There are lots of things I don't like about it which I hope I will eventually get used to.
1 The menus have a black background - I far prefer the blue.
2 The text seems much smaller - I have difficulty reading it, especially against the black background
3 The list of recordings seems very cumbersome - based on folders for a given programme title. But there aren't many items per page so lots of scrolling compared with the 20 per page list on the 9200T
4 The recording reservation icon is hidden off screen to the right in the EPG when the programme ends, or goes beyond the end, of the EPG guide time
5 I set a reservation for a 1 hour long programme - it carried on recording to 2 1/2 hours!
6 Deleting a recording seems very cumbersome compared with the 9200T. It needs the OPT+ button. And I seem to find a way of having a DELETE option which I choose, then say OK, but it isn't deleted!
7 The skip forward with Right arrow during play seems hypersensitive - it either doesn't move at all, or it suddenly jumps about 20 or 30 minutes forward. I have to do repetitive small presses to "jog" it forward in small steps.
8 Search for a word in the EPG. It stores the word used and you have to delete it specially - lots of extra key presses.
9 When you scroll up through the EPG, it doesn't "lock" at BBC1 - it carries in a continuing circle and shows the highest number channels above BBC1.

What do I like about it?

1 The EPG is full all the time
2 It doesn't freeze while the EPG is being updated

Other than that, I can't think of anything which jumps out and says "Wow! That's great!"

Am I being a grumpy old "Victor Meldrew"?

Yep!

But I do agree with much of it, particularly point 7 - very fiddly to find a place.

3 is annoying but can be somewhat improved by using the 'Flatten' add on (see Custom Firmware).
6 You can delete a program through the same menu you play it from. You only need Opt+ to delete multiple progs that you've selected.
8 The list isn't endless. The bottom ones fall off, so you don't really need to delete unless you want to keep something particular from disappearing.
9 I thought the 9200 did this too.

I like the HD.
And the Custom Firmware is almost awesome.

Some of your points are the same as mine when I first got a HD-FOX-T2. The HDR-FOX-T2 does have some advantages over the 9200T. Despite my initial reaction of deciding never to buy an HDR-FOX-T2, I now also own an HDR-FOX-T2.


It appears to be designed for sitting at a suitable distance to appreciate an HD programme.
Are you using a CRT TV? I find that when viewed on a poor quality 720 TV via scart it’s a lot more readable and totally readable via HDMI on a poor quality HD ready TV. I watch most of my HDR-Fox-T2 recordings via scart on a CRT and also find that the font spacing does not help with some letters touching their neighbouring letter.


It does seem a bit of a waste. It’s a pity there is not an option to turn off the graphic and fit 10 to a page in the style that my 9200T does.)


Another issue is that on 10 minute programmes it just shows 3 dots, not even the first letter like the 9200T sometimes does. E.g. the 10 minute version of ‘From Our Own Correspondent’ shows as “F...” on the 9200T but just “...” on the HDR-FOX-T2.).


Most of the reports I’ve read, including from me, find the accuracy of the HDR-FOX-T2 when just tuned to a single transmitter superior to the 9200T.

Your experience could have been a broadcast error or possibly you are tuned to more than one transmitter? There are few circumstances where being tuned to one transmitter will cause a recording not to stop on time. An example is if you were watching a programme from a different transmitter when the recoding programme should end.


That is a puzzling one. I haven’t come across that one before. You haven’t selected another item within the same folder and accidently deleted that one instead? Selections within the same folder take preference over position of the focus. Fortunately selections are reset when moving to a different folder level.

The 'delete' irritation I have come across is if the playback of a programme isn’t stopped cleanly then the delete option is greyed out and cannot be selected. The solution when that happens is to start playing the programme again and then press the stop button. The delete option will then be selectable via the OPT+ button.


I have eventually got use to it and the difference in comparison to the 9200T does not bother me anymore. I hope you will as well.


Which version of the software are you on. It should be at least 1.02.20.
I use 1.02.20 although most people would prefer 1.02.32 and on both of those and the ones in between creating a new search word will just cause the oldest stored to be forgotten. As catbed said, no manually deletion is needed.


It is certainly different to the 9200T under those circumstances. What disadvantage is the way the HDR-FOX-T2 circles the EPG?


How about:
Connectivity,
Ability to add a hard drive for extra storage,
Ability to use padding with series recording (good for radio and the yesterday channel)
With the custom firmware able to add other features (see http://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Custom_Firmware_Overview),
Able to play freeview recordings you’ve extracted from your 9200T without further messing,
With 1.02.32 the autotune almost works and you just need to delete the 2 or 3 channels that are in the 800 range.


Sorry. I can’t offer an answer to that. I don’t know how old you are.

I’m using 1.02.20. How do you delete a programme through the same menu you play it from without using OPT+?


They do behave differently.
With BBC1 being displayed at the top of the guide, selecting the up arrow above ‘OK’, the 9200T reacts as though the up page has been selected and the guide then shows only channels from the end of the list. The HDR-FOX-T2 shows a single channel from the end of the list followed by channels from the beginning of the list.

Ah. I didn't realise that older versions were different in that respect, but I also thought that the OP was a recent buyer and would have a later version, since mine did when we got it last autumn.



OK, there is a difference in the exact way it rolls round, but both do roll round.

From the video list select a file, press OK and then from the popup menu select Delete (rather than play from start or resume play); see page 39 in the manual. It has behaved in the same way on all the software versions I can recollect.

Can anyone tell me whether the 9300T user interface is more like a 9200T, or more like an HDR-FOX?

I really don't like the HDR-FOX EPG, the remote, or the user interface. If the 9300T is more like the 9200T I am used to, I think I will get one in preference to the HDR-FOX.

I find it really difficult that a purchaser cannot see the user interface before buying it - after all, it is the user inteface which ends up being very important.

... and the HDR-FOX recorded just 4 minutes of a 2 hour programme - two failed recordings out of a total of 10!

The 9300 OSD is identical to the 9200 (and 9150) bar the menus for the differences in each machine - ie. the 9150/9300 don't have entries to set the modulator frequency as that component is absent.
The 9300 has a HDMI output but is only capable of receiving SD channels.
When I first used the HDR-Fox T2 earlier this year I instantly preferred its menus to the 9200 and that hasn't changed, although I tend to program it through the WebIf or the OSD in roughly equal measures.

OP should install the custom firmware.

I've had the T2 for a couple of months now. I installed the custom firmware pretty much straight away, and I think it's streets ahead of the 9200T. I do much of my scheduling and managing the media on the web interface, and use the remote scheduling (so good I quickly donated a few quid to say thanks).

I can see the device would have several shortcomings with the stock firmware, but I have no complaints.

(NB: I don't use the portal - I use my TV for YouTube, iPlayer etc)

My 9200T has been sitting unused in the bedroom for months. Last week, for various reasons, I decided to abandon Windows Media Centre on my PC and bring the 9200T back into use for SD recordings, letting the HDR-Fox T2 do all the HD stuff.

I was actually surprised at how well it still works. Picture quality is excellent and the interface, while slower than the T2, is quite acceptable. I find that it tends to miss the first few seconds of a recording when on Accurate Timing - something I've never had happen on the T2 - and carry on recording for an unnecessary period after the programme has finished. Also, mechanically, it's noisier than the T2, as well as being bigger. Obviously, the custom firmware on the T2 gives that machine a dimension the 9200T can never have, but given its age, the 9200T still acquits itself well.