Freeview recorder

[RizzoTheRat]

My mother is moving house soon and will be changing from Virgin to Freeview, but would like still be able to record stuff. Any recommendations for freeview recorder boxes these days?

[Doofus]

Do NOT buy a Humax FVP 5000T.

It is bilge, and Humax have as much as told me it's designed thst way.

[droopsnoot]

I've just bought a second-hand BT Youview box, and so far it's the best freeview recorder I've had. That list includes several variants of the Vestel box badged as Techwood and others, and a couple of older Humax boxes, and my lovely Sony DVD/HDD recorder. The EPG opens quickly, it's very quiet, it tunes in to HD channels (even though I have an SD telly) and does "series link" on the recording side.

The down sides (for me) are that the on-screen graphics are really designed for a high-def TV, or something with a larger screen, and because mine isn't connected to the internet it keeps chucking warning screens up when it would normally show previews of something. But it's no big deal, it's not as if they're pop-up warnings that I have to dismiss.

Best bit was: mine was a fiver from the local car-boot sale. I've been in Currys today and I think it's the same model they're still selling for £125.

[mike9009]

I have heard the Youview boxes are the best too.

We have a Panasonic box which is okay but very laggy and getting on-line is painful It is a few years old now - but even when new it was pretty dire...

[Who me ?]

Humax- go look on the Humax site for a refurbished box.Same warranty as a new one, but at half th price.

[JimbobVFR]

mike9009 said:

I have heard the Youview boxes are the best too.

We have a Panasonic box which is okay but very laggy and getting on-line is painful It is a few years old now - but even when new it was pretty dire...

While not perfect they're pretty good. The support for streaming (iPlayer, UKTV etc etc) is pretty good too.

[droopsnoot]

I'm sure I've read that the Youview box is made by Humax, though the user interface is miles better than the 9200 and 9300 I tried.

The other thing it does, which I like (having been caught out by other boxes that don't do it) is automatically figure out when Channel 5 or the like stick a 5-minute news programme in the middle of a film, and records both halves without asking.

[Tony1963]

We finally gave up with Freeview. No live F1 was annoying, but the atrocious boxes were the final straw. I’d hate to saddle an older person with their half-baked efforts. And be aware that they often ‘die’ after 2 to 5 years.