I'm considering replacing my Sky HD subscription (which is very expensive) with a Humax freetime box. YouView is out of the question as the available Freeview channels in my area are very poor indeed (Calne, Wilts).

The Humax box looks excellent and reviews seem to be positive. I am still a little reluctant though as I am also reading of annoying software bugs and missing on-demand channels.

I already have my Sky box hooked up to my home network via Powerline adaptors so installation of the Humax should be simple.

But is it worth it? Is the service good enough? I also have a Netflix subscription (a service which I love) and I'm sure I heard that Netflix was also coming to freetime?

Finally, is it possible for me to buy the box and try the service for a week or so and return it if I'm not satisfied? That would be ideal.

Iwould wait until it gets past the 'promise' stage and all the advertised features actually appear.

Freesat has a habit of saying services will come to certain devices and they never do!!

As for <free time> 4OD and Demand 5 were first promised for Christmas 2012, then put back to 'early 2013' and are still not there!!

At least with Sky they said Spring 2013 for 4OD and it came three days early!!

Worth remembering the Derek has a vested interest in Sky and promoting it's products, so I would take any comments on freesat products from him with caution.

There are genuine users here who will be able to give you better answers as to usability of the new Humax boxes and services.

That said, Amazon always seem to offer a very good returns service if you're not fully satisfied with a product.

So it's not true that Freesat said 4OD and Demand 5 would be available by Christmas 2012 and then failed again on the subsequent 'early 2013'?

It's not true that some on-demand services on other Freesat TVs and STBs never came to fruition?

Is it not true you have a vested interest in Sky?

And that's relevant to the new Humax is it ? Incidentally Humax boxes got all the promised services (and got them first) unlike owners of Panasonic TV's.

Coming from someone who likely has never used a freesat box of any description but loves to constantly knock Freesat (worried about your shares ) your post is rather pointless.

For a more balanced opinion (including some who have migrated from Sky to the new box) see

http://myhumax.org/forum/topic/its-not-all-bad

Trouble is, the O/P wants to know what it *can* do and how well, and you haven't addressed that. What you said about Sky is irrelevant to the O/P as he'll already be aware of it, so why even mention it?

Unfortunately though, I can't help him as I'm in a similar position, it would be interesting to hear from anyone who does use a <freetime> box.

Well, I like it, great Picture, no recording problems (Except the odd Broadcaster problems common in common with freeview). On demand is fine, also YouTube.

It also has a DLNA client and later Humax intend adding a DLNA server (that will stream to clients with rights protection).

+1 - latest firmware has sorted the missed recordings issue.

The freesat freetime box, worked perfect for me out the box, then an update came and wrecked that and was missing recordings etc, freesat soon sort that with a beta software update which fixed the problems, then the new update came with YouTube and all is well, yes ere are a few niggles but nothin too serious and well doesn't everything have niggles, the picture quality is fantastic much better than the previous HDR I had...

..such as a significant Sky shareholding which is a bit of an incentive to diss the alternatives to say the least - double .

In respect of rec's original post, I'd suggest looking at actual user reviews such as these ones here before deciding whether to buy:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HDR-1000S-Fr...4054839&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-revi...owViewpoints=1
http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/product.asp?ProdRef=10108

After many years with Sky both for internet and TV I finally got round to dumping them early last year.

Where I live their internet was rubbish and as terestial TV is almost impossible to receive almost everyone in the area which is out in the sticks is mainly served by SKY, so come 6pm and it was impossible to stream anything as speeds would drop to around 1.5mb.

Luckily.. last year the exchange was updated and Talktalk and PlusNet came on line, as a result, I transferred to TT and speeds immediately went up to 21mb and instead of paying £18 I was paying £6.25 for 12 mths. Full price is now £15.50 but still a lot cheaper than Sky.

So what about the TV you may say..lol well I was paying £21.50 to Sky for their variety package.

Having used a Humax 1tb freesat PVR for some time in our bedroom, without any issues, when the Humax 1000S 1TB came out I bought one and got rid of Sky altogether.

No regrets whatsoever, okay there's a couple of channels we initially missed like FX as the wife likes the NCIS series, but have got used to it now, and these are on other channels anyway. I've had virtually no issues at all with the Humax 1000S, the picture quality IMO is better than on the Sky HD box, and though the interface is probably not as good as the Sky EPG ect, I find it quite satisfactory, I assume it can only get better. I've experienced no missed recordings at all since I started using it, only issue I've had is starting a bit late so I missed the first minute of the recording, and that's only happened about twice.

So as a pensioner of 70yrs I'm saving money, I also have a free 1TB YouView box from Talktalk, which we also use occasionally for streaming, and if there happens to be some films on Sky I really want to see, I can always subscribe to Sky Now for 1 mth only, which gives me all the movie channels for the month. I've only used it once but it's nice to have the option should I want it.

