Humax Foxsat HDR

Not to dampen the general air of enthusiasm, but I bought one of these to replace my sky+ multiroom box before Xmas and have stopped using it because it's so bad.  How it got a 5 star review with an interface so poor I don't know. Whilst it does some things well (HD picture, music storage, record series), the simple yet frustrating problems with the interface just turn me (and it) off.  In no particular order:

1) The boot up time is too long.  Why should it be so much longer than SkyHD?

2) Whoever thought it was a good idea to have the TV on in the background when you're on the menu wants sacking.  It is generally annoying (I didn't want to watch Eastenders), but when I finished watching a recorded programme just in time to hear Alan Sugar say 'X you're fired' in the apprentice show I was recording was utterly awful - I'm suprised the box survived without physical damage.  I'll I'm asking for is the option to turn it off!  I emailled Humax complaints to make this point and they said "we think most people want it".  I think they are wrong.  When SkyHD adopted it I almost wept.  Even my wife (who is generally less demanding than me) thinks it is a terrible idea.

3) Why does it take so long to delete programs?  Sky doesn't take this long - they just delete the entry in the allocation table.  It's stupid, and incredibly frustrating if you've recorded something long in HD - it can take over a minute.

Anyway, enough ranting - Humax could sort this out with a software update, I just pray someone from Humax reads this and acts upon it - then I'll start using my £300 product again and maybe consider buying Humax again in the future.

I bought this box to add to my new Panny telly that also has inbuilt Freesat. It was impossible to see one before I bought, but I figured the many rave reviews, and the total lack of bad ones, couldn???t be wrong.

Yes, the box does have some nifty features and, in my opinion, far surpasses many of the features available with Sky+ and Sky HD. Sky???s developers could learn a lot from Humax???s developers.

But (there???s always a ???But???), it had two major downsides for me.

1. The on screen menus were not as big or clear as Sky???s on screen menus.

2. The remote had small buttons that blended into the background and button descriptions that were difficult to see for anyone with less than perfect eyesight.

It???s annoying having to search for reading glasses to see the remote and then take them off and strain to see the on screen menu. Why didn???t Humax include better software to enable bigger menus? Why didn???t they supply a better remote where the buttons that were likely to be used the most were not lost in a sea of others buttons?

All the reviews I read before buying were accurate ??? this box is excellent and gave a great picture on my TV. But in spite of the box???s MANY advanced features, as mentioned in all the reviews, it???s no good if you can???t see the bits that control it all.  I eventually gave up and took it back to the shop.

Feeling a tad embarrassed, I've now out how to delete series link reservations from my Humax freesat pvr( thanks to Takepart ).

All I needed to do was to hit the media key.

Ihen hit the opt+ button which brings up another menu from which file manager should be selected.

Then highlight the reservation to be deleted.

Finally hit the red key to complete the process.

I hope this helps other users.

As a user of the Humax freesat pvr I've found it to be a slick peice of kit with only a couple  exceptions.

First I can't delete series record reservations and second, I did not realise that the dual tuner record/watch function hadn't been set up correctly.

I received a forwarded email from another Humax user which had a list (see below ) of instructions to set up the dual tuner function facility.  .

If you have setup your Foxsat-HDR when only one feed was connected and then after the First Time Installation you connect a second satellite feed, then you will not have twin tuner functionality.

To change to 2 feeds please follow below:

1. Press MENU

2. Select the Setup menu (press Down arrow twice)

3. Press OK

4. Press the following buttons:

Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, Green, Yellow, Blue

5. Select Antenna Setting and press OK

6. Select Connect Type and press the Right Arrow until "Two Cable (Same)" appears

7. Press BACK

8. Select YES on the Notice that appears and press OK

9. Press BACK

10. Select Freesat Tune and press OK

11. Check your postocde is correct

12. Select Search and press OK

13. After the search has completed press OK to Save the results

14. Press Exit to come out of the menu

I hope this helps other Humax freesat pvr users with the same problem.

I do not find the machine intuative at all and who calls recorded programs media.as for deleting programs after you have seen them it`s a good job you have to press so many buttons otherwise you could easily delete the wrong program.also in the specs it states no card slot,well someody should look under the front panel on the right hand side this is ,as told to me by both humax and freesat for future use to allow pay tv.

Having been used to the fabulous Toppy file system I find the Humax very unfriendly - if it is currently recording there is no way to erase what has just been watched, and when it records several episodes of a program they are all given the same name, no numbers added likt the Toppy does, so when you go to the File Manager there is no way to know which episode to delete.  

Could wish the playback buttons on the remote were larger and easier to see without glasses on.

Picture quality is great.

Volume is unpredicable - if the TV volume is just right, when I then use the Humax it is too quiet to hear.  If I then turn the Humax volume up full the TV is too loud.  Yes I know all things can be adjusted manually but it is a pain to have to keep finding remotes.

Yes, the Humax can upscale SD to HD - however, you may find the upscaling in your TV/projector/receiver does a better job (in which case leave the Humax set to auto).

