A thought just occurred to me which may have been covered elsewhere (if it has, I haven't seen mention of it...) and may have a direct bearing on how the Foxsat HDR performs in normal daily use.

The question revolves around how you use your Foxsat HDR on a daily basis? By that I mean, do you use it as the main source of your TV viewing as well as to record stuff for offline viewing or do you only use it essentially as a recorder (e.g. its mainly on standby) and you watch your main TV viewing using some other source?

For example, even though we have built-in Freeview on our TV, a Sky box with a Sky free-to-view card and a Sony Freeview PVR, we tend to use the Foxsat HDR as our main source of visual viewing as well as it also being programmed to record stuff at the same time; the Sky box and the Sony PVR tend to be on standby most of the time (have a quad LNB feeding the lot). We also have a Diablo CAM with an older Sky card (expired sub) in it so that we can occasionally watch CH4 HD using the Foxsat in non-Freesat mode.

Just curious...

It is in low power standby 24/7 with everything essential either series linked or marked as single items on the EPG.[LIST][*]no padding used[*]external 1Tb disk almost half full![*]only dabble with non-freesat at week-ends unless needed for footie[*]set programmes not on my essential list as "Watch"[*]missed or clashed recordings now a rare event[/LIST]
Owing to the unpredicatable nature of the hours I work it has revolutionised my viewing pleasure. All this and Astra 1 as well I am well pleased.

Mine tends to get used all day. If I'm watching the cricket on sky like now, I usually park the foxy on a channel that I can whizz back on the buffer during the lunch break. Most if not virtually all recordings I make are on freesat. Any other times I watch TV via the foxy.

Yes. I don't have any other source (well, my analogue cable which hasn't been switched off yet, although it should have been.)

My Foxsat-HDR is my choice for viewing all the time-
1: 576p for pin sharp SD.
2: Have built up a large catalogue of HD recordings.
3: Ability to plan my viewing how I want to.
4: Best money spent in ages!
5: Very reliable.

I set mine up to record the days programs and then watch them in one go either later than evening or the next day, the only thing I watch as its on is sport but even with things like TOCA, I will start watching 2 hours late so I miss all the ads and boring build up and just watch the races.

I have a Freeview TV, but no aerial so I have to use Freesat all the time. However, I do have a Virgin standard box which I tend to use solely for the BBC i-player. The Foxsat allows me to watch the standard HD programmes wheras I can't watch these on the Virgin box.

The foxsat is always in standby, and I use it for 99% of my viewing. I suppose I receive live TV for about 5 hours each day. I also record say, half a dozen programmes, each week, some in series.

In general, I am extremely pleased with my Foxsat performance. buying it was an investment as I was able to get rid of Sky+ at £10 per month ( I have already saved £80). I seem to be coping quite well without the dreaded update, but maybe I shouldn't say that. It's a very nice piece of machinery.

My V+ stb has a much better sd pic than the foxsat.I find the Foxsat sd pic a bit "waxy"compared to the V+,so I just use the Foxsat just for HD recordings saving space on my V+.For me the Foxsat just shades it for HD pq over the V+ (using 1080p) but both are excellent.

My Foxsat HDR is used for 90% of my viewing, it's turned on and off daily. The record function is convenient if there happens to be anything vaguely unmissable on, which is rare, most recordings are made at the time using the record button, rather than reserving a recording via the EPG. Tuner1 is 28.2, tuner 2 is on 19.2 on a separate mini dish.

The other 10% of my viewing is via freeview, as my tv has a freeview tuner built in.

Mine is used for both viewing live and recording via timers on a daily basis.

In the morning and during the weekday the missus only ever uses the inbuilt freeview, freesat box too dificalt to opperate. When I get home and at weekends, especially when I watch sport on BBC, I use the Humax HDR 100%. This gives me the freedom to watch red button, hd and record without changing sources.
Oh yes and she also listens to the Archers on freeview :yawn: Wish I had never told her about radio through the TV.
Last edited by Boatman : 10-08-2009 at 09:20

I set mine to record what I want to watch and actually watch virtually exclusively from the recorded programmes.

The only time I watch live TV is if I happen to catch something as I set recordings or just before or after watching one.

