For example to record a programme on a Vestel its simply a matter of pressing 'Guide' finding the programme and pressing 'Record' - Simple and intuitive!!

To find it even simpler press 'Library' find it and press 'Play'

My OH is not interested or understands anything about HD space, so reading between the lines is the Humax not this simple? And no she could not programme a video - but she can use the toaster!!!

Try pressing

Menu
1
5

... its simple ...

Only after a few confirmation and pin number entry.

You can not format by accident.

Exactly the same on the 9200T.

Except press OK instead of Rec.

You comment would seem to suggest you get dumped out of the Guide after pressing Rec.... what about setting additional reservation... you got to press Guide again.

On my VHS video recorders I never had to press Record when setting up a reservation, I pressed OK just like on the 9200. We press 1 if we want channel 1, we press Menu if we want the menu, we press Guide if we want the EPG, so why is it intuitive to press Record if we want to make a reservation. Record should be reserved for starting a recording not making a reservation. If I pressed Record I would expect a machine to do just that, start recording. I think Humax have got it right with OK to make a reservation and Record to start a recording.

The Humax is a doddle to record and works the same as the Vestel only better!!
Call up GUIDE, highlight programme, press OK. If it is a series link, Humax then asks you if you want to record just this single programme or every one in the series, highlight one of the two options then press OK.
To playback, call up library menu, highlight programme, then press OK. If you have part watched it, it will restart from point left off, or, by pressing PLAY will restart programme from beginning OR you can type in a time and it will go straight to the minute of the recording. Efficient and simple.

In your post you even say "to record a programme" rather than 'to reserve a programme' so what really is intuitive???

It's simple enough but scary to find you are in the Format Hard Drive screen. Is this really the way that Humax intended the user to find out how much HD space is available? Surely this info should be readily available on the screens where you need it i.e. when scheduling new recordings or deleting existing ones. As per your following post I assumed there would be some further protection to prevent accidental re-formatting but I wasn't going to press OK to find out.

Colin

My view is there should be an exit button and that should be the default.

Menu 1 5 is so easy its become second nature ...

I don't think the Humax is better than the Vestels in this respect. Pressing the "Record" button to set a recording is more intuitive than pressing the OK button and choosing options IMO. On the Series Record Vestels pressing OK brings up a list of options including setting Series Record if available for the programme and changing any previous Series Record settings. The Vestel has more navigation options than the Humax in the GUIDE which are directly accessible by a single button press for which prompts are given at the bottom of the screen. No need to press the Green "Time Bar" button to find these options as on the Humax. You can also set a recording for current programmes on the Vestels. The only way I have so far found to record a current programme is to return to Live TV and select Instant record there? (incidentally using Instant record appears introduce failed recording problems but that's a topic for another post in a different thread).
Again I think the Vestels implement this aspect better than the Humax. Even after pressing the poorly located (under the flap) vaguely identified small Play List button, the use of the Play button to perform different functions on the Humax is confusing i.e. Play resumes the programme if pressed when the Play List is displayed but displays the Time Bar if pressed whilst playing back. However if the Play button is pressed whilst the Time Bar is displayed this immediately pushes viewing back to the start of the recording. Indeed pressing the Play button twice in quick succession when in the Play List or pressing it whilst the Time bar is displayed at other times appears to be the only way of playing a recording from the start if it has been partially played before. The manual does not describe this clearly.

On the Vestels it's simply a case of pressing the sensibly located clearly marked LIB (library) button then selecting the Play button to "resume" or the OK button for other playback options.

Colin

On the Humax, doing what you have to start an instant record initially sets the end time of the programme from the EPG (allowing you to adjust if desired), no different to setting it as a timer.

Depending on whether recordings are set as a timer or using instant record appears to change how the Humax deals with conflicts that occur due to programmes starting early as controlled by Accurate Recording. Such conflicts are not revealed when the recordings are Scheduled.

