Being a long time (very happy) user of the 9200 and the fact that our TV is on the blink I think the time is right to move to HD which means a new TV and possibly giving the 9200 to my parents and upgrading to the Foxsat HDR.

Before I part with my hard earned, is the time right to upgrade to the Foxsat and will I be as happy as I am with my 9200? I’ve read a few threads on here and people’s views on the Foxsat seem to be similar to what they were when the 9200 was first brought out, mixed with many waiting for an OTA update to address some issues.

So, over to you guys. Should I make the step now? Wait to see what the next OTA update brings (when’s it due by the way)? Look at another brand? If I were to make the move, what ‘features’ in the current firmware should I be aware of?

Thanks in advance.

In general the Foxsat is a very usable device and quite a few of us are very happy with it - less so with Humax for failing to do anything about the long list of faults of varying importance.

Some people seem to have problems with lock-ups but as there are many that never have these problems it's possible that these are actually faulty boxes. And that will happen with any product.

If you experience power cuts you will have a problem if you leave the box for several days if there is one at the start of your absence. This is because if the box is in standby when there is a power cut it will never wake up without manual intervention.

If you want to record a ITV HD there is a problem that all the ITV HD timers get wiped whenever the box does a rescan. These rescans are frequent (which is Freesat's fault) and the scan can easily take place without your noticing it if you are not watching the box as it boots up.

Apart from these two problems the box does what it's supposed to do rather well. The UI is a bit clunky and there are quite a few more minor bugs that can be worked around.

Overall, though, unless you suffer from power cuts (I haven't had one in years) and are prepared to check your ITV HD timers it's a perfectly usable product.

Speaking as one who has both the 9200 and the PVR, I would suggest sticking with the 9200 for the mo'. Much as I like the PVR, I have not taken the step to totally commit to it. The much awaited upgrade should bring it up to the stability of the 9200.

As for content, you'll not be missing too much not having the HD channels. Much depends on which HD TV you go for, as some I have seen do such a good job of upscaling SD to HD (the screen resolution) that it's hard to spot the difference from normal viewing distances. Even close up some of them are hard to distinguish the source because they are so good.

There is also the bit-rate discussion to consider. There are those who claim that freeview gives a better SD picture than freesat. And then next year, or so, HD on freeview.

Decisions, decisions. Start with the best TV you can afford, and wait a bit to see how HD pans out.

I have a Humax 9200, Topfield 5800 and the hdr, The hdr is the best box by a long way although some SD channels have better pictures on Freeview and also there are some missing channels on Freesat (notably fiver, five us and virgin 1). To be honest the best solution is keep the 9200 and add the hdr to get the best of both worlds.

I have the Humax 9200t but now only use the Foxsat HDR.I've had no probs with the Foxsat and tbh the only problems I know about (other than the sd pq is a bit soft) is what I've read on here.It's a nice piece of kit.

That probably depends on how you set up your TV.

The SD PQ's fine on mine and I have sometimes mistakenly thought I was watching HD on some of the better SD output.

I noticed that some Sky boxes need the sharpness set way down on the TV so if you've previously had a Sky box connected you may find that the TV sharpness needs to be raised a little for the Foxsat.

I'm comparing it with the Virgin V+ stb and the pq on the V+ is far superior to the Foxsat HDR sd pq no matter how I set up my tv.I also have a Panny dvd hdd rec,tho I know there can be a difference between freeview pq and freesat pq,which also has a far better sd pq than the Foxsat.The Foxsat sd pq could be better.But saying all that I think the Foxsat performs well.

Is there a possibility that your box is faulty?

I checked mine against a Freeview picture (intenal to TV) and a Sky box and the Freesat is as good as either of them.

I've heard others say that the their Foxsat is soft on SD but as most seem to find it more than satisfactory I wonder if there is some part that Humax source from two different suppliers that leads to this disparity of performance.

It's not a bad picture,I'd say comparable with my tv's freeview,but I now compare everything with the V+ stb which has a very good sd pq.I also had the the Humax HD Freesat receiver which had the same sd pq as the Foxsat HDR,so I wouldn't say the box is faulty.
If I had to describe the sd pq on the Foxsat I'd say "waxy" and not as vibrant as the V+.The HD pq on the Foxy is superb.

