Humax - Still the go to option?
Discussion
snuffy said:
It's odd that if you want say a TV there are dozens (100s ?) of companies that will sell you one. And if you want a fridge or whatever it's the same. But if you want a Freeview of Freesat box then it's pretty much Humax or nothing.
Panasonic still do them but I don't think Sony do. The issue I have is that basically the UI is everything & you don't find out how good or bad it is until you have it set up & try to use it.Mr Pointy said:
I struggle to see how anyone could think the Youview box has an even half-decent UI. It can't even create a custom channel list which is one of the most basic requirements.
Can you do that on the 5000T? Hopefully it is possible as the older Humax can but I suppose they might have crippled it in the name of progress.
Youview released what came to be known as "next gen" last year. It replaced text lists with pretty pictures... and removed lots of useful features, like channel editing. Youview have started to replace the lost features, but slowly. I preferred the lists.Can you do that on the 5000T? Hopefully it is possible as the older Humax can but I suppose they might have crippled it in the name of progress.
There was also a problem with missed recordings, which seems to have been fixed.
The Humax Youview boxes have a choice of standby modes, so they don't have to be slow to start up.
Unless the Youview box is cheap (as ours were), I think I'd go for Freeview Plus. I think it might have more development in the future.
We have a 500gb "BT retail" Humax DTRT2110, and a 1tb BT DTRT4000 UHD box (UHD is only for BT sport - we don't subscribe). The latest boxes are acceptably quick.
No wi-fi is a pain, but they work through powerline adaptors.
Youview recently added the Amazon Prime app (not yet on the UHD box) to Netflix, BBC, ITV, C4, S4C, C5, UKTV, Now TV (movies only, but I believe that's about to change), BBC News, BBC Sport, and Milkshake and Pop Fun for children. The streaming apps work well.
Our Humax recorders have been reliable, until a few weeks ago, when the DTRT2110 wouldn't start up after a power cut and none of the maintenance menu options worked. It was easy to replace the hard drive, though, and I upgraded to 1tb in the process. It's now plugged into a surge protected adaptor in the hope that it prevents a reocurrence.
Timely thread, I'm geared up to ditch sky next March when our contract is up!
After an audit over a week of viewing we watch 1 sky-only channel more than once, Cartoonito for the boy, and my monthly sub can buy alot of Fireman Sam DVD's...
I've found the Humax 1000s or whatever it is box too, which seems to be just an upgraded version of the older one my parents have, and theirs has been fine.
I can then:
Freesat channels
Cast to it (my mums comes up on my phone as a castable device)
Stream from my Plex server (DLNA compatible)
They seem to come with 500gb hard drives but I imagine it's a piece of piss to drop a 1/2tb one in if it comes to it
Plays from USB, so I could hoover up all the Fireman Sam DVD's from the car boot one sunday, rip them all the MP4 and lob them on a cheap 64gb pen drive and leave that in the back until he grows out of it! (and sell the DVD's on facebook the next day)
Apps, which for me is mainly Youtube, as when I'm thrown the remote and told 'I'm off to bed', I fire youtube up straight away on the skyq box and get watching
Lack of Wifi doesn't bother me, it'll sit on the shelf next to the router so it can be wired.
Unless Sky will drop my current package to £11 a month next year I'll ditch them. I could even lob the box onto the credit card, change the Sky - £48 line on my monthly spreadsheet to Humax - £11 and add it to the CC payment and write it off that way
After an audit over a week of viewing we watch 1 sky-only channel more than once, Cartoonito for the boy, and my monthly sub can buy alot of Fireman Sam DVD's...
I've found the Humax 1000s or whatever it is box too, which seems to be just an upgraded version of the older one my parents have, and theirs has been fine.
I can then:
Freesat channels
Cast to it (my mums comes up on my phone as a castable device)
Stream from my Plex server (DLNA compatible)
They seem to come with 500gb hard drives but I imagine it's a piece of piss to drop a 1/2tb one in if it comes to it
Plays from USB, so I could hoover up all the Fireman Sam DVD's from the car boot one sunday, rip them all the MP4 and lob them on a cheap 64gb pen drive and leave that in the back until he grows out of it! (and sell the DVD's on facebook the next day)
Apps, which for me is mainly Youtube, as when I'm thrown the remote and told 'I'm off to bed', I fire youtube up straight away on the skyq box and get watching
Lack of Wifi doesn't bother me, it'll sit on the shelf next to the router so it can be wired.
Unless Sky will drop my current package to £11 a month next year I'll ditch them. I could even lob the box onto the credit card, change the Sky - £48 line on my monthly spreadsheet to Humax - £11 and add it to the CC payment and write it off that way
beko1987 said:
They seem to come with 500gb hard drives but I imagine it's a piece of piss to drop a 1/2tb one in if it comes to it
500GB is 1/2TB 
(But I'm sure you mean a 1 or 2 TB disk)This is the one I have:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0104SY71K
It's a 500GB one but they do 1TB and 2TB version as well. I actually went for the 500GB version because what I've found is that if you have a bigger disk it just leads to me recording more stuff that I'll never end up watching. So I smaller one means I will actually watch stuff or delete it as opposed to keeping it forever just because I can.
ladderino said:
Bit of a faff - but I just followed this guide and managed to get it. Doesn't look like you can record though.
https://www.satandpcguy.com/2018/02/20/how-to-add-...
