Had a email from Argos stating the Goodmans HDR is now in stock-ugly looking brute! Anyone intend buying one? Item number: 5322154.

At last some real competition for Humax, maybe it'll be a wake up call for them.

True but when you say "real competition" the price point needs to be better - my first reaction at seeing a Goodmans PVR for £299 is to check the calendar to see if 1st April arrived early .... Goodmans is not exactly synonymous with quality products !

For Goodmans I'd expect £199 - £219.

But hey, who knows, they might have decided to mend their ways and take the brand up market.

I'm borrowing one at the mo, it's a bit better to look at in the flesh and so far, I can't fault it.

apart from the highly inflated price

Where did you borrow it?

Heavens it is an ugly box - has no one told Goodmans that the 70s are over.

It will be interesting to see how it matches up to the Hummy in the real world. My Foxsat is behaving its self at the moment (fingers firmly crossed).

There are still issues though, and I am always anticipating another freeze.

Can you post up some screen shots of the goodmans. Thanks

What's the sd pq like?

Those that have requested some pictures of the unit I've put some up on PVRJunction. I'll put up some screen shots either later tonight or sometime tomorrow. Any particular shots required?

See http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/compare...d-screenshots/

Particularily like the screenshot of the epg - especially like the HD indicators for HD progs.

Is this the same as the humax (ie is it a std freesat epg)?

Shame the box is a throwback to the 70s - have tpo agree it is totally ugly.

Note quite same as HDR see screenshot of EPG
http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/image...xsathdrepg.jpg

and video on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmAo1...layer_embedded

HD is indicated by a little red HD icon WHEN YOU HIGHLIGHT A PROGRAM, unlike the Goodmans you cannot see at a glance which of the programs are HD. In screenshot above the highlighted program only has a little blue and pink icon top right, this is where the HD icon appears.

Some of the screen shots now on the webpage

Good quality screenshots etc. Thx
Q1. Is it possible to set timer recordings for non-freesat channels?

Q2. Does the box have any form of Diseqc to enable viewing of other satellites e.g. with a multiple lnbs and a diseqc switch?

For your information, there are EPG guidelines but there is no standard EPG as required by Freesat. On many occasions people have held up the Humax EPG as being a good reference from which to start from but each vendor can come up with their own design and then check it with Freesat for usability.

Bob

1. No the box is capable of receiving non-freesat broadcasts, which is actually a requirement of Freesat, but it doesn't function well for this purpose. You can record by ... pressing record when watching !

2. Yes diseq switching is supported I believe, look though for diseq on threads, personally I have a motorised dish which is not supported (to be more precise if I enable diseq motor support the box disables one of the two tuners and it cannot very easily be re-enabled).

Doesn't seem like Humax care at all about the non-freesat modes, looks like its only available because the Freesat spec says it has to be - you are not actually meant to use it however.

What happens to the Goodmans PVR when there is a power-cut? Do you lose all scheduled recordings as with the Humax?

And what about scheduling ITV HD recordings - again are these all lost every time there is a scan for new channels, as per Humax?

If those two major (to me) Humax faults do not apply to the Goodmans, I'll buy it even if it is a bit more expensive.

Carried out some more tests. I quite like this box for its simplicity. No Frills. No folders, but then the UX is kept straight forward and to the point. Picture quality on Standard def and High definition wasn't impressive; it is noticably behind the Humax and Panasonic. I suspect there is a certain amount of picture setting adjustments that need to be made on TVs to bring the best out of them.

There is a non-freesat mode but I suspect most of the gen public who buy this machine won't see them. The machine won't scan them in. Instead there is a menu item for doing this with an impressively complicated looking screen asking for information like freaquncy, symbol rate and polarisation. In practice its an easy process to follow if you can find the steps (and settings/channels) on the net.

That said, if you are able to set up non freesat channels, the machine very sensibly doesnt make much of a big deal out of it, unlike on the Humax (although non-freesat channels will not appear in the EPG either) and you can access non freesat channels from the channel list. No bobbing between modes.

With non-freesat channels I find that you can set them to record with the manual timer function - where you set the date, time and legnth of recording - and whether you would like to repeat the timer every day, week etc. Dual recording with non-freesat channel is no bother either.

I can see no multi-sat diseq capability options on this box. Its not in the manual nor can I see them in any of the settings screens unfortunately.

The machine does not get stuck after a power cut so it wll carry on scheduled recordings after power is restored. This is a problem which only affects the Foxsat-HDR. I don't know of any other PVRs from Humax or other manufacturers who have a design oversight like that.

I am now late for my hydro so must dash..

Thanks for answering my power cut question and hope you enjoy your hydro.

I'd also be fascinated to know whether ITV HD scheduled recordings are knocked out by the regular (weekly?) channel reshuffles, as per the Humax. Presumably you would only find that out when the next reshuffle happens.

Still, the point of having a Freesat PVR (for me) would be the ability to set ITV HD recordings reliably for when I am away for days at a time - I already have Sky HD so can do all the other channels bar that one.

If the Goodmans box passes that test too, I think I'll get it even if the PQ is, as you say, a little below par.

Maybe forcing a freesat rescan could highlight this issue? When he gets back from his hydro of course

Thanks for those - excellent quality!
The remote control seems a bit less "busy" than the horrible Humax remote, but I don't see the equivalent of the jump buttons, where you can move forward in (say) two minute increments. I find this incredibly useful when zipping through the ads Is this feature available on the Goodmans?

Does the Goodmans remote work the TV volume?

The Goodmans has ad skip buttons. They are the left and right arrow buttons on the remote. The skip buttons are configurable up to a maximum of 60 seconds. I've been using a 2 minute ad skip for the last couple of years myself, but still, I'm pleased the Goodmans has this feature given its purpose.

Cheers, thanks!

Unfortunately I am in a situation where the treatment is of the type provided by the NHS rather than a spar

The machine only seems to have an option for a first time installation when it comes to doing a freesat scan.