How’s your feedback so far? Compared to the old decoders?

Don't understand?

Now HD??? Silently 🤔

My previous model was not PVR, didnt upgrade then, bcoz was in the notion of cancelling Astro, but you know la, old folks, like to watch drama, so maintained for them.

I like the box its sleek and nice and the fron t red light suits my cabinet showcase well! hahaha

The UI is better user friendly and arranged nicely, especialy the VOD, which I use the most. It has boxset (past series, movies, etc) has category for kids, family, action, etc.

I like the recording on cloud as well, so we dont need a HDD.

But it tend to get a little hot, previously I had Hypptv box placed on it, but due to the heat have to place is elsewhere.

Currently watching all the Jackie Chan movie which been classified on VOD!

OH ya, I upgraded the remote when they installed the box, hmmmm cant remember now whether it was 20 or 30 bucks, but worth it, since it has the pvr control button (play/rev/fwd), etc But it would have been nicer if it was a flat remote rather than curved like the previous astro remote. The original remote that comes looks and feels better

This post has been edited by VeeJay: Apr 2 2021, 09:11 PM

Same here. Not PVR type at the moment.

I actually like Astro’s VOD function as I use it a lot on Astro Go.

Noted on the remote part. I’m not sure if I can have it later for my own place since my situation is a bit complicated.

The ultra box cannot rewind on live TV while the PVR box can do that(like a DVD/blueray player)

This post has been edited by yongtjunkit: Apr 2 2021, 09:42 PM

I believe he meant using the PVR remote,, the ultra box supports Astro remote control from 1st gen HD/ Astro byond box (DMT4) onwards

Not sure if HD is nearing, but the movies and ads lately adapted to HD aspect ratio mostly.

May I know which type of remote control is given for ultra boxes?

A) https://shopee.com.my/product/63170262/6658...60-1617371926.9

B) https://shopee.com.my/product/63170262/3683...60-1617371982.9

THis is the remote...



Left is the one that I paid for and on the right is original ruwido remote.

What I meant was, I could mimic that operation by selecting "Play from Start" and then you can forward/rewind up to the LIVE transmission thats playing.

This post has been edited by VeeJay: Apr 2 2021, 10:15 PM

Speaking of which, i have two PVR remote currently. How to unbind the old ori one with the new one purchased on GoShop?

OK, got it.

Go to the settings and press 7 and 9 to reset.

Details are here
https://support.astro.com.my/question/set-t...ntrol-ultra-box

Thanks.

Normal la. It is the Astro's telemarketing or upsell team doing their job.
If you are referring to the normal Astro DTH order that uses satellite dish one, then yes.
Upon upgrade to Ultra Box, it'll still connect to the satellite dish to receive TV channels, and also to Internet connection via WiFi/LAN to access to Astro's cloud streaming services (e.g. VOD, cloud recording, Play from Start,...).
Yes and no. Read my follow post to know further, by comparing with Astro PVR box and Ulti/Ultra Box.
Does your high rise property allow residents to install own dish at the balcony, or must connect to the centralised dish?
If it is centralised dish, make sure your building's centralised antenna supports PVR & Ultra Box (Technically, it's called DCSS). If you're not sure, contact building management and ask whether the Astro centralise antenna system supports DCSS or not.
If it doesn't support DCSS, then when you tune to Astro UHD channels, you will see "Services Currently Not Available (SCNA)" message appear on your TV (no satellite signal). You can still watch all SD and HD channels.

Talking about 4K UHD TV, hmmm, Astro is having a contest where they will giveaway 51 units of 4K UHD TVs, at their UEFA Euro 2020 roadshow at Sunway Pyramid, from 1-4 April 2021.
https://promotions.astro.com.my/details/Euro2020Contest

Do note that your 4K UHD TV must be HDCP 2.2 complaint to view UHD content. If not, or if you are using non-4K UHD TV, this message will appear on your TV screen whenever you tune to Astro UHD channels:


Then that is something that you have to secretly deal with the installer.
For installers, as long you willing to pay them slightly more money, most likely they'll do it for you one. Most importantly is, you know what you're doing then can already.

