Thanks for your initial impressions.

Seems Humax want us to believe this new distribution policy is in our best interests:

http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/humax-r...#comment-53114

What a load of rubbish.

First time poster, got my HDR1000S yesterday (Thurs), had to wait since yesterday to post on here with a new subscription

Arrived just after 2pm, I work from home, so it was down tools and open the box!

With Glee I unhooked my Sky HD 1Tb box, I have been a Sky HD customer since the rollout in May 2006, wow over 6 years!

So I have finally taken a big step, but by saving nearly £800 a year, this has got to be worth it!

The HDR1000S installation is a complete doodle, the installation screen talks you through the whole process and after putting in my Postcode it shows me a list of channels I can watch through Freeview.

After set up, I switched immediately to BBCHD and I have got to say that the picture quality is soooo noticeably better than my SkyHD box. The colours are rice and really have more 'pop', I am very happy.

I hope all you guys get sorted with boxes soon, if you are waiting as you are not going to be disappointed .

.....left hook, right hook.....murdoch is reeling on the ropes

Thanks for that, I'm doing the same and ditching Sky , getting Youview free from talktalk and planning to supplement it with this as an extra storage and probably more reliable PVR option. Would be interested to hear your impressions over the next few days especially with regards to reliability of recording and any issues you come across. Also any impressions of the backwards EPG and how much content there is and the quality of it would be appreciated. Thanks for the mini review

Cheers

Can anyone confirm the dimensions of the outer box, i.e. the Humax branded parcel it come in? Know someone looking to take one in a suitcase to France but they don't use DS.

Hi, Outer box is 400mm W x 350mm H x 110mm Deep

Hi Andy,

I have set up a few programmes to record namely Strictly for SHMBO so I don't know about reliability yet.

Might be an idea I get that tested on an earlier programme, before I get any soft parts bruised on Sat

OnDemand facility there but BBC iPlayer and ITV iPlayer both had wrong links when selected so did not work.

Does anyone know if there is a 'forced' update facility possible to the software?

OK - received the box yesterday, and set it up last night. Comments from memory so probably errors - so don't heckle!
Easy to set up as already mentioned.
Initial comments...
It is very different to the G1. The remote is better designed in my opinion with buttons on the top row including 'Recordings' and 'Settings'. The remote is more responsive than the G1 remote.
The EPG is instant and there is an option in Settings to select a different region if available. Only BBC SE and ITV London were available to me (the correct regions for my post code). I guess that users in some areas can choose.
The EPG will take some getting used to. It shows less than the G1 per screen and I couldn't see a 'skip forward 2 hours' option, but I'm sure it's there somewhere. The fast forward/rewind buttons moves forward/back 24 hours. Recordings are easy to set, and an icon indicates this within the EPG as either an R for a single recording or a 'pack of cards' for a series link. Like the G1 you have the option to choose an SD/HD version and to add a series link. It is possible to choose to view a list of all programmes in the EPG or a genre including favourites. I’ve not played with favourites yet.
Going backwards to already shown items only seems to provide a list of programmes for the channel that you happen to have had highlighted while scrolling. So if you had 'today' on BBC1 highlighted you see only BBC1 (or was it all BBC programmes?) listed.
When selecting an historical programme, the box opens iPlayer. It does show the selected programme highlighted, but I thought it would have just started playing to make the experience more seamless.
One niggle! When scrolling back up through the EPG it doesn't stop at 101 (even if you just use the up key) so you see the channels in the 900s and not the list of 'prime' channels. It is easily fixed though by keying 101 and then 101 appears at the top of list.
The network connection was made automatically and from the settings menu is appears that there should be an option to manually configure it, but I couldn't find it! I tried connecting to the media server by typing the ip address into a browser on the network but 'page not found' (or words to that effect). I also tried to see it from my Samsung TV (it can see other media servers), but no go.
The manual is basic and I couldn't see anything on setting up the media server. Perhaps there is a ‘magic’ sequence of buttons to access the engineers’ menu somewhere?
Overall, I think that it’s a good design and once I get used to it I will find it easy to use.

Hi,

Thanks for this useful stuff. I think it was mentioned somewhere else that the media serving from the 1000S is going to be a later addition (maybe) - However, it should connect to an existing media server as a client device... It is usually in a storage menu.

Andy

Currys say they have stock instore as order & collect is now available.
Edit: scrap that, Reserve instore and pick up on a chosen day of delivery after 5pm.

As far as I remember the 'skip 2 hours forward' option is operated by pressing the right cursor button.

