Humax Freesat+ PVR
PLEASE NOTE: I have uploaded these (and a great deal more) photos onto a Flickr page at a much higher resolution.
So here it is. The holy grail for Freesat enthusiasts, the greatly delayed Humax Freesat+ FOXSAT-HDR PVR has finally arrived (in extremely limited quantities at the time of this writing). I’m not going to delve into facts, figures or specifications here as there are plenty of articles elsewhere on the site telling you those.
The big question is a simple one; Is this the machine we were all waiting for? In a word. Yes.
Package contents are pretty much identical to the non-PVR Humax unit. You get the PVR itself, SCART, composite and HDMI cables, an extremely comprehensive and well written manual and a remote control. But unlike the Fisher Price remote that comes with the regular FOXSAT HD decoder, this is a far more sleek and stylish effort. Humax have sensibly made this a mini all-in-one controller, which will look after your PVR, TV, DVD and Audio device.
Setting up the HDR is as mind numbingly simple as it’s little brother. In fact the only thing that differentiates the HDR is during the satellite signal detection. As it contains two Freesat HD tuners, it will happily detect two inputs from your satellite dish, thus enabling you to record two programmes at once, or watch one and record one. All pretty basic stuff. If you would like to see more of the setup screens, be sure to check out my impressions of the FOXSAT HD.
After the five minute setup is complete, you’re ready to go. Yes, it truly is that simple. Actually five minutes is more like seven after you download the inevitable over the air firmware update.
After the install was complete I went through the menus to check on the diagnostics and make sure everything was working as it should.
Whilst all of the setup is taking place, the front of the HDR displays Wizard (Roy Wood not included).
Naturally as I wanted to take photos of the equipment today, the sky is a blanket of cloud which makes for tricky lighting conditions. This is the front of the PVR with the front panel flipped down. While you can’t see it clearly in this picture, the display shows the broadcast HD resolution (1080i), that the sound type is Dolby Digital and that it is in glorious HD.
The HDR doesn’t break any kind of mould when it comes to PVR features, it’s pretty much everything you would expect from a PVR wrapped around the Freesat interface. But what it does do, it does extremely well.
Take this screenshot for example. As a test recording from BBC HD I wanted to record an episode of Heroes. When selecting the programme in the Guide, this message pops up saying that the show is available in both SD and HD and gives you the option of which one to record.
There are also a number of other nice little touches, such as if you are already recording two programmes and you want to record something else, the HDR will search the schedules for either a repeat showing or whether the channel has a +1 sibling, and then record the showing there.
Media management itself is handled by this screen (having pressed the Media button on the remote). Here you can flick between your recorded TV, radio and the music and photos that you also have stored (more on that in a moment).
When you opt to record an entire series (as I have here with Heroes and Harry Hill), rather than clutter up the show list with multiple episodes, they are automatically placed into a folder. All other recordings are shown here with various additional information such as the date they were recorded, programme length, etc.
Provided the content provider hasn’t switched on the encryption setting, you can also archive your recorded programmes onto a USB drive. So far the only programmes I have seen that have this encryption have been on BBC HD (Heroes and Torchwood), but everything else is fair game. You won’t be able to watch the shows on anything other than the PVR though I’m afraid, but it’s a handy way of keeping hold of any content that you want to keep hold of, and don’t want to burn off to a DVD recorder.
So the Music and Photo sections. These are my only beef with the Humax PVR. I will never want to listen to music via the PVR, nor do I want to look at photos. But the hard drive is partitioned to allow permanent storage for these functions and you cannot change this. You can format the partitions and erase everything that is there, but you cannot simply say “I want to use my PVR for TV and Radio recordings only, give me all the space”. Minor and petty? Perhaps, but it would have been nice to be given the option.
Speak of disk management, this is the drive utility screen.
So what about general operation and quality? Picture quality is identical to that of the FOXSAT HD box, BBC and ITV HD both look and sound gorgeous. Plus the regular SD content looks great when upscaled to 1080i. This is rather dependant on the channel of course, with lower quality signal channels such as music channels like Chart Show TV and Bubble Hits looking decidedly bland. But primary broadcasts such as BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all look great.
Recording quality is spot on as well. One of my slightly minor gripes with Sky+ when we had that installed many years ago was that the recording quality didn’t really match that of the broadcast. Yes I know, cake and eat it, moon on a stick and all that. But I can stop moaning now, because to be perfectly honest I can’t tell the difference between live and recorded TV. Even with a show that contains a lot of bright colours such as Harry Hill’s TV Burp, it didn’t cause any alarm.