The problem I have found on the Humax 9200 is that if a current programme is set to instant record (pressing the Record Button) on the Live TV screen then as you say the programme records to the scheduled time as per the Guide but it seems to mess up any Scheduled recordings which are due to start during the time instant record is in operation. Under normal circumstances when using Accurate Recording is in operation and a new recording is unable to start because a programme starts early and this conflicts with two current Scheduled recordings the unit delays starting the new recording until a tuner becomes available (normally when one of the current recordings finishes). The unit then completes the new recording and the missed start is indicated by the yellow circle icon in the Play List. This is all good stuff. However, if one or both of the current recordings are "instant" recordings and a conflict occurs as above then the new Scheduled recording fails completely as indicated in the Play List. I've repeated this scenario three times and on all three occasions the results were the same. Is this a known bug/limitation on the 9200?

Colin

I don't disagree that it's easy enough, but I don't think it should be necessary to go to the Menu to get the information. If you are using the Guide to schedule recordings or using the Play List to manage recordings why should you have to abandon what you are doing and go to the Menu to decide if you have space to schedule recordings or need to delete recordings in the Play List and check if you deleted enough recordings.

Colin

It's intuitive to press the record button to start recording, I fail to see how it's intuitive to press the record button to make a reservation from the EPG.

To me pressing OK is intuitively a means of confirming a previously selected command. Highligting an entry in the Guide is the previous action in this case. Pressing OK to confirm that you have highlighted a programme is pointless. However, IMO pressing "record" to record a highlighted programme is entirely intuitive irrespective of whether the recording is to start instantly or sometime in the future.

Colin

Totally agree with Creddish, but I guess its the case of getting used to one thing as in our case the Vestel and finding a replacement a little difficult to master (much like finding the indicator control on the other side when driving a change of car - frustrating in the short term second nature in the long term!)

Still gonna give the 9300 a go - if I can find one!

Sounds like Humax and Panasonic have both got wrong in your opinion... opinions opinions very bodies got one ...

Your exaggeration of the difficult early would suggest otherwise.

Personally I get frustrated with my DMR-EX768 doesn't have such an easy and clearly presented why to obtain the info.

Also, I don't seem to encounter your issue of always being on the edge of a 100% full HDD.

I find the Humax 9200T very intuitive to use.

To see remaining disc space you press 'menu', and then '5'. That's 2 key presses not 7. And the chances of you accidentally clicking the 'Format' button and then accidentally clicking the 'yes' answer to the confirmation I would imagine is extremely remote.

Also with 80 hours of recording available how often do you really need to check the disk space available anyway?

Actually it is even more difficult to do inadvertently; you also have to input a security code.

You can navigate up / down by item, by page or by day using up / down, left / right, Fast Forward / Rewind, Channel up / down and commercial skip / back buttons. Dead easy.
The Green "Time Bar" button has long been redundant.

Is it really intuitive to have to go into the guide to record the current program ... when you have a button marked record which you can press for instant record?

I didn't say it was difficult, just not intuitive. . And after you educated me with the numerical alternative "1,5" I conceded that it was easy enough. However, after further reflection and recognising that my previous visit to the Menu will have been to access the HDD Control screen so will be highlighted by default in the Menu, two presses of the OK button will suffice and is actually quicker than pressing 1 followed by 5.
I'm not usually in that state but I guess as I am in the habit of glancing down at the HD usage bar graph on the Vestels I miss it now it is not there. I'm sure I will get used to not seeing it on the Humax in time. This will probably be of less concern once I have investigated how the Humax deals with the situation when the HD does become full, assuming it deals with it OK. I suspect the Humax only reserves space for the Series Record events shown in the Schedule i.e. the next event in each Series. If so, there is plenty of potential for subsequent events to fill the HD without the user knowing it.?

Colin

Yes I think it is if that is where you normally set recordings as I do. Even more so if as I suggested earlier the record button was used to set recordings in the Guide as well as when setting instant record .

I record virtually all the TV we watch so I am not often watching live TV. So it's intuitive for me to set all my recordings in the Guide, including current ones which I happen to see when I enter the Guide. Also I'm now aware that there is a bug/limitation on the Humax 9200 which if instant record is used can potentially cause Scheduled recordings failures as I reported on in Post #37 above and which has by coincidence been confirmed in the thread here. So it appears there is no safe way to start recording a current programme on the 9200?

Colin

I think I gave my response to your points in my replies to wgmorg.

Colin