Humax Freeview HD recorder/Alternative?

[snotrag]

Used my Humax 3200 for quite a few years now, big fan of it, changed the way I watched telly.
Luckily I'm in one of the early Freeview HD areas, and already have the requisite telly.

There no HD equivalent out yet - is one due? Anyone heard anything? ISTR its delated for some reason?
And what are the alternatives, does anyone else match the funcionality/ease of use that Humax offer?

And finally - what are the aerial reccomendations for HD? I use a basic indoor aerial at the moment, which works well enough, although I'm guessing you might need a slightly stronger signal to prevent any loss/breakup on HD due to the larger amounts of data?

[OldSkoolRS]

There is a report of two new Pace Freeview HD boxes (actually badged as a Phillips as Pace bought their set top box division apparently, one is just a STB the other is a 500Gb (125 hours of HD/250 hours of SD content) PVR. The DTR5520 STB costs £160 and the recorder HDT8520 PVR is £300.

All this information was taken from the current issue of Home Cinema CHoice magazine, so I believe it is a reliable source. I'm tempted by the PVR myself as my current Sony DVD/HDD recorder is OK, but not as easy to use as my older Pace Twin and of course can't 'do' Freeview HD either. Luckily I chose to have my new aerial pointed at Crystal Palace rather than Hannington, so I'll be able to receive the HD broadcasts.

EDIT: Link: http://crave.cnet.co.uk/homecinema/0,39029447,4930...

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Thursday 27th May 18:03

[telecat]

A few people on digitalspy have taken the plunge and purchased the Philips/Pace HD PVR. I think it's a bit frustrating in use to the extent at least one of them has taken it back. I'd expect that they will have their teething problems as the Software doesn't seem to as well featured as the SD Humax's and has it's "idiosyncrasies". Current news on the Humax T2-FOX Freeview PVR is that it will be available from the first of July and will be mostly available as a 500GB unit with some retailers carrying a Terabyte version. Pricing is been mooted as being £299 to £329 for the 500GB and £349 to £369 for the Terabyte version.

[snotrag]

Thats good to know - I think its probably worth hanging on for the Humax - its the simple things but they really have got the UI and usability just that bit better than other manufacturers.

[dalos260]

My local Richer Sounds have said they're getting the Philips one this coming Tuesday, priced at £300.

[OldSkoolRS]

I read a long thread on AVForums after I posted that above, which seems to confirm that some people aren't very happy with the Phillips/Pace, which is dissapointing seeing how easy to use my old Pace Twin was. I bought my Dad a Humax SD PVR and I thought it seemed quite simple to use (he didn't so it's unplugged now ) so maybe I'll look at the 500gb Humax when it comes out.

Hope I didn't give anyone a bad idea re the Phillips, please read up first to see if it's quirks are something you could live with...

[Deva Link]

There's a group "test" (not many details) of HD boxes here: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/05/20/grouptest_...