Humax to Manhattan

LDW

Member
I feel a bit of a traitor, but I’ve just bought a Manhattan T-3R.

Why? The usual: the slow remote, dodgy subtitles, and flaky iPlayer. I always had access to on-demand through a cheap Now box, but it was a pain to switch from one to other. And after years indulging the Humax and its funny little ways, I snapped. I tried the Humax FVP-5000T, but I hated it and had to sell it on.

So what’s good in the T-3R, and what’s missing?

Good stuff:

OMG the remote properly works.
OMG iPlayer properly works.
OMG subtitles properly work.
Setup was as good as everyone says: as pain-free as it’s possible to be.
On-demand is all good (except ALL4 -see below)

Now the not-so-good:

The UI is dismal. The screens are busy and cluttered, and the fonts tiny and grey.
The ALL4 app crashed the whole thing, requiring a hard reboot, until fixed by customer service.
The remote button layout and functions seem daft to me.
Can't search the EPG. (Yes - bonkers, isn't it?)

And here is what’s missing (that I’ve found so far):

can’t reorder channels
favourites list doesn’t work properly
can’t download on-demand programmes to hard drive/USB stick
can’t download recorded programmes to to hard drive/USB stick
can’t programme remotely
no YouTube

So we will keep the Humax, with its wonderful CF, plugged in alongside the Manhattan, for special recordings. But for daily use, the T-3R wins out. Sorry!
 
I’ve just bought a Manhattan T-3R.
no YouTube
Are you sure. Manhattan is still advertising the T3-R as having youtube, and also on another forum site there have been discussions on the T3_R sometimes crashing if a 4K youtube video is accessed.

Good stuff:
...

Now the not-so-good:
...
Unlike most other makes the T3-R gives recording priority to the start of a recording over recordings that have not quite completed due to padding. Possibly this als applies when an AR 'stop signal' has yet to occur after the scheduled end. Manhattan's reasoning being that the end of recordings are usually not part of the body of the programme but adverts or credits etc.
How is that working out for you? Or don't you ever record 3 programmes that are that close together?
 
Ooh. Maybe I was wrong about YouTube. I will have another look. Thank you.

No issues with padding that I have noticed. I will keep an eye.
 
OK, so it HAS got YouTube, but it's pretty pants. There's no button on the remote for it, nor onscreen menu item. You have to go onto YouTube on your phone/tablet and cast to the Manhattan. After that you're OK, but it's a silly implementation IMHO. Probably some permission required or copyright issue.

Re ALL4, the first thing the box does when you start up is look for the latest firmware, so I knew I was up to date. Contact with Manhattan (very prompt and helpful) got this fix:


*How to update to v2.04(14) using PIN*First check that your T3-R has
internet connection. To check, press HOME > Settings > Information

Network. After checking, press EXIT.

- Press HOME and go to: Settings > Help
- Press Red > Blue > Yellow > Yellow > Green
- A secret menu will be shown
- Select Check Debug Software Update
- Enter the PIN code:* [redacted] *using the keyboard displayed
- Select *Search *on the keyboard and press OK

Your T3-R will search for the update and when it finds it, it will ask
if you want to update. Press OK to Install Update. During updating
please DO NOT turn off the power to your T3-R. Please allow the update to
complete.
 
OK, so it HAS got YouTube, but it's pretty pants. There's no button on the remote for it, nor onscreen menu item. You have to go onto YouTube on your phone/tablet and cast to the Manhattan. After that you're OK, but it's a silly implementation IMHO. Probably some permission required or copyright issue.
There IS an onscreen menu item for YouTube, accessed via the F button.
 
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Perhaps this discussion would be better somewhere other than the HD/HDR CF section, although there doesn't seem to be anywhere obvious other than the Arms?
 
1648391589728.png
(Edited: Updated to newer screenshot to include Britbox in image)
 
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You have to go onto YouTube on your phone/tablet and cast to the Manhattan. After that you're OK, but it's a silly implementation IMHO. Probably some permission required or copyright issue.
More likely it's much easier to browse YouTube (etc) with a touch screen than rely on a multitude of remote handset button presses, including text entry.
 
Does the Manhattan have a folder structure you can actually file recordings into?
Ie. Is it more like the FOX rather than the Aura for example?

Also, what skip and FF functions are available?
 
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