True. New products and costs have to move things along though I guess which is where they're coming from.

Two things which I would really like to see fixed are the power cut issue (not been affected as yet but not happy with the bug being present) which is fixed in the upcoming release but also the general responsiveness. At times you press a button, see no reaction and press it again only to discover that you did press it but it was just a really long delay. Not sure if that one is fixed or is a lack of processing power in the box.

See here if you haven't read about the fixes:

http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/new-sof...ntent=Netvibes

Thanks for the link S_S. Anyone know when the update will happen?

Why do I always manage to buy things that don't get "finished" until they're almost obsolete?!

Oh, hang on, there's the answer: I buy them anyway at a point where there's no choice. Silly me.

My previous PVR was a Pace Twin, and that took about 2 years before it became usable. At least the HDR was usable after a year.

I guess it's the Microsoft business model - sell something that doesn't work properly and fix it later. It hasn't done them too much harm, so I fear we're stuck with it.

Cheers,
David.

When you want short lived products at low prices there's not much option, you can't afford to spend years in development and testing, you have to get the product out there and sold.

I've no idea. I would have thought fairly soon as a beta version appeared on a Humax website which I personally would not touch with a trillion foot barge pole!!!

I think you are a bit unfair, it's a computer product now, not just a consumer product. It;s normal to still have undiscovered bugs even after 5 years, Humax seem committed to giving clients a fair deal, thought that may take a while. I am pleased that they do listen to customer opinions, but they must take a balanced view to support and new development.

I don't, and if the Pace Twin (£350) or the HDR (£250) were products at low prices, I dread to think what you think a "high" price would be for a PVR with a 20GB HDD, and a PVR with a 320GB HDD, in 2005 and 2009 respectively.

Cheers,
David.

If it took you a year for your HDR to become useable then I suggest that the problem was you and not the HDR.

I purchased mine on the day it was launched and it has been a great piece of kit.True upgrades have been made to eradicate certain bugs but that was to be expected.Your criticism of the manufacturer was childish and unjustified!!

I agree 100%, since Nov 2008 it's the best pvr I ever owned (or still own and use everyday), next is the the more flexible Topfield 5800. There are just some posters on these forums that have totally unrealistic expectations. Certainly the hdr was far from perfect in the first 12 months (and now if I am honest) but there was nothing at all that rendered it unuseable if aware of the limitations.

It's the only pvr I use every day and currently has 1TB internal storage and the same externally

When I press 'guide' I want the guide to appear whilst the current channel plays in the background. It doesn't need to update every time I press the button - the schedules don't change that often.

The box has two feeds, so why not use the other feed to update (provided it is not being used for recording)? When I first set my box up I only had one feed, and I thought the problem would go away once I added a second - I was shocked to discover it didn't.

I don't want to have to press schedule & red just to look at the guide - why press two buttons when I should only have to press one?

This should be fixed in the next software update.

It won't be. I only press one anyway but I do have a harmony remote. Seems a bit pedantic, once in the guide you are going to have to press a lot more buttons. All this fuss over one extra button - get a life

Spot the fanboys.

Guys - it's supposed to record TV without messing up.

I'm a moderate level geek. i.e. I could set a VCR reliably! That meant, we could expect to sit down and watch whatever was set to record, knowing it would be on the tape when we got back in.

The Pace Twin failed miserably for quite a long time. The Humax HDR was never anywhere near as bad, but before the software update late last year, it wasn't reliable - i.e. programmes would still get missed.

I read this forum - I know this has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with this box.

It's been OK since the software update late last year. It still does some things unbelievable slowly, but I don't think it's crashed or missed a programme in the last 9 months.

We all know (including Humax!) about the two big bugs that remain: Live Pause jumps to live at the end of programmes, and a power cut will scupper everything.

I'm not singling out Humax for criticism - it's just sad that, as I said, the products get finished when they're nearly obsolete.

Interesting people jump to defend such mediocrity - strange how some people seem to see their electronic gadgets as extensions of themselves, and react so strongly to criticism. It's a PVR for goodness sake - I'm not slagging off your girlfriend!

Cheers,
David.

Well I agree with grahamlthompson - the software in these boxes is complex and becoming more so as time progresses.
With two tuners to manage, broadcasters who may or may not broadcast correct control signals and programmes which overrun and the complexity of the user interface this is a very different animal from a VCR.

And in the future YouView is going to make things much more complex to program. I also know who's YouView box I will be buying.

That reminds me. I really ought to create a soft button for Opt+.

Simple question - if it's so easy there must be pvr out there that meets your exacting requirements. So if you want to be constructive why don't you inform us doubters what we should replace our hdrs with ?

LOL, you might as well be. For some on here their relationship with Humax is far more intimate than with their partner (if they even have one).
Personally I absolutely hate the Foxsat-HDR and Humax. Unfortunately in a very mediocre market they are actually the best available.

I think Badvok has got the point, but anyway: the HDR will be fine when it's finished, which Humax have now said they will do at some point.

Except, by that time, the market will have moved on, and as REPASSAC has pointed out, some of us will want YouView. Then we can expect the same rigmarole all over again.


There was a time when cars were even more unreliable than the PVRs we have today. I remember my parents cars from the 1970s and 1980s - good old British quality! Somehow, over the last 30 years, cars have become far far more reliable. Hopefully the PVR/CE device market will mature in the same way. One day.

Cheers,
David.

The reference to British cars is very apt. The True Believers seem to think that the manufacturer is doing them a favour by letting them have the product at all and are happy to accept something which is OK most of the time. Just as overheating on hot days and cardboard in front of the radiator in the winter was no problem.

The rest of us preferred to buy foreign cars without these "features" and expect to be immediately presented with a programme guide when we press the button marked "guide".

Unfortunately, the Freesat market choice is so limited that we do not have any alternative but to complain. And does anyone think that fixes would have been made if we had not?

What is the objection to making a product as good as it can be?

As the complexity of PVRs increases we should start to compare them to computer operating systems rather than other simpler domestic devices. As YouView's specs include the ability to run applications it will be a computer.

The problem with any significant program development is the design is rather like quick setting concrete - you build everthing based upon that design which can make it very difficult to change aspects of the system however small they may seem.

Can you imagine the bleating from the knockers when they realised that the EPG selected by the guide button could be out of date?

Why should an EPG be out of date unless you access it in a particular way? The EPG on my TV updates in standby quite happily.

- and uses how much power?

If it's a satelite tuner it would have to power the tuner and the lnb. The lnb alone will take more power than the 0.75W a hdr uses in low power sby

That alone will make it non-compliant with the eec-directive on sby power consumption. If it's new it should not be on sale.

If the previous couple of posts are serious, please state how many children and pets you have, whether you are a vegan, what holidays you take and how many hours of television you watch etc.

Otherwise, please stop being silly.

There's nothing silly about a sky+ box taking over 20W in sby compared to the eec limit of 1W. Do the maths.