Humax Freesat Foxsat-HDR recorder announced

Comments

• May be just cynical, Bit its to expensive! £200 is about right. In the curren economic climate Humax are trying to milk the Xmas market .. Buyers will be very tough this time round and good luck too them Posted by Dave Smith, U.K.
• I have been waiting a long time for this box to come out. Personally I think it's worth the money - free Digital TV channels, SKY+ recording functionality , HD reception and a HDMI lead thrown in which can be quite expensive. Why buy anything else? Compared to the exhorbitant monthly charges made by Sky for their not so free equivelent it's a bargain. Posted by Mike Jacques, UK
• I have to agree largely with Mike Jacques, i think this recorder is an excellent idea, ( especially with the 'schedule tracking' which as i understand it, will make this PVR automatically alter recording times according to whether the programmes is delayed or interrupted, i.e. with football/a newsflash etc )assuming the reviews on it are suitably positive! Though, personally i believe that with the competition hot on HUMAX's heels, their nr £300 price tag will have to fall quite rapidly if they are to seriously compete with the long term market for this type of gadgetry! Personally i would much rather pay more initally for the equipment in the knowledge that i'm not subject to paying an ongoing subscription as one currently has to to enjoy the Sky+ benefits!! Posted by Mike, UK
• Nope, I agree with Dave. this is way way over priced, for the ability to record 1 full HD channel and ITV which occasionaly shows HD content. Also at the moment, because of a lack of availible HD content, most programs are repeated anyway.
  
  Mike: HDMI leads are not expensive at £10.00, unless your foolish enough to believe that DIGITAL signals are effected by the quality of the cable. (That's what they want you to believe) Posted by John, UK
• When and where can i buy this Humax. Or is it still the case that nobody really knows? Posted by sven, england
• When it comes to TV technology I'm a relative amateur, particularly when reading the various forums. However having just purchased a new Sony KDL40W4500 I was told to wait for the FOXSAT-HDR PVR to receive and record Freesat and HD broadcasts. Well it's about to arrive and I for one think its a breakthrough that is worth grasping with both hands but with an ever mindful eye on budgets. Perhaps it's worth waiting for the price to stabilise when inevitably the competition will catch up - when who knows but, as the consumer, we do hold some of the cards! Posted by Bob, UK
• I have now seen the Freesat recorder from Humax (in passing) and the interface looks more polished than previous models (it picks up the style of Freesat), whilst retaining some of the popular features you'd expect - series link, alternative program suggestions when you have clashes and so on. It will even alert you when you are about to record an SD program and an HD option is available.
  
