Just wondering if anyone has bought this Freesat PVR yet. Or the Sagem? would be interesting to see how either compare with the Foxsat HDR.

GG

See this re the Sagem.

Rgds.

Les.

Hmm. Wonder if that's the same Barry that posts on Humax.org??? So no one has tried the Goodmans out then? I am tempted to get it just to see how good the picture quality is, as when I had the Goodman's box (not PVR) the picture quality via the HDMI was far superior to the Humax picture.......

GG

]

The very same

Oh well! That explains everything then! LOL No wonder it was dissed!
I fancy the larger drive on the Goodmans and don't feel competent enough to put a larger drive in my Humax HDR. I did have the Goodmans ordinary box prior to purchasing the Humax HDR and the SD picture quality via the HDMI connection was far superior. I don't quite know why, but Humax seem to have a problem with the picture quality via HDMI on there equipment cos' my 9300t Freeview PVR is the same.

GG

Buy a hard drive as recommended on thread in this forum. Its 3 philips screws on the back, the lid then slides backwards. There are 4 screws that mount the harddrive to the bottom of the case, undo these and pull of the sata cable. Simply bang in the replacement in the same place as the old one and then reverse assembly, When its all back together and you switch on it will format your disk and thats it, its all done... Just dont't touch any of the circuit boards etc, always handle things away from component sides. Can't remember if this is double insulated or has a earth. I tend to leave the lead plugged in but the device switched off at the back so if this is earthed you can always touch bare casing to discharge any static before handling anything. If these simple rules are followed its very rare for chipsets to be effected by static.

Hi

I am seriously considering buying this, just reviewed the manual there. Menus/controls look good. It have nice tab for non-free sat channels and record timer function.

Does anyone know if you can record from the 1 or 2hr buffer? Wondering how loud the fan is?

acp

The replies to date hardly refer to the Goodmans in the title, could it really be that no DS contributors have yet tried it out? Not totally surprising given the general low level of opinion previously seen on DS of the range of Harvard products.

Should we assume that acppca27 is now seriously considering the Goodmans rather than the Sagem which he has found problems with over a longer period?

I would add that if either of these brands had provided diseqcontrol I too would have been closer to a purchase. I like the fact you don't have to switch modes to get from freesat to non-freesat channels but it's no use having easier non-freesat if you are stuck with 28.2E.

It would still be nice if anyone could contribute specific Goodmans/Grundig (ie Harvard) comments.

Is the Grundig box the same as the Goodmans only re- badged?

It physically looks better just wondering if it has the same functions, having trouble trying to locate an online manual.

With the latest hdr firmware you can archive all SD and BBC HD to an external usb drive and play it back from there so effectively you have unlimited storage. I have a1Tb drive on my hdr rear usb port.

The hdrs double insulated incidentally the case floats in respect to earth

From what I can gather. they seem to have the same functions

Goodmans GFSDTR320HD Manual

Grundig GUFSDTR320HD Manual

I did a check a couple of months ago and confirm this pvr does have a timer record function for non freesat mode channels. It was in another goodmans thread http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...6&postcount=18

why not give the goodmans a try. You can always return it if it doesn't work properly

Might just have to do that, emailed Grundig this morning about, record from buffer, export to usb and noise levels. See what they have to say. :sleep:

Yes I am aware of that, but don't you have to format the hard drive in Linux??? (Ext 3) Also I would surely need another socket for the external hard drive's power.
All seems a bit fiddly to me. I would also be reluctant to mess about inside fitting a new drive. (What sort would I get cos' I would want a 500GB to 1TB size.)

GG

I am going to give the Goodmans a try Marc, thanks for all your help on this matter.

GG

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...53&postcount=2

Thanks for that Graham. Looking at the price it would cost me about £160 for a 1TB drive. Hmm. Is is simple to fit? Does it just 'slot in' once the older drive is removed?
Although I am a very brave Geeky Gran, wouldn't want to make a mess of it!
Where can I buy one from ( I do use Amazon a lot.)

Is is worth it I ask myself seeing as Humax seem to be now moving onto a newer model?

GG Thanks again for your help

A review of the Grundig GUFSDTRHD500 (catchy name ) has been posted over at TrustedReviews.com. From reading the manual (pdf) and the review, it looks like the box doesn't have many bells and whistles and a few obvious flaws (poor placement of P+ P- button on the remote, scheduled recordings only present at the end of the recordings library list). The review is generally positive and I'll be considering this box along with the Humax HDR in the near future. It's a shame the next gen Humax isn't out until the Autumn. Is anybody else going to launch a Freesat HD+ box (with twin tuners and internal HDD) soon? Or is the choice to remain limited to Humax, Pansonic, Sagem and the Harvard (Grundig/Goodmans/Bush) rebadges. Technisat and Metronic both said they'd have PVRs for Freesat but so far Technisat has only upgraded their "zapper" to USB recording.

Thank Ian for this update. I'll read the review with interest.
GG

Not sure where you've got your pricing from. Lambdatek along with several other suppliers have them for sale for around £70.
I paid about the same last year. From signing for the disk drive at the door to rebooting and setting up the memory split between photos and program storage was 20 minutes. If you can use a screwdriver it is easy. My box didn't even have a security sticker on it.

Actually the Grundig looks more pleasing and that review is mostly positive. However trying to get hold of one is proving very difficult!
Doesn't seem to be available either online or in any shops near me. I think I prefer the overall look of it when compared to the Goodmans. The curved facia looks particularly attractive.

Hmm. now where can I buy one is the question!

GG

Is it just a question then of taking off the lid, taking out the old drive (in its caddy by lifting it out after disconnecting it and then just slotting the new drive caddy in and then connecting that?
Sounds too good to be true if so. So everything just connects as per the old drive? Much more of concern to me is now that Humax intend to bring out a new model will they continue to both support this version with relevant updates?

GG

Very interesting Graham..
At what stage does one get the OPTION to divide the drive?
and for that matter..
Can one retrospectively change the original partitions
if not changing the drive.. please?

Stan

Yes you can by simply choosing to format the drive and ticking both partitions which gives you an adjustment slider. Witha new drive simply reformat it after the auto format. You can't reduce the music/jpeg partion to less than 1GB. Of course formattimg the drive loses it's contents which is why it's best to do it straight after installing a new drive.

As I recall there were 4 screws to be undone to unsecure the disk drive from the caddy. The new one went into the caddy (noticeably heavier by the way) was reconnected with the same interface lead, the 4 screws put back and the case lid put back on. As simple as that.