I've had the box for a few weeks now but have been involved in Northern Ireland this past week so that has given the kit time to do some recording.
First, the only light on the box is the red/blue led, No readout on the front. Picture quality is excellent both live and prerecorded and the box has recorded without a hitch. It's a typical manhattan box so the guide is fast loading and the epg is very similar to the other stbs in the range. You can also add in non Freesat channels into the epg (now & next only)
I've not tried the on demand properly yet but connection was simple with a set of homeplugs, the box found the network without any prompting from me.
The drawback for me is the remote, it's small and with my big fingers very awkward to use. the hard drive is a 320gb and the unit had an external transformer not my ideal but that's just me.
It would make an ideal 2nd box for a study or second room, it's small enough for a caravan or mobile home and because it's not got a fan there's no noise, even late at night you cannot hear anything.
Pricing is supposed to be around £180, but I saw the Samsung pvr in store around that price so I don't know if Manhattan will bring down the price in response.
I will continue to play with the box after Wednesday and will provide an update at the end of the week. This will give you an opportunity to ask specific questions.
Wayne