I've been holding off buying an HD box to replace my old & trusty 9200T until Youview launched. I received the box today and set it up this evening. Here's some first impressions:

- set up was relatively easy and painless, but took about 15 minutes.

- it never occurred to me that the box wouldn't have a CAM slot. I'm going to have to cancel my ESPN subscription. I would imagine ESPN & Top Up TV won't be happy about this box.

- the box is very silent when recording & playing back. I'm used to my old 9200T grinding away!

- the menu system doesn't feel as intuitive as the old Humax system. Watching recordings, looking for on demand content and changing the settings are all done via the same button.

- the Vision/Connect channels don't recognise the box as being a valid HD box with internet connection, and therefore only show the same MHEG screens you see on SD boxes.

- there are only 4 on-demand services available - BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand5. I'd have liked to have seen YouTube/Netflix etc.

- watching an on-demand show is relatively pain free and they start quite quickly. I saw some buffering on 4OD during the enforced advert, but not during the programme itself. BBC IPlayer had no problems at all.

- the remote feels awful. The buttons are "clicky" and there's not even half the functionality of the old 9200T remote. There's no skip forward or back buttons, just the rewind/fast-forward ones. Getting to your recordings takes three button pushes instead of the one on the 9200T. There's no slow motion or picture-in-picture. In fact, at times the box feels like a step backwards from my 5 year old 9200T.

- when changing channel, the channel numbers come up right in the centre of the screen. It's rather intrusive, but I guess if you're changing channels then you're not watching what's on anyway. Similarly, pressing the 'info' button for a short summary of the current programme takes up half the screen.

Some of this can be righted with a software update, and I'm hopeful Humax will stay on top of it. Other things, like the lack of a CAM slot, are unforgiveable. Until there's more online functionality, combining it with something like Google TV might be better than just relying on the one box.

Thanks for the first impression, One thing to remember is that the specification for all YouView boxes was written by the YouView group not Humax, so if you request that something be changed the answer will be 'we can't change it'. The main YouView code was not written by Humax, they only wrote the code to interface their hardware with the YouView code. This has the advantage that all YouView boxes will operate exactly the same but it has the disadvantage that the makers e.g. Humax can't personalise their product or add features

A good summary OP. I'm returning to my HDR T2 and relegating the youview box to upstairs for the following reasons:

- lack of skip buttons or even the ability to "slide" along the timeline
- lack of folders for recordings, plus the faff to get to the recordings
- lack of ability to delete mutiple recordings at once
- lack of search function for the whole EPG (only covers on demand)
- lack of ability to edit channel list

Interesting comment about the Connect channels,this is part of a reply I received from Connect re compatable boxes & TVs

"To view them, you need a Freeview device that supports something called IC Streaming. This was a mandatory requirement for all Freeview devices, from early 2011. However, some manufacturers used concessions obtained from Freeview, for their 2011 devices, by testing them before this date"

So why the ommision on the Humax?

Wot no English language films with Polish voiceovers? No Chinese TV? No Christian and Muslim God-botherers?

( I suppose eveentually Connect TV with stream stuff of interest to the general population.)

Re the remote control: It is far and away the best made remote Humax have ever supplied in my experience. Just a shame it is missing dedicated Recordings & Schedule keys to complement the EPG key - the three most common menus I access.

Just wanted to know if anyone who has the youview box would answer some questions. It isn't very clear what you can actually do on it.

1. Can you record TV that you are streaming, or do you have to watch it live? As they have said you can go 7 days previous on the guide.

2. How does the FTP function work, from what I heard it was all encrypted when you transferred content and the files can only be played back on the youview box.

3. Do you also get the satellite channels like True Movies, Horror and so on. I know it's freeview but I did read somewhere you got these channels as well.

Read this

http://myhumax.org/forum/topic/list-...s-with-links-1

The Freeview channel line up is the same as any other Freeview-HD kit.

There's no usb archiving or streaming capability

No recording of vod content.

Yes. It works the same as any other PVR. Pause, record, rewind live TV as well as schedule recordings.


No. It's just the Freeview channels.

I've just discovered another, ahem, "feature".

Scheduled recordings, if they are part of Series Record, are listed twice. The next episode is listed, and also the fact it's a Series Record. This fills up the scheduled list and looks remarkably messy. I only have 7 programmes scheduled to record over the next week and it takes up 2 pages!

Thanks for the answers. I'll wait a while before I decide to replace my Humax 9300. I was hoping this would record online content. At the moment it's not much different from a smart tv or something you can do on your PC.

That's pretty much what it was originally designed to do, to make access to catch up services seamless.

It's doubtful you'll ever be able to record the catch up services, as that goes into extended licensing agreements for the broadcasters etc.

It's awful. The DTR-T1000 remote is very uncomfortable to hold in the hand because it flares out at the bottom. Also the buttons have a very cheap and nasty feel and click to them.

The Humax HDR Fox T2 remote is much nicer.

That would have been great if it were also a decent Freeview+ HD PVR eg. if they'd simply started from the HDR Fox T2 and then added the catchup and online services.

Seems to me like they've thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

And I know it isn't Humax that set the YouView specs. I don't care. The service is rubbish due to appalling design. It is largely irrelevant who's fault that is.