That worked. Yes, it was a bit of a faff, but I can now watch C4 HD and Motorsport TV again. https://www.satandpcguy.com/2018/02/20/how-to-add-...
Thanks.
ash73 said:
I love my Humax HDR-1000S freesat box, never had any problems with it. My folks have Sky and the box is slightly more responsive but I much prefer the Humax, especially the seamless integration with catchup services.
I note that (https://uk.humaxdigital.com/product/hdr-1000s/) won the What Hi Fi awards 2013. I retired mine 3 years ago and the SKY+ we got instead was so much better that I never wanted to go back to it.I think I rest my case with Humax then.
But I'd love to get rid of SKY as the sub is pointless - we watch 97% free to air terrestrial cached in the PVR (I dropped a 1Tb disk in so have hours to catch up on). And we also pay Netflix... Bit of a Humax monopoly...?
I still have a trusty old Sony PVR with DVD recorder that is about 11 years old - it will probably not last forever so also considering alternatives. To hijack this a little - are there any that you can archive recordings through the usb? I don't do it that often, but the DVD recorder is useful for archiving stuff into another hard drive.
snuffy said:
500GB is 1/2TB (But I'm sure you mean a 1 or 2 TB disk)
This is the one I have:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0104SY71K
It's a 500GB one but they do 1TB and 2TB version as well. I actually went for the 500GB version because what I've found is that if you have a bigger disk it just leads to me recording more stuff that I'll never end up watching. So I smaller one means I will actually watch stuff or delete it as opposed to keeping it forever just because I can.
Yes, sorry, typed that badly! 1 slash 2 tb, but your right, it would just get filled with crap! Our sky q has a 1tb drive in a think and is never even a quarter full. (But I'm sure you mean a 1 or 2 TB disk)This is the one I have:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0104SY71K
It's a 500GB one but they do 1TB and 2TB version as well. I actually went for the 500GB version because what I've found is that if you have a bigger disk it just leads to me recording more stuff that I'll never end up watching. So I smaller one means I will actually watch stuff or delete it as opposed to keeping it forever just because I can.
She's doing the soaps as we speak, so itv, then bbc1, then itv again. Then shes off to work and I have some Hoovies garage to catch up on, which is youtube...
If looking at Humax, then https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/refurbished.html
is worth a look. Refurbished to as new standard ,with a year warranty.
is worth a look. Refurbished to as new standard ,with a year warranty.
If you have a Sky+ box you can buy a Freeway from sky card for £25 and get all the free channels.
But if you want the sky+ functionality they'll want £10 a month from you.
https://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/
But if you want the sky+ functionality they'll want £10 a month from you.
https://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/
[quote=Who me ?]If looking at Humax, then https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/refurbished.html
is worth a look. Refurbished to as new standard ,with a year warranty.
[/quote]
Had another look at Humax - as its been a while...
I note it can download a Netflix app now? This is a big bonus as we watch Netflix through the Amazon Fire Stick and this always drops frames on US or non UK 25P material - which drives me potty! The TV can handle US framerates/24p, 30P/60i but this thing tries to make it all 25P so the pic stutters.
Does anyone know if the Humax box does it better? Or if it's set to UK 50i/25P in the menus that's what it too will output regardless?
Cheers
is worth a look. Refurbished to as new standard ,with a year warranty.
[/quote]
Had another look at Humax - as its been a while...
I note it can download a Netflix app now? This is a big bonus as we watch Netflix through the Amazon Fire Stick and this always drops frames on US or non UK 25P material - which drives me potty! The TV can handle US framerates/24p, 30P/60i but this thing tries to make it all 25P so the pic stutters.
Does anyone know if the Humax box does it better? Or if it's set to UK 50i/25P in the menus that's what it too will output regardless?
Cheers
Ken Figenus said:
I note it can download a Netflix app now? This is a big bonus as we watch Netflix through the Amazon Fire Stick and this always drops frames on US or non UK 25P material - which drives me potty! The TV can handle US framerates/24p, 30P/60i but this thing tries to make it all 25P so the pic stutters.
Does anyone know if the Humax box does it better? Or if it's set to UK 50i/25P in the menus that's what it too will output regardless?
You might get an answer on a more dedicated forum:Does anyone know if the Humax box does it better? Or if it's set to UK 50i/25P in the menus that's what it too will output regardless?
https://www.avforums.com/forums/digital-tv-video-p...
https://myhumax.org/forum/forum/fvp-4000t-1
zedx19 said:
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
Blimey - I thought recording boxes had been long resigned to fond memory along with DVD and VHS tapes!
???? You thought no-one recorded anything off the tele anymore??? Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff