Before you sl*g off Starview , have a think?

[Smokey786]

My theory is:

As everyone knows technology seems to move very quick and these cable boxes are no exception. A new box seems to come out every year and some of the people who have the older boxes are feeling let down as there is no fix out there (yet)!

*** How many of you were told that when you bought a cable box you had a guarantee ***

I'm sure you were probably told something along the lines, if it goes off it goes off, which is fair play coz at the end of the day its all i11ega1, if you want 100% support then pay a subscription!

The way I see it is, every developer out there (well pretty much - if not then I cant understand why not) wants to dabble in the latest technology, and who can blame em, isn't it enough that this years and last years model have had a fix pretty much within a few days !

I can understand peoples frustration but most people out there have to admit they have got their moneys worth if nothing else!

The developers who develop the fixes dont get paid (well i'm assuming they dont) they do it coz more than anything else they enjoy it! and then on top of that i';m sure they have their own families, work and other missions which they need to crack on with!

Just think VM has its own support team, who work on support issues 100% of the time! and think of Microsoft they have just stopped supporting Windows 98 I believe! But these are huge corporations!

Although 1 thing that I cant understand is, whats the major differences between starview 1,2,3 ? apart from the s/w? and why couldnt the starview 3 s/w go on starview 1 ? yeah i can understand the structural difference between the sv4 and its predecessors (usb is a good idea) - seems like a money making scheme to me!

If anything , I would like to say if the powers that are are gonna stop supporting the older models then please release the source code for other developers who might wanna have a go! (P.S. I'm not a Linux programmer, I'm a .NET developer) so I might not be your best bet! :-)


I think every developer wants to stay with the latest technology and as everyone knows these days technology moves very quickly indeed,

I hope this post makes sense , coz usually I just type and then think of what I'm saying!

Also I posted this thread on the wrong forum, can somebody please remove it from the Satellite section

[robocod2000]

I agree with you mate but in this day and age , it's called customer retetion and word of mouth , these boxes won't live forever, nothing is these days but with a product that has excellent support, your more likely to stick to that company and buy more of their goods and recomend them to others,

I really do hope starview make a new firmware or make the coding available for someone to produce one

starview sounds like the old Skodas in the 80's cheap to buy but pack in a year later ( if your lucky )

[anthonydwyer]

if they are going to cut support now, they should have stopped selling the starview 1, way before summer 08.

that is just screwing people over

[ShaGGy]

Agree that they cannot commit resources to updating the box indefinitely but to just turn their back on their customers is bad practice.

My brother in law bought a starview less than 12 months ago and I presume many other have also had boxes for less than 12 months, you quote Microsoft and windows 98 yes they stopped support for it but notified the world they intended to 3 years before they did cease support.

Starview should either continue releasing updates for a guaranteed period of time so people are aware of the boxes future or release the source code to the community so others can develop it further.

Their current action will only do one thing and that is generate mistrust in the Brand and therefor people will avoid the Brand which is economic suicide especially when there are alternative options available (unlike Microsoft who do not really have any competition)

Starview really need to take note of the bad press they will receive from this action and the impact it will have on the Brand.

Oh BTW I don`t have a Starview so it does not affect me at all its just what I think will happen.

[l30nkw]

Smokey786 wrote "Although 1 thing that I cant understand is, whats the major differences between starview 1,2,3 ? apart from the s/w? and why couldnt the starview 3 s/w go on starview 1 ? yeah i can understand the structural difference between the sv4 and its predecessors (usb is a good idea) - seems like a money making scheme to me!"

Sorry if i should have quoted properly its a hell of a post! in reply to this bit, i think the older models dont have the processing power, i say this because a guy on a certain bidding site is claiming to provide a processor that will 'modernize' the older box (sv1&2) to be able to handle the new software. Hey dont quote me though

[satsmo]

Have you seen the latest SV2 fix above

[Smokey786]

Ah you beauty, Now the PVR update and I'm sorted! Patience IS a virtue :-)

[mickarick]

My brother in law bought a starview less than 12 months ago and I presume many other have also had boxes for less than 12 months,






.

Have to say m8 anyone who bought a S/V1 12 mths back or less did not do their homework , the box ( S/V2 ) has been out a while now followed by the superboxes3&4 , those of us that use the sites knew that the S/V1 was coming to and end when these newer versions were released ,

[ShaGGy]

Have to say m8 anyone who bought a S/V1 12 mths back or less did not do their homework , the box ( S/V2 ) has been out a while now followed by the superboxes3&4 , those of us that use the sites knew that the S/V1 was coming to and end when these newer versions were released ,

Sorry bro in Law got the SV2 about 10 months ago so you are correct

Sister in law from mithering hell got the SV1 earlier :P and shes on the phone twice a day arrrggghh

[excelence]

well if everyone stays with the starview super then they have no need/ is no point in them makeing more..

allso dose the starview 4 have the same softwere as the box super? if not why not? its only added usb.. softwere should stay the same so all boxes can use the fixes..

[fredsuthers]

... softwere should stay the same so all boxes can use the fixes..

Agree, but it's marketing ploy. So that they can get people buy their newer model. Hence more sales, more profit. But do they not realise they are getting bad publicity!

Sales WILL decline for SV if they (without notice) stop supporting older boxes. The least they can do is make available the source code.

[boomer39]

i wonder if people who moan about s/views moan about windows ????
are there still upgrades for windows98 and 2000? i got windows me in 2000, 3 weeks later xp came out. luck of the draw!!!

starview forever

[Tvaddict]

I agree with you mate but in this day and age , it's called customer retetion and word of mouth , these boxes won't live forever, nothing is these days but with a product that has excellent support, your more likely to stick to that company and buy more of their goods and recomend them to others,

I really do hope starview make a new firmware or make the coding available for someone to produce one

starview sounds like the old Skodas in the 80's cheap to buy but pack in a year later ( if your lucky )

But how long exactly do you expect them to support the box for? The SV1 has been out for at least 3 years now, so for them to continue in business (ie selling new units) they need a market. If the market is flooded with SV1's then they can't sell, so go under and you get no support anyway. So it's a catch 22 in my opinion, and seeing as the post above hits the nail on the head by saying it's "not within the law" as such, you can't really complain.

Offset the cost of paying for what you've had compared to the cost of a new box + your existing starview and your quids in surely.......

I do see your point, but if they ain't releasing a fix, then theres no point slagging them off as it's their shout at the end of the day......

[satsmo]

Bit of patience and time will tell.

[alexktz]

But how long exactly do you expect them to support the box for? The SV1 has been out for at least 3 years now, so for them to continue in business (ie selling new units) they need a market. If the market is flooded with SV1's then they can't sell, so go under and you get no support anyway. So it's a catch 22 in my opinion, and seeing as the post above hits the nail on the head by saying it's "not within the law" as such, you can't really complain.

Offset the cost of paying for what you've had compared to the cost of a new box + your existing starview and your quids in surely.......

I do see your point, but if they ain't releasing a fix, then theres no point slagging them off as it's their shout at the end of the day......

well said. if you have only one product your company will not grow.

so continue to update said product, and watch the green flood your way. people are stupid, and will upgrade anyway.

it's not like there wasn't a tangible reason to upgrade every time anyway, each box is better than the last, a bit like windows i suppose. more of the same, just tweaked.