Humax PVR9300T 500GB Freeview+ Standard Definition Digital TV Recorder

Overall I can not really find any fault worth mentioning with this product. Although it is obviously not quite perfect, it comes pretty close and far exceeded all my expectations. This product is incredibly high quality. Visually it is classy and understated, and the construction feels very solid. It has an attractive soft blue display, which has the bonus of displaying the channel name you are viewing. The quality is even echoed in the remote control, the buttons are soft to touch, but have a satisfying click when pressed. The operation of this product could not be simpler. The 'quick start guide' gets you up and running in no time. (For me the majority of my time was spent tidying cables up and re-organising my cabinet, not actually getting the machine going). Included is a SCART lead and a HDMI lead, and the guide gives clear pictorial instruction of how to set these up depending on what sockets your TV has. When it loads up (doesn't seem to take as long as some people imply) first time it clearly guides you through scanning for channels. I had previoulsy been using a cheap freeview box, with very poor signal quality which was prone to dropping sound, losing signal etc. This new machine, I am pleased to say, has none of that - I'd previously thought we lived in a black spot! It's obviously down to superior decoding (or whatever it is they do to interpret signal), plus the picture seems crisper to me too. The real reason you buy this though is to record TV programmes... and you'll have no trouble there. It has a couple of ways to do this. Either through the programme guide: find your programme, one click and you're set. If it's a series it prompts you to 'series-link' if you want. You can also record by the more traditional VCR-style approach where you manually programme a recording start time, end time and channel. Viewing recorded programmes is just as easy, they're held in a library with all the info you need to find your programme of choice. One click and you're away. It's also just as easy to delete them once you've watched them, so keeping your library tidy is no trouble. You can also record ad hoc whilst viewing a programme, which is simply done again with one click on the remote. This is worth knowing as if you were to get interrupted, you can quickly set it recording and not miss a thing when you come back. Also, once a programme is recording you can use the pause function to pop out of the room, or the re-wind function to catch a funny line or whatever! Another nice feature, which shows they have considered the user in designing the product, is the facility to use a split screen/inset window to keep tabs on one channel whilst watching another. Dedicated buttons on the remote make it really simple to switch between 2 channels. Finally, most of the menus and info is displayed as a 'ghost' on the screen so you can keep watching behind. The opacity is customisable too, so you can set it to suit you; another bit of user-orientated thinking. Of course some people will feel that the additional channels a subscription service such as Sky or Cable provides is worth £15 a month (or whatever it costs), but not everyone. For those that want a really decent alternative with only an intial outlay cost that is a fraction of a years Sky subscription you have got to consider this product. I am sure, like me, you'll no longer feel underequipped in the modern age of TV viewing, and wont be looking enviously at those you know with their Sky+ boxes underneath their TV, infact you'll probably be feeling smug at all the money you're saving!

I spent a long time looking for a video recorder (PVR) that would be reliable, easy to use, and give good quality results. The Humax ticks all the boxes. Build quality is excellent and it inspires confidence. The instruction book is not perfect but pretty good and the menus, including the programme guide, are easy to use. It happily records two programmes at once and allows playback of recordings. It will even allow you to watch a third station when recording two (though for some technical reason not all stations are available under that circumstance). Another reviewer has said that this is not the case, but, I assure you mine does! Software upgrade perhaps?? The channels that are not available are "greyed out". If you select one of these you will get the message "restricted due to recording". However many other channels do work (on my machine). Unlike some PVRs it constantly makes a temporary recording of any programme that you are watching. If, half way through, you decide you wish you had recorded it, the Humax will allow this right back to the programme start. Pause and rewind, are, of course, also available. With an HDMI connection to my Sony TV the playback quality is excellent. I had originally wanted a PVR that would record in HD, and had settled on a Sagemcom. It was the only one I could find (at the time) without major drawbacks. Soon after delivery, I realised my mistake. Build quality and reliability were immediate issues. So the Humax was a second attempt and, of course, it does NOT record HD channels (50 etc). However recording in HD is very memory hungry on HD recorders and, because the playback on the Humax is so good, I have not found this to be an issue. If broadcasters start to put programmes on HD channels which are not available on non HD ones then this would change. For a non-HD recorder, it is hard to fault the Humax, which is now virtually silent when in use or on standby. After several weeks of use, the only slight irritation arises because the recording list does not mark programmes to show when a they have been watched. Whilst this is not normally a problem as one deletes after watching, it can be a slight issue especially when keeping a series and watching one episode at a time. A small gripe - not a real issue.

