Advice on which older Freeview box to replace unusable FVP-4000T

braychurchmouse

New Member
I think we have had around a dozen Humax boxes, Freesat and Freeview, over the years and all have been absolutely superb, especially the FreeSAT HDR1010S which we have in the lounge, recording, replaying and catchup by WiFi operating perfectly with no technical knowledge required.

I therefore had no hesitation in buying the FVP-4000T (we have good TV aerial feed but no sat cables available) for bedroom use, mostly by my non-technical partner. What a baptism of fire. Even when working correctly it is unresponsive and seemingly takes ages to show the recordings menu, select a recording and then play it. That is if it responds at all. Virtually any time it is required to replay a recording I am summoned to assist and in most cases have to power down and reboot. Just now it needed 2 reboots. The red/blue indicator seems to have a life of its own and gives no indication of status that is in any way meaningful.

I have browsed various forums and it seems most users of the 4000T have similar experience so I am not prepared to invest time in trying to resolve the issues. I am not prepared to go to the effort of updating software, (why isn't it automatic?), and having a frustrating dialog with Humax etc etc.

I would just like the forum's recommendation on which older model of Freeview HDR (from the good old days!) would be easy to use and consistently reliable. We will forgo the availability of catchup and don't really need a large drive. We can probably handle catchup separately with a Chromecast or similar. The older Humax boxes we have had in the past have been non-recording Freeview boxes and recording Freesat boxes so I have little experience of recording Freeview boxes (except the dratted 4000T).

Just a quick solution please, otherwise divorce lawyers will be involved. I am assuming that the 5000T is just "more of the same". A second hand buy on eBay would be fine.
 
If you've read enough of the forum, you would know there's only one decent recommendation: HDR-FOX T2 plus custom firmware. HDR-1800T/2000T are also probably OK but not customisable.
 
I therefore had no hesitation in buying the FVP-4000T (we have good TV aerial feed but no sat cables available) for bedroom use, mostly by my non-technical partner. What a baptism of fire. Even when working correctly it is unresponsive and seemingly takes ages to show the recordings menu, select a recording and then play it. That is if it responds at all. Virtually any time it is required to replay a recording I am summoned to assist and in most cases have to power down and reboot. Just now it needed 2 reboots. The red/blue indicator seems to have a life of its own and gives no indication of status that is in any way meaningful.
Are you aware that there has been a significant software update for the FVP-4000T this week which effectively turns it into an FVP-5000T? Most users seem to think it is an improvement although the user interface is still not quick. Might be worth trying before spending money.
 
Thanks Martin for the advice, maybe I'll try and do an update as a last ditch effort, but if I can pick up an old school HDR that does what we want for less than £100 I'd be reluctant to invest much more time on this box. I get the impression that apart from the ropy software the box is generally underpowered for what it is trying to achieve. I simply cannot believe the contrast between the Freesat HDR1010S and the Freeview FVP-4000T. Did they come from different development teams?

What has been the experience of folk with the 5000T? Is it a more powerful engine? Is the software robust? I might be prepared to give it a go with a good manufacturer guarantee.
 
If you've read enough of the forum, you would know there's only one decent recommendation: HDR-FOX T2 plus custom firmware. HDR-1800T/2000T are also probably OK but not customisable.

Many thanks for the advice and link, I'll take a look at that. Just a little cautious about custom firmware as I don't regard fiddling around with these boxes as a pleasant pastime, though I do respect those that do. :).

Re the HDR-FOX T2 If I just use last manufacturer released firmware would it still be your recomendation?
 
But what I was implying was that the T2 does not have the all fancy catchup junk that 'modern' PVRs have.
 
Just been looking at the links from Black Hole...many thanks...lots of great info. When I have a bit more time I'd like to try the custom software etc, but for the time being I need a bullet-proof, easy to use, responsive, off-the-shelf PVR that my partner, a non-technical person can use. Ideally it would incorporate catchup, but as I am usually summoned to get that opened up I can dispense with that on the main box and perhaps have a Chromecast or similar for catchup. The HDR-FOX T2 seems to fit the bill and have already bid (unsuccessfully) on eBay for a couple. Its also reassuring that fitting a replacement hard disk if ever needed seems straightforward. I think I can steer myself clear of the divorce :)

I'll also try the new software for the 4000T and report back if it improves the stability as promised, but will be a few days before I can get down to the task.
Thanks for all respondents for your help, much appreciated.
 
Just been looking at the links from Black Hole...many thanks...lots of great info. When I have a bit more time I'd like to try the custom software etc, but for the time being I need a bullet-proof, easy to use, responsive, off-the-shelf PVR that my partner, a non-technical person can use.
Adding the custom firmware does not change the user interface on the box; it adds capabilities that can be accessed via a web browser so the non-technical person will be completely unaware of them.
 
Update!!!
Still just missing out on bargain HDR-FOX T2 s on eBay but decided to tackle the software update on the dreaded 4000T. I checked the Humax website which showed that 1.03.39 build date 12th Jna 2018 was available for download. Then just to check which release was on the box I checked the system specs and, "lo and behold" it had updated automatically! Not sure whether over the air or via WiFi. Pressed "Recordings" button, which 50% of the time in the past had caused lockout and required power off and reboot. The other 50% of the time was extremely slow and clunky.

A quick test now the software has been updated reveals a much quicker display of recordings. They come up in list form by default rather than the original grid. All seems much quicker, including the original grid format, but the list format is much quicker. One puzzling thing is that some of the older listed programs show a symbol of a broken cassette (?). When clicked I get message that recording not available or that there had been a power failure during recordings. Pressing play again seems to start the playback ok though. When I get time I'll see if the whole recording is ok.

Software version : UKTFAE 1.03.39
- Loader version : UKTFAE 1.05
- Software Build date : 12 JAN 2018

I was just wondering what the 5000T brings over the 4000T. If the new software for the 4000T prooves to be stable and usable I might consider a 5000T if it has a more powerful engine.

Thanks for the advice so far folks. I'll keep y'all updated as to how usable the better half finds it. Divorce papers on hold for time being.
 
I was just wondering what the 5000T brings over the 4000T.
As far as we know: a different case and improved WiFi but nothing else. I have always suspected that the launch of the FVP-5000T with updated software was an attempt to get away from the awful reputation that the FVP-4000T gained due to the rather deficient early software versions.
 
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