The review does not mention whether the box upscales SD content to HD.  It would be so great if it did.  Maybe Humax might do a deluxe version with upscaler.

I've had my HDR for a couple of weeks now. I had the 9200T before and upgraded mainly because I'm in rented accomodation which has a poor aerial installation but a twin sat cable into the living room. There are a few UI improvements over the 9200T:

- EPG loads almost instantly.

- If there is a recording conflict, it will suggest an alternative if there is one.

- If a programme exists on HD it will suggest it

- You can see the recorded programme info without having to play it first

- Skipping forward and backward in a recording is much quicker and smoother

- You can still watch a third TV programme like on the 9200T depending on the recordings being made.

And now the bad points:

- Whilst the folders in the recordings list appear to be a good idea for series link programmes, I personally dont like them. Its another click to start playback, which brings me on to...

- The menu to playback a programme has several options, playback from start, last played position, delete. This also appears to be a nice addition but now you have three/four clicks to start playback instead of one. I would rather have kept delete as red and then seen the other options added as the other colours. I can live with this, but its annoying to have to make so many clicks.

- In the current firmware version, unless you are using RGB scart or probably HDMI, the BBC HD channel will go black and white over S-Video after 20 seconds or so. This affects the menu as well. I guess this is a bug that will be resolved soon.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my PVR. It is generally better than the 9200T. I watched a movie from BBC HD last night, Snow Cake, in Dolby Digital. That makes a huge difference, normally I would never watch a broadcast movie. Great PQ and SQ.

Just got a pansaonic TX-LZD85 and still trying to make sense of the Flatscreen life.

I have two dishes on my roof. One has universal LNB that uses a Nokia box. Then sky dish. All have no HDMI.

Would you kindly advise if this Humax can utilise this dish and improve picture quality; and still give me same package from Sky at £17 per month.

I'm truly confused.

Like all things new, you want one so that you can try out all of the new things they can do. However, we already have boxes of electronics that do what we already need and desire, like the flatscreen, surround sound and a DVD recorder with Freeview. This Humax, as an addition, is just another box. The real thing we need is a Blu-Ray/DVD player/recorder with Freeview and Freesat, all for the same money.Then I can sell my old box.

Also, if ALL of the Freeview channels were available on Freesat, PLUS some albeit limited 'tasters' of Discovery and History and a Free film a day/week, and a bit of sport for those who watch it, then this Humax may be what we all need.  

Not a lot to add to what hdmad has said other than to say this is an excellent box.

Quality wise the box is excellent. I've heard much about Freeview vs Freesat SD quality and always though Freeview had the edge. However yesterday I had World Darts on 302 on Freeview and BBC2 on Freesat. Freesat was clearer, slightly sharper and had much much more saturated colours. Someone who lives with me commented the same in a blind testing flicking between the 2 on a Pioneer 428XD Kuro TV. Freeview was from the Kuro's own tuner.

Quality of Freesat pictures does depend on the channel though and sometimes even the programme. It ranges from Home and Away on channel 5 which looks totally HD and mind blowingly detailed to tv on the Zone channels which often looks very poor and soft although Zone Reality has some good content. A quality boost on these channels from the broadcaster would be much welcome.

The odd thing about PQ on the box, is that recorded SD definately looks better than live SD but I cannot explain why!!! Probably something in the live side of the firmware needs tweeking.

Sound is great although Freesat need to start transmitting in DD 5.1 instead of Dolby Stereo (Decodes to Pro Logic) as there's a real quality difference. Most HD films are Dolby Stero instead of 5.1 and all SD content including films seem to be stero only. However, thats Freesat not the box thats responsible. The box seems to handle sound very well.

The box still has a few minor bugs the most serious of which is the inability to update from a single cable feed. There's also the odd missed recoding although its unclear as to whether this is the box or EPG programming by the broadcasters at fault. All bugs are being fed back to Humax through a forum rep and further firmware updates are promised.

Overall an excellent box. Look out for extra features though in the future as I understand Humax has promised some major feature uprgades in future updates.

An update from my comments below.  Being new to LCD TV's it has taken me a while to get the best settings on my Sony KDL 40W4500 but having trawled the net and experimented a little, I have now set the TV up with the Humax HDR and I couldn't be happier with the picture/performance.  My initial impressions were not good as below and I had also noticed some movement/blurring artifacts.  But having tweaked things all is now rosy. (or neutral as far as my TV colour hue is concerned). I was also probably expecting too much but having had more time with the Humax has changed this.  I also wonder if a degree of running in of the unit and cables is needed?  

A great example for me was new years eve watching Jooles Hollands "Hootenany" on BBC HD.  The picture was incredible for TV and the DD 5.1 sound through my processor was incredible. Never thought I would be saying that about TV sound! That along with the units intuitiveness, ease of use and functionality has made it worthwhile for me.  Five stars then? Yeah.  Just need more HD channels and the BBC to provide more HD content.  To the BBC - surely it can't be that hard/expensive to do now you have the infrastructure in place?  We are not asking for the world and if it saves money and going by the picture quality 720p would do!

