Did you have any luck with this GG? I wasn't holding out much hope of success as the other Harvard (and Humax) boxes can't do this.
No you can't. Well I couldn't get the first one to even scan in, and couldn't find the data channels with the other two, maybe someone else could try it out?
GG (forgot to post back my findings, blame me lousy memory! )
I think that, for me, the loss of a useable USB interface would be the main disadvantage of the Grundig compared to my Humax HDR.
Potentially the handling of non-Freesat channels sounds like a big plus for the Grundig, but could someone with the unit confirm whether, having added Non Freesat Channels for a particular transponder, it is possible to delete unwanted channels and can you re-arrange them?
Having taken Channel list >> >> Manual Channels option and selected a non-freesat channel, is it possible to continue viewing a non-freesat channel when a scheduled freesat recording activity starts?
The Grannygrunt review states "The unit just takes a few seconds to boot up from standby". Since the recent Humax firmware upgrade, the boot time on my HDR has been reduced to about 15 seconds. Is the Grundig noticeably faster than this (10 secs, 5 secs...)?
I find that browsing the Humax EPG can be jerky. Is the Grundig better in this respect? How fast is EPG population when moving between genres using the << and >> keys?
I will try the first one out for you when I have time I have timed the Grundig boot up time at 6 seconds or so. Browsing the EPG is not jerky at all and of course if you make use of the Genre tabs at the top its even faster as only the programs that you are interested in show in the line up. You move through each Genre more or less instantly.
Thanks GG for the info. It's clear that the Grundig tuners can't demux two channels simultaneously from the same transponder. Shame really as this can be very usefull at times.
Thanks GG for the info. It's clear that the Grundig tuners can't demux two channels simultaneously from the same transponder. Shame really as this can be very usefull at times.
Yes I know although I confess I never used it much when I was using the HDR. I intend to try out another test today, namely that of tuning to a channel (so the buffer begins, then about half way through a program pressing the instant record button just to see if the Grundig then records the whole buffer as well. (so begins from when the program actually began.)
I have just tried recording from Freesat and then being tuned to a none Freesat channel to test if the Freesat recording still takes place and it looks very much as if the Accurate Recording feature doesn't work for any Freesat scheduled recording as the recording did not begin until I accessed the Freesat EPG, then it didn't stop until I again went into the EPG.
Personally I am not bothered about this, as I don't bother about any of the none Freesat channels anyway but some of you might see that as a none starter.
GG (I confess that the only feature I am missing is the Humax's search feature which of course the Grundig doesn't have. However, by making full use of the Genre tabs, it is possible to find certain channels that you want to record easier to do.
GG - you might have to back up the buffer to the start of the programme before pressing record. Can you also try recording an HD channel the same way. I suspect the problem with the hdr is that HD channels are buffered without encryption hence the lack of buffer recording.
GG - you might have to back up the buffer to the start of the programme before pressing record. Can you also try recording an HD channel the same way. I suspect the problem with the hdr is that HD channels are buffered without encryption hence the lack of buffer recording.
I will try this, but I think I am going to have to curtail all this testing of the unit as it seems to be getting rather confused, especially if I have set up some none freesat channels. I was just trying to record a program on BBC 1 by pressing record half way through and although the title was correct in the Library it was Sky Travel when I played it back! LOL
As I am not fussed about having any none Freesat channels on board, I don't want to upset things by this constant testing etc.
I like this unit because of its fantastic picture quality and simple and easy to use interface and I am happy with my purchase.
As for the tests for the buffer, I haven't been able to get it to record the whole program from pressing record half way through so Graham you are right, I would obviously have to rewind back to the beginning to get the whole recording.
I have just tried recording from Freesat and then being tuned to a none Freesat channel to test if the Freesat recording still takes place and it looks very much as if the Accurate Recording feature doesn't work for any Freesat scheduled recording as the recording did not begin until I accessed the Freesat EPG, then it didn't stop until I again went into the EPG.
Thank you very much for trying. I had hoped that, apart from the inevitable lack of EPG presence for non-Freesat channels, the Grundig might have avoided the problems associated with the Humax concept of non Freesat mode.
Thank you very much for trying. I had hoped that, apart from the inevitable lack of EPG presence for non-Freesat channels, the Grundig might have avoided the problems associated with the Humax concept of non Freesat mode.
Yes it seems as if the Accurate recording flags or whatever they use in the EPG to start/stop somehow don't work if you are tuned to a none Freesat channel.
Personally this is no problem for me, as I am not really bothered about the none Freesat channels myself, or recording them, but obviously it seems to be of interest to others.
Q. Can I use my freesat+ recorder with only one LNB?
A. It is possible, but you will only be able to record the programme you are watching and will not be able to use the full features of your freesat+ recorder.
When I 'phoned Grundig today I re-checked this. According to guy that I spoke to if you only connect one LNB feed then it behaves as a single tuner PVR and you can schedule recordings as per the manual. There is no LNB loop through like the Humax boxes, so if you only connect one LNB feed, then only one tuner is active. In that mode it behaves like the Technisat HDFS single tuner jobbie.
Yes it seems as if the Accurate recording flags or whatever they use in the EPG to start/stop somehow don't work if you are tuned to a none Freesat channel.
Personally this is no problem for me, as I am not really bothered about the none Freesat channels myself, or recording them, but obviously it seems to be of interest to others.
GG
I've just ordered one (Item 500Gb HD Freesat recorder GFSDTR500HD) from very.co.uk (part of Littlewoods) whom I've never used before. I don't think they've got the greatest reputation. However I certainly seem to have got a good deal.
It's badged as Goodmans rather than Grundig. Asking price was £219 (seems very cheap), then used a 10% discount code for it being my first order, then another code for free delivery! Final price for what's promised to be delivery on Friday is £197.10.
It sounds too good to be true so I'll be keeping my fingers (and everything else) crossed.:)
I'll let you know how I find it compares to the Humax HDR.
This is my first post at DS so hello to you all and just wanted to share my thoughts on my newly purchased Grundig HDR with you. Only installed yesterday but you may be interested in my initial thoughts.
After reading the review from the OP and every ones comments here and other forums and after much deliberation I plumped for the Grundig over the Humax for my first foray into Freesat. I have always had either cable or freeview and am very familiar with Sky from various friends and family but wanted to give freesat a go and so some of my comments maybe because I am unfamiliar with freesat though most are specific to the Grundig. As this is my first box with Freesat I cannot compare it to the Humax but will be comparing it to similar PVRs from Virgin and Sky.
Overall I am likely to be returning the Grundig box so as you imagine my review wont be positive but will try to include some good points later on.
First the bad points.
1. The Noise. I know the OP said the noise of the machine was minimal and maybe I have a dodgy box but to my ears the Grundig makes an almighty racket and is easily nosiest piece of kit I have ever owned. The V+ box I had previously from Virgin could be a little bit noisy but this easily beats that. If you are thinking of this box for your bedroom I would not recommend it as you will never get any sleep. Maybe most people wont mind it but to me the noise actually distracted from watching the TV. Not Good.
2. The Non Freesat Channels. Again this may not be an issue to many people but I was interested in non-freesat channels such as the News channels, Music channels and International channels and found lots of issues with the way the Grundig handles these.
First I was under the impression that you could just add the one channel you wanted but it seems to scan all channels around the same frequency and then returns around half a dozen channels, most I was not interested in ( though you can delete them later which is feature I liked as you cannot do that on Sky or Virgin). It will then allocate its own EPG number to them according to whats just been scanned in. Overall you will end up with things like having a radio station next to a TV station for example. In an ideal world if it cannot arrange the channels in a sensible order then I would like to be able to allocate my own channel number and that way I could bunch all the music channels together, international channels together etc. Does anyone know if any of the other freesat PVRs do this?
Secondly, and more importantly, once stored it really is a faff accessing these non-freesat channels once they have been stored. I would have thought it was a simple thing of tapping in the new channel no. into the remote and it would pop up but on my box all the non-freesat channels have been allocated a four digit channel number (starting at 3000) and the box only accepts three digit ones – which means the only way to access the non-freesat channels is to do the following: Goto Channel List > go to Manual Channels > scoll down to the channel you want. This strikes me as being long winded and unnecessary.
Maybe I am missing something ? if so please feel free to point out my stupidity and show me what I am doing wrong.
Also it would be useful to know if is this the same with the Humax ?
Finally I notice the Now and Next does not work for non-freesat channel. I believe this works on the Humax. Little thing but irritating non the less.
3. The Remote control. The remote is not very ergonomic and as reviews have pointed out the Channel up and down button and the volume buttons are small and placed at the very button of the remote. Not very well designed and compared to Sky + and V+ actually very poor. Not one for the poor sighted, elderly or others who are not good with small fiddly buttons.
Good points
4. Picture quality is actually quite good, as mentioned by OP, but could not see a demonstrably better performance than my old V+. I am not an expert in these things though.
5. Menus and layouts are good, easy to read and to navigate yourself around.
What I have not tested yet are the recording and playback features but will do so in next day or so and if you are interested will be posting my thoughts on those too.
I know a couple of others have posted that they have purchased this box and so would be interested in their comments too.
PS – this post is not a criticism of the OP, who gave a very thorough review, but just my take on the same machine.
It's not easily possible on any box to add a single channel without adding the complete transponder. The tuner has to demux the channels from the same carrier before knowing what the channel id's are. Allocation of channel numbers outside of freesat is arbitary and certainly on a hdr you can give them whatever channel number you want.
Not familiar with the Grundig but on a hdr access to non-freesat requires accessing the menus and switching modes you can't mix freesat and non freesat in one single channel listing.
If it's any consolation the hdr is very quiet and the fan is intelligent only running when required.
Overall I am likely to be returning the Grundig box so as you imagine my review wont be positive but will try to include some good points later on.
First the bad points.
1. The Noise. I know the OP said the noise of the machine was minimal and maybe I have a dodgy box but to my ears the Grundig makes an almighty racket and is easily nosiest piece of kit I have ever owned.
A quicker way to access non-freesat is 999 then CH+
...or BBC1 then CH-
I've just set up my GFSDTR500HD which arrived today. I must say the initial set up was straightforward. The main problem I had wasn't with the freesat box at all but, ironically, getting my Harmony 885 remote to work properly with it. However, half an hour on the phone to the Harmony support line sorted that out.
I think Grannygrunt's review was very fair.
Overall I think operating it is probably simpler and more intuitive than the Humax HDR.
The biggest advantage over the Humax HDR from my persective is speed. It's quicker to boot and quicker to navigate the EPG without jerkiness or overshooting which I found a problem with the Humax because it was so slow.
Another big plus with the EPG is the Genre tabs which are a real boon - so much better than a first level Genre menu,
I quite like the consolidated recordings and schedules in one library, but I'm not sure how the lack of folders will work out when the library's fuller.
Being able to get to the non-freesat channels by CH+/- (see above) or from Channel List / Manual Channels is certainly a lot more straightforward than having to change to non-freesat mode and back through the setup menus. However, I'm a bit disappointed that it fails to obtain the Now and Next information for non-freesat channels.
I had a bit of difficulty with the aspect on my Sony Bravia with original 4:3 content. I had initially set the Screensize to 16:9 Widescreen. However 4:3 content was presented in the middle of the screen with some top and bottom unused as well as the sides (as expected). I've now changed it to 4:3 Widescreen (16:9), whatever than means. This handles 16:9 content OK but presents 4:3 as widescreen. I'm not sure what the best setting is to have 16:9 content as widescreen and 4:3 content pillar boxed from the top to the bottom of the screen, ie without black above and below which I got with the 16:9 Widescreen setting. Can anyone advise?
Overall I'm surprised by how good it is but I will be watching for reviews of the second generation Humax HDR when it comes out in the Autumn.
I've just set up my GFSDTR500HD which arrived today. I must say the initial set up was straightforward. The main problem I had wasn't with the freesat box at all but, ironically, getting my Harmony 885 remote to work properly with it. However, half an hour on the phone to the Harmony support line sorted that out.
I think Grannygrunt's review was very fair.
Overall I think operating it is probably simpler and more intuitive than the Humax HDR.
The biggest advantage over the Humax HDR from my persective is speed. It's quicker to boot and quicker to navigate the EPG without jerkiness or overshooting which I found a problem with the Humax because it was so slow.
Another big plus with the EPG is the Genre tabs which are a real boon - so much better than a first level Genre menu,
I quite like the consolidated recordings and schedules in one library, but I'm not sure how the lack of folders will work out when the library's fuller.
Being able to get to the non-freesat channels by CH+/- (see above) or from Channel List / Manual Channels is certainly a lot more straightforward than having to change to non-freesat mode and back through the setup menus. However, I'm a bit disappointed that it fails to obtain the Now and Next information for non-freesat channels.
I had a bit of difficulty with the aspect on my Sony Bravia with original 4:3 content. I had initially set the Screensize to 16:9 Widescreen. However 4:3 content was presented in the middle of the screen with some top and bottom unused as well as the sides (as expected). I've now changed it to 4:3 Widescreen (16:9), whatever than means. This handles 16:9 content OK but presents 4:3 as widescreen. I'm not sure what the best setting is to have 16:9 content as widescreen and 4:3 content pillar boxed from the top to the bottom of the screen, ie without black above and below which I got with the 16:9 Widescreen setting. Can anyone advise?
Overall I'm surprised by how good it is but I will be watching for reviews of the second generation Humax HDR when it comes out in the Autumn.
Bramble I got this aspect ratio thing at first, but funnily enough after switching to try some of the others out, I then reverted back to Widescreen and its okay now. You do realise that you can't have 'stretchyvision' with HDMI? 4.3 broadcasts will have the black bars at each side, annoys some viewers I know, but I prefer it that way.
What do you think of the picture quality with SD material?
The HD is stunningly pin sharp on my Samsung. But the SD is also very good as well.
I saw the comment in this thread before buying it so fan noise was something I specifically listened for when I got it. Well there is a fan , but, on my box, you've got to go right up to it to hear it. The idea that you have to turn up the volume because of the noise is quite farcical. I can only think the two respondents must have had boxes from a faulty batch (maybe loose fans or bad fan bearings?) - and it's not just my hearing as no-one else in my household has noticed any noise either.
I have found the Goodmans to be an easy to use intuitive box. The responsiveness of EPG navigation, combined with the Genre tabs is in my opinion significantly superior to the Humax. It behaves like an end user product rather than something that's evolving with great potential. I have owned several Humax PVRs in the past and I'm looking forward to seeing their next generation of Foxsat HDR.
Same as Bramble. I have to go close to mine to hear it even when its recording and being busy. I agree with him, there's must be faulty units if its so loud.
The review covers various aspects of the box and not all positively, but, so far as I can see, there's no mention of fan noise, which reinforces my view that the comments you cited may have been the result of faulty units.
I can promise you that I am not a Humax employee or know anyone who is, which is actually a shame as I have now returned the Grundig and on the look out for reasonably priced Humax.
Sounds like I had a dodgy box but searching around various forums and reviews it appears I was not a only one with a loud Grundig/ Goodmans. Anyway I dont think I will risk buying another one as aside from the possible fan issues I was not keen on the way it dealt with the non-freesat channels. Judging from what other posters have been saying at least with the Humax I will be able to rename channel numbers and it will show 'now and next' information on the epg.
However it sounds like the Humax is as big a pain ( if not bigger) in switching from 'freesat' to 'non-freesat' mode. Does anyone know if there is HD PVR where this is not an issue ? what the Sagem model like? Generally i like the way Sky + deals with all the channels but not willing to pay a monthly subsciprtion to Mr Murdoch !
Sounds like I had a dodgy box but searching around various forums and reviews it appears I was not a only one with a loud Grundig/ Goodmans. Anyway I dont think I will risk buying another one as aside from the possible fan issues I was not keen on the way it dealt with the non-freesat channels!
In the latest Which issue, the GFSDTR500HD is tested and they do mention the irritating cooling fan noise as a con, so it looks like there are at least some units with problems. Pros listed are large storage capacity, ease of use, good power consumption if low standby power is used, cons are pq isn't as good using Scart vs HDMI and layout of remote (as well as the fan issue), final score is 79% compared to 82% for the Humax HDR.
These things are a bit subjective, but I think the main pros and cons of the Goodmans/Grundig compared to the Humax for me are:
Pros
Switches on much faster than the Humax
Operation is more intuitive than Humax (behaves more like a mainstream consumer product)
EPG navigation is much faster and consistent than the Humax
EPG Genre tabs - big improvement which simplifies and speeds EPG navigation
Easier to access non-freesat channels
Cons
No usable USB
No channel display on the front of the unit (not even channel number)
No Now and Next on non-freesat channels
There are probably a lot more pros and cons that other people experience with their particular configurations.
I can't comment on picture quality through the scart as I don't use it. However I can't fault picture quality through the HDMI on either the Humax or the Goodmans/Grundig - maybe I'm tolerant having been brought up on 405 lines!
I also can't comment on the remote as I use a Harmony 885. I tried the Humax remote a long time ago and found it weak, directional and badly laid out. The Goodmans maybe has a simpler layout with less buttons. However, I don't know about its use as I never tried it (my gut feeling is, without meaning to be unfair about the Humax, it cannot be worse).
I've not suffered from fan noise from my Goodmans box nor have I noticed much improved picture quality compared to the Humax (on my Sony TV)... although others have experienced both of these characteristics.
Comments
No you can't. Well I couldn't get the first one to even scan in, and couldn't find the data channels with the other two, maybe someone else could try it out?
GG (forgot to post back my findings, blame me lousy memory! )
I will try the first one out for you when I have time I have timed the Grundig boot up time at 6 seconds or so. Browsing the EPG is not jerky at all and of course if you make use of the Genre tabs at the top its even faster as only the programs that you are interested in show in the line up. You move through each Genre more or less instantly.
GG
Yes I know although I confess I never used it much when I was using the HDR. I intend to try out another test today, namely that of tuning to a channel (so the buffer begins, then about half way through a program pressing the instant record button just to see if the Grundig then records the whole buffer as well. (so begins from when the program actually began.)
I have just tried recording from Freesat and then being tuned to a none Freesat channel to test if the Freesat recording still takes place and it looks very much as if the Accurate Recording feature doesn't work for any Freesat scheduled recording as the recording did not begin until I accessed the Freesat EPG, then it didn't stop until I again went into the EPG.
Personally I am not bothered about this, as I don't bother about any of the none Freesat channels anyway but some of you might see that as a none starter.
GG (I confess that the only feature I am missing is the Humax's search feature which of course the Grundig doesn't have. However, by making full use of the Genre tabs, it is possible to find certain channels that you want to record easier to do.
I will try this, but I think I am going to have to curtail all this testing of the unit as it seems to be getting rather confused, especially if I have set up some none freesat channels. I was just trying to record a program on BBC 1 by pressing record half way through and although the title was correct in the Library it was Sky Travel when I played it back! LOL
As I am not fussed about having any none Freesat channels on board, I don't want to upset things by this constant testing etc.
I like this unit because of its fantastic picture quality and simple and easy to use interface and I am happy with my purchase.
As for the tests for the buffer, I haven't been able to get it to record the whole program from pressing record half way through so Graham you are right, I would obviously have to rewind back to the beginning to get the whole recording.
GG
Thank you very much for trying. I had hoped that, apart from the inevitable lack of EPG presence for non-Freesat channels, the Grundig might have avoided the problems associated with the Humax concept of non Freesat mode.
Yes it seems as if the Accurate recording flags or whatever they use in the EPG to start/stop somehow don't work if you are tuned to a none Freesat channel.
Personally this is no problem for me, as I am not really bothered about the none Freesat channels myself, or recording them, but obviously it seems to be of interest to others.
GG
When I 'phoned Grundig today I re-checked this. According to guy that I spoke to if you only connect one LNB feed then it behaves as a single tuner PVR and you can schedule recordings as per the manual. There is no LNB loop through like the Humax boxes, so if you only connect one LNB feed, then only one tuner is active. In that mode it behaves like the Technisat HDFS single tuner jobbie.
HTH
Clem
I've just ordered one (Item 500Gb HD Freesat recorder GFSDTR500HD) from very.co.uk (part of Littlewoods) whom I've never used before. I don't think they've got the greatest reputation. However I certainly seem to have got a good deal.
It's badged as Goodmans rather than Grundig. Asking price was £219 (seems very cheap), then used a 10% discount code for it being my first order, then another code for free delivery! Final price for what's promised to be delivery on Friday is £197.10.
It sounds too good to be true so I'll be keeping my fingers (and everything else) crossed.:)
I'll let you know how I find it compares to the Humax HDR.
After reading the review from the OP and every ones comments here and other forums and after much deliberation I plumped for the Grundig over the Humax for my first foray into Freesat. I have always had either cable or freeview and am very familiar with Sky from various friends and family but wanted to give freesat a go and so some of my comments maybe because I am unfamiliar with freesat though most are specific to the Grundig. As this is my first box with Freesat I cannot compare it to the Humax but will be comparing it to similar PVRs from Virgin and Sky.
Overall I am likely to be returning the Grundig box so as you imagine my review wont be positive but will try to include some good points later on.
First the bad points.
1. The Noise. I know the OP said the noise of the machine was minimal and maybe I have a dodgy box but to my ears the Grundig makes an almighty racket and is easily nosiest piece of kit I have ever owned. The V+ box I had previously from Virgin could be a little bit noisy but this easily beats that. If you are thinking of this box for your bedroom I would not recommend it as you will never get any sleep. Maybe most people wont mind it but to me the noise actually distracted from watching the TV. Not Good.
2. The Non Freesat Channels. Again this may not be an issue to many people but I was interested in non-freesat channels such as the News channels, Music channels and International channels and found lots of issues with the way the Grundig handles these.
First I was under the impression that you could just add the one channel you wanted but it seems to scan all channels around the same frequency and then returns around half a dozen channels, most I was not interested in ( though you can delete them later which is feature I liked as you cannot do that on Sky or Virgin). It will then allocate its own EPG number to them according to whats just been scanned in. Overall you will end up with things like having a radio station next to a TV station for example. In an ideal world if it cannot arrange the channels in a sensible order then I would like to be able to allocate my own channel number and that way I could bunch all the music channels together, international channels together etc. Does anyone know if any of the other freesat PVRs do this?
Secondly, and more importantly, once stored it really is a faff accessing these non-freesat channels once they have been stored. I would have thought it was a simple thing of tapping in the new channel no. into the remote and it would pop up but on my box all the non-freesat channels have been allocated a four digit channel number (starting at 3000) and the box only accepts three digit ones – which means the only way to access the non-freesat channels is to do the following: Goto Channel List > go to Manual Channels > scoll down to the channel you want. This strikes me as being long winded and unnecessary.
Maybe I am missing something ? if so please feel free to point out my stupidity and show me what I am doing wrong.
Also it would be useful to know if is this the same with the Humax ?
Finally I notice the Now and Next does not work for non-freesat channel. I believe this works on the Humax. Little thing but irritating non the less.
3. The Remote control. The remote is not very ergonomic and as reviews have pointed out the Channel up and down button and the volume buttons are small and placed at the very button of the remote. Not very well designed and compared to Sky + and V+ actually very poor. Not one for the poor sighted, elderly or others who are not good with small fiddly buttons.
Good points
4. Picture quality is actually quite good, as mentioned by OP, but could not see a demonstrably better performance than my old V+. I am not an expert in these things though.
5. Menus and layouts are good, easy to read and to navigate yourself around.
What I have not tested yet are the recording and playback features but will do so in next day or so and if you are interested will be posting my thoughts on those too.
I know a couple of others have posted that they have purchased this box and so would be interested in their comments too.
PS – this post is not a criticism of the OP, who gave a very thorough review, but just my take on the same machine.
Not familiar with the Grundig but on a hdr access to non-freesat requires accessing the menus and switching modes you can't mix freesat and non freesat in one single channel listing.
If it's any consolation the hdr is very quiet and the fan is intelligent only running when required.
...or BBC1 then CH-
I've just set up my GFSDTR500HD which arrived today. I must say the initial set up was straightforward. The main problem I had wasn't with the freesat box at all but, ironically, getting my Harmony 885 remote to work properly with it. However, half an hour on the phone to the Harmony support line sorted that out.
I think Grannygrunt's review was very fair.
Overall I think operating it is probably simpler and more intuitive than the Humax HDR.
The biggest advantage over the Humax HDR from my persective is speed. It's quicker to boot and quicker to navigate the EPG without jerkiness or overshooting which I found a problem with the Humax because it was so slow.
Another big plus with the EPG is the Genre tabs which are a real boon - so much better than a first level Genre menu,
I quite like the consolidated recordings and schedules in one library, but I'm not sure how the lack of folders will work out when the library's fuller.
Being able to get to the non-freesat channels by CH+/- (see above) or from Channel List / Manual Channels is certainly a lot more straightforward than having to change to non-freesat mode and back through the setup menus. However, I'm a bit disappointed that it fails to obtain the Now and Next information for non-freesat channels.
I had a bit of difficulty with the aspect on my Sony Bravia with original 4:3 content. I had initially set the Screensize to 16:9 Widescreen. However 4:3 content was presented in the middle of the screen with some top and bottom unused as well as the sides (as expected). I've now changed it to 4:3 Widescreen (16:9), whatever than means. This handles 16:9 content OK but presents 4:3 as widescreen. I'm not sure what the best setting is to have 16:9 content as widescreen and 4:3 content pillar boxed from the top to the bottom of the screen, ie without black above and below which I got with the 16:9 Widescreen setting. Can anyone advise?
Overall I'm surprised by how good it is but I will be watching for reviews of the second generation Humax HDR when it comes out in the Autumn.
Bramble I got this aspect ratio thing at first, but funnily enough after switching to try some of the others out, I then reverted back to Widescreen and its okay now. You do realise that you can't have 'stretchyvision' with HDMI? 4.3 broadcasts will have the black bars at each side, annoys some viewers I know, but I prefer it that way.
What do you think of the picture quality with SD material?
The HD is stunningly pin sharp on my Samsung. But the SD is also very good as well.
GG (glad that you are pleased with it.)
I have found the Goodmans to be an easy to use intuitive box. The responsiveness of EPG navigation, combined with the Genre tabs is in my opinion significantly superior to the Humax. It behaves like an end user product rather than something that's evolving with great potential. I have owned several Humax PVRs in the past and I'm looking forward to seeing their next generation of Foxsat HDR.
GG
I agree with you about the picture quality, but, on my Sony TV, the Humax also gave excellent SD and HD picture quality. It's all very subjective.
However, the bottom line is I'm delighted with the picture quality from the GFSDTR500HD.:)
The review covers various aspects of the box and not all positively, but, so far as I can see, there's no mention of fan noise, which reinforces my view that the comments you cited may have been the result of faulty units.
Sounds like I had a dodgy box but searching around various forums and reviews it appears I was not a only one with a loud Grundig/ Goodmans. Anyway I dont think I will risk buying another one as aside from the possible fan issues I was not keen on the way it dealt with the non-freesat channels. Judging from what other posters have been saying at least with the Humax I will be able to rename channel numbers and it will show 'now and next' information on the epg.
However it sounds like the Humax is as big a pain ( if not bigger) in switching from 'freesat' to 'non-freesat' mode. Does anyone know if there is HD PVR where this is not an issue ? what the Sagem model like? Generally i like the way Sky + deals with all the channels but not willing to pay a monthly subsciprtion to Mr Murdoch !
Pros
Cons
There are probably a lot more pros and cons that other people experience with their particular configurations.
I can't comment on picture quality through the scart as I don't use it. However I can't fault picture quality through the HDMI on either the Humax or the Goodmans/Grundig - maybe I'm tolerant having been brought up on 405 lines!
I also can't comment on the remote as I use a Harmony 885. I tried the Humax remote a long time ago and found it weak, directional and badly laid out. The Goodmans maybe has a simpler layout with less buttons. However, I don't know about its use as I never tried it (my gut feeling is, without meaning to be unfair about the Humax, it cannot be worse).
I've not suffered from fan noise from my Goodmans box nor have I noticed much improved picture quality compared to the Humax (on my Sony TV)... although others have experienced both of these characteristics.