  Expect a full review here on Pocket-lint at some stage in the future... Posted by chrishall, United Kingdom
• I personally will not quibble at the price. This is a nice piece if kit and full of functions which other units lack. Those that do moan about the price want inferior quality so you get what you pay for. It has a cam slot and can operate a motorised dish so is good for the hardened satellite junkie aswell. Obviously price will drop eventually but not to the degree that some people might expect (£200) as i have found in the past you get what you pay for. I have had Sky and Virgin and got shot of both, you end up paying for programmes that you never watch just so you can have others and the movies are nothing to shout about and all for a rip off monthly price tag, and to top it all the sky+ box wont let you record even though you bought it unless you pay £10. Now sky have dropped their HD boxes, cat amongs the pidgeons or what!. To end it all the current Humax boxes i have viewed give of a better quality picture then sky. Posted by Nick, UK
• I am thinking of getting rid of my sky + as I only really use it for its ability to tape 2 programmes at the same time and I can watch another taped one while this is happening and the cost of sky is far too much,,,,so can this new humax tape 2 and watch just like the sky box or does it only tape one and watch one???? does any body know.....also where can they be bought and when....... Posted by liz, uk
• yes liz , this box will let you record two channels and watch a recorded one but not record two and watch a live one,it would then need to be a triple tuner like the virgin HD box. Posted by nick, uk
• should be available around middle of november to possibly coincide with channel 5 going live on freesat around the 18th. most electrical stores will stock them argos, comet etc. Posted by nick, uk
• does anyone know if this box can pick up non freesat stuff as well. i.e not like the old sky boxes which only got sky stuff. I want to watch non GB free stff too. Posted by newone, mainland europe
• yes this will pick up non uk programmes as well, it has non freesat scan function but they may not appear in the EPG. (update) argos have now started advertising this unit Posted by nick, uk
• Hi Ive seen it is available to buy, has anyone bought one yet. Just wondered what peoples thoughts were. Posted by jodie, uk
• difficult to get hold of one, some stores are advertising them but don't carry any stock in, what are available are flying out. Posted by nick, uk
• Found Argos had them available Sat 21/11 but only for home delivery. ordered one and should be delivered monday afternoon Posted by David, UK
• Sri - that was Friday 21/11 I ordered - just looked Saturday evening 22/11 and Argos are now out of stock again for home delivery in my area Posted by David, UK
• What do you need for one of these? I have a sky dish but its not sky+ can someone please let me know what I would need/need to do if I was to buy one a Humax Foxsat HD Freesat Digital TV Recorder. Thank you Posted by Lisa, jodie.goddard11@hotmail.co.uk
• Does anyone know how you would record from ITV HD on one of these, bearing in mind that this is accssed via the red button on your remote?
  Posted by Geoff Alen, UK
• Lisa, if you have a sky dish but you did not have sky+ then you probably only have one lead from the dish. For the freesat recorder you need the same set up as for sky+ and that is two leads from the dish as the box contains two tuners.
  Geoff, if no one else comes forward I will let you know hopefully on monday evening when I have installed my box Posted by David, UK
• I have four connections on my Sky dish and only use one for my standard sky box. Am I able to add the freesat receiver to this while still using the sky? Posted by Paul, England
• The unit automaticaly records HD content from ITV no red button set up needed to record Posted by Nick, uk
• Same old thing from Argos got an email saying stock in, jumped straight to Argos site and blow me nothing available. This has happened a few times get to the website and no availability, stocks must be leaving quick as hell. Started to fear was not going to get one for christmas at this rate even though i read that humax will be pushing 15000 for december but when you think that has to cover the majority of stores nationwide it aint a lot if they moving that fast. So followed up on someone elses success and rang them up, and yes got some in so, will be finally getting one on monday, Hooray. So use the phone instead of the web with Argos. Posted by Nick, uk
• I am interested to know if the screen used to select programs for recording is the same format as the Freesat screen. Also does it have the facility to series record the same as my sky plus box. Before I suspend my subscription to sky I need to find out if it is as easy to select and set programs for recording. I have a new Panasonic 46 inch TV with Freesat built in. Will this recorder allow me to watch a separate Freesat program using the inbuilt tuner and at the same time record to separate freezer channels using the tuners built into the recorder. Posted by Dave, UK
• Hold on everybody. It`s not a life and death situation if you don`t get your box until after chrismas. Like everything else, when a new product like this is announced we all think that we will do anything to get our hands on one. With the credit squeeze come January /February everyone can have one and probably cheaper!
  Well done Humax for releasing this product whilst ensuring short supply to keep the price up! Call me a cynic! Posted by Raymond, uk
• Has anyone seen written reviews on this product yet?
  Where is the IR remote sensor hidden on the front panel?
  Posted by fez, spain
• I dont have a dish on my wall and want freesat. To avoid expensive installation can i get basic sky package free for 3 months then decide to cancel, keep dish and connect freesat box to it? Or do i need an HD or sky+ dish which allows for more than 1 tuner? Any advice on the cheapest way to get Freesat installed much appreciated.... Posted by Stupot, UK
• Update- Received box on monday as promised and totally satisfied with it. No noise from fan,recording starts and finishes correctly no missed beginings or ends,non freesat mode works well,no delays with epg,picture quality good on sd and hd,all recordings like watching original.Glad i finished with sky a while back and waited for this and now subscription free.Things can only get better with time. Posted by nick, uk
• Thanks Nick,
  Can you see the infra red sensor for control? Please let it be on the left.
  I want one. Hope I can pick up all the channels in Mallorca from a 1.3 m dish.
  Will let you know unless anyone else can advise re footprint. Posted by feZ, spain
• fez,,,,, looks to me like it is on the left, i dropped the front panel and on the inside their is a round hole looks like a sensor aperture and it is to the left of the readout Posted by nick, uk
• Agree with Nick ,my box arived as promised by Argos. Well worth the wait and I think the price. Have just sold my old Sky HD box on ebay for half the cost of the new one so well pleased. Posted by David, UK
• stupot,, i personally begrudge paying any money to sky especially when i finished my subscription with them and found that to record on my sky+ box i would need to pay them ten pound tax. Their are plenty of installers out their and im sure that you could find one to install for a reasonable price. The price you will pay for the sky package you mention could finance your installation, not knowing what price the package is you could make up the difference Posted by nick, uk
• I already have sky+ installed.
  
