Humax PVR9200T Set Top Box

This has got to be the best AV purchase I have made in the last 10 or possibly 20 years - Video and DVDr are made redundant - its only failing is that you cannot play DVDs through it and therefore need a separate DVD player. I previously had a Samsung HDD/DVD recorder which had the most user unfriendly, un-intuitive controls known to man. Thankfully it ceased to function after a few weeks and Amazon refunded the cost without fuss. I looked at the Sony 200 but it wasn't half as user friendly as the HUMAX. The recorder is plug and play and it even auto-updates the software on the air. To record a programme look it up on the electronic programme guide - put the cursor on the programme and press OK - its that simple. Picture and sound quality are excellent and it's crammed with useful and, unlike most of the others, accessible, easy-to-use functions such as time delay, picture-in-picture and simultaneous recording on 2 different channels due to the twin tuners. Several friends have seen ours and as a result are now 9200T owners - if you have any doubts - find someone who has one, have a play and you will be hooked. Only down side - Humax have just brought out a 32 lCD TV with a built in 9200 t - it's the same size as a normal LCD TV and the quality is excellent - look no more trailing cables. Oh yes, final thing it comes with a 2-year guarantee as standard so peace of mind at no extra cost. Love it to bits - I just wish all consumer electronics were as well thought out !!!!!!!Humax PVR9200TB Freeview

Generally technology is there to make life easier for us and the Humax 9200 PVR does exactly that. This is my second PVR after the bug ridden Panasonic TUTCH-100 that I bought last summer, I have owned the Humax since December 2005 and so have experienced the joys of this machine for a while now.

Set up is easy as with most visual equipment these days, connect your aerial to the Humax, connect the Humax to your TV and begin scanning in the available radio and tv channels - the strength of your aerial coupled with the local freeview signal will determine how many you will receive.

Once this is done, sit back and live the couch potatoes dream !

The Humax can record up to 100 hours of tv, no variable quality of recording settings here, just the way I like it. The picture that I receive on on my tv via my Humax is very good indeed.

With twin freeview tuners you can record two programmes at the same time whilst watching a previously recorded one from the built in 160 gig hard drive or depending on which two channels you are currently recording you can actually watch a third channel live - freeview channels are divided in to "Mux's", think of them as groupings, depending on which groups the channels you are recording from you may be able to watch a third live. By pressing the "List" button on the remote you will be shown which channels are available to watch.

Adverts, get on my nerves or what ! I usually go channel hopping during ad breaks and for those of you who want to know when the programme is back you can use the Picture in Picture function. Options include displaying one channel in a specific corner (you can move it around) or you can display them both side by side, you can also flip between the two. Footie fans will find PIP useful to keep an eye on matches such as the Champions League when they are broadcast at the same time.

The 7 day Electronic Programme Guide enables you to easily set programmes for recording by pressing OK when the programme is highlighted - one of the minor niggles of this box is that the EPG has to be loaded in every time the machine is turned on from off or standby, it doesn't save the guide and occasionally can take a good few minutes to fully populate - in particular channel 4 / e4.

Programmes can also be manually recorded, for example the EPG is only 7 days and you may be going away for 2 weeks so you can manually set up recording times, like the days of VCR !

Pausing live tv, something that I now just couldn't live without, for those that don't know......say you are watching a programme and the phone rings, a knock at the door, the toilet beckons......press the pause button....the picture freezes. Whilst you are doing your thang the humax is still recording the live broadcast to the hard drive. On your return, press play and you continue watching where you left off, at any time you can use the FF button to catch up. When watching something and you want to see it again......when those 6 numbers come up....just press RW and watch it all again !

Most of the PVR manufacturers have provided over the air (download via your tv aerial) software updates to improve the stability and functions of their machines, Humax is one such company.

Since I bought this box two of the most anticipated improvements have now been added.

Chase Play - previously if you set a programme to record and wanted to start watching it before it ended, you couldn't, you had to wait until the recording had finished. Now you can go to the relevant menu and start watching from the beginning whilst the programme is still being recorded.

Auto Padding - Its rare for programmes to start early, but many a time do they overrun. This enables you to set a default time of 5, 10 minutes and so on to the beginning or end of all programmes so you don't miss those important soap cliffhangers !

Well those are the important functions, there are other features that some will use and others won't including a 5 gig mp3 storage facility, ability to link the Humax to a PC to transfer recordings for PC DVD burning, editing facility, oh yeah and the fact it has radio channels too !

The humax is not without its niggles, but that is the norm for most PVR's, visit the DigitalSpy Forums and you'll get a jist of what I mean; the box does take a very short while to boot up, the EPG has to be reloaded as I mentioned above, the box can freeze at times.

You have to put these minor quibbles to one side though and ask why you buy a PVR - to make recording and watching tv easier, for me the Humax has totally changed the way I watch tv...and compared to the disgrace that was the Panasonic last year this is bliss !!!

So far have found this a stunning piece of kit. It does everything it should do and it looks good too.
Some reviews have warned that PVR's can be very noisy but the 9200 is absolutely unintrusive, in fact the main problem is that it is difficult to see if it is actually recording. It certainly changes viewing habits as a single click on the program guide sets up the recording. The times can easily be amended, if required, and set to repeat recordings. It is all so much quicker than a VCR.
The quality of the replays is as good as the originals and the stills and slowmo are perfect.
The twin tuners enabling two recordings to be made simutaneously, or to record and view another programme is excellent.
To be able to choose a recorded program from a list with the orginal title and date is excellent. No more labourious winding tapes backwards and forwards with bits of card noting recordings made.
Highly recommended.