My Astro Beyond STB is quite a new one. In fact, i just got it last year around April. I did call Astro customer service twice. I was asked to reset the STB setting to its original factory setting the first time but unfortunately, the problem still persists. So, i called them the second time and they said they will send a technician to my house to have a look at my STB.

Anyway, i went to KL for 3 days last week and when i came home, all of a sudden everything was working fine. No problem with recording whatsoever. During my short 3 days trip to KL, no one was home. So no one was using the Astro during the 3 days.

A technician called me when i was at KLIA waiting for my flight back home last Saturday. I told him to come the next day. I didn't know the recording service has started to work again then as i only found out later that night when i got home and tried to record some programs.

He came as promised the next day, which was Sunday afternoon. He actually came with a new STB. I was a bit puzzled then. I knew all along that the programs recorded are tied to our smartcard. What i didn't know is that every Astro STB now comes with a unique smartcard.

Anyhow, he came into my house, asked me what was wrong with my Astro. I told him briefly what happened and he said Astro already ordered a new STB for me and he will help me to replace it. I later found out all my recorded programs cannot be watched and i was like... oh no!

I called Astro customer service to ask if it was possible to get the old Astro STB back but it was all too late as i already activated the new Astro STB. There are a few programs i like so much that i recorded from early last year which i have not deleted until now

Okay. I thought: "never mind". Perhaps there really was something wrong with my old Astro Beyond STB. Now that i have a new Astro Beyond STB, at least the problem is now solved for good. But much to my horror, the problem came back and i am now facing the same problem again! It is not recording any programs that i put into the schedule and some programs were recorded only for the first few minutes.

Any of you facing such problem ?

By the way XPS, thanks for your kind reply. Appreciate it

Apparently any WD 150GB external harddisk can now be used for Astro recording service. But the problem is, not many computer shop still carries a 150GB WB external harddisk. Besides, the storage really is "meh"

Alternatively, one can order a PVR EASi 320GB harddisk from Astro. For the first order, you will be charged RM80 only. Any subsequent order will be charged RM200 each.

There is still no news on when we can finally watch KBS World in HD ? Initially KBS said Malaysia will switch over to HD tomorrow too but this has since been taken down.

That's the thing. There is no mention of a new KBS World HD channel on Astro website. The only confirmed one is the new Disney HD channel. The current KBS World SD has terrible picture quality! Far worse than other SD channels

Thanks! I'm gonna check it out later when I go home


I think he was being sarcastic. Wanna us to pay so much yet give us an image in SD image ratio

Usually all the drama is ok but not Music Bank. I watched a repeat Music Bank yesterday evening and OMG

Have the cable TV providers in Singapore switched to KBS World HD ? Because for the Astro one, it has the HD logo too but clearly not a HD channel. For most other shows aired on KBS World "HD" on Astro, the picture quality is ok. It's definitely not HD but at least it is viewable like most other SD channels but the picture is super terrible for Music Bank. Like you said, it's very VCD quality or even worse! Music Bank HD is supposed to look very good on HD. Watched it briefly last time when i was in Seoul

The astroview monthly magazine is still mailed to Astro subscribers FOC. But of course, this only applies to old subscribers who sent to reply to Astro before they changed it to a paid subscription. If you have been an Astro subscriber since... late 2005 or 2006 BUT did not complete the form they sent to you by year end, you will not get astroview magazine. Basically it was like an early bird special. If you want to continue to get the magazine for free every month, then you have to complete the form and mail it back to Astro. After the offer period, you still can get the astroview magazine but you'll have to pay for it.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Sep 5 2012, 01:13 PM

One shouldn't take the exchange rate into consideration when comparing the prices and cost of living between this two countries. So, Starhub is still actually cheaper compared to Astro

This is surprise as there was no prior announcement. Anyway, i still want to watch Music Bank in HD Now would you just introduce a new KBS World Ahd Channel already ?

You will need a compatible WD HDD.

No. It's not true.

I got the same error message about my Astro Smartcard while watching Astro around 2am just now.

I know that we can't simply take out a Smartcard from an Astro Beyond decoder to use it on another Astro Beyond decoder. But what if I take out the whole Astro Beyond decoder with the Smartcard and bring it with me to another house that also has an active Astro subscription ? Will I be able to watch it ? I'm going to my grandmom's next weekend and I intend to do so as i'm subscribed to Superpack 3 while my grandmom's Astro only has the family favorites package.

By the way, The Astro dish installed at my grandmom's is the new bigger beyond dish. So, will it work ?

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Sep 22 2012, 01:51 AM

Wonderful! Thanks

So how about the Astro Beyond Decoder ? Do we need to return it to a nearby Astro Centre ? And how about the Astro dish ?

I see. Thanks. Because it'd be so troublesome to remove the Astro dish ourselves

I dropped by the Astro Service Centre when I went for lunch just now and I was told that I can still keep the Astro Beyond decoder should I want to cancel the Astro subscription. The lady at the counter also said that I don't have to return the smartcard and should I want to reconnect the service, I only have to call their hotline.

So, do we actually need to return the Astro smartcard

Your decoder is the old type right ? That could be the reason. Just now the lady at the Astro Service Centre told me that I can keep everything including the smartcard and if I ever decide that I want to watch Astro again in the future, all I need to do is call their hotline and give my IC no and they will reconnect it. I did not actually cancel my Astro subscription. She was just telling me that I can keep everything if I want to cancel my Astro subscription.


May be, or may be not.

So who has recently canceled your Astro subscription (note: Astro Beyond Decoder) but still keep everything including the Astro smartcard ?

It's not tied to a single smartcard.