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What do you find ANNOYING about the Foxsat HDR?


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Old 07-02-2009, 00:38
Everything Goes
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You should ask Freesat about this (the iPlayer services)... I am sure Humax are working on the iPlayer facilities, but if you want FTP and other services, then to quote the wise cat: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...73&postcount=5

"... I would never buy a product based on future functionality otherwise it is a less than wise investment."

If you were to go out and purchase the HDR now, you should only buy it if you want it for what it currently does (and maybe with warts and all). Otherwise, wait for what you want to be provided (either on this box or another) or purchase Sky+HD! You are the consumer you have the choice!
Very wise words. I bought a motherboard several years ago that promised it would work with PC133 memory in the future. Then FIC said "we wont be able to support PC133 as promised due to hardware issues!"

I bought an On Digital IDTV and they promised that MHEG would be supported in future software updates. Funnily enough the software never arrived and never will. Ive been waiting 9 years so far lol!

Yes sometime the "promised" features never turn up. Let the buyer beware!
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Old 07-02-2009, 10:56
b33k34
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For a new box, it's not bad at all. Tivo was by no means perfect when it first came out either. Have a little patience.
Hmm. There might have been a few bugs (not that i remember anything particularly irritating) but navigation, remote, deleting - ie the basic user interface - was completely sorted at launch. The Humax interface is just not very good and i rather doubt it will be improved in updates
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Old 07-02-2009, 11:16
eric23
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I'm seriously considering returning my HDR. The HDCP issues, procedure inconsistencies and some of the stupid behaviours are really starting to get on my tits. As somebody has already said, it is very a very amateurish effort. The software feels like a very early beta release.
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Old 07-02-2009, 11:30
Tern
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...As somebody has already said, it is very a very amateurish effort...
I was the one who (I believe) first used the term 'amateurish' (and I wish I hadn't). As I have since pointed out I merely said that a couple of features appeared amateurish. I can't see how you can extend that to the entire box when it does its primary job so well.
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Old 07-02-2009, 15:26
Bob_Cat
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I find it quite bad that people have to use such personal phrasing when it comes to our work. If you don't like the product fine, I accept that, we are doing our best and you have consumer rights that you are able to exercise. However I don't believe there is anything so seriously wrong with this product that people need to insult the team who worked on it, especially as people should note that this is the first Freesat+ product of its type and was not an easy thing to do.

Still, I will survive, I will just head off and cry a little where no one can see me...
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Old 07-02-2009, 16:02
GaseousClay
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Up until now I have refrained from making a comment in this thread. We originally had a 'bugs' thread and thought that that was a perfectly resonable vehicle to express our thoughts in a levelled manner. The title of this thread with the capitalised 'ANNOYING' is just crass.

I agree with Barry's quote
Posts about the unit, where members have to be rude or insulting about the manufacturer/hard working engineers, in an effort to get their point across
I now wish to post to make a point that I support bob-cat and his team and that if your not happy return the box and let Humax resell them on their web site for people who would be more appreciative.
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Old 07-02-2009, 16:20
Tern
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Up until now I have refrained from making a comment in this thread. We originally had a 'bugs' thread and thought that that was a perfectly resonable vehicle to express our thoughts in a levelled manner. The title of this thread with the capitalised 'ANNOYING' is just crass.

I agree with Barry's quote


I now wish to post to make a point that I support bob-cat and his team and that if your not happy return the box and let Humax resell them on their web site for people who would be more appreciative.
Having just read through the thread I can't see ANYWHERE where anyone has been rude about the engineers.

Saying that a couple of bugs/'features' look amateurish or unfinished is hardly slagging off the development team. All software of this complexity has odd niggles like that.

I'd suggest being a bit less oversensitive and just enjoy using your DTR. It's not perfect but it's still a laudable achievement.
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Old 08-02-2009, 00:39
eric23
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No, I fail to see how anything posted in this thread could be taken as any kind of attack on engineers within Humax. If customers can't make their gripes known and discuss them in an open forum, then what's the point in having a forum?

Here was me thinking that Humax would want to know what I and others don't like about their product, so that they can improve it.

If I am lucky enough to get feedback about usability issues in my job (I'm a website developer), then I take the comments and issues on board and build a better interface, not sit in the corner and sulk.
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Old 08-02-2009, 01:12
CPN
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I find it quite bad that people have to use such personal phrasing when it comes to our work.
Agreed. However, I would suggest that phrasing isn't quite that personal...
Still, I will survive, I will just head off and cry a little where no one can see me...
I was glad to see that smiley at the end there...

It tends to suggest that you have some thick skin...

