one not very reliable Foxsat-HDR!
1: Missed recordings.
2: Will not switch on using "time" function. Well it does sometimes!
3: So slow to delete programmes.
4: Moving within the programme guide is very hit & miss.
Would love to keep the Foxsat, but if Humax cannot sort these problems out it will be heading for ebay.

I had this problem, until I turned off the 'Automatic standby' option.

That's the option that puts the unit into standby when not used for a couple of hours. I'm guessing that as soon as the unit wakes up by the time function, it realises it hasn't been used for a couple of hours and immediately turns off. - It has certainly worked fine for me since disabling automatic standby. YMMV.

Sounds about right to me and more. It is definitely in need of a firmware upgrade. When will we get one! Mine froze again tonight. The thing that really gets to me though is the inability to delete when I wish.

Thanks for the tip-will give it a try. Humax must give us an idea as to when all the faults will be put right, as we all paid a good price for the Foxsat-HDR, and we deserve better. Any idea Bob_Cat?

Hardly an incident to report with mine or my Sky HD box either. I wonder what I am doing different.

Must say that mine has worked without fault since day one, just before xmas. No missed recordings, no unexpected reboots etc, so have no complaints at all. The wished for firmware update is just about improvements for me.

Shame some of you are having issues.

Good luck.

Nick

You mean like those with issues who have helped compile this list?

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...941251&page=18

The box is riddled with inconsistencies and problems to be fixed. OK it records, has twin tuners/HD/7 day epg etc but it could be/should be a LOT better. I am glad you are happy with yours, so am I for the most part - high amongst my likes are there being no subscriptions!!


Patrick

Patrick,

I certainly take on board all the comments but was making the point that in terms of doing what it says on the tin, it works fine and I've had no missed recordings, unexpected re-boot's or other significant problems, though I know others have.

Your comment that it could be so much better is absolutely spot on. I hope that Humax have been following all the various threads outlining consumer feature wishes and are working towards implementing as many of these as pos.

It will never be TIVO, which to me is the defaqto standard to which ALL pvr's should aspire, but that is not subscription free, and there is an element of get what you pay for here.


Particular issues I would agree with are delete issues and as you say, there are some inconsistencies which need ironing out. I'll reserve further judgment until the next firmware has been released. This has taken considerable time, so expectations will be high. Let's hope we are not disappointed.

Kind regards

Nick

Hello Nick, I fully agree with most of the comments you have made, although disagree with you about Tivo.

Why can't it be an upgrade to a Tivo? Tivo was introduced, 10 years ago? Surely they can look at the functionality of Tivo and produce some similar well thought out functionality - without encroaching too much on copyright or whatever patents Tivo hold.

Unfortunately, the Humax box seems ill thought out in my opinion - for reasons I can't understand - unless of course they could only see profit by getting to market well before anyone else.

Personally, I think any QA department worth it's salt would have tried to stop this machine getting to market.

The integration of UI functionality alone is very poor, and I do think the delete functionality exemplifies this! Look at how many buttons you have to press to delete anything - anything outside of a single file that is.

Tivo - was costing, what was it? about £100 7 years ago. plus I think it was £200 for lifetime subscription - doing that you would have avoided any monthly subscriptions.

Just my 2 penny worth - and we both agree it could have been so much better! Please don't misunderstand me though, at least we now have a piece of kit available which is mostly acceptable overall, hopefully soon to be greatly improved and offers an alternative on satellite.

Patrick

Tivo actually retailed at well over £200 when it was "on the market" the £99 ones were only around when it was being sold off cheap (that's when I got mine) - yes the user interface was good but also bear in mind that as soon as you call up the Tivo menu then all your viewing is cut off. I've got used to the HDR & although there are a few things that need sorting I haven't come across any showstoppers.

I suppose it depends on what you call a show stopper.

However, if you mean things like not crashing while playing a recording and recording quality being good then I agree it does the job.

You are right, my Tivo (bless it) did indeed cost me £99 - the best buy I have ever made - until the modem started to fail and I got a craving for free HD and new technology.


Patrick

Actually the list price was £399, plus £10 per month or £200 for the lifetime subscription so it was actually a £600 machine. (and people complain that the HDR is overpriced at £300!).

I'm not sure why cutting off viewing when you pull up the Tivo menu is a problem - presenting windows opaquely over the top of video is not exactly useful and if the media screen was 'full screen' more information could be shown and the amount of scrolling reduced. Tivo is quite capable of in vision graphics (status bar/info) so i suspect this was yet another, sensible, interface decision from the Tivo designers.

