No just in normal standby, the power cuts happened between 2:30PM and 3:15PM first recording scheduled for 8PM worked fine.
Are you saying the power was out for 45mins between those times, or was it 2 short power cuts? If so, was the power out for more than 25 secs at a time?
It's just that your experience is different from others, and the testing that was done previously.
I might cancel Sky shortly and when I do will be looking to get a PVR to replace my Sky+HD STB. I would love a Humax but certainly won't be touching one until the problems I have read about have been sorted and some new features come into play. I couldn't justify paying almost £300 for a STB that's got several known bugs and nothing has happened on the new software front. Also the regidity of the Freesat system and the limited channel choice for the platform compared to what other free channels are out there makes switching modes an annoying requirement. Freesat and non-Freesat modes both have their plus and minus points (the plusses for one usually end up the minuses for the other and vice versa).
Unless Humax can give us a STB which combines the two modes much better (or eradicates the need for them altogether) then I really don't know what to do. I really want one but going by what I've read, I also really don't, not yet anyway.
My HDR has been more stable than the Sky HD box it replaced, and about the same as my old TiVo. However, I have to echo the point about being unable to delete while a recording is in progress, it's extremely irritating!
Presumably with the impending competition from Goodmans and Sagem we can expect Humax to be more timely with their updates going forward?
I would doubt that.
Goodmans tend to service the cheaper end of the market. I'm not sure where Sagem stand but looking at their box it doesn't look that promising.
Your premise of speeding up the update is based on them being direct competitors the Humax, somehow I doubt that will be the case, although I welcome being proved wrong. Personally, I view the Humax as a mid market product with the Panasonic above it. I'd expect the Goodmans and Sagem to slot in below, not as direct competitors.
Also, I know it has been a long time and it is frustrating waiting for an update but just look at the update request list - around a hundred items I believe (not that we'll get them all), but all that are supplied have to be coded then bug tested. That's going to take some time as we'd all be the 1st to moan if we got an update that turned our HDR's into zombies.
Yes but youd have thought 8 months of testing that would make sure that doesnt happen.
If its taken this long and its not finished, you really have to question the ability of the people dealing with this.
Only a completely new UI could be a reason for this delay. How would you feel if it takes 8 months and the box still locks up and fails to record and theres no new features added?
Like they said, it'll be ready when it's ready. I have too much experience of software that's been rushed out not to prefer a longer wait for an update that's been fully tested and documented.
If its taken this long and its not finished, you really have to question the ability of the people dealing with this.
Oh, if you know what's in the next release, then please share that with us, so we can make a judgment.
Oh, if you know what's in the next release, then please share that with us, so we can make a judgment.
Thats why I said anything short of a complete UI redesign and fixing of all the bugs is a disgrace. Youd expect a few added features too for this wait.
However does anyone honestly expect this?
If games companies can patch games that work on thousands of different systems in weeks, Humax should be able to sort out a single configuration machine in the same time scale. Games companies release totally new games in the Humax time scale.
Thats why I said anything short of a complete UI redesign and fixing of all the bugs is a disgrace. Youd expect a few added features too for this wait.
However does anyone honestly expect this?
If games companies can patch games that work on thousands of different systems in weeks, Humax should be able to sort out a single configuration machine in the same time scale. Games companies release totally new games in the Humax time scale.
I think the problem is that some people here (and Humax themselves) think of the PVR as if it were a something like an iron or an FM radio where what you buy is what you get.
Others see the PVR as a piece of computer equipment and expect that bugs will be fixed in the way that even Microsoft seem to manage with a great deal more competence than Humax.
Humax themselves have given rise to this expectation by their far more professional and competent handling of many of their other products.
In reality communication is as much of a problem as their extreme slowness. Had they said way back that they were not going to release an update for 9-10-?? months we would at least have known where we stood.
As it is they have treated their customers with little more than contempt in not only not providing an update but failing to communicate in any reasonable way.
I think the problem is that some people here (and Humax themselves) think of the PVR as if it were a something like an iron or an FM radio where what you buy is what you get.
Others see the PVR as a piece of computer equipment and expect that bugs will be fixed in the way that even Microsoft seem to manage with a great deal more competence than Humax.
...and thereby hangs the rub...
I'm afraid that any manufacturer who chooses to use a microprocessor of any description to drive their new creation these days, needs to face the fact that what they have created IS a computer (of sorts) and that means that it is NOT a toaster or FM Radio and that also means that it becomes susceptible to bugs that are inherent in all firmware and/or software associated with it.
As the old programmer's adage goes, "there is no such thing as bug free software"...
Just to add my 2 cents worth - I'm with all that have said that Humax should have released an update sooner. I don't have a HDR at present and the bugs listed have stopped me moving away from Sky. Some may say that those bugs are trivial but as I have stated previously, I live in an area prone to power outages and so I should not have to purchase a UPS to reliably record TV! [Due to the power outage bug]. As such Sky still gets my money as I have no confidence that the Humax box will currently offer the same TV experience as the Sky+ box does. It's as simple as that - I'm a potential customer that's fed up waiting for this update and is seriously thinking about the competition that has recently appeared. I doubt I'm alone.
Also I can't use iplayer due to my geo IP location so having an update that includes it isn't a must in my book. (Yes I know that the HDR is aimed at the UK market but there must be 1000s of these boxes in ROI and elsewhere).
Just to add my 2 cents worth - I'm with all that have said that Humax should have released an update sooner. I don't have a HDR at present and the bugs listed have stopped me moving away from Sky. Some may say that those bugs are trivial but as I have stated previously, I live in an area prone to power outages and so I should not have to purchase a UPS to reliably record TV! [Due to the power outage bug]. As such Sky still gets my money as I have no confidence that the Humax box will currently offer the same TV experience as the Sky+ box does. It's as simple as that - I'm a potential customer that's fed up waiting for this update and is seriously thinking about the competition that has recently appeared. I doubt I'm alone.
Also I can't use iplayer due to my geo IP location so having an update that includes it isn't a must in my book. (Yes I know that the HDR is aimed at the UK market but there must be 1000s of these boxes in ROI and elsewhere).
Anyhow that was my 2 cents worth...
But Humax will work to a schedule for the market it supports. Yes I agree that it would be nice for a bugish free update to have been released earlier, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have been working on this before the HDR was even released.
Its just a waiting game... I had my first lockup lastnight which meant a power reset. Not bad considering I have had this since day one. My sky box was a couple a month.
Just to add my 2 cents worth - I'm with all that have said that Humax should have released an update sooner. I don't have a HDR at present and the bugs listed have stopped me moving away from Sky. Some may say that those bugs are trivial but as I have stated previously, I live in an area prone to power outages and so I should not have to purchase a UPS to reliably record TV! [Due to the power outage bug]. As such Sky still gets my money as I have no confidence that the Humax box will currently offer the same TV experience as the Sky+ box does. It's as simple as that - I'm a potential customer that's fed up waiting for this update and is seriously thinking about the competition that has recently appeared. I doubt I'm alone.
Also I can't use iplayer due to my geo IP location so having an update that includes it isn't a must in my book. (Yes I know that the HDR is aimed at the UK market but there must be 1000s of these boxes in ROI and elsewhere).
Anyhow that was my 2 cents worth...
I can understand where you are coming from, and your reluctance to invest in A Humax Freesat PVR.
I am in the fortunate position of being able to keep my Sky + and get the Humax. Don't believe all the tales of woe you see on this forum. I have had mine for 6 months now and it has not let me down once . No lock ups no missed recordings great. It has features that need improving one namely the deletion process.
Compare that to my Sky + which locks up every week. Certainly during the past 6 months. Have Sky issued an update NO.
This brings me to my main point. I have
Digifusion Freeview PVR No updates in 3 years.
Sky+ No updates for at least a year
Bt Vision No updates for at least a year.
HumaX fREESAT pvr No updates in my 6 months.
So in my opinion Humax are no worse(Or better) than any other STB makers. Give them a break. I think expectations are to high. Yes Humax should have attended to some of the problems some suffer. However, many of us have Boxes that do what it says on the tin.
Goodmans tend to service the cheaper end of the market. I'm not sure where Sagem stand but looking at their box it doesn't look that promising.
Your premise of speeding up the update is based on them being direct competitors the Humax, somehow I doubt that will be the case, although I welcome being proved wrong. Personally, I view the Humax as a mid market product with the Panasonic above it. I'd expect the Goodmans and Sagem to slot in below, not as direct competitors.
Also, I know it has been a long time and it is frustrating waiting for an update but just look at the update request list - around a hundred items I believe (not that we'll get them all), but all that are supplied have to be coded then bug tested. That's going to take some time as we'd all be the 1st to moan if we got an update that turned our HDR's into zombies.
I don't agree. I think that once Humax have some competition we will see some updates. Its amazing what a difference can be made when others enter the market. They have had it all to themselves up to now, which does tend to bring some complacency into it, anyway, let's all note what happens when the other makes of Freesat PVR arrive.
.
Compare that to my Sky + which locks up every week. Certainly during the past 6 months. Have Sky issued an update NO.
.
That's the thing, my Pace v3 Sky+ box has been virtually faultless in the 20 odd months of use. I will admit that there is also another consideration that keeps me hanging onto Sky - namely the Irish PSBs which I would lose. Being as there is no official DTT service here as yet, going back to manual recording of an analogue signal isn't the best option. I was prepared to compromise on that but then reading about the outstanding issues on the HDR and that's just enough to keep me from changing over at the present moment. If reports of the firmware upgrade are promising then I'd be happy to move over.
Humax will then probably release a much better model about a week later...;)
This brings me to my main point. I have
Digifusion Freeview PVR No updates in 3 years.
Sky+ No updates for at least a year
Bt Vision No updates for at least a year.
HumaX fREESAT pvr No updates in my 6 months.
Have any of the others got dozens and dozens of bugs that need fixing or have they already had their major updates?
I will say that the Humax is far more reliable than the Thomson Sky HD box it replaced.
The Sky box would randomly turn off or switch the HDMI feed off, sometimes it would struggle with playback whilst recording to the point where to watch anything at all meant a total reboot, resulting in losing the recording in progress.
I have had a few lockups although not any for a good three months or so now. And I can count on one hand the number of failed recordings.
Have any of the others got dozens and dozens of bugs that need fixing or have they already had their major updates?
It seems to me that there's not much point in continuing to debate Humax's failure to bring out an update or their timeframe for doing so in the future.
It's evident that some people just don't care and others care a great deal.
I don't really think anyone is going to change their position.
So at the moment I'm not sure the Humax has a direct mid market competitor to which people could turn anyway.
Yes, that is the problem. Humax have no competition in this arena so they don't NEED to do anything and hence it would appear they aren't bothering to. If there was a good working alternative machine my HDR would already be on ebay.
I too purchased the HDR based on my experience with the PVR 9200, that was a very buggy machine and crashed lots in the early days but, and I suspect only because there was competition in the market, Humax made the effort and turned it into a good reliable device.
I decided to switch to DSat for my main receiver and recorder because there is no such thing as good and reliable DTT reception in my area no matter how good the box is or how big your antenna is (currently using DAT75+MRD+Distribution Amp for DTT).
After a couple more recent problems ( a) Top Gear failed to record (Sun 26th) while box was left in standby, b) a crash the other day when my daughter accidentally pressed channel down from BBC1 and hit the Teletext channel ) I'm ready to give up on Humax and I am seriously considering spending the extra and getting a Panny.
Comments
It's just that your experience is different from others, and the testing that was done previously.
Rgds.
Les.
But, thanks for coming back and confirming. At least we don't have a mysterious unexplained difference.
Rgds.
Les.
Unless Humax can give us a STB which combines the two modes much better (or eradicates the need for them altogether) then I really don't know what to do. I really want one but going by what I've read, I also really don't, not yet anyway.
I would doubt that.
Goodmans tend to service the cheaper end of the market. I'm not sure where Sagem stand but looking at their box it doesn't look that promising.
Your premise of speeding up the update is based on them being direct competitors the Humax, somehow I doubt that will be the case, although I welcome being proved wrong. Personally, I view the Humax as a mid market product with the Panasonic above it. I'd expect the Goodmans and Sagem to slot in below, not as direct competitors.
Also, I know it has been a long time and it is frustrating waiting for an update but just look at the update request list - around a hundred items I believe (not that we'll get them all), but all that are supplied have to be coded then bug tested. That's going to take some time as we'd all be the 1st to moan if we got an update that turned our HDR's into zombies.
If its taken this long and its not finished, you really have to question the ability of the people dealing with this.
Only a completely new UI could be a reason for this delay. How would you feel if it takes 8 months and the box still locks up and fails to record and theres no new features added?
Oh, if you know what's in the next release, then please share that with us, so we can make a judgment.
Thats why I said anything short of a complete UI redesign and fixing of all the bugs is a disgrace. Youd expect a few added features too for this wait.
However does anyone honestly expect this?
If games companies can patch games that work on thousands of different systems in weeks, Humax should be able to sort out a single configuration machine in the same time scale. Games companies release totally new games in the Humax time scale.
I think the problem is that some people here (and Humax themselves) think of the PVR as if it were a something like an iron or an FM radio where what you buy is what you get.
Others see the PVR as a piece of computer equipment and expect that bugs will be fixed in the way that even Microsoft seem to manage with a great deal more competence than Humax.
Humax themselves have given rise to this expectation by their far more professional and competent handling of many of their other products.
In reality communication is as much of a problem as their extreme slowness. Had they said way back that they were not going to release an update for 9-10-?? months we would at least have known where we stood.
As it is they have treated their customers with little more than contempt in not only not providing an update but failing to communicate in any reasonable way.
I'm afraid that any manufacturer who chooses to use a microprocessor of any description to drive their new creation these days, needs to face the fact that what they have created IS a computer (of sorts) and that means that it is NOT a toaster or FM Radio and that also means that it becomes susceptible to bugs that are inherent in all firmware and/or software associated with it.
As the old programmer's adage goes, "there is no such thing as bug free software"...
The full version of which (from memory) goes:
Edsger Dijkstra: There is no such thing as a bug free program
Student: But I can write a program to print the numbers from one to ten and it will work perfectly with no bugs.
Edsger Dijkstra: There is no such thing as a non-trivial program that is bug free.
Student: Oh ... how do you define a trivial program?
Edsger Dijkstra: Any program that has no bugs.
Everyone understands that but they expect the bugs to be fixed in a reasonable time.
If they had any intelligence, theyd have released a bug fix update and then work on the i player.
Theyve tried to do both at the same time and its not working and may introduce more problems than it solves.
Also I can't use iplayer due to my geo IP location so having an update that includes it isn't a must in my book. (Yes I know that the HDR is aimed at the UK market but there must be 1000s of these boxes in ROI and elsewhere).
Anyhow that was my 2 cents worth...
But Humax will work to a schedule for the market it supports. Yes I agree that it would be nice for a bugish free update to have been released earlier, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have been working on this before the HDR was even released.
Its just a waiting game... I had my first lockup lastnight which meant a power reset. Not bad considering I have had this since day one. My sky box was a couple a month.
I can understand where you are coming from, and your reluctance to invest in A Humax Freesat PVR.
I am in the fortunate position of being able to keep my Sky + and get the Humax. Don't believe all the tales of woe you see on this forum. I have had mine for 6 months now and it has not let me down once . No lock ups no missed recordings great. It has features that need improving one namely the deletion process.
Compare that to my Sky + which locks up every week. Certainly during the past 6 months. Have Sky issued an update NO.
This brings me to my main point. I have
Digifusion Freeview PVR No updates in 3 years.
Sky+ No updates for at least a year
Bt Vision No updates for at least a year.
HumaX fREESAT pvr No updates in my 6 months.
So in my opinion Humax are no worse(Or better) than any other STB makers. Give them a break. I think expectations are to high. Yes Humax should have attended to some of the problems some suffer. However, many of us have Boxes that do what it says on the tin.
I don't agree. I think that once Humax have some competition we will see some updates. Its amazing what a difference can be made when others enter the market. They have had it all to themselves up to now, which does tend to bring some complacency into it, anyway, let's all note what happens when the other makes of Freesat PVR arrive.
GG
That's the thing, my Pace v3 Sky+ box has been virtually faultless in the 20 odd months of use. I will admit that there is also another consideration that keeps me hanging onto Sky - namely the Irish PSBs which I would lose. Being as there is no official DTT service here as yet, going back to manual recording of an analogue signal isn't the best option. I was prepared to compromise on that but then reading about the outstanding issues on the HDR and that's just enough to keep me from changing over at the present moment. If reports of the firmware upgrade are promising then I'd be happy to move over.
Humax will then probably release a much better model about a week later...;)
The Sky box would randomly turn off or switch the HDMI feed off, sometimes it would struggle with playback whilst recording to the point where to watch anything at all meant a total reboot, resulting in losing the recording in progress.
I have had a few lockups although not any for a good three months or so now. And I can count on one hand the number of failed recordings.
It seems to me that there's not much point in continuing to debate Humax's failure to bring out an update or their timeframe for doing so in the future.
It's evident that some people just don't care and others care a great deal.
I don't really think anyone is going to change their position.
I too purchased the HDR based on my experience with the PVR 9200, that was a very buggy machine and crashed lots in the early days but, and I suspect only because there was competition in the market, Humax made the effort and turned it into a good reliable device.
I decided to switch to DSat for my main receiver and recorder because there is no such thing as good and reliable DTT reception in my area no matter how good the box is or how big your antenna is (currently using DAT75+MRD+Distribution Amp for DTT).
After a couple more recent problems ( a) Top Gear failed to record (Sun 26th) while box was left in standby, b) a crash the other day when my daughter accidentally pressed channel down from BBC1 and hit the Teletext channel ) I'm ready to give up on Humax and I am seriously considering spending the extra and getting a Panny.