Humax Freesat+ FOXSAT-HDR recorder review

Comments

• I am now waiting for freesat to pick up some of the sky channels I use and then I am off. I have a feeling that a lot of the documentary channels are tied to sky for their advertising sales, but if they moved quite a number of sky viewers are likely to migrate to a system that does not require increasing ly larger up front payments. This is exactly the machine that cuts it for people like myself Posted by Pete Dawson, UK
• what he said! I have one and love it! I poured lighter fuel on my sky hd box and set fire to it, gonna put it up on you tube with the title "message for Murdoch" ;O) Posted by Ex-sky, England
• One thing worth noting - the Humax box uses less than 1W in standby, instead of the 40W which the Sky HD box uses every second it is plugged in (even when it is supposedly on standby). That means the Humax would pay for itself in 6 years on electricity cost savings alone! It also runs much cooler than the Sky box and without the annoying fan noise. The downside is that the Humax takes a minute or so to boot up from standby. Posted by Mark Brock, UK
• Some of the HD content shown by the BBC is quite spectacular. Although much of it consists of repeats of things such as Lost Land of the Jagual and Tiger: Spy in the Jungle, they are amazing to see again with the increased clarity of HD.
  
  I was quite amused to see that the BBC's big Christmas movie - Superman Returns wasn't shown in HD but Muppet Treasure Island was. Until Channel 4 HD is free from their lock-in with Sky I wouldn't buy this expecting to see HD version of movies screened on the BBC. Posted by GK, UK
• Just got mine, had to order from John Lewis. Very impressed works right out the box easy set up,though the manual is not the best - I have not yet worked out how to series record. Only problem I can see is a lack of content but what there is on a 37 Panasonic LCD looks great. Posted by Firrester, uk
• Firrester - if you set recordings through the EPG it offers up the chance to series link if it can - I've had to return my review box now (boo!), so I can't give you the exact procedure - it's not hidden though, so just play around and you'll find it.
  Posted by chrishall, United Kingdom
• I've just replaced SKY+ with the Humax Freesat pvr and I agree with all that has been said above. It is really VERY GOOD!
  
  The only real problem I've come across is that my Sony Bravia does not automatically 'see' the HDMI feed from the Humax and I have to switch the Sony to "HDMI1" to see the pvr. It is not a fault with the Sony as it automatically finds the Blu-Ray player on "HDMI2".
  
  Watch also ITV HD feeds. For some reason they are on the red button only and they don't always END. I recorded a 2 hour programme only to find that the pvr was still recording next morning! This problem has been identified elsewhere too.
  
  A great machine. Posted by nofty, UK
• Nofty, the Humax is not a BraviaLink device... the Sony won't auto switch... Posted by Dave, Netherlands
• Come on people it might be great but in these times its just not good value!
  
  Just bought my SKYHD and for the basic package £28 plus HD at £10 I get a LOT more HD channels then after that year I can cancel my subscription and get the free to air HD channels that you get on your HUMAX(including ITV HD as of the new skyHD menu upgrade.
  
  Also came with three months half price subscription so basically I am paying £450 so yes an extra £150 but I easily have 15 more channels that are all in HD!
  
  Oh and my deal also included free dish and Fitting which you would NOT get if you bough a HUMAX.
  
  so potentially sky+HD is cheaper depending on your set up. Posted by stu, uk
• Stu
  
  Except that when you cancel at the end of year 1 you will HAVE to maintain a minimum package (£16.50) to be able to qualify for the "priviledge" of paying Sky £10 more a month for HD - so, £26.50 a month to access HD free to air....
  
  mmmm, not quite as good as you thought, eh?
  
  Free to air HD doesn't exist in Sky world....... Posted by Andy, UK
• can the Humax Foxsat record from a Virgin Media box, i have just subscribed to the Movie channels, Posted by pat, liverpool, England
• Bought my Humax foxsat-HDR last week, so far very impressed but.....when recording 1 or 2 programmes seem to be limited on access to other channels, getting the no-entry symbol.. Am I doing anything wrong? ps... pause- rewind live tv...... fantastic! Posted by Michael McGough, England
• Same problem as nofty, Sony Bravia won't see the Humax HDR. Humax say that Sony is HDMI v1.3 whereas Humax HDR is v1.2 and Humax won't be upgrading software to sort the problem. Seems a no brainer to me to not launch a product like the HDR without max compatibility, at least to Sony, Panasonic and LG TVs. Posted by Norm, UK