Which Freeview PVR?

[Shotgun Rider]

We have finally ditched Sky after threatening to do it for several months, so we need a Freeview PVR to replace Sky +. Is Humax still the best to go for?

We don't want to spend a huge amount and Humax Direct are selling Grade A returns 160GB Freeview boxes for £80 and 320GB for £100 with a years warranty.

http://humaxdirect.co.uk/prodCat.asp?cat=factory&a...

Should I be looking at another brand before making my decision?

Edited by Shotgun Rider on Sunday 26th August 22:27

[Shotgun Rider]

Just realised that there is a home cinema forum. Could the mods move it? Sorry.

[Mr Pointy]

The URL doesn't seem to be working correctly.

[Shotgun Rider]

Mr Pointy said:

The URL doesn't seem to be working correctly.

Repasted it, hopefully it'll work now.

[Who me ?]

Had a Humax 9150 for a couple of years now. As long as you keep up to date with upgrades it's ok. Only real problem is locking up via remote ( take batteries out ,wait a minute and replace ), which seems to be related to a large number of programs on reserve. Easy to use .Certainly worth what we paid for it .It doesn't seem to really mind signal levels on the threshold .
All in all, we're happy with it.

[Bullett]

Happy with my human fox sat.

Replacing sky, Why not go freesat? You already have the connections.

[Mr Pointy]

Shotgun Rider said:

Mr Pointy said:

The URL doesn't seem to be working correctly.

Repasted it, hopefully it'll work now.

The only thing I would say is that they do not have very large HDDs if you want to store many films. I have a 1TB drive & it's filling up. Possibly more importantly they aren't HD, which seems rather backward considering there are some HD channels now on Freeview.

Of course if you don't want to store much or don't care about HD they would certainly do the job.

[maxfan]

I have a sony freeview thing with dvd built in and hard drive - works fine plus being able to copy programmes to the dvd means i can then use apc to upload them into my network files etc
Also have a freesat recorder- Samsung- amazing thing and the choice of "extra" channels on freesat over freeview was really apparant during the olympics etc

[Baron Greenback]

I have the HDR fox T2 which I can connect to my computer and backup/copy films to my tablet. But for your budget it will be difficult so what you link is a good buy. I don't think you can connect to computer with the 9300. Depends how long you want to keep your films for, go for the 320GB.

[vladcjelli]

We had the Humax foxsat HDR before succumbing to Sky again.

Did some things the Sky+ box can't do, like being able to archive stuff to an external USB drive. This is handy for watching programmes back on media streamers/PC/other devices over a network.

Was a good box and I miss it.

[Alicatt1]

Have a Humanx HD Freesat box for a few years now, since before they made a PVR version, and it has worked flawlessly. I'm using mine in Belgium with a 50cm portable dish and no problems.

[AerialAndy]

Humax are still the best manufacturer imo They have had some issues in the past but are the most consistant with there ota upgrades. Make sure you leave the unit in standby overnight to pick up the upgrade signal on BBC1. 9300 + 9150 models are the same unit with the 9300 having a front channel display, larger hdd capacity, hdmi upscaling (it is NOT a full hd receciever). The full hd t2 model is a lovely bit of kit but overpriced at the moment. They charge that because they can! Freesat is a nice option but it does NOT have the same channel lineup as freeview so check what channels you want to receive i.e Dave, Really, Yesterday are only available on freeview.

[maxfan]

Wheras the horror channel CBS etc are on freesat
thst actually interesting as i hadnt realised Dave wasn't on freeview I actually thought all Freeview channels appeared on freesat plus some extra's but also after reading your thing noticed Sky news isnt there either
In a way then if you hav ethe 2 services I suppose they complement each other

[AerialAndy]

maxfan said:

Wheras the horror channel CBS etc are on freesat
thst actually interesting as i hadnt realised Dave wasn't on freeview I actually thought all Freeview channels appeared on freesat plus some extra's but also after reading your thing noticed Sky news isnt there either
In a way then if you hav ethe 2 services I suppose they complement each other

Correct. Both services are similar on the mainstream channels but differ on there commercial specialist channel lineup so if you're using just the one service you need to ask yourself which channels do i want. I get a lot of ex sky customers saying they've lost channels when actually the 2 services are quite different on there channel choice so yes having both will give you a full selection of free to view tv. Freesat also gives you iplayer and itvplayer whereas freeview doesn't. Also a freesat receiver is different to a free to air receiver and different channels again! Don't you just love digital tv o_O

[maxfan]

You've inspired me to go and look ast the freesat as I'm not aware I can get itv player on it but wuill be highly delighted if I can
thank you

[hms]

If it's freeview you are after not freesat, then buy a Topview 5800.
Old model I know, but has a good following on the forum, easily repairable/updateable with larger hard disk, and the forum keeps the software up to date.
Can also accept TOP's, topfield applications. Connectable to a PC, or the network to pull progs off the topfield to PC for watching/burning to DVD.
Iirc Topfield sell factory refurbs for about £80 without hard disk,
The topy forum will give you all the info required to fit or update a hard disk.
Best forum is www.topy.org
h

[AerialAndy]

maxfan said:

You've inspired me to go and look ast the freesat as I'm not aware I can get itv player on it but wuill be highly delighted if I can
thank you

Yep was catching up on the DTM and BTCC races I missed over weekend. Channel 902 I think from memory or somewhere near there :-)

[Shotgun Rider]

Thanks for all the replies.

I hate it when I go and buy this kind of thing. I start off with a low budget but it slowly starts to creep up as I justify spending more on better facilities.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130725061581

I've been suggested a TVOnics which looks very good value for money but TVOnics went into administration a few months back. That made me look at the equivalent Humax for £180 with it's additional online features (never mind that all of them are available on my Sony Bluray.)

I miss my Tivo!

[page3]

Shotgun Rider said:

I miss my Tivo!

And that is the problem. All Freeview PVR's are awful. They are just differing levels of awfulness.

(I have The Humax HDR-Fox T2, which is only moderately awful. I believe the 'Freeview+' branding demands it.)

[Shotgun Rider]

page3 said:

And that is the problem. All Freeview PVR's are awful. They are just differing levels of awfulness.

(I have The Humax HDR-Fox T2, which is only moderately awful. I believe the 'Freeview+' branding demands it.)

The Tivo was a fantastic machine but it's no surprise that it didn't catch on with an extra £200 for TV listings or £10 a month. I got mine way back in the early 2000's for £100 from Currys when they were selling them off cheap so £300 all in wasn't too bad a price. Loved it, even down to the noises it made when you pressed the remote buttons. I only sold it a couple of years back when I got Sky+.