Hi,

Looking for some facts or speculation regarding the *NEW* Hummy that has been often speculated about. Just trying to decide whether to ditch Sky now and buy the 500gb or wait!

Two questions really ..... any better guesses re release date and is the new box likely to add any new function or is it likely to simply be a bigger disk?

As an aside .... I can see that Iplayer is available. That poses to me a few interesting thoughts.

Is the Hummy likely to have other channels available in the future or will it stay with just the beeb? And in practical use does the iplayer reduce the need for replacing the disk for something bigger? Has the addition of iplayer made the difference between Sky and the Hummy even more an attractive move or does it make no real difference?

Any pointers and opinions appreciated.

Jeff

The last statement from Bob_Cat of Humax (who posts in these forums) was that they cannot announce any dates at this time. So you have to make your own judgement. If you don't have a pressing need to ditch Sky then you could wait.

I only have the 320 GB Humax which is good enough for me right now. I don't yet have HD and I tend to use on average 25-35% of the disk. If I did have HD I guess based on this I would probably still use less than 50% as most of what I record is not on BBC or ITV HD.

ITV Player is due to come to Freesat and I think the Humax can cope with that (other more techie people here will confirm).

I don't think the iPlayer support makes any difference re: Sky. People choose Sky for its other advantages I assume - sports, recent movies, greater HD, etc.

Since the latest firmware you can archive BBC HD and all SD to a usb drive formatted EXT3. HD will play back from there so if you do what I have done ie use a slot in drive cradle you can use as many 1TB back up discs as you want to purchase. It takes about 15 min to archive an hour of BBC HD but you can block select say a whole series and just let it get on with it. 320GB gets full very quickly if you record a lot of HD. I also have a 1TB as the promary drive again in an external esata cradle (unlike the archive option this of course busts the warranty)

bump stuck post

Many thanks for the pointers from you both - much appreciated.


Is there any indication as to whether there is likely to be any new function on the box or whether it's simply only a storage upgrade? If their are function changes will the new functions likely be added via formware to the existing boxes please?

My comment about Sky was that iplayer (and the ITV version when it arrives) is that it lends itself to a slightly different approach in that with sky if you don't go to epg regularly and record then you don't get to see it - whereas iplayer within the box sounds more liberating.


I have two 9200's and the usb connector never seemed to work - and I'm trying to visualise how the new box works .

I'm going to retain my SKY HD box without subscription and use it as a viewer and probably buy the 500gb hummy - or wait! The hummy is only going to be used as a recorder rather than in live view mode.

When attatching a 1tb drive in a caddy is it basically just archiving - and do you access what has been archived to the disk from the hummy itself - or do you have to use a pc programme to view it?

thanks again

It will presumably have new features - I can't remember whether Bob_Cat has made any explicit statements on this. My guess is it won't be just a storage upgrade as they've already just done that with the current model and could just continue doing that.

However, Bob_Cat did say that the current model will receive maintenance updates only, i.e., no new functionality.

You access it by calling up the media list and pressing the red button this gives access to any USB drives connected to either of the front or rear usb ports. Using a hub you can have more than 2. The drive contents display and replay is just the same as using the internal drive. The only thing you can't do is record directly to the drive. Using an external pices of free software you can add suitable video to the drive and replay it just as if the hdr recorded it including HD camcorder footage

Pretty sure I read it will feature media streaming and ftp access.

Is this likely to mean stuff like facebook etc? If so I do not need to wait ......

On the external drive is there any file size / programme time limitations?

Am I right in saying that to all practical purposes, by adding drives via a hub you need never run out of space without adding internal drives? And ..... does the external hard drive pick up the full programme name etc ie not like the 9200?

thanks for the help.

A FAT32 external drive has a file size limit of 4GB. An EXT3 (linux) formatted drive effectively has no file size limit (there is one but it's so large it's not going to matter). Files copied to USB look and act identically to those on the the internal hdd including the full prog info. And yes by swapping drives you have unlimited storage. One thing you should know that encrypted HD programming stored on the external hdd will only play back on the hdr that recorded them. You can however manually record without encrption using non-freesat mode (no timer starts though)

Many thanks again for your help.

Can I use a FAT32 drive or must I use EXT3 and if so does the hummy format the drive to EXT3 or must I have a linux os somewhere?

Thanks,

Jeff

If you want to archive HD material you need EXT3. You can boot any PC into linux to format the drive using a free linux boot cd. There are also windows utilities that can format drives to EXT3. The hdr won't format a usb connected drive

Disc size is going to depend on how you use it.

I have a 1TB drive and I'm 69% full.

The 320gb standard drive was full for me in less than 3 months!!

I have a 320GB (ext3) drive but occasionally copy many of the programmes I copy to this to my PC (which has several TB of storage). I can copy back and forth if I want to watch programmes on the TV but this also gives me the option of watching them on my PC (or via another external drive on my laptop when away on business).

At some time I might actually get round to watching the many hours of programming I have (and this is also supplemented by those on DVD from the Freeview DVD recorder I had before the Foxsat)!

WW

It's not a great idea (for makers) to pre-announce new products - as it makes people defer their purchase.

Several companies went bust by doing just that in the early personal computer days.

I am now deferring my purchase of a second Freesat PVR until the new model comes out.

I hope they have a large HDD (or a choice of size) as I am at 93% of my 1 TB drive.

Do you anticipate living long enough to watch it all?

"Humax also said that a successor to its HDR Freesat recorder may not appear this year as now it plans to alter the specification from that previously announced."

taken from:-

http://wotsat.techradar.com/news/ipl...range-04-05-10

Why aren't I surprised!

Also, wtf is all that talk about Sky Player? Irrelevant surely?

May be Humax read the wishlist

The article is mainly talking about the Freeview recorder, and having Sky Player on that is more appropriate. It's not suggesting Sky Player on the Freesat boxes, because that would just be silly.

I hope so.

A box that can cope with non freesat and freesat modes simoultaneously, eahc with an epg and with timers which work irrespctive of mode and also does the same using DISEQ gets my vote and my money.

Big thumbs up to the 1TB drive as well.

Thank god for the external drive modification or I'd be tearing my hair out on my current model with only 320GB.

Could i ask a two tiny queries please..whilst this topic is current..
regarding the speed requirements of the USB drive..
As I am just about to take the plunge..
as when i last dallied with languages FORTRAN was always spelled in Capitals..
I have a 320G WD elements drive which i do not know the speed of..
If it is only 5400 will that be OK or is 7200 needed?
and
The tiny drive is USB self powered will that aspect be a problem?

Ta ever so

Stan

No problem with drive speed at all. USB transfers compared to the read/write capability of any hdd is minimal any hdd will work. And yes I use a 250GB usb powered drive with the hdr with no problems.

USB is very slow. However, given its only real use is back ups (you can't record to USB live), its not likely to be a major issue.

Just don't expect fast transfers.

Excellent news, because :
1. I wont be tempted to upgrade this year, actually get some more value from existing HDR which is excellent anyway
2. Hopefully this signals that the HDR MkII will be an even better spec.