I wonder for now ..if HD progs recorded to a usb will play thru a new Humax if the box becomes unusable or is replaced?
If not.. then it's hardly a back up as presumably all the SD progs will then play OK..and it will require a PC to Free up the space occupied on the USB drive will it not
Stan

Unless you recorded them without encryption using non-freesat then HD recordings won't play on a different HDR.

It depends how you record your HD. If you do the non-Freesat wake up trick then you can play your recording on another Humax. Here is a taster for you that I posted ages ago from the German Astra Demo http://www.4shared.com/folder/ssOlNj1z/HD_demo_1.html Just copy all three files into a suitable memory stick and enjoy for a few seconds ....

Must admit it is a bit of a pain to record without the "ENC" flag and impossible if you wish to record two things at once so usually I don't bother

Not seen your moniker for ages GC..
Thank you both.. I am not permitted to disturb the SOAPS until a Bath time interval of 30 minutes later on this evening..
I can't wait..to plug in the usb..
Luckily i have just been moved to 21st Century by BT so the downloads were not too bad at 2 megs speed..
Will the HD enc space be instantly re-usable for new progs or will it need to be deleted I wonder..

You can record two at once in non-freesat, I recorded both the BBC and ITV's HD Royal Wedding coverage encryption free.

Much appreciated Graham! I did an experiment (last year??) with the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day, hoping to find a difference in picture quality between ITV1 HD and BBC. I was unable to do it. Too much Christmas Spirit?? . I feel another experiment coming on!