A very handy feature of the Humax HDR is the ability to change the resolution of the image from original (whatever that maybe), to 576i,576p,720p and 1080i.  This is a great tool because it enables you to look at the original signal and let the TV up/down scale as well but also try different resolutions to see which suits your TV the best. Very wortwhile as it does change the picture quality.

Last but no big deal is the boot time of the unit.  Mine takes around 30 seconds to picture which seems a long time to me but having never owned a PVR before I have nothing to compare it too.

Just bought the Humax PVR over Xmas(£299 in currys digital) to replace my existing Sky service. Current setup is Sony KDL 40W4500 with QED Perfomance HDMI cable, Tacima mains conditioner.  The Humax is very easy to setup and use and recording/playback could not be simpler.  The BBC HD images are excellent. However the SD picture quality is only comparable to that of my Pace Digibox over scart!?  I was expecting some picture improvement and although edge definition is better, overall the images are softer and have less contrast(Freeview appear better).  Also, the remote control response is slow and I think the LCD front screen is a bit tacky.  I am sceptical as to whether it is a five star product for the money but in the absence of any other competition would have to agree for now.

Hooray! Finally the Humax Freesat PVR is here. I have been eagerly awaiting for this product to surface since first hearing about the launch of the Freesat service.

I wanted to take the plunge months ago, but as there was no pvr available I held back.

And I agree with the Whathifi? review, Its been worth the wait.

I had already been a user of Sky+ and Virgin media, and though they both offer a good service in their own ways I still felt uneasy about the monthly drain on my bank account.

The Humax pvr works every bit as good as the Sky and virgin pvr's, with a few extra's that Sky and Virgin dont have.

A bigger hardrive and other user freindly features to make recording and playback simple.

Picture and sound quality are excellent and when using the(FREE)BBC-HD or ITV-HD channels, my amplifier immediatly recognises the Dolby Digital surround signal being sent through the HDMI input.

The added bounus of being able to upload MP3 files and J-peg Photo's via the front USB port is a great addition.

Setanta is not currently on FREESAT at the moment. However there is a front loading Common user interface port located on the front of the unit( behind the pull down facia) should you wish to purchase a Smart card to view sports channels provided by Setanta.

My only quibble?

Well the buttons on the remote control for the playback of recorded items are a little small,

still nothing in the world of electronics is perfect.

All in all a great bit of kit, and in this economic climate. No more drain on my bank account.

I do take your comment PiperUK, but to get the best of SKY HD (Lost, 24, Prison Break, all on SKY 1)  you have to have a Sky subscription (minimum £17.00 per month), plus pay the £10 surcharge for HD. This means Sky costs £324.00 per year, plus the installation. Once the Humax gets to £200.00 (certain in this recession), it will start to look very competitive as you can get a dish installed for £75.00. There is no doubt that SKY is the champion of HD content - providing you have £300.00 plus per year to pay for it!

Basically this PVR is just too expensive at the moment, (£300). With Sky charging just £75 for a box + £10 a month HD subscription, it would take nearly two years for this Freesat box to pay for itself. With Sky recently adding FX HD and MTVN HD to it's HD package which already includes the likes of the brilliant NatGeo HD, Humax needs to lower the price our risk losing the potential interest in what is a very good product.

Looks good and is easy to set up.  The instructions could be better as could some of the recording termimoligy for recording such as media and scheduled.

HD is excellent though the SD is not so defined as Freeview direct from the set or BT Vision.  I am using a high quality HDML lead and a Samsung series 6 46 inch TV with the HUMAX set at 1080i.

Have tried many times to make telephone contact with HUMAX, but seldom get through they also dont seem to answer e mails.  On the one occassion I did get through to HUMAX I was told Frank was the expert and they would find him for me, but after what seemed like an eternity, I gave up as Frank didn't materialise.  I wanted to ask them about the picture quality and recording HD in advance on ITV.  

The unit is though is a joy once you get used to it and good value for money.

Rumour has it Argos might have some, so worth a check.

Have the dish, pity I can't get the box! Where are they all?

Peter

The Foxsat HDR is easy to set up and use, the picture and audio in SD is good and in HD is outstanding, pity there isn't more HD.

The only issue that I have in the first few hours of using is when I change from an SD signal to the BBC HD channel, when I do this the volume sky-rockets to a volume that has the walls reverberating, there seems no way that I can balance the volume between SD and HD channels using the Humax set-up or the TV's volume levelling, the only way to lower the HD volume to an acceptable level is to reduce the volume on both TV and Humax, but then when I change chanels to a SD channel no sound is audible so I have to crank the volume back up again.

I called Humax about this, the guy on the other end said they were aware of this but wouldn't go so far as to agree with me that it was a fault, he advised me to manually adjust each time. I am waiting for his manager to call me back to discuss.

Paul