Thanks Graham..most useful..especially about the Fan..
often wondered about tjhe SKY+ Fan.. Is that the same?
In retrospect.. the noise was akin to an audio warning..
electronic not mechanical tones.. from within the set..
and faded out in synch with the red light getting dimmer..
Strange that the phone chaps at Humax did not know if there is one..
With my arthritic hands i use a pair of pliers to tightne the cable nuts and possibly..??
if too hard ??,,
would that have warned me?
or could the hard drive be wired up for a non start like the BLEEPS on a PC?
I would love to know if anyone else has heard any warnings from the box
and if not what are the warning/s built in for?
As it happens i tried again last night.. with nothing to lose
and got no audio warning..and progressed a little with the new download..
Complicated by the fact that my Hitachi envisaged HIDefn as needing a DVI input..
so am using Scart with RGB ..
which on CRTs i gather had a lower limit for resolution than DVI..?
Would you be into that sort of thing to say if i will be wasting my time getting a HDMI converter to DVI?
Very late last night..
i found the dated papers and the Hitachi is actually built to 1280x1024..
which seems way above 1080? or am i missing something?
Thanks again
Stan

Can't help you on the noise, I'd have gone for hard drive as well - just monitor it.

Re your TV. it sound like an HD Ready TV as opposed to full HD. The full HD spec is 1920 x 1080, so higher than yours. But DVI should be better than Scart on the HD outputs.

Page GB19 of the manual covers connecting up a TV with DVI and no A/V Receiver. You need the additional cables as, unlike HDMI, DVI does not support sound.

Rgds.

Les.

I reckon the panel could be a PC one as thats the standard VESA res for SXGA 1280 horizontal 1024 Vertical 64KHz horizontal 60Hz vertical.

True, hadn't thought of that, thanks.

Rgds.

Les.

Hi Graham and Les..very much appreciate your kind helpful interest.
After much thought i decided that the audio alarm was an un-eeded worry for the future
and had no trouble exchanging at local Argos.. who have sold 3 since monday!!..
No noise at all when installing the new set and the update.. which i notice includes the comment..
"RGB output available via the TV Scart connection on HD content (Live TV and Recordings) ..
You are both correct in the assumption that the TV is based on a separate monitor screen ..
which is based on 1280x1024.
.but the only DVI access is for the special lead which connects the receiver to the screen..
The TV Spec'n reads that RGB is enabled on the Scart..
so with the latest Humax software.. can i reasonably assume that the
Tv makers will have optimised the screen output such that i
am some way towards the Hi Defn level albeit perhaps not at 1080 yet..
I see some new 37 inch sets are at a lesser value anyway..
The set is nearly six years old and with only the BBC in HD
i would not want to spend a lot if i was already maximised on RGB..
My arthritc knees and Bi focals make investigation slow..
but i now see that the TV has Y Cr etc and
that there is also that on the trusty panasonic DVR..
would and In and OUT from the Panasonic improve matters perhaps?
The trusty PAN has super editing and implies it records in a HiDefn at HQ..
Am i right in that the much vaunted Huimax.. has no editing to chop off unwanted start or ends?
Would i be able to tell from the BBC test signal like in the old days of vertical definition bars ??
I am currently optimistic as whilst awaiting new Specs..
the TV image is slightly fuzzy in SD ..but gets noticeable better when I switch to HD!..
My wife is waiting for 'Come Dancing' on saturday..
If either of you can help further i woud be most thankful.
regards
Stan

Be cautious about component output on the Panasonic freesat boxes the non recording Foxsat-HD also has component out. DRM arrangements on a Freesat box allow the component output to be turned off during HD reception/replay and this is most definetely implemented by both BBC HD and ITV HD on the Foxsat-HD. I imagine the Panasonics will have to be the same

The BBC HD preview loop has a HD test card which also combines a dolby digital 5.1 channel sound test.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcintern...rom_the_h.html

No editing the Humax records at the original quality of the broadcast. Because the Panasonics have dvd/bluray storage they can resample the original quality to fit more onto a blank disc. They can't however provide 3rd channel viewing while recording two as on the hdr

In general panels designed for monitors don't make very good TV displays as they are largely designed for close up viewing and from straight in front. A modern HD ready 1368 x 720 ish display will likely perform much better and at the size you are using will be almost impossible to tell the difference from a full 1920 x 1080 TV.

Most helpful Graham.. I was oblivious of DRM and it's ramifications..
I now find that my oldish Prologic is unsuitable for the surround sound..
as only an optical output is available
whereas i need a wired output to feed the Sony 5+1
and fit in my nice SubWoofer..
Oviously I am not into 'Highish-Fi' at my age and certainly
do not want to buy another dvd Player..
Woe is me..
Regards
stan

If you are talking about digital optical output (spdif) to a coaxial digital input (spdif) ie From the hdr to a 5.1 system.

There's no problem converters working either way are available

I use one on my hdr to connect to my AV amp because the cabling is about 10M long (Optical is really only suitable for up to7M)

Example

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Optical-TOS-SP...item20ad8bd6f6

I wish that "favourites" could be optionally assigned your own choice of channel number in the 1-99 range - then we could construct our list of channels at the front of the numeric range and the bun-fight over positioning by the broadcasters would be avoided. All of the functioning would be based on the underlying identities, the 1-99s would just function as a "shortcut to". Personally, I'd probably stick close to the Freeview numbers with some personalised adjustments. It could be made even more useful by allowing favourite non-Freesat channels to be included (naturally there would be now/next limitation rather than full FS EPG).

Doing this would solve the mode-switching pain (for those who do it) and the mandatory 3-digit pain.

On-topic - favourite benefits:
Delete while recording
Auto folder deletion
Marking of "new" against folders as well as programmes

Worst irritation unsolved:
Still can't see BBCHD in the guide at same time as BBC1 & 2