  Can I just plug this new PVR in the place of my sky+ box or do I need an engineer to set it up? Posted by Nick , UK
• This is a straight swap for Sky+ or Sky+HD then follow the auto set up in the instructions, you should not need to pay for installation Posted by david, UK
• got mine yesterday, its great well worth the money, and for those asking about dish install, i did my own. detailed here.
  Just buy a dish and lnb from someone like wizardsatlite, worth getting a bigger dish as they dont go up much in price for size increase. the benifit of a bigger disk is bigger signal, which reduces the effect of cloud coverage and maintains a strong signal when weathers bad. as long as you are reasonably competent at DIY fitting the dish to a mounting bracket on the wall should be no problem. if you can hang on the bracket and your 15 stone or under and it dont come off the wall, then that should be secure enough. buy one of those cheap sat finder alignment meters while your getting the dish (aprox £10), you can always pass it on to friends when your finished with it. point the dish at the south, if your in england, then swival it about an 1/8th anticlockwise, and try to keep the dish at 54 degrees on the up/down scale, which should see the dish itself almost straight . around this point there are 3 satilites, 13, 19, and 28, going anticlockwise from dead south the meter should scream at you as it passes each of them. once you think you are on 28 move the dish up/down/right/left to focus on the most strong point. thats it. lock it down and see if your foxsat finds the satilite. dont allow an update until you have tuned all the channels in and tested that you have a good signal.
  hope this helps those desiding wether to pay for dish install.
  regards peter Posted by peter, uk
• Hi Just interested to know if i get a foxtat do i need to feed it with a twin lnb or will the the single sky lnb work it ok, as i have a new dish already that has never been put up but it only has 1LNB attatched and i am wondering if i need to change it before i attempt to install it. thanks any other helpfull inatallation info would also be helpfull as i have not fitted one before.
  regards David B Coventry Posted by David Butler, UK
• HUMAX FOXSAT HDR FREESATPLUS RECEIVER REVIEW explanation for new buyers.
  
  http://www.foxsathdr.co.uk/HUMAX_FOXSAT_HDR_FREESATPLUS_RECEIVER_REVIEW.htm Posted by nick, uk
• HipHip Hooray Freesats here to stay. Posted by sean, England
• We currently subscribe to Top up TV using a Thomson box.
  We have found the Thomson box to be poor and are looking to change to Freesat tv.
  If we buy a Freesat dish ,the Humax box and a Tv with a slot for the Top up TV card eg panasonic, will the Humax box be compatible with the Top Up Tv channels allowing them to be recorded Posted by Graham Burden, uk
• I have just insalled my new foxsat pvr,tuned in all the channels including non-freesat.I t records successfully except when there are two programmes I want to record say at 9pm.It then says that "you cannot record this reservation due to a conflict"I have checked that the two leads from the lnb are screwed into the back of the box tightly-am I missing something? HELP! Posted by Peter, UK
• HUMAX FOXSAT-HDR PVR in stock at SATALOGUE.
  I have just ordered one on the phone with confirmation from them that they have stock.
  Was promised delivery on Thursday. Posted by Richard, UK
• @ peter by default if their is a programme conflict then it should offer you an alternative schedule to record at another time, i am recommending another site for you decicated to the foxsat so as to be able to help you as quickly as possible. Your question may by answered more quickly.
  
  http://www.hummy.org.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=74 Posted by nick, uk
• Sir, I live in Italy,and at the moment have a sky set-up on a basic package (no recording availability) reception is good,subject to high winds and rain.i have a quad lnb so at least two inputs into the house.Could a freesat humax hd 320gb work if connected work and give me recording availability.thank you. Posted by derek martin, italy
• @ derek Yes it would sir. Posted by nick, uk
• I have a Bush Freesat and now a Humax HDR. Set up in Mallorca ( did my own allignment, using the strength signal on the Bush display!). Run a 1.3 mtr dish and except for extreme weather conditions it works just fine. I know that moving to a 1.5 or even better a 1.8 dish would give perfect reception, however we find the 1.3 OK.
  Mark. Posted by Mark Ratsey-Woodroffe, United Kingdom and Spain
• If you are looking for a good quality, reliable HD solution with recording facility without the need to pay a subscription, then the Humax HD Freesat receiver is an excellent choice.
  
  http://www.mrskytv.com/humax.html
  
  If you are interested in buying any Freesat boxes or SKY boxes and SKY cards feel free to e-mail us.
  
  MRSKYTV.COM Posted by Mr Sky TV, Spain