Humax pvr-9200t freeview PVR - £171

superfurry

I ordered from Comet, via Quidco in the end, as Dixons wouldn't be able to deliver for over a week, and that's their paid for service ! Had confirmation of delivery in 2 days - superb, plus any problems within the manufacturer's warranty period ( 2 years ) - just take it back to nearest store instead of paying for postage to send it away. Total cost just over £180 - not the cheapest, as I paid £6 for a 2 day delivery, but for peace of mind, happy with that.

It would be £174 with standard delivery, via Quidco if you didn't pay for the quick delivery

adon30

Received mine today from 24/7. Having a few difficulties getting it to work. Can not get the bbc channels to work (currently around 80% on the quality) and overall picture quality is nowhere near as good as the sony box.

Looks like I'm going to have to go for a new aerial or a booster. Wish they would just upgrade our local transmitter. It would make things easier for everyone.

*added 22/1/07
I managed to establish why I couldn't get as good a signal as the Sony. The Sony was capable of picking up the basic digital channels in my area where as the Humax was struggling with BBC. Anyway I decided to redo my co-ax connections and assemble the screening correctly. I found that one of the co-ax's had rusted!! However this did not solve the poor quality. I then checked the aerial socket at the back of the tv and found the screening had not been clamped. I corrected this. Plugged the Humax in ..... and no more problems
All I need to receive the other digital channels is a wideband aerial and a booster (I am in a V.poor digital area).
The Humax is working great however.

*****
HUMAX user forum link. Lots of questions about the device answered here: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=119

I found out that if you really wish to you can upgrade the hard drive in the Humax. This would invalidate any warranty so wait until its two years old. Someone has put a 400Gb+ HD in theres!! This would be better than any other device out in the market for capacity. You have to be carefull of the power consumption and buy a compatiable HD (I think the majority are seagate). There is more information on the board.
Also some great tips about connection and aerials. Which I have found most helpfull.
*****

taytay_2

Ordered one of these from John Lewis for
£197
Minus £15 voucher then it should have been 8% quidco for electricals but it only tracked at £2ish when it should have been almost £16!!

Rang to cancel (because there is no facility to cancel online???) but it has already been dispatched so i was told to refuse delivery and card will be refunded.

Bummer as that would have been £166 delivered!

fififoofoo

Bought one just before christmas - shopped around for the cheapeast (Martin Dawes at the time) - walked into Currys Digital and asked them to price match, they typed in Martin Dawes into their system and they were'nt listed. I stupidly told them how much Martin Dawes were selling them at and they did price match them, but I'm wondering if I'd have told them a tenner cheaper they still would have priced them, as they had no comparison! Worth a try - anyway i'm a bit of a technophobe and even i can use this machine. It is fab, well worth the money so just go and buy one - you won't regret it!

Cheddar_2

Any updates on latest best price? I want to pick one of these up tomorrow

Currently £199.99 in Currys, but £179.82 in Dixons...

rebellion

Dixons has probably best high street price at the mo if you want to pick one up. Comet might price match an online retailer like Martin Dawes or Empire Direct.
I'm going to hold off as I hear that Humax are releasing a High Def version twin tuner PVR - the 'Hi-Duovisio' with 250GB+ hard drive soon (by the summer).

superfurry

Cheddar wrote:

Any updates on latest best price? I want to pick one of these up tomorrow

Currently £199.99 in Currys, but £179.82 in Dixons...

Buy Currys or Dixons online ! Much cheaper if you can wait a couple of days delivery. Plus go through Quidco

Cheddar_2

rebellion wrote:

I hear that Humax are releasing a High Def version twin tuner PVR - the 'Hi-Duovisio' with 250GB+ hard drive soon (by the summer).

Really? Hmmm... now you've got me thinking.... will search the net for news on this :money:

Cheddar_2

Right - read up on this now, so have decided to keep my trusty old VCR for now. It does the job, I guess, and I can probably wait a few more months for this new model!!

quoia

rebellion wrote:

...........I'm going to hold off as I hear that Humax are releasing a High Def version twin tuner PVR - the 'Hi-Duovisio' with 250GB+ hard drive soon (by the summer).

Not sure where you heard this but as far as I am aware this is most unlikely since there has only been a very limited non-public single test of this (DTT Freeview in HiDef) from the Crystal Palace transmitter in May 2006 and that hardware and software issues & specifications are still to be resolved & finalised - the Nov 2006 results were only "encouraging".

Additionally the BBC have made no announcement of any plans to broadcast Freeview in HD at any time in the near future. I understand that it is likely to be immpossible to transmit HD from most transmitters anyway until the analogue services have been terminated freeing up the necessary bandwidth.

Also I think they (BBC & others) are still arguing over what format (480p, 720p, 720i, 1080i/25, 1080i/50, 1080p and a few other possibilities) any future service should actually be broadcast in.
This has further knock-on effects because the HDTV you already have, or are about to buy, may not be the one most suitable to generate the best picture depending on its native mode display configuration and whatever is finally decided as the broadcast standard and how the TV converts one into the other.
All of the last paragraph also applies to any HD PVR device etc etc.

Personally, wait until they have decided and it is fully working.
Buy a Humax HD unit about a year later !

Oh and one final thing - a HD PVR with ONLY a 250gb drive ??
Wait for the 1Tb model otherwise it'll be full after recording just a handful of films in best quality mode!