Humax PVR-9150T or?

Hi all,

The Mrs has been plodding away with an old Maplin 'Bare bones' dual
Freeview PVR I put together for her some time ago now and whilst it
works pretty well (and may well be retired to the bedroom) she seems
keen on getting something a bit better now.

Amazon have the PVR-9150T for £120 and that seems fine specwise for
her (she watches her TV via capture card in her PC), however reading
around some of the reviews there does seem to be the odd problem with
Humax's locking up and missing recordings (or missing front / back of
recordings) etc.

We have had a Topfield TF5800PVR for a good few years now and I'd have
to say touching wood that it has been pretty good / predictable.

However, it is said that the Humax boxes have a easier UI so does
anyone here have the PVR-9150T and if so what are your thoughts /
experiences on it please?

Cheers, T i m

At a slight tangent, we have had a Humax 9200T for years and support
another for MiL. UI is indeed simple. MiL learnt aged 86 with no
problem. They are going cheap as chips (well £30~40) on eBay as people
upgrade to HD. I know as have just bought one as an insuarnce policy: I
shall stack it above the one MiL has now so if that fails we can just
instruct her to turn one off at the mains and turn on the other. A lot
better than a 125 mile dash to try to sort it out before it becomes a
real crisis (ie she misses Deal or No Deal) and she won't even need to
change her remote
--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

"T i m" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

The Mrs has been plodding away with an old Maplin 'Bare bones' dual
Freeview PVR I put together for her some time ago now and whilst it
works pretty well (and may well be retired to the bedroom) she seems
keen on getting something a bit better now.

Amazon have the PVR-9150T for £120 and that seems fine specwise for
her (she watches her TV via capture card in her PC), however reading
around some of the reviews there does seem to be the odd problem with
Humax's locking up and missing recordings (or missing front / back of
recordings) etc.

We have had a Topfield TF5800PVR for a good few years now and I'd have
to say touching wood that it has been pretty good / predictable.

However, it is said that the Humax boxes have a easier UI so does
anyone here have the PVR-9150T and if so what are your thoughts /
experiences on it please?

It should do fine. You may occasionally lose a few seconds off the start
and/or the end of the programme, but it's generally a useable machine.

--
Max Demian

On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:29:43 -0000, "Robin" wrote:


At a slight tangent, we have had a Humax 9200T for years and support
another for MiL. UI is indeed simple. MiL learnt aged 86 with no
problem. They are going cheap as chips (well £30~40) on eBay as people
upgrade to HD. I know as have just bought one as an insuarnce policy: I
shall stack it above the one MiL has now so if that fails we can just
instruct her to turn one off at the mains and turn on the other. A lot
better than a 125 mile dash to try to sort it out before it becomes a
real crisis (ie she misses Deal or No Deal) and she won't even need to
change her remote

I've had a quick scan on eBay and I've got my eye on a couple
(thanks).

I'm not sure if on her current box she can record two channels
simultaneously but she can record one whilst watching another so you
would think you could (as the 9200T can).

With some good advice from here a while back I sorted out my Mum and
Dad (both 80+) with a new HD FV TV and BlueRay player (to be able to
get iPlayer etc) and I'm not sure they even bother to watch the HD
channels, let alone the catch-up stuff. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:31:15 -0000, "Max Demian"
wrote:


However, it is said that the Humax boxes have a easier UI so does
anyone here have the PVR-9150T and if so what are your thoughts /
experiences on it please?

It should do fine.

Thanks.

You may occasionally lose a few seconds off the start
and/or the end of the programme, but it's generally a useable machine.

OOI , is that because they actually record quite 'tight' to the
scheduled (EPG) times then the actual transmissions are off by a bit?

On the Toppy I think it's generally quite generous re the time meaning
you generally don't miss much unless it's changed by quite a bit?

Or so it seems anyway?

Cheers, T i m

"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:31:15 -0000, "Max Demian"
wrote:


However, it is said that the Humax boxes have a easier UI so does
anyone here have the PVR-9150T and if so what are your thoughts /
experiences on it please?

It should do fine.

Thanks.

You may occasionally lose a few seconds off the start
and/or the end of the programme, but it's generally a useable machine.

OOI , is that because they actually record quite 'tight' to the
scheduled (EPG) times then the actual transmissions are off by a bit?

You can set it to start when the programme starts, and stop when the
programme stops (called "accurate recording" or "auto tracking"), but it
sometimes misses a few seconds (I think because of the way it's implemented
by the Humax).

