PVR's - Humax or other?

[dan1981]

Right then.....

I know this topic has been done to death on a more or less weekly basis so just a quick question.... (or two)

Everyone seems to say the Humax 9200 is the best buy....

however most places seem to have stopped stocking it!

I guess this is due to the new 9300 being out - which is a bit more expensive at the moment.

But what about the 9150? Which is here.....

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5...

Difference seems to be only the hard drive size as far as i can see?

But then i also see this one from Thomspon..... (bigger hard drive but still seems to do everythign the humax does) but even cheaper.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5...

Anyone shed any light?

Thanks

Dan

[minimoog]

http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/

[agent006]

My Topfield is far better than the Humax 9200 that my parents have. Quicker, easier to use, better remote control, more support.

http://www.topfield.co.uk/index.php?option=com_con...

Edited by agent006 on Sunday 21st September 23:51

[wendyg]

May not be the time to buy to buy a Freeview recorder, when Humax say they will have a Freesat recorder out by Christmas. I'm biding my time!

[Roger McLittriss]

wendyg said:

May not be the time to buy to buy a Freeview recorder, when Humax say they will have a Freesat recorder out by Christmas. I'm biding my time!

Sober now Wendy?

[agent006]

That rather depends on whether you want to spend £200 or so on a freeview PVR or £300+ on installing a dish (if you even can on your property, i can't) plus however much Humax deem to charge for a competitorless 1st generation product.

[wendyg]

Roger McLittriss said:

wendyg said:

May not be the time to buy to buy a Freeview recorder, when Humax say they will have a Freesat recorder out by Christmas. I'm biding my time!

Sober now Wendy?

OK I may have been doing some PUI, but that's a bit harsh

[Roger McLittriss]

wendyg said:

Roger McLittriss said:

wendyg said:

May not be the time to buy to buy a Freeview recorder, when Humax say they will have a Freesat recorder out by Christmas. I'm biding my time!

Sober now Wendy?

OK I may have been doing some PUI, but that's a bit harsh

Well you popped in last night, blethered some rubbish then dozed off in your Chianti. Or that's how it appeared

[wendyg]

Roger McLittriss said:

wendyg said:

Roger McLittriss said:

wendyg said:

May not be the time to buy to buy a Freeview recorder, when Humax say they will have a Freesat recorder out by Christmas. I'm biding my time!

Sober now Wendy?

OK I may have been doing some PUI, but that's a bit harsh

Well you popped in last night, blethered some rubbish then dozed off in your Chianti. Or that's how it appeared

We all have occasional indiscretions, but it's impolite to bring it up the next day. You, sirrah, are no gentleman, and you are no longer welcome at societies most refined functions.

[Roger McLittriss]

wendyg said:

Roger McLittriss said:

wendyg said:

Roger McLittriss said:

wendyg said:

May not be the time to buy to buy a Freeview recorder, when Humax say they will have a Freesat recorder out by Christmas. I'm biding my time!

Sober now Wendy?

OK I may have been doing some PUI, but that's a bit harsh

Well you popped in last night, blethered some rubbish then dozed off in your Chianti. Or that's how it appeared

We all have occasional indiscretions, but it's impolite to bring it up the next day. You, sirrah, are no gentleman, and you are no longer welcome at societies most refined functions.

Sorry Wendy, edited for taste and decency

I owe you a Chianti. Oh, hang on...

Edited by Roger McLittriss on Monday 22 September 01:04

[Grumpy old git]

agent006 said:

That rather depends on whether you want to spend £200 or so on a freeview PVR or £300+ on installing a dish (if you even can on your property, i can't) plus however much Humax deem to charge for a competitorless 1st generation product.

I assume you mean £300 for the dish and pvr? A dish with lmb and cable will set you back about £20 on ebay. I've got sky HD but I'm waiting for the Humax HD recorder that's expected in December, then I might ditch sky.

[agent006]

Grumpy old git said:

I assume you mean £300 for the dish and pvr?

No i mean at least £300 to have a good dish installed and set up professionally.

[Grumpy old git]

agent006 said:

Grumpy old git said:

I assume you mean £300 for the dish and pvr?

No i mean at least £300 to have a good dish installed and set up professionally.

A dish is a dish, as for setting it up professionally it's not rocket science.

[wendyg]

Grumpy old git said:

agent006 said:

Grumpy old git said:

I assume you mean £300 for the dish and pvr?

No i mean at least £300 to have a good dish installed and set up professionally.

A dish is a dish, as for setting it up professionally it's not rocket science.

How far does that go? The previous owners of our house had a satellite dish, which we have never bothered to reconnect. Could we get Freesat through it? (I suspect a 10 year old dish would not be refined enough)

[Grumpy old git]

wendyg said:

Grumpy old git said:

agent006 said:

Grumpy old git said:

I assume you mean £300 for the dish and pvr?

No i mean at least £300 to have a good dish installed and set up professionally.

A dish is a dish, as for setting it up professionally it's not rocket science.

How far does that go? The previous owners of our house had a satellite dish, which we have never bothered to reconnect. Could we get Freesat through it? (I suspect a 10 year old dish would not be refined enough)

I can't pretend to be an expert, I'd have thought you may need a new dish, but a friend bought the same dish as sky supplied me with a new lmb and 20 metres of cable for £20 off ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/60-cm-RAVEN-ZONE-2-SKY-FREES...

Like this, not sure what the policy is here on ebay links, but I don't know the seller so I hope I don't get a spanking.

edited to say, I noticed that one says it's for caravans, but you can get the same as sky supply for houses for the same price, I'm too lazy to search anymore on ebay!

Edited by Grumpy old git on Monday 22 September 00:41

[dan1981]

Thanks all so far...

Couple of points - i can't buy offline as i need it tonight or tomorrow at the very very latest.

which also rules out waiting for the freesat thingy.

so any views on the ones above and the difference between the 9150 and the 9300?

Cheers

Dan

[Surfr]

All this talk of dishes is fine, but how are you supposed to operate a freeview PVR on one? IIRC Sky charge for Sky+ so you have to at least pay for that subscription, and probably for a basic channel package too. Whereas Humax, Topfield, Thompson terrestrial digital PVRs are all free as far as service is concerned. Nopt to be confused with TiVo (if they are still in the business)

[minimoog]

Surfr said:

All this talk of dishes is fine, but how are you supposed to operate a freeview PVR on one?

You can't. A freeview pvr will only record freeview - it's tuners can't process satellite or even normal terrestrial signals. Similarly a Sky+ box will only handle satellite, and a cable pvr (e.g. Virgin's) will only tune to cable broadcasts.

The 9300 isn't that much different from the 9200, excepting that the usb export function has disappeared. Not everyone is happy with the level of noise it makes (fan, hard drive). Mind you the 9200 isn't exactly silent either. The 9150 loses the hdmi, optical and audio outs that the 9300 has, as well as having the smaller hard drive.

[dan1981]

minimoog said:

The 9300 isn't that much different from the 9200, excepting that the usb export function has disappeared. Not everyone is happy with the level of noise it makes (fan, hard drive). Mind you the 9200 isn't exactly silent either. The 9150 loses the hdmi, optical and audio outs that the 9300 has, as well as having the smaller hard drive.

Thankyou Minimoog!!!!

hmm so my dad who doesn't need too much fancy stuff the 9150 would be alright?

or the thomspon one? cheaper but i guess thats due to the brand name?

thanks again.

[tomtom]

I have a Topfield and it's very good, but the interface takes a lot of getting used to and is horribly clunky if you've come from Sky+ .

I can probably fix that by installing some other interface (another advantage of the Topfield).