OK, I am close to caving in and am thinking of buying a Humax. One with YouView is no good to me because I do not think I am an area where it will work, so the desire is to get a top Humax with huge capacity. Any experiences/advice welcome (and yes, I know I can do a Google search but like hearing what you infmred peopel have to say!)
Best Freeview HD set-top boxes?
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Originally Posted by Sideburns57:
“I vaguely remember sticking in my post code and got a non. Am I talking rubbish?”
“I vaguely remember sticking in my post code and got a non. Am I talking rubbish?”
Perhaps A Youview box is a Freeview+ box with internet delivered catch up content. You normally use a postcode check to see if Freeview is available in your area. For some only a limited channel selection is available. If your postcode indicates problems then any Freeview box will be a problem.
The catch up bit requires a broadband connection with a reasonable speed and a generous data download limit. If you can get Freeview but not a good broadband connection Youview won't be any use.
Not useless but better boxes are available for use as just a PVR with broadcast TV of which the Humax Fox T2 is favoured by many.
Thanks both. My Freeview via Panasonic gives me some channels (including HD but not Five HD for some reason). I will investigate the Humax Fox T2.
Originally Posted by Sideburns57:
“Thanks both. My Freeview via Panasonic gives me some channels (including HD but not Five HD for some reason). I will investigate the Humax Fox T2.”
“Thanks both. My Freeview via Panasonic gives me some channels (including HD but not Five HD for some reason). I will investigate the Humax Fox T2.”
Nobody's Freeview HD TV/PVR/DVD/Blu-Ray gives them Five HD. For the very simple reason it does not exist!
The Fox T2 is a very fine bit of kit (well I would say that as I'm watching one at this minute
)
Originally Posted by Sideburns57:
“Thanks both. My Freeview via Panasonic gives me some channels (including HD but not Five HD for some reason). I will investigate the Humax Fox T2.”
“Thanks both. My Freeview via Panasonic gives me some channels (including HD but not Five HD for some reason). I will investigate the Humax Fox T2.”
Five HD is not available on the Freeview platform. ( it is on Sky though )
Originally Posted by chrisjr:
“Nobody's Freeview HD TV/PVR/DVD/Blu-Ray gives them Five HD. For the very simple reason it does not exist!
The Fox T2 is a very fine bit of kit (well I would say that as I'm watching one at this minute)”
“Nobody's Freeview HD TV/PVR/DVD/Blu-Ray gives them Five HD. For the very simple reason it does not exist!
The Fox T2 is a very fine bit of kit (well I would say that as I'm watching one at this minute
)”
Did not know that!
Yes, the reviews are positive. I wonder if a successor is likely soon? This one seems to have been out a long time.
Originally Posted by Sideburns57:
“Did not know that!
Yes, the reviews are positive. I wonder if a successor is likely soon? This one seems to have been out a long time.”
“Did not know that!
Yes, the reviews are positive. I wonder if a successor is likely soon? This one seems to have been out a long time.”
Not much it can do better until something changes on the platform. Maybe an even bigger hard drive. Most of the updates are software driven.
There is also a thriving community of people who have developed software to improve the box even further....
Originally Posted by Sideburns57:
“Ah, thank you for that. Thought it was a little odd it loaded 4 not not all 5.”
“Ah, thank you for that. Thought it was a little odd it loaded 4 not not all 5.”
Actually, if you look a bit further down at the 300 range you should find a fifth HD channel: The temporary BBC Red Button HD stream being used for Wimbledon and Glastonbury.
Thanks. I was ready for that - the FIFA Confederations Cup will be broadcast on it!
Tomorrow (today) the red button will be on Sky platform channel 977 we are told.
Tomorrow (today) the red button will be on Sky platform channel 977 we are told.
Originally Posted by Sideburns57:
“Thinking about it do Humax do a blu ray machine?”
“Thinking about it do Humax do a blu ray machine?”
No.
There are not that many Blu-Ray recorders about (I assume you are talking recorder and not player?). Seems to be a limited market. Off the top of my head I can only think of Panasonic who do Blu-Ray recorders. Sure there should be others but can't bring any to mind at the moment.
Originally Posted by Sideburns57:
“I am hurt Panasonic does not get a mention!”
“I am hurt Panasonic does not get a mention!”
Me too
My Panasonic DMR-PWT420 works a treat. The 520 has wi-fi. For the 420 you either run an ethernet cable or purchase a dongle (only Pana's own works). For me, the cable was the best route (bungalow, access to the loft) as I have 3 units that can connect to the internet and that may well increase in the future so I have a switch in the cupboard.
This allows access to online programming, BBC iPlayer, 4OD and more to come.
Plus I can stream SD content to my computer or iPad.
You can only record 2 channels at a time (SD or HD), no ability to watch another channel even if on the same MUX as a channel being recorded. But you can watch a previously recorded programme or watch one being recorded in time-shift. No facility for a CAM so no premium or pay-for channels.
But the other plus is that it has a Blu Ray player built-in, so removing the need for another unit
Edit - The blu Ray is play only no recording. So no archiving to disc.