I spent two years suffering the various technical problems of a Thompson, TOP Up TV DTR which recently died and is little lamented. Both the service and the equipment were rubbish. Given the Thompson's demise I was looking forward to upgrading my equipment and the Humax seemed like the ideal unit. I had spent a lot of time reading the various reviews and noticed its high star ratings; it seemed just what I was looking for; something simple, straightforward and reliable. Order and dispatch were up to the usual Amazon standard and the unit arrived within a few days; first problem; no printed manual, just a quick start guide, manual later found on CD-Rom; second problem; when printed off, manual looks like a badly edited revamp of a previous modal, none of the tech terms in the manual are explained. Not being a TV Engineer, a bit more help would have been nice. I can't judge the tech support on the Humax Website as every time I tried to use it the answers I received didn't seem to relate to the questions that I had asked in any way shape or form. Once hooked up, the set up was really simple, just press the on button and it tunes in the channels for you in about 5 - 10 mins. Unfortuanatly this was the only simple part. We soon found that if the recorder is not tuned to BBC1 when turned on the programme guide would take up to an hour to load. The product would turn itself on and off at random intervals , regardless of recording schedule, and cause our TV Screen to go blank; usually in the middle of Neighbours, or any other programme that you really wish to watch, CSI, etc. The unit would become completely unresponsive to both the remote control and the main controls under the front panel; the only solution being to turn off the power at the main plug, wait five mins, then turn it back on and start again. Having suffered these problems with the Thompson Box I was disappointed but these where things I could live with if they only happened once or twice a day. The final straw came when I discovered that the ITV Channels were subject to jumping and heavy pixalation; the same feed provides a perfect picture on my new Panasonic TV AND AN OLD FREEVIEW BOX that the Humax was bought in part to replace. I can't order a replacement because Amazon are out of stock, so have opted for a refund. It has not put me off Amazon but I think it has put me off DTR's.

I bought this model after researching and reading the reviews which gave the impression that this is the best for this budget.... I may have been sent one with the earlier software. The fan is loud and at times distracting. I have now downloaded the latest software release which did cure the fan noise but now: 1/ the picture occasionally stutters 2/ there is often an annoying lag with the remote control or no response at all. 3/ a message appears twice daily advising that new channels are available. I have done the channel search several times and get the same channels every time. Signal strength and quality are both 100% . I can't seem to be able to override this prompt message in the settings. 4/ the electronic programme guide takes forever to download. Humax say they are working on these problems (apparently caused by their latest over the air software update) and hope to cure them with a future software release, but they can't confirm when this will be. The only other niggle, for me, is the layout of the remote which I find unintuitive and involves much sliding of a panel at the bottom ( I am convinced this will break before long) Sorry I can't be more positive but if this is the best at this price and you are expecting technical perfection I think you might be disappointed.

Humax PVR9300T 320GB FREEVIEW+ PVR Recorder. Twin Tuners This PVR is remarkable. It really can record two separate programmes at the same time while you watch a third. I know because I have done it. I would have thought that this would require three tuners?? With the latest software the fan is so quiet that it is virtually not noticeable. Also, like many other PVRs it will do time shift recording. That is if you are watching a programme and you are interrupted you simply press the pause button. Then, when you are ready to start watching the programme again (which may be a few minutes or up to two hours later) just press the play button and it will replay the programme starting from the time that you paused it. The programme guide is comprehensive and very easy to use. To record a programme simply select it in the guide using the up/down and left/right buttons and the just press OK. It will record the programme correctly even if it is delayed from its proper start time. The recording play back quality is perfect, just as good as watching the original and it records sub-titles as well. It will record a whole series of the programme selected or just a single episode just with one click. It will also record "split" programmes like those that start before and continue after the news. It is very easy to set up as the Menu is logical and easy to use. I cannot rate it too highly. It also has a very neat Picture in Picture (PIP) facility so that you can view in a small window a different channel to the one you are watching. Very useful during Wimbledon! The only thing it will not do is to record High Definition programmes, but since I do not have an HD television this hardly matters!

