Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+ 320GB HD Digital TV Twin Tuner HD Recorder - Installation Recommended (Old model)

After reading many generally very positive reviews, not only here but across the web, we took the plunge after many many years with Sky.We don't regret it. It is a very well presented and polished piece of equipment and sits well with our plasma Tv and surround sound set up. Connecting it is honestly a doddle. All you need to do is take the two aerial plugs out of the back of your Sky box by unscrewing them and then screw them back into your humax box ( this is if you have a sky+ or sky HD box ). Turn on the power, type in your post code and you're done. Its that easy.Like everything new it takes a bit of getting used to. I found I had to adjust colour saturation and contrast slightly on my TV to get a more natural picture but what a great picture when I did. Despite its minor short falls like the remotes design, it is much better than my Sky HD box. I think that the picture is significantly clearer in normal TV so much so that on some channels I've been asking 'Is this in HD?' to my wife. The menu isn't initially as easy as Sky but once you get into it there are more handy features which have been well documented in other reviews.HD on ITV and BBC are excellent.One feature that is often overlooked is its ability to work as a universal remote. Again following the instruction ( which are not hard to follow despite what you may read in other reviews )it gives you a few codes to try for each manufacturers TV, DVD etc. It covers a lot of manufacturers and I was delighted to find I could control my Arcam surround sound amp with it. So 3 remotes have gone in a draw and now just one nice shiny and stylish remote does it all.Remember to remove BOTH films covering the box when you get it for good remote function. Again well document on these reviews.Iplayer is present with its own interface. I have it hooked up via ethernet and its pretty quick and buffers well for smooth playback. You get a choice of standard playback or higher quality ( almost the same as normal TV quality ) but those with a limited download amount per month will want to take care as these programmes can be 500Mb or so. Great to be able to use without having to watch on a PC or fiddle on connecting PC to TV.The latest trick I've had with it ( which was a bit of a challenge I must say ) was transferring TV programmes onto a USB stick. I understand it won't let you do this with HD programmes but I've not tried yet. Then I used this USB stick to transfer to my mac. Then used software to convert this to mp4 format and imported it into iTunes and much to my joy now had TV shows on my iPhone! This meant I could play catch up on a recent plane flight and had lots of the kids favourite TV shows on it which when we reached our hotel I could hook up to their TV via a component cable ( also bought on amazon ) and watch on the hotel TV which had no kids programming at all. I could have done this just off the computer but this way all I had to bring was my iPhone which was coming on holiday anyway. I felt very impressed with my Humax box after doing this!So in summary less is definitely more. Obviously check out what you usually watch and make sure its on Freesat. More channels are coming all the time and I've had a lots added since we got the box. BBC HD and BBC One HD and Channel 4 HD are recent additions for example.So great looks, easy set up, works well, very quiet in use, energy efficient, universal remote and a better picture than Sky. Oh and a lot , lot cheaper.I have no regrets!

I spent a great deal of time checking lots of reviews before I purchased this item, and I'm glad I did.I did't have SKY and really had no intentions of going down that route, so ended up purchasing a DIY satellite Kit from B&Q (A Philex branded kit, which was easy to install and gave remarkable pictures). It was therefore inevitable that I would have to purchase a PVR like the HUMAX to allow me to record digital programmes. I was a bit concerned that the HUMAX wouldn't be fully compatible with the Satellite kit, but I needn't have worried. When the HUMAX arrived from Amazon (the usual impeccable ordering and delivery service that we've all come to expect from Amazon), I had it up and running within 10 - 15 minutes. It was very straightforward to set up, and even though I've got an old fashioned TV that takes up most of the living room, the picture was absolutely stunning (I set the HUMAX up for a 1080 pixel TV, and even though my TV couldn't display this level of detail, it still gave me the best picture I've ever seen on my TV).So far I've had the HUMAX installed with simply one feed from the satellite, so at the moment I can only watch (or record) one programme at a time (this isn't fault of the HUMAX, it's just a consequence of a single feed from the satellite). But I've just taken delivery (from Amazon, of course) of a quad LNB to replace the single LNB on the existing satellite, together with twin cable, so I'm now really looking forward to now being able to take advantage of all that the HUMAX has to offer - being able to record two programmes at once, or being able to watch one channel whilst recording another. Exciting!What do I like about the HUMAX? Well apart from the quality of the picture (and sound), it's very well constructed, the on-screen displays and menus are logical and intuitive, and the remote control is very sleek and actually quite classy. In operation, there is absolutely no operational hum from the unit (despite many other reviews I've read saying that the Humax is noisy). And the large and clear display on the front of the unit itself means that it's really easy to see what channel is currently being watched or what recorded programme is being played back.Anything I dislike about the unit? To be honest, no. It would be churlish to criticise anything at all, as it's really a rather well-designed and thoughtfully programmed unit. I've currently got it connected to my Panasonic 2.1 surround system and my old Philips 32" CRT TV, and the quality of the entire viewing (and listening) experience is simply amazing. If I was forced at gunpoint to really criticise the HUMAX, I would have to single out the slightly smallish PLAY button on the remote control. This is used whenever you want to pause a live recording. In my house, such a thing normally happens when the phone rings and I'm half-way through watching X-Factor or a really engrossing film, and it usually means that I'm grabbing at the remote control quickly and trying to find the buttons required for pausing live TV. It would make life just a little bit more convenient therefore if the PLAY button was just a tad bigger... I hope you're listening, HUMAX.Otherwise, I really could not fault it. Well done HUMAX, ten out of ten in my book.