Just installed mine so finding my way around. In the epg +- 2 hrs is the key with the chapter skip icon and +/- 24hrs is the fast forward key. (The reverse of a Foxsat-hdr for users used to this pvr). Both under the search button.

This get's better

Press settings Choose Freesat Channels/Favourite channels OK to Edit Favourite Channels.

Click OK to select a few

Press TV Guide Then List UP OK. Et Voila a proper favourites restricted epg

Working on testing some formats now, more in a bit.

So far only client operation possible

Accessed by Home/Humax by the way.

Thanks Graham - I only had time for a quick play last night, but I'm glad it's there!

Any way to tag non freesat channels into favourites, or is it a case of waiting for some custom firmware?

Also is ITV Player still as bad or is there any improvement in the SD quality?

Thanks guinea pigs.

Doubtfull if you will get nos 1. The G2 UI is dictated by Freesat not Humax. That's why they can put up pictures knowing that subsequent boxes will look the same.

ITV looks the same as on the Foxsat-hdr (pretty awfull).

Iplayer in HD though is a different kettle of fish

Arrived this morning. Installation is very quick and simple as already posted. I completely echo Bampsams posts.

One extra it's whisper quiet. You have to put your ear to it to tell if it's on.

Well pleased so far though the UI is very different to the Foxat-hdr so will take a bit of getting used to.

Used USB 3.0 2TB drive formatted ntfs but only used in legacy 2.0 mode.

I promised to run some tests on playback of external content.

Unable to find a MKV to test without a massive download, if anyone has a short clip somewhere I can try it for you

First thing I found that a blu-ray rip with a .m2ts file extension wasn't recognised as a video file when played back from usb. Renaming to .ts worked so all files tested on USB had either a .ts or .mp4 extension

Streaming from Foxsat-hdr with custom firmware and Twonky Media 4.4.18

SD 576i and 1080i recorded without encryption both play with no problems.

Streaming from Laptop with content on 2TB usb drive using Twonky Media

Files from Foxsat (HD one with ac3 5.1 sound) no problem

1080p 24 Blu-ray at original bitrate ac3 5.1 OK

1920 x 1080 WMV downloaded from net played back in slow motion (same file plays OK by usb on HDR)

1920 x 1080 Movie trailer aac sound OK (that was a surprise)

1080p60 testclip from net plays OK

2TB drive connected by USB directly to HDR-1000s

All files playback perfectly

So all new G2 boxes will have exactly the same EPG as the Humax then?

The box sounds like a good all rounder, but I'd like the ability to view non freesat channels without having to go through the hassle of changing into NF mode; something the Foxsat custom firmware allows nicely.

graham, glad that you like it so far.

Mickey, the problem is that companies pay good money to be on the EPG and as a result there is a quality of service from that. I don't think those that have paid would like non-paying services sharing the guide. I doubt it will change as a policy from the top.

With regards a 'modified' version of this product, this is less likely in future, the team there are various security issues going forward which mean this platform needs to be more secure. However nothing is entirely hack-proof, so I can't say it won't be, but I am told extra steps have been taken and if the platform is hacked it could damage the future of the platform.

With the server function mentioned below there is less incentive to try anyway.

Quote fom myhumax org
"Content sharing via home network - From launch you will be able to use the HDR-1000S as a client device (so you will be able to access content from a shared device in your home (PC, Laptop, NAS, HDR-FOX T2). We plan to include the server functionality at a later date."

Mine arrived - all setup now - first reaction - What a good picture.
Menu's crisp, rapid, remote works at wide angle - much better than the Foxsat's.
Will post more after I have explored more.

Repassac has kindly interrupted his playing with his new box to test a MKV with success.

Word of caution, just looked up .mkv on he net (it's not a container I have any experience of). It's a completely open format and the video/audio formats it can contain are virtually unlimited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska

Just because one file with specific audio and video play doesn't mean another will do so. (Bit like AVI)

I understand that, but some boxes (I think the Manhattan plaza) allow you to tag non freesat channels into your favourites list. They're not on the EPG but it's a nice feature for easy viewing of the odd FTA channel that's out there.

I've tagged a few non freesat channels onto my freesat EPG using the custom firmware for the Foxsat; there's no programme information available though but that's fine. It's just the ease of being able to view them if I wish and set a manual timer that I want.

It just would have been nice if Humax had adopted the Manhatten method of tagging them onto a favourites list though. That would have made the Humax the absolute complete box for all my viewing needs.