic TU-CTH100 and then the Inverto IDL-7000T. Finally I found one that seemed to match my requirements - large hard drive, USB connection and the ability to upload custom applications - the Topfield TF5800 PVR.

I hadn't heard of Topfield before, but reading around they seemed to be very popular in Australia and Germany. The Toppy, as the Ozzies affectionatly call them, also has a good reputation for reliability. So I took the plunge, and £300 later I was the owner of the newly released box.

For those thinking looking around for a PVR, here's my opinion of it.

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Design
It's not what you'd call beautiful, but neither does it look out of place next to other AV equipment. It's not the 'standard' VCR size, so it may look a bit odd stacked, but as a stand-alone unit it's fine.

The front of the unit has a four character green LCD displaying the time when the box is on stand-by, the channel number if it is only receiving, EPG if it's displaying the Electronic Programme Guide, or RECO if it's recording. It would have been nice to have the clock in addition to normal display, having been used to a VCR clock displaying all the time, but it's no great loss.

Remote
Functional is probably the best way to describe it. The centre of the remote is taken up by four large cursor keys, but oddly you can't change channel or adjust the volume with them, you use much smaller dedicated buttons located under the cursor keys for this. My only criticism is that some of the keys are a bit fiddly to use, but you get used to them.

Noise
This was a big factor in deciding which PVR to go for. What drew me to the Topfield was that, unlike a number of other models, there is no fan. In standby the Toppy is completely silent, in normal viewing it is barely audible, and when recording there is the occasional sound of the disk, but nothing intrusive.

The only downside of the lack of fan is that the unit can get quite hot. I have mine on an open shelf, so there is plenty of ventilation. I certainly wouldn't recomment putting anything on top of it, especially in a closed cabinet.

Picture Quality
The picture quality is good, very good. The picture is very sharp, with no hint of artifacts or ghosting. I live in a fairly weak reception area and the Toppy has no problem picking up the signal. It seems to be at least as sensitive as my Daewoo SetPal Freeview box, and that had a very good reputation for picking up weak signals. Before I bought it I was a bit worried that the reception on the 2nd tuner would be weak, as it effectively splits the signal, but that hasn't been a problem.

Electronic Program Guide (EPG)
The TF5800 uses the 7 day Freeview EPG rather than the 14 day 4TV EPG used by other PVRs. This has the advantage that the information is always up to date, but the disadvantage that it has to load every time the box is brought out of standby.

There are two EPG views - a vertical single channel listing, and a horizontal four-channel version. Both show the channel you're watching in the top right quarter of the screenYou scroll around the EPG using the cursor buttons, and can set the unit to record directly from the EPG.

However, there is one major niggle with the EPG - when you move the cursor to a different channel, the channel you're viewing also changes, so it's not possible to browse what's coming up next without changing channel, or even browse the week's listings.

Recording/Timers
Recording the channel you're currently watching is as simple as pressing the record button. It would have been nice if it would check the EPG and record for the remainder of the programme, but instead it carries on for the default 2 hours (changable in the menu).

If you're watching a programme and halfway through realise you wished you'd recorded it, no problem, you can select 'current event' from the recording menu and it will automatically record what you've watched so far from the buffer, and carry on recording until the end of the show.

Timers can be set either from the EPG, or you can also set regular daily, weekly, weekday or weekend timers. The timer list displays all future recordings, but only lists them in date/time order. It would be nice to also have the option of ordering them by channel.

The Topfield can record two channels simultaneously, whilst allowing you to watch a previously recorded programme. Surprisingly, you can also watch a 3rd live channel, as long as it is being broadcast on the same MUX as one of the channels you're recording. I believe the ability to do this is unique amongst PVRs.

Playback
The file list displays all previously recorded programmes, and you simply scroll down and select the one you want to view. Skipping through recordings is a bit trickier than it should be, but will hopefully be resolved soon. The Topfield DVB PVRs sold in Australia and Germany have a bookmark feature, so if you only watch half a programme you can easily skip to where you left off. For some reason this was left off the UK version, but we're hoping Topfield will add it back in an OAD.

