Humax PVR9200TB Freeview

Amazon Customer Reviews

(5 out of 5)

If digital is the future...

First of all, this is essentially the same device as the PVR9200T which was introduced in 2005, with a black case and upgraded firmware to adhere to the new Freeview Playback standard. The good news is that this means the bugs and lack of certain features which caused problems for early adopters have now been ironed out and this is has a quality feel and provides a slick and well presented interface. I've been trying to find a major fault with it since it arrived and I'm glad to say I've failed.

The best thing is "it just works" which is how things should be - record two programmes at once, watch something before it's finished recording, select a bunch of programmes from the 8-day EPG and let it crack on and fill the 160Mb HDD with TV, all with no fuss - the only problem I now have is finding time to watch it all. I live in the Isle of Man, without an official Digital signal, and get all of our Freeview channels from across the water in Cumbria - weather permitting, reception is excellent and we get access to teletext and "red button" services where we didn't with the previous Freeview box. There's so much more to this thing I'll run out of words before I can describe them, and I'm still finding new functions... The Humax community is very well estabished, and the company themselves support and update their products better than most - there will be an update for the earlier version to bring it up to the same as this new one - but they don't get the nice shiny black case ;-)

I think the only criticisms I can come up with are a couple of issues which have dogged the box since it's inception, namely a slow USB transfer to PC (if that's your bag) and an EPG which can take time to populate, as well as a couple of regularly used buttons on the new remote which could have been on the main section rather than hidden behind the sliding panel which keeps the lesser-used buttons tidy, none of which are show-stoppers.

With the changeover imminent, you shouldn't think twice about buying one of these, you really won't regret it.

(5 out of 5)

The single most useful item of consumer electronics I have ever bought.

I will be short. For more information read the reviews below. The Humax PVR9200T Personal Video Recorder is outstanding. (The suffix 'B' means black- my favourite; 'S' means silver). It is a Freeview receiver with large (160 GB) hard disk. It will record two channels simultaneously. This is especially useful nowadays when the only programmes worth watching get transmitted at the same time (usually 9-00 p.m.). The picture and sound quality are excellent. It is very well built, (many PVR's aren't).

It is also a doddle to set up and use. Having nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to come to terms with a Philips DVD recorder, I appreciate this. I have used this PVR countless times since purchase; most recently I left it to record some Proms broadcasts on BBC4, whilst I was actually down in London at the Proms. It worked perfectly.

There is even a website for Humax ('Hummies' as they are sometimes known) users. People get very attached to these things. There it is now, sitting below the T.V., happily recording away. My only criticism is that it makes a slight humming sound. Placing it on bubble wrap reduces that.

It does all sorts of other things, although it doesn't make a cup of tea.

I bought mine from Martindawes.net, who gave exemplary service (even ringing me up to make sure it had arrived O.K.).

And there is no outrageous subscription fee. Just your T.V. Licence.

It's a corker.

(5 out of 5)

Forget Sky+

This box is going to really hit the market in Sky + boxes and the like. This digital TV receiver is amazing and incredibly easy to use. You just plug it in and it does the rest for you. It receives all the Freeview channels and has two recorders so that you can record two programmes and watch another if you wish. Recording a programme is unbelievably easy- you just highlight the programme on the menu guide, which I think shows programmes for the next 14 days and then press "OK." My only very, very minor gripe is that if you want to specifically look for a programme that you can't see in the guide, the facility to enter your search term is a bit unwieldy as you have to enter each character by moving a cursor around a diagram of the alphabet. But absolutely no other gripes. It's fantastic for anyone like me who doesn't want to have cables/satellite dish installed and/or doesn't want to pay any ongoing Sky/Virgin media/BT vision subscription (in fact I think with Virgin you don't even own the box, so if you cancel your subscription, they would take it away).

(5 out of 5)

The Humax face of PVRs

I bought my Humax to replace a Goodmans 80G PVR which in turn was bought to replace Sky Plus after getting fed up of paying the exorbitant monthly subscription for Sky.

I was somewhat nervous about going to Freeview as putting my postcode in the coverage checker said unavailable even though only a few streets away it was.

The Goodmans PVR worked exactly as I dreaded it might and suffered continual freezing pictures and loss of sound, and this was after I had a brand new digital aerial installed professionally.

After reading the reviews of both the Goodmans and Humax on this site and others I decided to give it one more try.

The Humax arrived and was plugged in replacing the Goodmans, it very quickly automatically scanned available channels and set itself up, the only change I had to make was to the output format of the scart socket switching it to SVideo from RGB to get the picture in colour.

Now for the real test, I chose one of the channels the Goodmans struggled really badly with and watched and waited for it to freeze up or the sound to glitch. After an hour the only glitches I had seen were a couple of minor macroblocking artifacts on screen. Obviously the Humax must have a much more sensitive tuner installed even now after owning the unit for a week I've rarely seen any glitches and on some channels none at all.

In terms of features its very easy to use and a big bonus over my old Sky Plus works perfectly with my Philips Pronto programmable remote, Sky use some weird IR encoding that only works sporadically with remotes other than the one that comes with it.

Great product certainly work the price.

(5 out of 5)

Great piece of kit

My old video player packed in last week so I invested in the Humax. Whoa baby does it work like magic!

Pluses:
* Can record two separate channels. But ALSO you can watch a THIRD channel if the third channel is being broadcast on similar frequencies to the two you are already recording.
* Allows you to skip through the adverts - you can press a single button and it skips either 15 or 30 seconds ahead. Very handy for skipping adverts without fast forwarding it and realising you've actually missed the end of the ad break.
* Picture-in-picture option. So you can be watching one programme, then change over to another channel while the adverts are on but change back the moment the adverts are over. Cunningly, the PIP function also allows you to move the picture-in-picture box to any of the four corners of the screen so you don't obscure the action of the main programme you're watching.
* One touch recording. Literally idiot proof. You just bring up the EPG to select the programme you want to watch then press a big OK button and it's recorded. Hey presto.
* Option to record a whole series of a programme. So if you want to catch every episode of something that's on the same time every week, you only have to set it once - making it fairly idiot proof and you an just get on with your social life without wondering whether you've remembered to set the video for something.
* Probably loads of other positive features I've forgotten about - but it's a great piece of kit.

Minuses:
* The remote control is bug ugly and feels a bit cheap. Also, the button for playing back the programmes you've watched is hidden under a sliding plastic panel, which I found slightly annoying as the playback button is one of the ones I use most.
* The fan makes a tiny amount of noise. Not a problem for us as we have it in the lounge. But I can imagine that if you're a light sleeper and plan on having it in the bedroom, you might want to turn it off overnight (which is dead easy as there's a proper off button at the back - so no need to switch it off at the mains).
* The EPG is a bit rubbish. Not as sophisticated as the one that came with my old Sony Freeview player. My old Sony player allowed me to reorder the programmes - for example I could put E4 and E4+1 at the top of my list as I watch them loads. But this Humax only presents all of the channels in one order - but again that's a fairly minor concern.

Overall: I'm very satisfied. I'm recording all sorts of stuff now on the off-chance that I might want to watch it - no need to fuss with tapes and running out of time because the tape isn't long enough etc. Go on, get one, you know you want to!