I was ready every post and now i can't make decision on which PVR freeview to buy, for sure i need a Twin tuner.

But after all the things about bugs, noise and that they doesn't record most of the time what you schelued.

Which one between the Thomson OR Humax 9200T/8000T do i have to buy or any other ???

I found the Thomson for £140 and the Humax 9200T for £200


PS: i need 1 that for sure they will update most of the important bugs (if it doesn't need is better) that i can rely on for quality/price.

For the people who as a Thomson would you recommend it ??
Do you have a lot of problem with it ?

Any one

Neither are perfect. I have the Thomson but it doesn't always record a timed scheduled especially two recordings at the same time. It is fairly reliable. I don't have any personal opinions about the 9200T though as I ain't got one. Mate got one last week and has been rock solid. Then again, you only need to check the humax forums for bugs, loss of recordings etc.

You won't find the perfect PVR...it doesn't exist.

But you don't regreat to have borght it ?

No I don't regret it. You just have to keep an eye on it to make sure it records when you set it to record.

OK perfect PVR (free view) may not exist but i happened to use a twin tunner PVR (satellite) for past two years and never had any problem whatsoever, to me it's a perfect box. BTW I’m referring to Topfield 5000PVR, a highly recommended brand.

CECEMF,

The Thomson DHD4000 is one of a range of PVR boxes (also Inverto 7000 and Fusions 100, 145, 150 and 200) that are based on a 4TV design. ON the whole these are widely regarded as some of the best twin tuner PVRs because they simply do what they say on the tin without too many hassles. The only serious fault afflict most of them (including DHD4000) is that they sometimes get the shape of a widescreen display on E4, More4, ITV2 and ITV3 wrong though on the Thomson you can just press a button to cycle through aspect ratios to get a reasonable looking display (and a software fix for this is expected anyway). Of all the 4TV boxes the 4000 is actually one of the more feature rich with things like optical-digital audio out and RF modulation of output for distribution to another TV. About the only thing "wrong" with the 4000 is that at 40GB the drive is perhaps a bit small by modern standards but, as you'll read it, it's fairly easy to upgrade when you are ready for it anyway. If you can find one in the £100-£130 range then it's probably a good buy. Meanwhile the Humax 9200 which, while seemingly well specified for the price, has a lot of early "teething troubles" and really needs a first major software fix to be delivered ebfore it could be recommended. If you can't track down a DHD4000 then maybe consider the Fusion 145 at £125 in Argos but note that it doesn't have digital audio out or RF modulator or daily/weekly recording settings. If daily/weekly recording settings (for things like Eastenders) are important to you then an alternatively look at the Fusion 200 for £155 from TribalUK

Cliff

I've had my Thomson for over a year, and it has never missed a single recording. It has crashed only a handful of times (easily sorted by switching off then on again), and I think its the bees knees. If you can buy one, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Thank you very that's the best recommendation
I can't find any Thomson on the web do you think that shop still saling it ? Does thomson stop providing supports as well ???

Thank you guys

Actually Thomson are rumoured to have bought 4TV the company that designed all the boxes and also the one that delivers the EPG data to all Thomson, Fusion and Inverto boxes each night. Presumably they wouldn't have bought the company if they don't have plans for further similar devices or at least just to maintain the ongoing support of the DHD4000

A couple of weeks ago the Comet in Braintree had a DHD4000 on the shelf for £99 but it was a "clearance bargain" and at that price I'd doubt it was still there - but it may be worth a phone call.

Cliff

the lack of thomsons on the market is, according to another thread here, coz of an impending software update which thomson will allegedly be applying to its production units.... though I am skeptical about this... it seriously bad supply chain management to hold up production for so long over a software update.... other rumours are that the box has been discontinued.... which I also find hard to believe since there is still a definite market for these boxes.... the lack of used units on ebay means people are not parting with their boxes despite this being the best time to unload one....

Who knows what they are thinking, but I'm very pleased with the DHD4000, had it since just after they first came out, upgraded the hard drive to 120GB and it's been very reliable maybe with 4 or so morning lockups if that over that period. I had hoped for more software upgrades in the period but understand that each one is such a mass download that it could overwhelm the support line if they find any issues or features people don't understand, so I realise they need to fully test things. I would have no hesitation in buying another as the box is familiar and reliable. Whilst not wanting to slate the Fusion, there have been a lot of reports of entire libraries of programmes lost, and recently the power supplies have been giving out just after the year is up on them, plus they're not as feature rich as the DHD4000 (though not sure about the newer ones). Also Thomson are still developing the software with new features and bug-fixes but Fusion have moved onto new platforms and don't appear to have integrated later features onto earlier models. I'm sure that will happen with Thomson eventually but no signs of it as yet.

I was going to buy the Humax but I saw the Thompson in my local Currys for £99 and took a gamble and purchased it. So far I have been very impressed with it and think my gamble has payed off .My only gripe is that I seem to have an old version of the software 0.31 and they aren't broadcasting updates at the moment hopefully they will soon...

Very impressed with the tompson - had mine just over a year now.
I thought a bigger HD might be nice - but in reallity I'm sure i'd just store more junk on it! - at least his way we get it cleared quite often

Mick

If you look at the excellent comparison chart by emsee here there's a link to a site which gives places to buy here dhd 4000 info .

There's plenty of stock to go round

Goto Menu -> Setup -> Technical help and then press 2846 in fairly quick succession. This gets you into the engineers menu and the top option has a display that shows you the two versions of software currently on the box. If the alternate one is 1.7.7 then you need to perform a 'Revert software' from the Technical help screen and it'll 'revert' from 0.31.0 to 1.7.7.

Thanks for that but the other version of softwareon the box is 0.30 which I assume is older. So it looks like I'll have to wait until the new update if it ever happens

Has this been confirmed by the help line? The updates were still operating mid December 2005 overnight Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday. Make shure you power down and up during the evening of the forthcoming update. It's worth a try anyway!!

Reading the software thread it has been confirmed by the helpdesk that 1.7.7 is no longer being broadcast. I do power down every night in hope of an update.. Having said that I haven't really encountered any problems with the software I've got.