When all is said and done, I am extremely happy with my purchase of the Freesat+ PVR. It may lack the sheer ease of use and speed at which a Sky+ or Sky HD box operates at. But for those features you have to pay. Here for £300 I have a box that will record the pre-requisite two shows at once, contains dual HD tuners, is crammed with features and I won’t be paying a subscription fee to anyone.
If you are thinking about moving away from Sky, or have just been waiting for Freesat to finally get their PVR out the door then this is an easy recommend.
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Category: Freesat
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About the Author (Author Profile)
By day I work in IT as an infrastructure manager, specialising in Microsoft technologies, primarily Windows and Exchange Server.
On here I write about my passions, movies, videogames, technology and particularly the world of high definition.
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Pete Cullen,
Many thanks,The review was so helpful and explained everything so simply I want one. Only problem is my dish only has one lnb. Doe i really need to change? I read somewhere I could upgrade to a dual lnb but where does one get one? and secondly is it really easy to install a lnb even for a diy meddler like me?
Again, many thanks,
Dave Edwards.
I would say that it is easier in the long run to just upgrade to a dual LNB system and have someone do it for you. There are plenty of sites that can tell you how to upgrade such as this one http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/page10.htm but I guess it depends on how much you are prepared to do. One things for sure if you want to get the full features out of this box, you will need dual LNBs on your dish.
Thanks for the comment David.
Pete – an excellent, objective and well balanced review, thanks.If only others … One question please, I have a dual (my installer described it as a “quad”) LNB set up with 2 incoming cables. One cable I use for feeding my main Panasonic Freesat TV (highly recommended), the other I feed into a very old Sky Digibox (horrible name!)for supplying the kitchen TV because our Freview signal is so flakey. The idea is to connect both satelite cables to the Humax Freesat+PVR (if it ever becomes available at John Lewis) and then feed the kitchen TV with the signal from the Humax using an HDMI cable – and for time shifting.
If I then use the loop-through “out” socket on the Humax for supplying the signal to the Panasonic, will it supply the full signal as currently received directly from the LNB – and, if so, and equally important, even when the Humax is swithed off (or on standby)?
Many thanks in advance for your response. Mike
Thanks for the comment Mike, always glad of some positive comments
With regards to your question (the installer was getting himself in a jumble I think, if you have a quad LNB then you’re feeding two Sky+ or Sky HD or far nicer, Freesat+ boxes. I would say that THEORETICALLY yes you should receive the full fat signal going to your Panasonic TV (nice work on the purchase too). I would also guestimate that if the PVR is in standby mode then you SHOULD get the picture no problem. The machine records things practically in standby mode, and the box is just being used as a conduit to punt the signal through to your TV.
Of course I could be totally wrong, but I can’t see there being a problem with what you are proposing.
Pete,
Thanks for your response to my e/m. I have now ordered the pvr and taken your advice and having a new twin/lnb installed. JL have promised it will all be done before Christmas(do you believe in Father Christmas?)
I hope you will keep this site as it is, it’s a great reference point.
Merry Christmas,
Dave.
Thanks Dave! I believe Father Christmas has a direct line from John Lewis, so fingers crossed you get it all installed in time for the big day, and the expanded content on BBC HD over the break!
Pete- excellent article.
I notice your comments about the Remote. Can this really be used as the only RCU, controlling the Humax and the basic TV functions?
Also , how quiet is the unit and does the fan run at all times?
Thanks
Peter
The key is most definitely BASIC TV functions. The manual has full details of how it emulates your TV remote. Top tip, check out the Humax web site and they have the entire manual in PDF format which is a great pre-purchase read. I have configured mine so it controls the TV, Blu-ray player and also the amp audio source. It certainly does the trick. When I want to watch just something on Freesat I only use that remote, switch on the amp with it and away you go.
The unit itself I would say is virtually silent. When it is in standby mode there is no sound whatsoever (and it only draws 1 single watt of electricity). Switch it on and there is a slight hum, but in a decent sized living room you don’t even notice it. When a show is being recorded or played back you will hear some very very very slight hard disk noise. But it’s as silent as it could possibly be, it’s a very well made and manufactured bit of kit.
HI PETE
IF I CANCEL ALL MY SUBS TO SKY WILL BE ABLE TO WATCH BBC AND CHAN 4
HD?
IF NOT AND I GET A FREESAT BOX THRU MY DISH ARE THE CHANNELS MUCH THE SAME(REASON FOR ASKING IS WE ARE NOT ABLE TO GET FREEVIEW IN OUR TOWN)SORRY A BIT LONG WINDED!