For myself, apart from a few annoyances featurewise, overall I am more than happy with the purchase of my HDR but am starting to feel a little uneasy about the way that the box coughs and splutters sometimes as the HD fills up? (needing a power reset to cure) Is Humax aware of this particular issue? Is a firmware update being worked on right now and how imminent is it?

Colin
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Old 08-02-2009, 10:10
savvy
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@Tern & @eric23

You missed this one, then .....

Why is almost every aspect of this machine not as good as Tivo, a box developed over ten years ago and seemingly ignored by the Humax development monkeys?
I for one think this is rude. Why not call them "people" or "engineers"? If you have a point to make, or even a moan, then fine, but why have to resort to calling people "monkeys"?
I'm sure most people would see the use of that, in this context, as a derogatory term.


Les.
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Old 08-02-2009, 10:20
Tern
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@Tern & @eric23

You missed this one, then .....
Ooops, yes, I did.

I agree that that's well out of order.

They deserve much more kudos for getting all the really important stuff pretty much bulletproof.
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Old 08-02-2009, 10:30
savvy
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They deserve much more kudos for getting all the really important stuff pretty much bulletproof.
Heartily agree with that ......

It's not perfect by any means, but we all knew as early adopters, that it wouldn't be.

I'm sure they'll fix the things like Deleting, etc., in the next update.


Les.
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Old 08-02-2009, 10:34
eric23
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Agreed, monkeys is a tad offensive.

Look, there's no doubt that a lot of work has been done on this product, probably to a ridiculously tight schedule, but I personally don't think it's ready for market. If you were to put my mother or mother-in-law in front of this machine, they would still be trying to figure it out an hour later.
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Old 08-02-2009, 12:09
scartart
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My main annoyances are:

1. Takes so long to switch on (boot up)
2. Remote control poor in design and IR performance
3. User interface written by engineers and not a design expert - it is far too complicated for the average end user to use.
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Old 08-02-2009, 19:39
jwball
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....and one next to where it says 'Ethernet port' saying 'but it doesn't work and we can't tell you when it will'
You mean like a sky box?
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Old 08-02-2009, 20:20
Nick123
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The most annoying thing about the Foxsat HDR is the naff forum thread that gets generated as a result of somebody polling on what people find annoying.
Speaking more generally and not just about this forum, it would be very helpful to have a subject split between "technical" and "opinions". I'm not against the expression of opinions (I'm expressing one now), and the occasional venting of frustration on forums is clearly useful; I would not be the least bit offended if somebody were to call me a monkey, but the point is that I don't find this aspect of the forum very helpful.
The Foxsat HDR does what it says it does on the box and I believe we - on this forum - are all doing a good job in providing feedback to Bob Cat & Humax through the "bugs" and "feature requests" threads. We don't need this thread.
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Old 09-02-2009, 00:06
AxeVictim
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I plugged my Humax 9200 back in and its far better to use than the HDR.Remote reponds quickly, instant deletion of programs, a lot faster navagiting the menus.You would have thought Humax would have made the HDR better not worse.Hopefully things will be improved with an update but i cant the useless remote being fixed.
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Old 09-02-2009, 00:09
germanycalling
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For me personally it seems that the biggest annoyance is that I will not be able to buy one when I'm back in Blighty next week or anytime soon. However if I did have a Humax HDR then I would hope that Humax would give more credence to comments made to it directly through their call centre with tracking and quality systems in place rather than second hand information via a Forum where the views expressed could be biased for whatever reason.
In the industry where I work direct customer feedback is highly valued be it good or bad. Constructive comment is always welcome
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Old 09-02-2009, 08:05
nigelbb
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My main annoyances are:

1. Takes so long to switch on (boot up)
2. Remote control poor in design and IR performance
3. User interface written by engineers and not a design expert - it is far too complicated for the average end user to use.
1) So does the Dreambox which is also a Linux based receiver. Don't switch it off if it annoys you.
2) The performance is much better now I removed the hidden internal clear plastic protective film & replaced the supplied el-cheapo batteries.
The design is poor tough. It should have a large Play/Pause button that is easily found in the dark.
3) If you want a simple interface get a Sky HD box. The Foxsat HDR t does so much more than the old-fashioned dumbed down Sky boxes it's not surprising that it is more complicated to operate.
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Old 09-02-2009, 08:59
Tern
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3) If you want a simple interface get a Sky HD box. The Foxsat HDR t does so much more than the old-fashioned dumbed down Sky boxes it's not surprising that it is more complicated to operate.
I have to say that that's an absurd suggestion.