Main features differences between PVR box vs Ulti/Ultra Box READ THIS especially if you are an existing Astro PVR box user
3 April 2021

It is important that you do thorough research and identify on the pros and cons about the Ulti/Ultra Box by comparing with Astro PVR box.
That is because certain functionality and usability features that you frequently use on PVR box, may not available or may look very different on the Ulti/Ultra Box, which some users especially the elderly may find it challenging to interact/using the Astro set-top-box.

Wait... First of all, what's the difference between Ulti Box and Ultra Box?

In simple words, you'll get to enjoy all the Ultra Box features on Ulti Box. The main difference is, Ulti Box doesn't support 4K UHD, and overall size of the box appear smaller than Ultra Box. That's it.

These are the main highlights that I would like to share with you before you'd decide to upgrade to Ulti/Ultra Box, or not.

	HDD Recording on PVR box	Cloud Recording on Ulti/Ultra Box
Overall quality on playback recordings	Same exact quality as what you see on live TV.	Same quality as what you see on live TV, but quality would drop horribly like YouTube's 240p quality when your Internet speed is too slow or unstable. When you fast rewind/forward, the picture quality will temporarily look bad, but it will back to normal once you press "Play".
Simultaneous recording?	Record up to 2 different TV channels at the same time.	Record unlimited number of TV channels as you want at the same time.
Storage space	500GB Hard Disk per Astro PVR box (approx. 100 hours for HD or 290 hours for SD). Storage space not upgradable.	FREE 200 hours to all customers per Astro account (200 hours storage is sharable no matter how many Multiroom subscriptions you have within the same Astro account). It is also upgradable, to a total 400 hours for RM12/month, or 1500 hours for RM15/month.
Where can I watch my recorded shows?	Only from the same Astro PVR box of yours, and nowhere else.	On your Ultra Box, and all across your devices (phone, tablet,...) via Astro Go app.
How long can I keep my recordings?	Until the hard disk inside your PVR box spoil or your PVR box being replaced.	Maximum 1 year from the date of recording, or shorter. Example, max 3 months validity for Fox Network Group channels, and max 1 month validity for CNBC Asia channel. The recording will auto delete or "disappear" itself once the validity expires.
What happens to my recordings when my PVR box or Ultra Box is being replaced in the future?	Say goodbye to your recordings. You won't be able to retrieve them anymore.	Your cloud recordings will still be there (unless you terminate your Astro account, obviously).
What can I record?	Pretty much any TV channels on Astro, except pay-per-view (PPV) channels like Astro First/Best (auto-expire after 48 hours)	Pretty much all TV channels except selected channels like HBO, Cinemax, NHK World Premium, PPV channels and all Astro UHD channels like CH780.
Do I need an Internet connection to watch my recordings?	No, because it is stored in the hard disk.	Yes, because it is considered as Internet streaming, like watching a YouTube video. Astro recommends minimum speed of 10Mbps.
Press "Pause" when watching live TV channel	It will just pause, just like how a pause function works.	Once you press Pause, your show will start 60 seconds before the time you pause (skip backwards by 60 seconds). As you press Play, the video quality at first would appear bad like 240p quality for the first 5 seconds, then later the picture quality will be back to normal. The more you fast forward from this point, it'll become more prone to intermittent buffering and unstable streaming performance.
How far can I rewind/restart the programme?	As you press Rewind from the time you tune to that particular channel, it could be up to 30 minutes, 60 minutes, or 90 minutes behind. It depends on the "Review Buffer Depth" setting on your PVR box.	You can restart or rewind until the very beginning of the particular programme.
Play from Start?	No. If your PVR box isn't tuned or just tune to that same channel of your missed TV programme, then you'll just have to wait for the programme repeats to watch/record it again, or watch it On Demand if available	Yes. Even if you just tuned to the channel of your missed programme, you can still restart the programme right from the beginning with "Play from Start" feature. Do note that Play from Start feature won't be available when your Ultra Box is not connected to the Internet.
Rewind/Fast Forward responsiveness	During fast rewind/forward and once you press "Play", it will play immediately without any waiting or lags	Need to wait about 2 seconds or longer to respond each time you initiate rewind/forward/play command (regardless how fast your Internet is)
Skip forward	Press fast forward button repeatedly will jump/skip forwards 15 minutes	No such thing on Ultra Box. You can only fast forward x64 and just wait until it reaches the point you want to watch.
Watching On Demand content	It will only download and store into the hard disk, until you delete it or expires itself	Adaptive streaming. It plays as you select it. No such thing as "download" like the PVR box, since Ultra Box doesn't have a built-in hard disk.

NOTE:
- Once you use Play from Start or press Pause on your Ulti/Ultra Box, it will start to buffers/load the TV channel through Internet connection now, not via satellite anymore, until you change TV channel.
- You may experience some "playback glitches" here and there especially when using Play from Start or Pause on your Ulti/Ultra Box, such as video suddenly freeze with loading logo appears while audio still playing in the background. If this happens, try press Rewind a little bit, then press Play, and the playback shall back to normal now.
- Although some may find it rare, but service outage from Astro's cloud streaming servers do occur occasionally, where you may experience playback glitches and frequent picture quality changes from HD to horrible 240p picture quality when streaming any VOD content or live TV. Astro usually does not publish the detail information on the severity of the service outage is, where situations could be due to its streaming servers facing congestions/errors/run out of space and so on. The reason I highlight this point is, although it is working fine most of the time, but don't expect Astro cloud streaming services to be perfect 24/7/365.

What's so special about cloud recording?
Let's say you use Ulti/Ultra Box now and you press "Record" to start recording a programme.
What happens now is, it actually sends instructions to Astro's cloud server, and then your TV programme will begin its recording at their cloud server for you right now.
Therefore, the recording process is actually done at Astro's cloud server, not on your Ultra Box itself.
Same goes to "Series Link" or "Record Entire Series", where their server receives/save your "instructions" or "bookings", and then their cloud server will carry out the recording tasks for you. Get what I mean?
When you play the recordings on My Library, it will start to buffer/load the video from Astro cloud servers, just like how you would watch YouTube videos or Netflix.
It is all "sending instructions" only. No actual "physical" recording process on your Ultra Box is involved, unlike the Astro PVR box which has hard disk inside.
So you don't have to worry things about "what if it suddenly lose satellite signal due to heavy rain or lose internet connection when recording is in progress, or power outage or whatsoever".

Now, imagine when you are not at home, but you want to watch your recorded shows on your devices.
Because you've "cloud recorded" the programme earlier, it will always synchronise with Astro Go, so you can watch your recorded shows on your devices on Astro Go, anytime, anywhere.
However......
Source: https://dj7fdt04hl8tv.cloudfront.net/acm/me...021-revised.pdf
PDF Attachment: https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?act=Atta...ost&id=10765583
So many things... How do I decide?
As you refer to the comparison table above, I believe now you have the rough idea on how upgrading to Ulti/Ultra Box might impact you or your family members that'll be watching Astro at home:

Situation	Ulti/Ultra Box, yes or no?
Very familiar with using Astro PVR box already, and not adaptive to new drastic changes	Better continue using Astro PVR box instead
Rely a lot on pause live TV, responsive playback on recordings,...	Better continue using Astro PVR box instead
Feel like want to have more and better freedom to record and keep as long as you want	Better continue using Astro PVR box instead
Recorded lots of shows and haven't finished watching it yet	Better continue using Astro PVR box instead
Stream On Demand content regularly, and doesn't like the idea of storing the shows on hard disk	Consider upgrade to Ulti or Ultra Box, since it uses adaptive streaming and better user interface
I do use the PVR features occasionally, but I'm fine with that even after reading the comparison table above	Choosing either Ulti Box or Ultra Box should be okay for you
Watch TV channel only, doesn't utilise or hardly use those "fancy" PVR features	Choosing either Ulti Box or Ultra Box should be okay for you
Don't know what Astro PVR box is	Choosing either Ulti Box or Ultra Box should be okay for you
I want to watch my favourite shows especially live sports events, in 4K UHD...	Then go ahead with Ultra Box
I just want to use the latest and greatest technology stuff	Then go ahead with Ultra Box
I am using the normal Astro, and still on Family pack (RM39.95/month)	You are eligible for Ulti Box. But if you want Ultra Box to enjoy 4K UHD, you must be on Starter Pack (RM65/month) and above.
I am an existing Astro customer but I am NOT using Astro PVR box or Ulti/Ultra Box	Then do consider upgrade to Ulti/Ultra Box, since you'll get to enjoy these extra features.
I am a new Astro customer, and never subscribe to Astro before. Which one should I choose?	Choosing either Ulti Box or Ultra Box should be okay for you

Whenever your Ulti/Ultra Box is not connected to the Internet due to whatever reasons, then you will not able to access to Astro cloud streaming services like Video On Demand, Play from Start, cloud recording and so on.
It's just like it goes back to the very basic of Astro HD Zapper box, which you could watch TV channel only, and nothing else.

And of course, 24 months contract applies upon successful upgrading to either Ulti Box or Ultra Box.
So, have you made your decision, whether to upgrade your existing PVR box to Ulti/Ultra Box or not?

NOTE: **All information shown above are accurate at the point of writing (April 2021).

This post has been edited by joshhd: Apr 3 2021, 01:38 AM

I will read your posts later.
Can I still bring the box to another house which has similar dish installed? The reason why I asked is my parents do go back to our hometown sometimes and they will bring the decoder along. There is a satellite dish installed in our hometown. It works for current one though.

Must connect to the centralized one. I will ask my building management then. Thanks for the advice!

Should be OK I supposed; should be HDCP 2.2 compliant. I’m buying Sony 55” X80H, this is the specs: https://www.sony.com.my/electronics/televis.../specifications
If worst case scenario, I won’t be able to view UHD content but shouldn’t affect my other viewing experience right?

About the multi-room issue, I guess it’s considered sorted out. My colleague did the same and she said she will share her installer details with me later. I guess I better stop this conversation, feel guilty.

Last question, is it true multi-room follows the main account’s decoder? If main account is not using Ultra Box then I cannot have it for multi-room?

This post has been edited by fruitie: Apr 3 2021, 01:11 AM

You didn’t buy this one?


https://shopee.com.my/(100-ORIGINAL)-Astro-...5857.4470485405
One of the reviews show the new remote (if you want to buy the new one).

This post has been edited by jackytan.tt: Apr 3 2021, 01:06 AM

Yes you can. Just bring the Astro box + power adapter , and also remote control and HDMI cable if the hometown there doesn't have it.

If it's new 4K UHD TV models, then no need to worry about HDCP 2.2 thinggy.
Yes correct. You can still watch SD and HD channels as usual.

Why feel guilty 🤣🤣🤣
Yes. If the primary account is not using Ultra Box, but you want the Multiroom one to be Ultra Box, that is also possible.

Hmmm actually it doesn't matter much though...
Cuz what Astro usually recommends is, why not assume you upgrade the primary one as Ultra Box, while the Multiroom one just maintain whatever existing box you're using now?

And, feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

Good to hear that then no reason why I don’t want to upgrade for my parents. We are still using the basic decoder which is for TV only, not even PVR box. I read your comparison just now, thanks I made up my mind to upgrade for my parents.

Yeah I just read it’s HDCP 2.3 so should be no issue at all.

Guilty because I know it’s not right to do that at different address.

I see because my colleague said, the installer who helped her said if primary account is not using Ultra Box then other multi-room accounts cannot have as well. Yeah, not a big problem especially I will upgrade for my parents now.

Ohh then yes, it's time to upgrade to the Ulti Box or Ultra Box
Hmmm...
If you feel guilty, then just subscribe to the standalone Astro subscription on a different address lor... Don't use the Multiroom "tactics" to "save money". Then you won't feel guilty anymore.