REGARDS
MARK
NO NEED TO SHOUT MARK!!!!
You will get BBC and ITV HD on Freesat but no Channel 4 HD. That is because of a deal that C4 have with Sky regarding HD rights.
The Freesat channels are NEARLY the same as Freeview, but Freeview has the Sky channels such as Sky News and Sky Three, as well as some other channels that are also due to contract issues ala C4 HD. Channel 5 is on Freesat, but its sister ones like Fiver, Five US, etc are not.
Thanks for your clear and helful review; I have 2 very basic questions to ask, if I may;
1) I have Sky+ and I understand that it would be simply a question of disconnecting to 2 inputs from the existing dish and connecting these to the Humax with no further modifications required; is that correct?
2) I use a digisender to beam Sky+ to other TVs in the house [I have only 1 Sky+ box]; John Lewis Edinburgh said this would not be possible with the Humax and I would need a box in each room? I found this very surprising? Any comments on this welcome;
Lewis
Thanks for the kind words, they are always greatly appreciated.
With regards your questions, yes with number 1. It is literally as straightforward and disconnecting the satellite cables from your Sky+ box and reconnecting them to the Humax. Nice and easy.
With regards to question 2, it would depend on whether the Humax could send signals to multiple outputs simultaneously. I am assuming your digisenders connect using the SCART sockets on your Sky+ box, and you have a SCART cable going into your TV.
With the Humax PVR you would naturally want to use the HDMI output to achieve the best possible picture quality. After all, why buy an HD PVR and output via SCART? So you would need signals to output to HDMI and SCART to the sender on the other end.
My best suggestion (and I think John Lewis are misleading you slightly, perhaps) is to go to the Humax web site, find their support e-mail address and drop them a line. Give the make and model of your digisender and see what they say. They seem to be quite helpful.
Many thanks for your helpful comments; much appreciated;
Lewis
Pete,
You may remember advising me (DEC 2nd)to have the dish organised by an expert,well box was delivered from JL on 22nd Dec and new dish fitted yesterday(5thJan). Reception reads 100% all round and picture is excellent. Only viewed BBC HD demo so far and its fantastic, so looking forward to good viewing to come. Again many thanks for a helpful site and good advice.
Dave.
Thanks Pete for a very useful summary of the freesat+ features. I have installed the device but am struggling with one thing – how to dump from the freesat hdd to DVD for archiving purposes. Connecting a DVD recorder via the scart seems rather “old technology” and isn’t going to deliver the quality but that seems to be the only way – i.e. “playing” the freesat recording and “recording” with DVD. it looks like there should be a way of simply copying files across [MEDIA > OPT+] but the “copy” option is greyed out and the DVD recorder does not appear as a device.
Any advice most welcome.
Thanks again!
Fiona
I would say the “play on PVR and record to DVD recorder” is probably the only option. The only other way is to archive the files onto a device like an external hard drive (Formatted as FAT32) that you can then copy back to the PVR to watch as you can’t play them from an external device, but to the best of my knowledge you can’t do the whole “copy this show to a DVD recorder disk transfer style”.
Many thanks for getting back to me Pete.
This seems a very clunky solution don’t you think? Perhaps next year Humax will produce a box incorporating a DVD player and recorder…
Hey ho.
Best, Fiona
Help!
have managed to copy a radio prog onto USB. Eddie Izzard from radio 7 14 Jan but am unable to transfer it to my Mac (OS10.4.11). Any guidance?
You can’t. Unless someone knows any different, the files are in a special format that only the Humax can read so you can copy them to a USB device to archive them, and put back onto the PVR to listen or watch again.
vlc player will play the archived sd video file ending in.ts
not tried the audio yet
Ah now that’s interesting. I didn’t realise they were in .TS format, I had it in my head they were something else.
I’ll have to give that another try when I get home this afternoon, yes indeed VLC will play Transport Streams, and pretty much anything else you can throw at it to boot.
Hi : just found this very good site. We are thinking of getting a Foxsat PVR before our May analogue switch off in Dorset. At present have a free to air Sky Digibox but don’t subscribe. Would we be able to still use the Sky Digibox if we also got a Freesat box so we could watch Fiver, Sky 3 etc. Also as we subscribed earlier this year to Sentanta for UK Racing which we get through Sky Digibox, we would need to be able to get Sky to watch it as we can’t get it through Freesat?
We don’t want to subscribe to Sky as we are happy with the channels we get, but want to continue to record different channels if we are out or on holiday which the Digibox want let you do (once analogue is switched off !) We also have a Sony Bravia HD telly so would look forward to getting HD channels with Freesat. Many thanks Jane
Sorry to be a pain : but between now and May do you think there will be other Freesat+ PVRs out there? Thanx
As long as you have two or more inputs from your Sky dish then yes you could have one cable connected to the Sky digibox and one to the Freesat box.
The channels are coming from the same satellite so you’re all set with that.
Plus you would still need to keep your Sky box to be able to watch Setana.
I would suggest if you want to go down that route to get a quad LNB put on your dish and run two cables into the PVR so you can record two things at once/watch one record another to save having to mess around swapping cables around.
There is still talk of Fiver and other channels coming to Freesat, it’s all down to licensing deals with Sky.
For the best possible information check out http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk. As for other PVRs, yes there will be others. Before May? Probably not. But after two months with the Humax I wouldn’t want to swap it for anything else.
Many thanks for that, very helpful and feel sure we will be getting one before the switch over. Thanx Jane
Can you help? I have my “my book” USB FAT32 formatted hard drive plugged in and I can see it on the Humax PVR file manager ok. However I have not yet managed to transfer any files. I know the HD files are restricted but the SD ones are not. Can you explain simply how this is done and I will be so grateful.
Dave files are copied over using the File Manager utility.
http://www.humaxdigital.com/global/products/new_manual/UM_FOXSATHDR_100GB_101308_low.pdf check the manual here, page 56 shows some things.
Connect the drive, go to your Media list, press the Opt+ button and go to File Manager. You can copy over there.
Dear Dave,
Regarding the Humax Freesat HDR PVR: I have been told by the shop i visited that this model has not got a CAM slot for Top up and Pay TV.
Is there any reason for this? and is there another way of getting this Pay for TV option?
Regards
Mal
Pete,
Sorry i called you Dave, thinking about someone else at the time
But while i’m on the Humax i have now has got a CAM slot and this made me wonder about the new box, at £300 i thought it would have?
Thanks for all the other info on your page, found it very informative
Regards
Mal
Thanks Mal, I was having an identity crisis there for a moment!
Well the box does have a card slot, but it’s for CAM cards and isn’t used over here.
If you look at the link to the manual I posted above you can see the slot is there.
I know the sky + box is not as great as the humax, but at 300 quid i find it very expensive. i have cancelled my sky subscription, and wondering if there is any way of using the sky + box to record the free to air channels??
any advice would be appreciated
Well I don’t own a Sky+ box so I wouldn’t know but if your sub has been cancelled then your box will have reverted to a regular non Sky+ receiver as mine did many years ago when I cancelled Sky.
From what I can gather Sky used to charge £10 a month for the PVR functionality, although that may have changed. Best give them a ring and find out.
Nice site
Pete you seem like a man that know a thing or 2 about AV.
I have a HUMAX FOXSAT HD PVR – currently I use the HDMI output into the back of my Panasonic TV. But I want the Dolby Digital sound to be played thru my Panasonic surround sound DVD box. My SS box has a HDMI but no optical audio in ( only audio out). If I use a HDMI cable to connect HUMAX to SS Box will I get Dolby Digital audio? If so how can I connect Humax to TV – TV has a second HDMI but Humax only has one HDMI socket. Do I buy a HDMI switch box (not another remote please)- can I get HD thru SCART or yellow plug (I presume not). Or does HDMI “daisy-chain” the signals a bit like SCART did?
I hope this makes sense.
PS One of the best aspects of the HUMAX imo is the universitality of the remote control – the best I’ve ever experienced.
Hi Pete,
Your site seems better than the user’s manual especalyy with the photographs. I have managed to transfer unencrypted files on to a 2gb Flashdrive and thence onto dvd. My PS3 recognises the format so can play the dvd on that. My question is-can I use an external device to copy files other than a 2gb flashdrive? I’ve been enquiring about a Seagate 500gb external HDD but I need to know what size hard drive does the Humax Freesat HD recorder support. Any comments?
Kindest regards
Jim Stewart
i had an old 250gb external hard drive that i converted to fat32 so the humax could see it,i copied some films onto it and it plaved them back from the hardrive,i didn’t have to copy them back to the humax,i also copied a program onto memory stick,put it in my pc and it played on windows media player,a warning came up telling me that it didn’t recognise the file (its a ts file)but do want to try and play it and it did play it.
my only gripe with this machine is that it has no editing program,so the adverts stay and overuns at the end of the film,why they never included this software i’ll never know especially as you cant copy files bigger than 4gb,i have a film i want to archive but its to big,if i could have edited the adverts out it probably would have copied