Humax Freeview playback Digital TV Recorder PVR-9150T 160GB Twin Tuner PVR

Humax Freeview playback Digital TV Recorder PVR-9150T 160GB Twin Tuner PVRNow that we've had it a week and had a chance to 'play' with most of it's features, I can find only a couple of minor points to criticise - this PVR is an excellent piece of kit with a very well-designed, intuitive and consistent 'user-interface'.It's worth pointing out that with a fairly new, but inexpensive wide-band aerial aligned on the Ridge Hill transmitter (30+ miles away but visible from the aerial on a clear day) we get a strong digital signal on all channels.Good points:- The Humax is a lot less complicated to use than the much more expensive all-singing-all-dancing combined DVD/PVR alternatives - some of which only have single-channel receivers.- Even a SCART cable is included.- Installation was very easy with the Quick Start Guide (though it does omit the vital first step of installing batteries in the remote control!).- Set-up is easy and largely automatic.- It self-tuned to all the available digital channels (this does take perhaps 5 minutes).- With a little help from the manual, I've found all the controls to be fairly intuitive and logical.- The layout of the otherwise excellent Remote control is spoilt by the microscopic legends for the buttons under the sliding cover.- The Manual seems comprehensive and well-written though I haven't read it through - I've only needed to look up the odd page.- Being able to easily schedule recordings on Daily/Weekly/Weekday/Weekend/Series bases is incredibly useful.Minor quibbles:- a little slow (a couple of seconds) to come out of stand-by (our old Digivision PVR is virtually instant).- the 'screen shots' in the manual are a too small and too dark (no colour) to be much use.- it's time Humax updated this model by replacing the serial port (how many home PCs with a serial port are still in use?) with a USB port.Unfair criticisms:Other reviewers have criticised this unit for:- Slow loading of EPG; it did take perhaps an hour after installation to populate the 8-day EPG for 40+ channels. Switching off a PVR (instead of putting it in stand-by) defeats most of the point of having a PVR and (like any other Freeview receiver) it will take quite a while to reload the entire EPG when switched back on. During the initial EPG down-load the picture did 'freeze' occasionally for ½ second or so.- 'Schedule' for Record; The use of this term does make sense because the button/menu takes you to what can be an (easily set-up) extensive schedule of recordings.- Picture jumping/freezing; the most common cause is a signal (at the receiver) that is weak and/or of poor quality. Unlike a poor analogue signal (a picture that is fuzzy or breaks up), a digital receiver can either decode the signal or not (on or off); that said some receivers are more sensitive than others. For Freeview, a new aerial of the correct type is required. It's no good blaming a receiver for a poor signal: check both the aerial and all the cabling to it, don't expect a basic aerial to provide a strong signal to several receivers or in a location with poor digital reception. Throw away the nasty old wall-to-set aerial lead that did duty for years with the analogue TV and spend a few quid on a new quality lead.- Faulty units; a few reviewers have complained that they are struggling with faulty units - so return it under warranty!

Well i got this as an early x mas pressie. It took no time to set up and its easy to record. The instructions are dead simple to follow. You go through the menu and press record and confirm. You can record 2 programmes that are running at the same time while watching a third.You can pause live telly so say you want to make a cuppa you press pause, come back in say 10 minutes and press play to resume the recorded live telly so you didnt miss a bit of it.When your done press stop and the unit returns to normal transmitted telly.Or if say your going out just press record on the programme your watching and off it goes.Its that easy really. The remote is ok but come on this is a supper deal package so dont expect a sony standard glossy remote and waffer thin unit.Its bulky yes but if your after something trendy be prepared to spend 100 quid more. I have one issue with it and it is a small one when you take the price into account. This unit has to be used with a scart lead (no hdmi like it says 'usually bought with on' this amazon site). I presume people bought a hdmi for the same reason i did in that i just presumed it could be used.This tells me that this is not very future proof so me being a bit techy i can see that in the near future (give it 6 months to a year) this will be going to the bedroom and i will up date myself and my frount room to a hdmi compatible full hd digital recorder that not only records but you can copy to disc too ( i like hard copies aswell).If you want a simple record unit and arnt overly bothered about pixles and high def then this is for you. As a pressie im dead chuffed. Oh for those people that keep getting the first and the last couple of minutes cut off their recordings for pitty sake read the instructions. You can set the unit to start recording much earlier and finish much later if you choose to in the preferences.This choice does render a couple of other options null and void but just read the instructions and make your choice. Im a professional worker so im not home much now and again and this unit has already impressed even if it has just recorded the x factor so the missus can watch it when im not in. If i was on a limited budget i would buy one and im not easily impressed.

I originally purchased this HD recorder for my elderly parents, 78 and 85 years old as it is supposed to be easy to operate. Well it's not easy for the elderly to learn new things and it has taken about 6 weeks for them to be able to manage the remote by themselves, bless them, but they can get along on their own now so that's good. I marked all the 'used a lot' buttons with tippex for them. (Their old tape recorder packed up and they've had to move with the times)I have a Virgin V Box and I must say the remote on that is very simple to use and I had expected the Humax to be similar but it is not. Having said that I have bought a second Humax for myself to have in another room to record freeview etc so that I can watch something else when the football's on.I recommend this Humax HD recorder at the price I paid (about £120 May '10) as it is great value and does the job.For anyone such as my parents, not used to technology and finding it difficult to learn new things, then perhaps not, unless you have someone there to set it up for you regularly.In conclusion, a great purchase but not so very simple to operate to start with. Saying that there's a great little button, second row up at the very bottom of the remote, third from the left, that fast forward's instantly 30 seconds, press that 6 times and you skip the adverts, magic!