I sent back a Goodmans box I had because it kept freezing. After reading reviews, I decided to invest almost twice the price of the Goodmans box in this. The Good: 1) It looks quite nice with a clear display on the front which also shows TV station. 2) It is virtually silent in operation. 3) The remote is very nice- a bit clunky but good quality with a good click on the buttons. There are more buttons under the sliding lid which is initially quite difficult to slide back- but it is there. 4) It has been generally reliable- much better than the Goodmans so far and so I am getting series actually recorded this time instead of missing them. However, see below. 5) The menus are generally quite easy to use, and it is easy to record a programme- just select it in the EPG and press select and it then asks you if you wish to record the whole series. Same, basically, as all Freeview + recorders. 6)The tuner picture quality is good. I would say there is a slight improvement in the picture on this when it is set to 720P when compared to the internal tuner on my Panasonic TX70 42" plasma. 7) The EPG has a search function which is brilliant. Make sure the EPG is all loaded up (see below) then use an on screen keyboard to type a bit of the programme name and it will hunt it down and bring it up- brilliant when you know something is on, but not when. Also you can have the EPG show you all the films, or all the drama etc, albeit this is only as good as the EPG Data tags put in by the broadcaster- Channel 5 insist on listing all Home and Away and Neighbours as Movies for some reason! I have found this very useful in looking at lists of movies to record the next week. The Bad: 1) In just over two weeks use, it locked up once. It would not switch on. Many others are complaining of this and it has to be turned off at the power switch to reboot it. Of course, it will have not recorded whilst in its locked up state. I have researched this and there is no clear answer as to what could be causing it. It may be corrupt data from the EPG data (or MPHEG?), it may be an issue with the auto set up entering rogue channels and there may be an overheating issue caused by the fact that the new firmware turns off the fan because it was too loud. I have not got to the bottom of it, but I moved it to a cooler bit of the shelf (not on top of my Sky box) and did a manual retune to clear out any rogue channels from other transmitters, but I do not think there were any. I have also deleted some of the channels I do not use, including 800. Since then (a week and a half ago) it has not locked up, although when I was watching it last night it did become unresponsive for about 30 secs but then came back. I will see how it goes. If it starts locking up again, I will send back. 2) The EPG takes ages to load each time it is switched on- however, it is quicker if it is set to BBC1 when it is switched on. 3) I cannot see where it tells you how much space you have on the hard disk. I am sure it must be there somewhere. 4) When you want to play a recording, you can either go into menu, then recording list and get it there and you get a preview of each programme recorded in a window as you select it. However, a bit long winded. Alternatively, there is a button under the flap which brings up a list of recorded programmes when you press it- the list has programme name, date and time. However, you may have a long list with loads of, say, Simpsons, and you want to know what each episode is about as you may have seen it. Pressing the "i" button when selected you would think would bring up the EPG info for that recorded programme, but it does not- instead it reverts back to the information for the programme currently showing live.So it is difficult to get the usual Freeview synopsis of the programme for a recorded programme- a little frustrating- something my old Goodmans box had no problems with. Overall it is a good box and probably one of the best. If it had not locked up I would probably have given it 5 stars despite its other faults. If it does lock up regularly it is only worthy of a 1 star, because my Goodmans did that and it makes to box pointless. Let us wait and see.......

For years I struggled with Windows based computers and suffered all the crashes and freezes that they're prone to. I thought it was my fault until I bought a mac and found that computers don't have to be as stable as a toddler in a hurricane. Why am I telling you this in a review about a PVR? Because switching from DVD based recorders to a Humax is the same experience. If you're thinking of buying a DVD recorder or a DVD/HDD combi, ask yourself what you actually want the DVD bit for? Then buy a Humax. It's childishly simple to use, totally reliable and you'll have none of the problems associated with easily scratched DVDs. The quality of playback is stunning and each recorded programme is clearly described in its library. No more having to use a special pen to write on a plastic disc. This machine saves all the programme details you need for you. Automatically. If saving the environment is a consideration, then ask yourself which is better for the planet; one tiny box which holds 200 hours of programmes or lots of DVDs in their plastic cases? I used to record programmes onto DVD for my parents, and half the time they wouldn't play back properly. Now I output from the Humax straight to my VCR and give them video tapes that play back every time. No stuttering, no blocky playback. For Christmas, I'm getting them a Humax, then I'll ditch the VCR. Update: Have just bought a second Humax. I gave my first one to my parents ages ago (they're thrilled with it) and have been badly missing mine. I've had my new one for less than a week and I've been struck all over again by how easy it is to use. Picture quality is superb and it is so easy to use. I've never had any problems whatsoever with freezes or fan noise. Because you can series record so easily you'll find yourself watching quality television rather than mindlessly channel-hopping. Maybe it's my age, but I feel the quality of programmes has plummeted over recent years. The Humax will help you cope. Incidentally, one feature that is seldom mentioned is the ability to record radio programmes just as easily as TV.

I bought this Humax PVR9300T as I no longer wanted the expense of a Sky Subscription. It worked ok on my downstairs TV although the humming was a bit loud on occasions. The trouble came when I realised my daughter's TV's in their bedrooms no longer worked and as I'm not technically minded it took me a long time (especially as I work full time), to get round to sorting out what the problem was and how to sort it. Eventually I phoned someone at Freeview who offered me some technical advice and told me that I would need to get an aerial man out to split the aerial to my daughter's bedrooms. I didn't want the expense or inconvenience of this and I then found out that for a monthly subscription of £10.50 with Sky I could record freeview on my existing Skyplus HD box. Unfortunately, the provider of the Humax "Hughes Direct" have a 7 day return policy which means you have to give them 7 days notice in writing of your intention to return an item. By the time I'd sorted out what the problem was I was quite a bit over this date so I phoned them. They were not willing to accept the return of the Humax box so I'm now stuck with it having spent £150+ on an item I don't need. The 7 days return policy is lawful but I don't think it's long enough to sort things like this when you're not technically minded and work full time.