The advantage of Sky Now is that you only subscribe for 1mth at a time, which basically is Sky's version of Lovefilm or Netflix, but films are much more recent, another plus is fact you can use on any of your devices like iPad etc.

I also have around 80 of our favourite films stored on a 2.5 usb drive which I plug into the router, and that's also available from the 1000S, which is handy for times when only rubbish is on TV.

Personally we find the Humax 1000S fulfils all our needs, and it saves us some cash.. so no regrets here.

Trouble is with looking at reviews from links like those is that your only seeing someones experience at that time of posting which will not be relevant to the current software version at a future date after those reviews were posted.
At least with visiting forums like this and others you can get a more up to date idea of what its like with the most current software.

Personaly I think its a great Freesat+ box.
Yes I've suffered a few niggles previously, but since the recent update and a factory reset its been a joy to use.
Of coarse there's things I would like to see improved upon, but overall I'm pretty happy and as I've had experience with Humax products before I have faith that they'll make this box the best it can possibly be.
There seems to be a bit of a fuss over 4OD & Demand 5 which yes I agree its slightly annoying they've been delayed as they were advertised to be expected 2012, but in all honesty is it really enough of a reason as not to purchase this box.
For me personally I'm not even sure I would I even use them anyway. I've already got Demand 5 on my Blu Ray player and could count on 1 hand how many times I've used it.

Had a play around with the Humax Freesat freetime box today in Currys and I have to say I was very impressed with it , the EPG has a clean look and feel to it and was very intuitive to use if I ever ditch Sky I'd certainly give it consideration.

If anyone still has doubts about the Humax free time box,forget them. Since the last update it is rock solid,and has become the most reliable PVR I have ever owned. To be honest I don't use the catch up players often,but when I do,they are very reliable. Loving the YouTube app as it is paired to my iPhone which works like a dream. So,anyone still not sure,just go for it and enjoy it!

They are nice boxes - and what the earlier Humax Freesat boxes should have been - it doesn't have Humax's poor remote control and 'weirdness'

As others have mentioned the Ondemand/catch-up is rather limited at the moment, but that's because it's not Youview compatible.

The Humax HDR box is also a great box, as I have both boxes I think I can say this, They are the best recorder boxes I have ever had,

Ps I also have the Humax HD box which is still going very well and I am very pleased with

V.37 of the f/w seems to have turned it, at last, into a stable, reliable box with a superb picture quality. Niggles that still need attention... slow, cumbersome EPG and lack of a proper, easily accessible, Favourites facility. I could not care less about OD or Showcase, don't need them. Overall it's 90+% perfect.

Which is exactly what I have been saying since the last update. Good reliable PVR with excellent PQ and that includes SD. If Freesat would just look again at the UI, reduce the number of clicks required to get from A to B, sort out the recordings planner and include a facility to jump to where you want in a recording, it would be the best PVR on the market and that includes Sky's offering.

I took the plunge and have no regrets other than the box totally freezing up twice in 7 days requiring us to pull the plug.

Other than that (and I hope it is a software issue) it is much better than I expected. The UI is great, the channel selection good enough for our needs and the YouTube integration is superb. Being able to pair YouTube with out various smartphones and tablets is really very neat indeed.

Oh, and recording kids shows off 5 in the morning nearly always loses the end of the recording!

And I hope the Channel 4 and 5 on-demand services arrive soon. We would really like to have them.

Question: So, is a <freetime> box worth the additional cost over a regular Humax Freesat+HD box?

I'm looking at getting Freesat. It must have HD, recording facilities and be a joy to use. Basically, the best all-rounder.

Integrated on-demand is a bonus, but I can get iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD & Demand 5 plus Netflx etc through a load of other devices.

What would people recommend?

Go for the <freetime> box,you will not be regret it. The extra cost is well worth it for the modern interface and great HD PQ. Also, the YouTube app is brilliant,even more so if you have it paired with a smartphone. Since the last software update it has become rock solid,and is a joy to use. Ok,we're still waiting for on demand from four and five,but hopefully they will be added soon. I for one will never go back to Sky.

Most definitely. Get from Richer Sounds and it makes it a lot less expensive as the 500GB is £239.95
http://www.richersounds.com/product/...reesat-g2-500g

Cheers guys, thanks for the input. Just got off the phone to Sky, so I'll probably pick up the 1000s next month.

i was at Euronics Trade Show at birmingham NEC today, and i went to the Humax stall and had look at the white 1 and got talking to the rep, and he said all bein well 4OD may b on our boxes before the end this month .... hope so