Product reviewsHumax Foxsat HDR/1TB (1TB) DVR

A significant improvement on a previous set top box.

It has enabled me, for the first time for two years to watch all the channels that are available. I live in a v poor signal area and had been restricted to BBC 1&2 and even they were not brilliant in quality. He human together with a satellite dish had made a huge difference.
However, it is slow to respond and the directions in the handbook take some time to find and are not always easy to follow.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: refurbished | Sold by: akelectronics.ltd

It may be "previous generation" but it's an excellent freesat satellite box nevertheless

I bought my first Humax Foxsat-HDR six years ago and with the custom firmware it's been a superb Freesat box for me, so much so that I was looking for an additional box to enhance my setup. Now I have the ability to record up to four programmes concurrently should that need arise.

My initial attraction to the Foxsat-HDR was that it had an ethernet port which allowed for the transfer of recorded programmes to a PC or NAS. What made me a real devotee of the product is the fact that there is custom firmware available which allows all sorts of enhancements to that experience. For example, if your box is connected to your PC/router via an ethernet cable, you can browse the EPG from your PC and set recordings from there (subject to a reboot between setting the recording and it actually being made). In addition, using the "Nowster patch" you can ensure that HD recordings are unencrypted.

This is the only Humax that allows custom firmware to be installed and it's the reason why I have sought out a second box, rather than purchasing a different more up-to-date model. For anyone who looks for additional flexibility beyond merely time-shifting TV programmes, such as transferring recordings to a PC/NAS this is an ideal solution. A number of online forums give full details of the firmware and they can be found readily by searching online for "Humax Foxsat-HDR custom firmware". There is plenty of online help available in those forums for those needing assistance in addition to the links for the firmware.

The box is set to go into standby for housekeeping at 3 am local time and this is also used by the firmware to update recording schedules made via a PC browser.

The box has dual tuners making it possible to record two programmes at the same time and playback a third already recorded. The only thing to watch out for is if you are watching a live programme but one which has been rewound, the tuner treats this as a recording - so in that situation if you are already recording a second programme and another comes up for recording that will fail as that would be classed as a third recording! Boxes are available in a variety of hard drive sizes and for those who don't mind opening up the case, a larger hard drive can be installed to allow for more recording space. Advice is available in the forums as to what to look for in a replacement drive.

For those coming from the Sky platform, Freesat has the benefit of subscription free viewing (albeit without the full range of Sky channels) and also your recordings are still available to view at anytime (unlike Sky, where, once you cancel your subscription, you can no longer access your recordings as they are encrypted on the set-top box).

The only negative about the box for me is that it does not have a gigabit ethernet interface so programme transfers to a PC or NAS are somewhat slower than gigabit users would expect, but that's a small price to pay for the flexibility offered by this product.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: akelectronics.ltd

Good product and a good supplier.

Had a 250gb Model for over 12 years and it's always been great . Now need another for a different location. 1tb is too much but at the price I found it good value.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: akelectronics.ltd

This machine is easy to set up. Easy to use.

This machine is easy to set up. Easy to use. Basically a plug and play setup.

The new curved design might not appeal to all and it kind of pushes the box to be on the top of any stack system but it looks well.

When initially turned on it immediately seems to indicate that 10% of the drive space is used. I don't know whu that is and would welcome any explanationRead full review...

The one to get - and a good second hand buy

Everyone knows it's the best one - pity they didn't just fix the bugs and stick with it as the later model is not liked. Second hand this was in perfect condition. I now have three - they are good value storage given that you can't save encrypted HD programmes outside the box. Stores the equivalent of £1000 of SVHS tapes ten years ago, in much better quality!Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: khuze

humaxfox

I did not set it up myself as i am elderly so i got a tv aerial fitter to do the job it did not take him long and this was what he said was best no problem all working fine the item was as dscribed and like new conditionRead full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: squeegiebasher

Very good and Easy

It was good to use and very easy to setup. It’s great now that I don’t have to keep subscribing. The picture quality is great and you still get most of the channels.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: pro_sat_service...

PVR RECORDER

Very good support detailed information off item i was going to purchase and given a 12 month warranty

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: refurbished | Sold by: akelectronics.ltd

A very nice unit, picture is good and although I am not yet used to useing it I feel that given time it will work very well for me.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: dalmation-8

A great alternative to paying monthly!

A great alternative to paying for Sky TV. Simple menu. Records programmes and series just like Sky with one touch facilities straight off the guide. Obviously having 1TB of space means we never run out. Can't honestly see the point of paying monthly once you have a HD set up like this. Only negative is sometimes the box (being a computer) responds a little slowly to remote. Has occasionally frozen. But I understand this can happen to anyones box!Read full review...