good value HDTV recorder with Freeview +

[tonym911]

Got normal Freeview but no means of recording anything and the missis is dropping hints. Saw the telly ad for Freeview+ and thought 'this is the answer' but am now in a world of pain trying to work out what box I need to record stuff and what's decent. The Humax Freeview playback Digital TV Recorder PVR-9150T 160GB Twin Tuner PVR gets good reviews on amazon but it also gets terrible ones, in fact I can't recall seeing anything on amazon with such a wide variation of reviews. On balance I'm discounting that one as I pay more attention to negative reviews than positive ones, and the negs for this one are a bit shocking.
Anybody got any experience in this area? I'd be willing to pay extra for an HD box if folk on here think it's worth it and there's a good machine for that. Thanks for any thoughts.

[telecat]

HUMAX along with others were hit by Freeview's cock up last year when they altered the way it was transmitted. The "FIX" took until last January to be implemented but all boxes including the 9150T, 9200Tand 9300T. Unfortunately some boxes already in the retail system still need updating.

The HDR-FOXT2 is the Humax box for HD Freeview recording and it gets good reviews. Certainly better that all it's rivals.

[tonym911]

Thanks Telecat I'll have a scope for it on amazon

[telecat]

Try Humax Direct as well. If you wait a bit they will have A grade ones and they are usually a bit cheaper.

[OldSkoolRS]

I just got the Humax HDR FOX-T2 recorder myself last week. I've previously owned the much older Pace Twin recorder and a Sony DVD/HDD recorder. So far I'm very pleased with the Humax (I updated the firmware first night, using a USB memory stick, rather than wait for the unit to pick it up 'over the air'): I can get the 4 Freeview HD channels which look really good depending on the source as some programs are just upscaled, plus you can watch videos/photos from other PCs or storage hard drives on your network. Later this month there should be a firmware update that will allow the Humax to show BBC iPlayer and other 'internet' TV sources. It can record two channels at once BTW.

I got mine in John Lewis Reading for £289 which means it has a year warranty rather than the 1 year Richer Sounds were offering for the same price. Don't know why it shows as £10 more on the website though:

http://www.johnlewis.com/230898937/Product.aspx

Lots of info on here:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/pvrs-vcrs/1365066-h...

This is the 4th thread on this device(due to a forum limit of 1000 posts per thread IIRC).

Make sure you don't accidentaly buy the FreeSAT version as this will need a dish to work rather than an aerial.

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Wednesday 8th December 17:50

[tonym911]

Not sure the missis understands the phrase 'wait a bit' but I'll have a gander anyway, thanks again

[tonym911]

Oops sorry OldSkool, I crashed over your post a bit, my previous one was a reply to telecat, thanks very much for your info, is yours the 1TB model amazon is selling at £359.95?

[tonym911]

Just had a look at your linky, JL one is 500GB, amazon doesn't offer that one, but that's more than enough storage I reckon!

[OldSkoolRS]

I wondered if you'd spotted my post when I saw we'd crashed.

I just went for the 500GB version...I've got two series of Doctor Who recorded for my son and other stuff on my old Sony DVD/HDD recorder and still never ran out of space with a much smaller hard drive. I suppose with HD recordings I'm more likely to fill it up, but I tend to record, watch, then delete programs I record for myself. I don't know if it's possible to backup recordings to external drives, which might help. I haven't read the manual, so I don't know, but it also shows how easy it is to use.

[tonym911]

OldSkoolRS said:

I wondered if you'd spotted my post when I saw we'd crashed.

I just went for the 500GB version...I've got two series of Doctor Who recorded for my son and other stuff on my old Sony DVD/HDD recorder and still never ran out of space with a much smaller hard drive. I suppose with HD recordings I'm more likely to fill it up, but I tend to record, watch, then delete programs I record for myself. I don't know if it's possible to backup recordings to external drives, which might help. I haven't read the manual, so I don't know, but it also shows how easy it is to use.

I think we might be on the same level when it comes to telly technology… though come to think of it that might be insulting you

[OldSkoolRS]

No insult taken.

[telecat]

On the Disk Capacity front I upgraded my 9200T to a 500GB drive from the 160GB standard unit so it's not a big problem if you find it is filling up "down the line". The current thinking though is that there is a 2TB limit due to the way the disks are formatted.

[OldSkoolRS]

Thanks Telecat. I put a bigger drive in my old Pace Twin, so not averse to trying upgrades, but hopefully I'll be alright for a good while (depends how many decent films are on over Christmas though).