Well, if the Foxsat is equal to Freeview in both your opinion and mine and I found the sharpness the same as a Sky box the only possibility remaining would seem to be that you like your picture a tad 'oversharpened' compared to most people.

[quote=Panman1300;35965550]Speaking as one who has both the 9200 and the PVR, I would suggest sticking with the 9200 for the mo'. Much as I like the PVR, I have not taken the step to totally commit to it. The much awaited upgrade should bring it up to the stability of the 9200.

Do you really want to downgrade the box to the level of the 9200T?

My 9200 has features that beggar belief. Apart from from all the usual, such as missing recordings etc. it locks up on playback, sometimes several times a night.

Would you want a Foxsat to be as bad as that?

Neither my 9200T nor Foxsat have ever locked up (except when I tried the switch to a radio station with 2 recordings going - but that was just a test to confirm it was a general bug, not a specific issue with one or two boxes).

I use the 9200T for the majority of viewing (it saves having to train 'er indoors to 3 digit channel numbers), with the foxsat doing the HD programmes and some of the series that I want to watch. They both just keep going.

As my display is fed from a beast of an Onkyo 905 A/V receiver, the picture quality from almost any source is great.

Why do you put up with a box that keeps locking up?

[Whoops, hit post rather than preview]

And don't forget the OP is a:
so I guess they have a different user experience to you too.

I have been waiting before "upgrading" to the Foxsat HDR.

Perhaps if the OTA upgrade actually happens and succeeds in fixing the inherent quirks AND doesn't create different problems of an annoying nature, I will consider the Foxsat.

You are quite right about putting up with a box that keeps locking up. I have communicated with Humax about the various problems and all they offer is the standard remedies that I have done on a regular basis. When I told them that the problems remained, they failed to come back to me.

Humax have never admitted that there could be a fault on board that could be repaired. Quite clearly, they believe the box is a disposable item!!

Incidentally, does anybody know why the Foxsat HDR is frequently out of stock in many suppliers and not obtainable in store at Currys at all?

Is there a MK2 box about to appear that only those in the trade know about?

Thanks to all the people that have responded so far, it appears that the Foxsat is in a similar position to what the 9200 was before it got it’s last few updates. With this in mind I’m thinking the best bet may be to hang fire for now and wait for the next update to come. In the meantime I’ll get the TV updated to HD.

Has any of the quirks of the 9200 found their way in to the Foxsat? The main one that springs to mind is the limit on 25 serial links schedules which does cause me a head ache. How about saving the EPG when in stand-by? Other than that, cant think of any issues I have with the 9200?

It’s some what reassuring that there’s people like grahamthompson and marcdavis still on the Humax boards. They were very active posters when the 9200 was first released so it looks like they’ve kept faith with the Humax brand which is positive.

Not sure how many series links is the max on a hdr but it's way more than 25. The epg on a freesat box works quite differently to a freeview box. On freeview every channel transmits the the full epg on a rolling basis and it can take upwards of 15 mins for a full epg download. On freesat the epg is transmitted from one transponder only (It's the same one that ITV HD comes from). Pressing guide on a hdr steals a tuner to download a whole new epg which takes about 30 sec, however unlike the 9200 there is also a buffered copy to which
which access is instantaneous (press schedule and red), in addition the epg is constantly trickle charged. When I turn on my HDR I press guide the once and thereafter use the buffered copy. The new firmware update can't be far away as details of what's been fixed are now emerging see
http://www.hummy.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=6334

Just seen the price for your Onkyo but a bit out of my price range...Wondered if you knew what any of these £200/£300 range as regards pq would give me.
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...FZQA4wodfk-Jkg

The cheapest one in the list with any sort of scaler is £399.00 TXSR607 scaling to 1080i. Whether the scaler in an AV amp at this price would be better than the one in say a Sony or Panasonic TV it's hard to say without actually trying it out. The scaler in my Denon 4306 also scales to 1080i and is better than my TV or Foxsat-hdr but again it was very expensive new. The better scalers are often built by a company called faroujda, DEnon use these but don't know if Onkyo do.

Ok thanks,thinks I'l leave it for now.