There is no FTP on YouView boxes. Sadly they didn't start from the HDR Fox T2 software.

Not mine it isn't. My HDR remote has awful, spongy, hit and miss keys. The shape of the Youview remote nestles nicely in my hand and the keys have a postive action.

Your hand must be a very different shape to mine then.

Or I choose to handle things differently.

I have complied a list of features that a Humax HDR Fox T2 owner would miss / would not like, if they (Up-graded) to the Humax YouView, please note that I don't own a YouView box and have complied this list from various forums so if any are incorrect please comment :-

Are my recording saved if I reset the Unit = No
Is there an Edit Channels option = No
Can we set up Favourites = No
Is there a Manual Tuning option = No
Padding of timers = No padding options
Manual schedule times = No
Edit schedule timers = No
Extend instant Record time = No
EPG Programme searches = No (on demand only )
USB File exports = No
WiFi Available = Not at present (Future enhansement)
Can I skip adverts = No
Can I select multiple recordings to delete = No
Is there a folders option = No
Can I record on demand content = No
Power up time = 2 Mins 13 Secs
Power Down time = 6 Mins 7 Secs
Quick power up = 23 Secs (Requires 16.2 Watt Standby)
OTA Software updates = No
Resolution change options = No
Aspect ratio change options = No
Screen Saver = No
Can I use alternate Remote codes = No
Is a CAM slot available = No
Do Vision / Connect channels work = No
Can you skip forward / backwards = No
Is slow motion available = No
FTP Server Available = No
DLNA Server / Client Available = No

Is it true there's not even a manual tuning option?

I need manual tuning as otherwise it will pick up signals from another transmitter and duplicate channels!

I am away at the moment but this box is on the way. Without even testing it for myself I'm already regretting my purchase based on what I've read. There are SO many negatives to counter the sole positive of catchup integration.

YouView could best be summed up as one step forwards, followed by thirty giant steps back.

Seems to be pretty comprehensive and accurate to me .

Only comment is up should be down

As they say "SHUD AV GOT A HDR FOX T2"

How do you know a DTR-T1000 will give you duplicate channels if you have not tried it yet?

At least some of the Vestel PVRs can successfully autotune to multiple transmitters picking the best signal on a mux by mux basis.
It could be that the DTR-T1000 does a similarly successful job.

Another alternative is that the DTR-T1000 gives you a choice of which transmitter to use when it finds a choice of tranmitter.

Good point. Can anyone confirm this with experience of the unit?

Lots of other negatives though like no USB file exports, even SD. The list of what the box cannot do remains more of note than what it can do, and that's a worry to me.

That's a fair comment, I think HDR owners will just be worried that the DTR-T1000 would be using the Humax code from the HDR which does not place duplicate channels in signal strength order. Most PVR's in this one respect seem to do a better job than the HDR, however this function may well be handled by the YouView code which hopefully will do the job properly. The danger is if it doesn't you are stuck with it

Unless I'm blind, it doesn't have the Freeview logo on it, so I assume it doesn't have to be Freeview compliant.


I've just been playing with someone else's box (ooo-er!), and I don't know how good their internet connection is, but even excusing the slow access to the internet features, I found some more things I didn't like...

IMO the picture quality on SD is poor. I reckon it's the box's deinterlacing/upscaling, because any horizontal lines were visibly bouncing, and diagonal lines were really jagged. I've never seen a TV that upscales this badly, but I couldn't find an option to let the TV to the upscaling - the box upscales all SD to HD, but badly (to my eyes - YMMV!).

Being forced to watch three minutes of adverts before watching a channel 4 programme on catch-up is painful. It's a PVR - we're used to skipping the adverts! I know with catch-up they've got to pay for the streaming somehow, but putting so many adverts before the programme will put people off.

It didn't always find BBC catch-up content in HD, even when the programmes had been broadcast in HD. The other broadcasters don't seem to have any HD catch-up yet, and the HD channels themselves don't seem to have any catch-up content linked to them on the EPG.

As far as I could tell (on someone else's TV that I'm not used to), the SD iPlayer content was 25p, whereas the SD iPlayer content on Freesat is 50i, so maintains smooth motion, where this does not. I'm not sure every programme was the same quality though. ITVplayer and 4OD had sub-SD picture quality.

I agree with Clusterbombed that the interface is a bit quirky, and some simple operations (like looking at your recordings) take too many button presses. It's not intuitive or consistent, and the setup menus are quite a mess. I think the interface looks really nice though - it just needs some reorganisation.


I still think it's a great concept, but there are issues that need working out.

I thought I would want one once I saw all the main catch-up players in one place (I only have iPlayer and itvPlayer on my Freesat box), but the slow response, poor picture quality, and ridiculous number of forced-to-view adverts has put me off.

I hope someone from YouView (especially Channel 4) is reading this!

Cheers,
David.

P.S. I liked the remote control. Better than the HDR (though it won't control as many devices). Though I wish Humax would give us a volume control that can be locked to controlling the TV or amp - I don't want yet another volume control on the STB, and to have to change the remote from "PVR" mode to "TV" mode just to turn the volume down, and then back to change the channel, and then back again to turn the volume back up, etc! IMO Sky have this right. Echostar have this right. Humax have this wrong. YMMV