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“I bought my Twin directly from Pace just over a year...”

written by Duncan Mann on 01/11/2005

Good Points
Excellent interface
Good EPG
Intuitive Remote
Hard Disk easy to upgrade
Quiet
Excellent build quality

Bad Points
Over-the-air software updates only - no downloads via internet
Would be nice to record two programs at one time
20Gb Hard Disk ridiculously small

General Comments
I bought my Twin directly from Pace just over a year ago. I paid £175 then, and it would seem that it is available at around £150 now. It seems to me that this is good value, though the first thing I did on receiving the unit was to trash to puny 20Gb hard disk and replace it with a 80Gb unit, thus increasing the unit's ability to store video from 10 to 40 hours. Provided i) you don't mind taking a risk with the warranty and ii) are comfortable with the idea of delving into the innards of the machine, this is pretty much of a must-do. Actually the upgrade process is easy enough, and well documented on the web, just remember to factor in the cost of a replacement notebook hard drive, which are currently available in capacities of up to 100Gb. An 80Gb drive from Dabs currently costs around £70.



The unit was shipped with software that was already a year old. Sadly, it can only be upgraded by means of over-the-air transmissions, and these are few and far between. Since buying my Twin in October 2004, Pace have broadcast software upgrades in January and October 2005. Murphy's law dictated that I was away on holiday in January, so missed that one, and have only just therefore received a software upgrade (version 1.7.70) that brings me up to date with all Pace's development work over the last two years!


This upgrade has totally transformed the unit. Whereas previously the EPG was monumentally slow and frustrating, it is now very swift to load, and with many more navigational features. It is much easier to set up recordings than previously. In addition, the Twin seems much more responsive all round. The interface is now a great pleasure to use. Indeed, my sister has a Pansonic PVR/DVD combo which has a truly horrible interface by comparison.



The Twin has always excelled at providing high quality pictures, and I really think that Pace have missed a trick here - with its current software, this unit really is a terrific buy. So why did it take Pace so long to get it right?



In its previous form, I would have cautiously recommended the Pace Twin, with the proviso that users should expect some strengths and some weaknesses. Pace now seem to have fixed most of the weaknesses, so I would unreservedly recommend the unit with the new software.



Given the fact that the Twin was originally released in 2002, I'm sure that it must now have a limited life span before replacement I can only hope that Pace make it much easier to upgrade the software in future products (or release over-the-air software upgrades much more frequently), and work hard to get the software right first time!