Day: June 2, 2010

ALDI: Home Automation Kit $39.95

 
  • Control your appliances remotely via radio frequency out of the line of sight
  • Great for turning on the lights before you enter your home or starting the kettle from the comfort of your lounge chair
  • Includes 5 receivers and 1 remote

    • This was a fantastic purchase, I have four on outside lights around the house and one on the rainwater tank pump.

    Akai AD181X High Definition Set Top Box with PVR Function

     

     

     

     
    •    Allows you to receive free-to-air digital broadcasts in both standard definition and high definition
    •    Record directly to a USB storage device
    •    Fully compliant with DVB-T and H.264, AVC, MPEG4,MPEG2 Standard
    •    Supports EPG, Display Present/ Next TV Programme
    •    Supports HDMI, Component and Composite output
    •    SPDIF Coaxial Output
    •    HDMI(up to 1080i) Output
    •    PAL and NTSC Auto Switch
    •    Auto / Manual scan
    •    1000 channels
    •    Parent Control
    •    This unit works for both Australia and New Zealand Digital Broadcasting Networks.
     
    This STB was a nightmare and I was close to returning for a refund but AKAI/AUDION came good with a couple of firmware updates that fixed all the main issues and added a couple of features. Read all about it on DTV Forum.
    The latest V1.3 FW update can be obtained from AUDION.
    The only issue I have now is that the program title of a timer record is stamped with the title of the previous show.
    I can live with this so overall a good outcome.
     
    I purchased the Imation Apollo Portable 500GB USB Hard Drive for the STB from JB Hi-Fi for $109 as advertised in their catalogue. When I went to buy they were $139 so I said to the nice lady serving me I want that for $109 as per the current catalogue, she was not sure and got someone else involved to discuss and while they were doing that I brought up their website on a Apple Mac (LOL) and they agreed $109 was OK so I had a win.
     

     Imation Apollo Portable 500GB USB Hard Drive $109 

    • Ultra Slim Design – Designed to fit in the palm of your hand or slip into your pocket, the Apollo Portable Hard Drive offers a unique combination of sleek styling and compact size.
    • Backup Software – The Apollo Portable Hard Drive comes with easy-to-install, easy-to-use Total Media backup™ software that is preconfigured to backup data, photos, music and video. Designed for use with PC or Mac, you can select backup, schedule, synchronise and restore functions with a quick click of the mouse.
    • USB 2.0 Powered – The drive is fully USB 2.0 powered. No external power supply is required.