The only other TV source is a rarely used DVD player.

I got so used to using my Topfield 5800 instead of the analogue tuner with my old TV, I now always use the Humax HDR instead of the in-built Freeview tuner of my new TV.

The Humax is normally in low power standby, but gets fully switched on in the evening. All programmes I watch are set to record via EPG, even though I frequently watch them live. This is because the cat has a nasty habit of sneaking off to use her litter tray sometime during the evening, so the ability to catchup is vital!

Most programmes are set as Series Link but with 1min pre- and 5mins post padding. Since doing this, I've not missed a single programme, which certainly wasn't the case when I tried using the Auto system.

Geoff

For me the Foxsat is mostly in standby for recording HD content only. Reason being i have topfield 5800 freeview pvr i use as the machine i watch on, even though i have built in freeview/freesat tv, once you discover the joys of pausing and replaying live tv there is no going back. if i didnt have the topfield i would surely use the foxsat as the viewer for that reason.

This is becoming an interesting thread to actually see the mix of ways that people employ their equipment... Keep it coming guys!

(sorry, but I really had a chuckle when I saw that one... )

This is getting way too personal

Seriously. I have had Sky+ for many years and will continue with it for the foreseeable future, mainly for sport. I also have several ways of accessing Freeview.

I use Freesat for BBC1, ITV both in HD if possible. I also watch any terrestial broadcast in SD, as I find the picture quality to be far superior to SKY and Freeview. I record many programs broadcast on the above.

For all Freesat broadcasts I have had no problems at all, the only issues are,ITV HD recording and the slow deleting. Neither cause me any hassle.

I had to read that and the quote three times before I got it.

My HDR is now our main source of viewing TV. Mainly used to timeshift the day/evening's viewing so we don't have to watch ads, plus some rainy-day progs for when there's nothing interesting on. So, if not doing something real-life interesting, then we watch a rainy-day prog until 7:30/7:45'ish, then watch the recordings that have started from, say 7:00, and get to the end of the evening without ads/trailers/previews, and we're probably just about back at real-time.

Most stuff gets recorded, watched & deleted on the day, the rest probably by the end of the week. No interest in seeing stuff repeatedly, so no requirement to archive long term.

I use a Freeview 9300T as a backup to duplicate most recordings, should there be a problem.

So, transformed the way we watch TV, hardly ever Live !!

Rgds.


Les.

Like Les I do most of my viewing from the HDR. Most of the programmes I want to watch are already on series link, but I go through the schedules on Sunday to pick out anything else that seems interesting in the forthcoming week.
I then have a choice each evening of programmes I really want to watch, and the ability to skip the ad breaks, so apart from news I rarely watch anything live.
I still have my Pace Twin freeview box but this only gets used now for channels not on freesat - I'll wait to replace this until the new HD freeview boxes are out.
I also have to say that, compared with my experience with the Twin, the Humax has been trouble free - only one lockup in some six months and just the occasional missed recording, usually due to a clash. I don't doubt that some people have had a different experience, but intending purchasers should be aware that this is very much the exception, not the rule.

We have started to use the v+ for the main viewing since our sky hd went tits up so the v+ is for the hd and vod,the hdr comes in handy for channels virgin dont have +1 channels from itv ect plus itv hd.

Use it as a video recorder and to watch HD when there's something on. For 'live' telly I don't bother switching it on, just use builtin freeview.

Freesat+ is the only thing I use to watch TV and that includes German channels in non-Freesat mode (I'm in Germany). I also have a Scart to RF thing so that the second TV in my office shows the same as on the main TV. I miss not having that magic eye that Sky had though.

I've had Freesat+ for about 6 weeks and love it. It's frustrating that watching something in Non-Freesat mode restricts schedules and recordings but I can live with it. I watch German TV, Sky News and listen to LBC in Non-Freesat mode.

This is the only device that gives me a 7 day EPG from the UK and allows me to get channels from Astra 1, which is the reason I bought it.

I use it much like I did my TiVo. So I can watch regular programmes when I want to watch them, not necessarily when broadcast. I rarely keep a recording so delete after viewing.

My girlfriend and I watch very different content so I don't have to endure Corrie and she doesn't have to enjoy my stuff.