I also forgot the mention that you can add an external hard drive so increasing the capacity by as much as you want to spend. The Pana formats the hard drive so I suspect that you could not retrieve from there either - unless someone knows better.
I also forgot the SD card slot for viewing images from your camera - these can also be transferred to the HDD.
As in all these type of threads, the limitation is few of us have more than 1 type. Basically you can only really really on reports from owners of a specific box what features they do have and don't have. Owners can of course comment on secondhand information from the net and hope real owners will confirm or deny the accuracy.
As always a few will have the same box that is either faulty and post negative comments. In this case you have to rely on those with properly working boxes to respond.
It's not really surprising Panny boxes don't figure heavily in this thread.
1 They are in a minority so based on a purely statistical reason will not appear very often
2 Anyone having both is and reading this forum is likely to be rare.
As always a few will have the same box that is either faulty and post negative comments. In this case you have to rely on those with properly working boxes to respond.
It's not really surprising Panny boxes don't figure heavily in this thread.
1 They are in a minority so based on a purely statistical reason will not appear very often
2 Anyone having both is and reading this forum is likely to be rare.
Originally Posted by call100:
“As your post indicates. The limitations of the Panasonic rule it out of being the 'best'.......
”
“As your post indicates. The limitations of the Panasonic rule it out of being the 'best'.......
”
"Best" is a subjective issue. You cannot tick a heap of boxes and say that is best. Depends on your requirements
TiVo is one of the most advanced PVRs around but it has it's limitations. You cannot stream to another device for instance. But if a unit suits your purposes exactly then it is by definition the best as far as you are concerned
The Pana has features others do not like the BLU RAY player. Do not rule it out
Originally Posted by grahamlthompson:
“As in all these type of threads, the limitation is few of us have more than 1 type. Basically you can only really really on reports from owners of a specific box what features they do have and don't have. Owners can of course comment on secondhand information from the net and hope real owners will confirm or deny the accuracy.
As always a few will have the same box that is either faulty and post negative comments. In this case you have to rely on those with properly working boxes to respond.
It's not really surprising Panny boxes don't figure heavily in this thread.
1 They are in a minority so based on a purely statistical reason will not appear very often
2 Anyone having both is and reading this forum is likely to be rare.”
“As in all these type of threads, the limitation is few of us have more than 1 type. Basically you can only really really on reports from owners of a specific box what features they do have and don't have. Owners can of course comment on secondhand information from the net and hope real owners will confirm or deny the accuracy.
As always a few will have the same box that is either faulty and post negative comments. In this case you have to rely on those with properly working boxes to respond.
It's not really surprising Panny boxes don't figure heavily in this thread.
1 They are in a minority so based on a purely statistical reason will not appear very often
2 Anyone having both is and reading this forum is likely to be rare.”
I like being rare. I have a TiVo and the Panny
Originally Posted by grahamlthompson:
“As in all these type of threads, the limitation is few of us have more than 1 type. Basically you can only really really on reports from owners of a specific box what features they do have and don't have. Owners can of course comment on secondhand information from the net and hope real owners will confirm or deny the accuracy.
As always a few will have the same box that is either faulty and post negative comments. In this case you have to rely on those with properly working boxes to respond.
It's not really surprising Panny boxes don't figure heavily in this thread.
1 They are in a minority so based on a purely statistical reason will not appear very often
2 Anyone having both is and reading this forum is likely to be rare.”
“As in all these type of threads, the limitation is few of us have more than 1 type. Basically you can only really really on reports from owners of a specific box what features they do have and don't have. Owners can of course comment on secondhand information from the net and hope real owners will confirm or deny the accuracy.
As always a few will have the same box that is either faulty and post negative comments. In this case you have to rely on those with properly working boxes to respond.
It's not really surprising Panny boxes don't figure heavily in this thread.
1 They are in a minority so based on a purely statistical reason will not appear very often
2 Anyone having both is and reading this forum is likely to be rare.”
We have both the Panasonic and the Humax within the family and the Humax betters the Panny IMO and in the opinion of the Panny owner....
Originally Posted by 56up:
“"Best" is a subjective issue. You cannot tick a heap of boxes and say that is best. Depends on your requirements
TiVo is one of the most advanced PVRs around but it has it's limitations. You cannot stream to another device for instance. But if a unit suits your purposes exactly then it is by definition the best as far as you are concerned
The Pana has features others do not like the BLU RAY player. Do not rule it out”
“"Best" is a subjective issue. You cannot tick a heap of boxes and say that is best. Depends on your requirements
TiVo is one of the most advanced PVRs around but it has it's limitations. You cannot stream to another device for instance. But if a unit suits your purposes exactly then it is by definition the best as far as you are concerned
The Pana has features others do not like the BLU RAY player. Do not rule it out”
Agreed to an extent. The Tivo is limited by the fact it's only available to Virgin customers in Virgin areas.
"If a unit suits your purposes exactly....." Many people have things that suit their purposes, but, suiting your purpose does not mean it's the best as far as they are concerned. For example, my TV suits my purposes but it's not the best I could own IMO.
That said, I understand the point you are making.
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