Dear all,

I was a very happy Tivo owner for many years, so am very familiar with the interface and in particular the differences between the two. The reason I moved on to the HDR was that the UK version of Tivo (Series 1) was becoming dated and my comments now are really about modern HD Tivo's (For reference please see www.tivo.com) This is what a PVR should be capable of, but sadly Sky drove Tivo out of the UK and as a result we miss out on all these amazing features.

So when I say Tivo set the standard, it is modern US Tivo's I am refering to which are HD capable. There is still a sub for the EPG etc or lifetime option. This does make it expensive overall, but as a universal repository for music, photos, video and TV it really does do the lot. Humax have a very long way to go to meet this standard.

Notwithstanding the above, the HDR is a capable bit of kit and IF Humax provide some of the requested firmware upgrades to exploit its full potential or allow users to as Tivo did, then it could be superb. I'm still hopeful that we will get some of the most important ones but we'll see.

Kind regards

Nick

I bought one of the 1st tivos in uk - it cost £399 and I paid £100 or £120 for the lifetime sub (def not £200).

Interestingly, in the 10 or so years, I have had only 2 failed recordings, I did have a problem with epg update calls - thanks to tiscali (although they failed to admit it) broadband - resolved after 10 days.

How I wish every recorder I had was as reliable, costly at the time but well worth it over the years, shame it only hads 1 analogue tuner.

Have tried your suggestion regarding 'Automatic Standby' and thought it was the solution-until it failed to switch on yesterday!
Please Humax/Bob_Cat help!

Yeah, I spoke too soon as mine is no longer switching off or on anymore.

Given that I, along with others here, don't have the problem you do, have you thought that you might have a bad unit and you should get it replaced under warranty? A firmware upgrade won't fix a hardware problem.

How can it be a hardware problem when numerous users have mentioned they suffer one or more of the faults listed in my original post..........

Well, 1 & 2 are probably the same fault.

Three is well known and could be fixed by a software update although I would have thought anyone could live with it if they have no other major problems.

Four does seem to be a problem which could be related to the poor remote together with EPG population issues. It's made worse by the fact that the effect is quite variable depending on the exact path you used to get to the list.

You will note that my comment referred only to your statements regarding it not switching on for a timed event. As stated, I and many others have said that they do not experience that particular problem.

I'm sorry if I did not make it clear that I was commenting on only one problem. But looking at the various wish lists that appear in these threads, your problem of not turning on to make a recording does not appear (well, I haven't spotted it). Most of the comments about missed recordings (again something I have not experienced) seem to relate to the broadcasters failing to maintain the meta data correctly.

The majority of comments about the Foxsat+ is that "it does what it says on the tin", they just wish it said more things, and did them better! As the basic requirement is that it record programs, and yours fails to do so, that seems to be like a pretty good reason to suspect your particular box, and not the firmware that is common to all. At least two comments in this thread agree that it manages the basics (Suffolktoon and Nikodemus).

That is why I suggested you get the box changed whilst under warranty. I would hate for a firmware fix to come out, most things work but your box still does not turn on, and at that point you find that you are out of warranty.

[quote=Panman1300;32128305]You will note that my comment referred only to your statements regarding it not switching on for a timed event. As stated, I and many others have said that they do not experience that particular problem.

I'm sorry if I did not make it clear that I was commenting on only one problem. But looking at the various wish lists that appear in these threads, your problem of not turning on to make a recording does not appear (well, I haven't spotted it). Most of the comments about missed recordings (again something I have not experienced) seem to relate to the broadcasters failing to maintain the meta data correctly.

The majority of comments about the Foxsat+ is that "it does what it says on the tin", they just wish it said more things, and did them better! As the basic requirement is that it record programs, and yours fails to do so, that seems to be like a pretty good reason to suspect your particular box, and not the firmware that is common to all. At least two comments in this thread agree that it manages the basics (Suffolktoon and Nikodemus).

That is why I suggested you get the box changed whilst under warranty. I would hate for a firmware fix to come out, most things work but your box still does not turn on, and at that point you find that you are out of warranty.[/QUOT
You appear not to understand my problem-what I am stating is the Foxsat sometimes fails to switch on using the "power on power off" settings.
Last edited by bampsam : 26-04-2009 at 19:31

Can anyone tell me the latest software number and how often updates are transmitted?

i.e. if I bought one after update 3 - would I have to wait to update 4 before I got the update or would update 3 be broadcast frequently?

Updates are transmitted when made available by Humax. Any units purchased now will be fully up to date. We are awaiting a major update, and are sure it will be transmitted OTA and available on the web site as soon as released.

There are only speculative dates for this new release and it seems to be drifting farther away every time the subject is raised.

Regards

Nick

The last I heard was May but that was a few weeks ago now.

Has it slipped further?

Not until we get to June and we still haven't got it .