Or you can set a fixed amount of padding either end of the scheduled times.
But this disables the accurate recording and series link. I prefer to use
the first method.

--
Max Demian

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:55:57 -0000, "Max Demian"
wrote:


OOI , is that because they actually record quite 'tight' to the
scheduled (EPG) times then the actual transmissions are off by a bit?

You can set it to start when the programme starts, and stop when the
programme stops (called "accurate recording" or "auto tracking"), but it
sometimes misses a few seconds (I think because of the way it's implemented
by the Humax).

Ah, so with those options it would still follow the actual timings if
say the show was delayed by an hour or whatever (if you had set it to
record a single show or series)? I'm not sure my Toppy has that or if
has it's always worked (so I've not missed anything to know that it
may have, if you know what I mean).

Or you can set a fixed amount of padding either end of the scheduled times.

So that is what I think the Toppy may do.

But this disables the accurate recording and series link. I prefer to use
the first method.

Ok and thanks. I know how frustrated she is when she uses the TV
Choice / Quick and it turns out that shows may have been swapped so
she's missed it (and may not be on catch_up_tv till the next day).

Maybe if the Humax(s) have a decent / responsive / accurate EPG she
might stop buying the TV guides. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:48:17 +0000, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:31:15 -0000, "Max Demian"
wrote:

"T i m" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all,


However, it is said that the Humax boxes have a easier UI so does
anyone here have the PVR-9150T and if so what are your thoughts /
experiences on it please?

It should do fine. You may occasionally lose a few seconds off the start
and/or the end of the programme, but it's generally a useable machine.

I agree. We have a Humax 9200T.

I think I might go for one of those off eBay as well as I'm still
thinking of something for Mum and Dad. [1]

Been using it since DSO over two years
ago. Easy to use, even SWMBO can use it easily.

I'd have to give my Mrs 10/10 for dealing with this
less_than_intuitive basic Maplins PVR. It doesn't even save the show
name in the recordings, just the channel and date. ;-(

No major problems
apart from the occasional late start or early finish by a few
seconds*, which may be more the fault of the transmissions rather than
the Humax. I assume the 9150 would be similar.

Ok and thanks.

*a bit annoying when it's a whodunnit and you never find out
whodiddit.

Doh! (don'tcha just hate that).

Cheers, T i m

[1] And 'aunty' (she's not but I've always referred to her as 'Aunty
Joan' even though I'm 55 g) went for one of these offers off the TV
and had a PVR supplied and fitted to replace the straight STB I'd
supplied and fitted a couple of years ago. She seemed insistent that
the old box wouldn't work after switchover (it wasn't one of the few
that wouldn't) but she did need a PVR to replace her video recorder in
any case so I didn't argue. However, she told me (when I popped up to
take her though the functions again (the installer had done so on two
different days)) she mainly only watched the main 5 channels and on
analogue TV as the 'picture was better' (she has a 32" wide screen CRT
TV).

I think the first thing I noticed with the early digital was the
lipsync issues but wonder if I am now less bothered by it (but it's
often still there)?

In article ,
says...

On Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:31:15 -0000, "Max Demian"
wrote:

"T i m" wrote in message
.. .
Hi all,


However, it is said that the Humax boxes have a easier UI so does
anyone here have the PVR-9150T and if so what are your thoughts /
experiences on it please?

It should do fine. You may occasionally lose a few seconds off the start
and/or the end of the programme, but it's generally a useable machine.

I agree. We have a Humax 9200T. Been using it since DSO over two years
ago. Easy to use, even SWMBO can use it easily. No major problems
apart from the occasional late start or early finish by a few
seconds*, which may be more the fault of the transmissions rather than
the Humax. I assume the 9150 would be similar.
*a bit annoying when it's a whodunnit and you never find out
whodiddit.

Out of interest, I have a 9200T but have just bought a new HD Humax box
and that seems to have solved this issue.

So if you have £280 for the 500GB version or £350 for the 1T version
(probably cheaper online) then I would highly recommend.

"T i m" wrote in message
...
However, it is said that the Humax boxes have a easier UI so does
anyone here have the PVR-9150T and if so what are your thoughts /
experiences on it please?

The 9150 doesn't do anything over and above a 9200, so I'd look at picking
up a used one for about a third of the price, or spend the extra for a HDR
and get the freeview HD channels.

--
Alex