Why would Humax want to limit their market by leaving the UI in it's current buggy and somewhat clunky state when with a little effort they can repair and improve it and turn this already excellent box into something superb?
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Old 09-02-2009, 11:54
DeltaX
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I just cannot identify with most of the comments made in this thread – in fact I would be totally against some of the suggestions and I do hope the fantastic Humax engineers actually spend time on the proposed future developments rather than many of the irrelevant suggestions I have seen on this thread and some others.

I think the Foxsat HDR is a brilliant bit of kit.

If people don’t like it I suggest they exercise their consumer rights and get something else instead.
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Old 09-02-2009, 12:40
pixor
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Overall, I like the box, and enjoy not having to pay through the nose for Sky HD any more.

There are a few niggles:-

The filemanager should not be a bolt-on, but part of the media screen. Not being able to delete programs (or even 'pretend' delete them, allowing the box to actually do it when it can) is frustrating.

When you have deleted all the programs in a folder, the folder remains. A nice useability thing would be to hide/delete the folder when there is nothing in it. I can see a big folder list growing otherwise.

The remote is not a good piece of design. The play/stop/forard/reverse keys, in particular, are small and awkward. Both Tivo and Sky made better remotes.

Moving about the guide screen seems slow, the cursor catching up after several key presses at times.

The picture in SD is 'soft' compared to the Sky HD box I had. HD is wonderful though!

The display on the box is very bright - I can dim the display on my Sony kit, it would be nice to be able to do this.

I am not knocking Humax, I like this product. I merely hope that constructive criticism can get fed back into the development.
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Old 09-02-2009, 18:01
eric23
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I'm amazed that in amongst the genuine gripes about this product, there are quite a number of fanboy replies along the lines of "shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, positive threads on this forum only, the Humax box is the best thing I have ever seen".

I will be exercising my consumer rights, don't worry! It's going back to John Lewis tomorrow.

It's such a shame, I had good expectations for this box. It's just unusable in its current state - the HDCP issue in itself is a deal breaker, I'm having to reboot the HDR 1 in every 4 times I turn my TV on. And it seems many others are experiencing this problem, from looking at the threads on this board.

Hopefully, in a few months time, I will revisit the whole Freesat HD PVR situation and find that the software has been vastly improved, at which time I will invest in a box.
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Old 09-02-2009, 18:42
grahamlthompson
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I'm amazed that in amongst the genuine gripes about this product, there are quite a number of fanboy replies along the lines of "shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, positive threads on this forum only, the Humax box is the best thing I have ever seen".

I will be exercising my consumer rights, don't worry! It's going back to John Lewis tomorrow.

It's such a shame, I had good expectations for this box. It's just unusable in its current state - the HDCP issue in itself is a deal breaker, I'm having to reboot the HDR 1 in every 4 times I turn my TV on. And it seems many others are experiencing this problem, from looking at the threads on this board.

Hopefully, in a few months time, I will revisit the whole Freesat HD PVR situation and find that the software has been vastly improved, at which time I will invest in a box.
Just one question why are you so sure that the HDCP problem is the fault of the Foxsat ? I note you don't even specify your display in your signature. The foxsat works flawlessly with my Sony TV. I agree that a significant number are having problems with HDCP handskake but there are also many who have solved the problem by getting their HDCP non compliant HDMI ports sorted by the display manufacturer.
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Old 09-02-2009, 18:47
KevinMillican
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I'm amazed that in amongst the genuine gripes about this product, there are quite a number of fanboy replies along the lines of "shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, positive threads on this forum only, the Humax box is the best thing I have ever seen".

I will be exercising my consumer rights, don't worry! It's going back to John Lewis tomorrow.

It's such a shame, I had good expectations for this box. It's just unusable in its current state - the HDCP issue in itself is a deal breaker, I'm having to reboot the HDR 1 in every 4 times I turn my TV on. And it seems many others are experiencing this problem, from looking at the threads on this board.

Hopefully, in a few months time, I will revisit the whole Freesat HD PVR situation and find that the software has been vastly improved, at which time I will invest in a box.
Perhaps it's because a lot of people find the Foxsat-HDR does exactly what it says on the tin. Of course there is always room for improvement, but this should not detract from the fact that what was advertised was a dual tuner Freesat PVR - and that is what was delivered.

Many people, myself included, have not experienced the HDCP issue you speak about. I'm sorry that you have, but it doesn't change the fact that many of us like the product a lot.

I agree with Bob_Cat: suggesting the design is "amateurish" is an unwarranted slur on the people who have engineered the HDR in a relatively short time.
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