Chasing Play
The TF5800 is very versatile when it comes to chasing play. You can pause live TV and start it at any time and rewind live TV; with both of these you can easily jump straight back to 'live'. Additionally you can start watching a recording before it has finished. The only problem with this is that when the recording finishes, the playback jumps to the end, presumably so you can check whether you need to extend the recording. Imagine how annoying it would be if you were chasing play with a football match, and it jumped to the end if you found out the final score.

Connectivity/Extendibility
The Topfield can be connected to a PC via USB 2.0. I have mine connected with a 5m cable (the max length for USB is supposed to be 2.5m) without any problems. Recorded programmes can be transfered back to the PC for burning to DVD, and it also allows you to upload MP3s for playback. Transfer speed isn't great, about 2MB/second, but bear in mind that a half hour program is about 1GB.

The functionality of the TF5800 can also be extended by the use of 'TAPS', specially written programmes that are uploaded. Topfield publish the API so you can hook into the various functions. The potential for this is enormous, and there are a number of very extensive TAPS already in use in Australia and Germany that extend the functionality of the EPG or allow timers to be set over the internet.

Unfortunately Topfield changed the codes that the remote control sends to the unit, so the existing TAPS aren't yet compatible with the UK version. Hopefully this will be solved soon.

Conclusion
This is my first PVR, and it's one of those things you think, 'how did I get by without this?' Until you have one, you don't realise how useful it is to be able to, for example, pause live TV. The Topfield TF5800 PVR is around £50 more expensive than others on the market, so is it worth the difference? In my opinion yes. The USB connection and the larger hard drive alone justify the extra cost.

Yes there are niggles, such as the EPG changing the channel, but with the option of using TAPS these kind of problems can be fixed without waiting for a manufacturers update. The only glaring omission is bookmarks, but I'm sure these will be available soon.

I've been accused of only ever writing negative reviews on here, so this may come as a surprise - I highly recommend the Topfield TF5800 PVR. If, like me, you were holding back, waiting for the right model to come along, now is the time to jump in and get yourself a Toppy. £300 incredibly well spent.

**UPDATE 3 July 2006**
Anyone considering buying a Topfield from Superfi would be well advised to read this thread on the Toppy forums and then decide if they really want to buy from them. I recommend Turbosat.

**UPDATE 3 August 2005** - Now With DigiGuide Interface
Some of you may be aware of DigiGuide, the Windows-based TV guide with very powerful search functions. Well, there are now two ways to automatically export your markers from DigiGuide and load them as timers on your Toppy. This means you can now have proper series links, a la Sky+/Tivo, and have programmes automatically recorded that you didn't even know were on and would otherwise have missed! If that's not a reason to choose the Topfield over the competition, I don't know what is!!

**UPDATE 18 May 2005**
Now I've had the Topfield for getting on 6 weeks, I thought I'd give an update. Since I wrote the original review we've had a firmware update which has fixed a number of issues and introduced a couple of new features, namely bookmarks & a sleep timer. With the bookmarks you can easily jump straight to where you were in a recording. This reinstates functionality that is present on other Topfield models, but was missing on the 5800.

My niggle with the EPG changing the channel when you're browsing has been resolved by using Jag's EPG TAP. This is a vast improvement on the standard EPG as it also buffers the information to the hard disk so it's not reset when you put the Toppy into standby. In addition, you can also set search words so it will automatically record all instances of a programme. Not quite Season Pass, but as close as you can get with the Freeview data at the moment as they don't broadcast episode numbers.

The only issue left is with the way the Toppy switches channel when it finishes a recording, but I'm confident this will be resolved in a future firmware update. Topfield have shown that they are taking the UK market seriously by releasing a firmware update for the 5800 so soon after release (compared with the Panasonic TU-CTH100 owners who are having to wait until June at the earliest). I said in the original review that the 5800 was worth the £300; that's been confirmed by the firmware upgrade.

**Update 22 October 2005**
Over the last month the Toppy has suffered from two serious bugs related to the BBC MHEG output (the interactive stuff). In both cases the bugs have been fixed quickly, but it remains to be seen whether the fundamental MHEG handling has been improved, or whether the cracks have been papered over.