Humax Foxsat-HDR

I don't think that What Hi-Fi have to live with some of the products they test.

So the good - you get freesat (and in works in southern Germany and CH, just in case you want to know)

Picture quality is really good on stad and high definition.  Sound is pretty good.  All in all , it does the essentials

The bad - if you go onto the guide programme , it freezes.  It starts every now and then , but becomes more often.  You can download a firmware upgrade to sort this - but don't expect to be able to do this if you follow Humaxs instructions.  They don't work.

I didn't get the display screen mentioned by Humax - never the less it did update, once I ignored the manual.  So why did I have to do this manually - and not via an auto update ?  They knew of the problem!

The remote is slow - really slow.  It does speed up when you do the above update - but it is still woefully slow.  This will be what causes me to switch boxes.  You have to point directly at the box (and yes, the protective strip is removed)  and then it just thinks about it for a while and then eventually changes.

Networking - nope, not a chance, no way Jose.  Via air port express - no, via network plugs - no.  So no iPlayer etc for me ...

To view any recorded programme you have to use the media button.  This does not like m logitech remote and refuses to programme.  Now, this may be a logitech issue

Customer service - with my issues I sent two emails. I never recieved a reply.  Thanks Humax, is that what you think of customers?

So good at what it does, a complete pain to live with because of clunky interfaces, as slow as a glacier remote and a stupid way of having to update the issues that should have worked in the first place!

Look elsewhere ... they can't all be this rubbish!

I largely agree with pet_hound, it's slow, and clips a lot of recordings on series link. The later is a fatal flaw that wasn't apparent (for various reasons) until I had it for almost 2 months.

Worst thing is all the reviews were positive, however there's a lot of negative feedback, that I was largely blind to, posted by users.

I've written a longer rant on this here...

http://furbian.blogspot.com/2012/08/stuck-with-bad-humax-foxsat-hdr.html

Beware of Humax Foxsat-HDR.

I tuned in my new box yesterday to find it has a very rigid approach to Freesat channels. All other Sat boxes I've had in the past ALWAYS listed the Sky News channel and allowed me to select it as a favourite. The Humax box DOES NOT. You can manually tune in to that channel with the right frequency data but you will not be able to add it to your favourites.

I pointed this out to Humax technical support by email and all I got in return was "This is not a channel provided in the Freesat channel line up".

Not very helpful I fear. SO BEWARE OF HUMAX.

Other sat boxes may be cheap and cheerful  but are more user friendly and versatile. I am very disappointed iin Humax.

Great picture quality - hi-def is excellent, standard-def (SD) very good.

IMHO, Freesat seems to have better SD picture quality compared to Freeview (used to own a Humax 9300T) and friends' Sky boxes.

Easy to setup; general operation is intuitive/simple.

Foxsat is now speedier all-round since deleting the channels I never watch (ie QVC, religion, tat, biased news/politics etc).

And it responds to the remote's inputs much quicker when the transparent protective film is removed from the fascia.

Very happy. And NO subscription fees.

I bought one a few weeks ago from R@@@@@ and got it for a cracking price. Here's the bad part, its painfully Slooooo to react to remote commands and painfully Slooooooooooooo to receive program information and painfully Sloooooooooooooooooooooooooo to BOOT up and even swap blooming channels.... In short, this is the worst piece of electronic gadgetry I have bought in ages [edited by mods - please do not attack other members]..

My cunning plan to ditch SKY for this piece of rubbish has all gone Pete Tong and now it has to go as I really cant be bother waiting for “receiving program information” titles for what seems like days on end.

SO, IF after reading a few reviews you bought one just like me then its way to late BUT if you are thinking of buying one then save yourself the time and effort as it doesn’t remotely come close to a SKY box software and pay SKY the £9.75 for recording privileges.

Great product. Had it three months now, not skipped a beat, very easy setup. Outstanding picture quality. If I had one wish it would be a timelock to keep the kids off CBBC! Real-world price is around 230 GBP so a complete bargain.