"If you’ve been trying to track down a Freesat recording box lately"

Not really. Most on here will have perfectly usable Foxsat-HDRs with CF and have no need of anything new. Especially as it's just rumoured to be coming.

I seem to recall the -T4R was rumoured for many many months before one appeared in the shops.

Guilty, as charged, for bumping the views count.
 
That's fine - I actually got rid of my Foxsat HDR a few years back with CF because compared to the Fox T2 it was so slow to do anything!

Unfortunately the T2 has departed now and I have replaced it with a BT TV Box Pro and was considering adding the Manhattan Freesat as belt and braces back up device.

Still have the original Aura - useful as a door stop!
 
woodbar said:
Unfortunately the T2 has departed now and I have replaced it with a BT TV Box Pro and was considering adding the Manhattan Freesat as belt and braces back up device.
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Plenty of HDR Fox T2s available on ebay if you consider it unfortunate you no longer have yours.
 
Rodders53 said:
manhattan-tv.com

Manhattan S4•R Freesat TV Recorder

Record, pause and rewind over 100 channels, and instantly access 60,000+ hours of on-demand and catch-up TV.
manhattan-tv.com

Only since post lunchtime today 15th April 2026 and scant on details or a user manual to read so far.

Stock?
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Ditto

www.cordbusters.co.uk

Manhattan Launches The S4-R: A New Freesat Recorder | Cord Busters

Manhattan TV launches the S4-R, a new Freesat 4K recorder with four-channel recording, starting at £219.99 for the 500GB model
www.cordbusters.co.uk www.cordbusters.co.uk

I see it says it will record 4 things at once which gives me hope that if the T4-R gets replaced by a new model it may do also removing the main reason for people choosing Humax over Manhattan.
 
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trog said:
I see it says it will record 4 things at once which gives me hope that if the T4-R gets replaced by a new model it may do also removing the main reason for people choosing Humax over Manhattan.
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That's only with a wideband $ky Q lnb and the 4 tuners it has inside.

On another forum someone has stated that Manhattan have crippled, in software, the tuners down to two when using a legacy/universal to prevent people complaining when they can't always make 4 recordings (as only up to two LNB modes can be selected of the four possible).

The freesat 4k box only stated two with legacy LNB but people got up to four quite happily.
 
Hopes dashed though these days there are a plethora of other reasons to avoid buying from Humax.
 
I have been looking for some info on the S4-R as I am quite tempted. Trouble is my dish and LNBs were installed probably 15-20 years ago for the Foxsat HDR so they are unlikely to be the wideband Sky Q jobbies.

I have Freesat built in to the LG TV but have never actually used it - I will connect the feeds one at a time see if the LNBs still work to start with but I guess I would need an update for the LNB (and dish?) to get the 4 concurrent record facility which is the topmost requirement.
 
Yes you would need to swap to a wideband LNB to guarantee the 4 channel record capability... but the S4-R will happily use the existing universal LNB.

Some reported that the freesat 4k box would do more than two recordings (presumably provided the extra TV channels were in the same 'mode' as already in use by another tuner in that 4-tuner box with a universal LNB...

Dunno if any of the S4-R users have experimented but Manhattan are (like freesat with the 4k were) adamant only two are possible.?

Take a close up, in focus, picture of the LNB label to identify what is currently fitted.
 
Thanks for your thoughts and information.

I am disabled, still waiting for a new hip or two, so accessing the LNB is a non-starter!

I did wonder that - if the you tried to record the extra signal in the same mode/node from an in use tuner whether it would allow it? I seem to remember the Foxsat HDR, or was it the HDR T2, would grey out unavailable channels leaving some available to view or record in those circumstances? A long time ago now.

I will check the twin feeds from the dish into my LG first, and if they are both still working I will seriously think about buying the S4-R then getting someone to sort the LNB update for me. I need at least a working signal available to verify the Manhattan as a while back I did purchase a T4-R and it had a terrible picture quality! I assume, lucky me, just got a bad one but I did not risk trying another and bought a new, bargain basement, EE TV Box Pro which has been pretty good.
 
woodbar said:
I need at least a working signal available to verify the Manhattan as a while back I did purchase a T4-R and it had a terrible picture quality! I assume, lucky me, just got a bad one
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The main complaint in the first six months after it was released was the SD picture quality. An update 6 months after launch drastically improved it for SD, and supposedly a bit of improvement for HD and catchup as well.

There was also some picture distortion with some TVs to do with 50Hz / 60Hz. In the first month after launch there was also an intermittent saturation issue linked to HDR where the box would need a restart to correct.

woodbar said:
I seem to remember the Foxsat HDR, or was it the HDR T2, would grey out unavailable channels leaving some available to view or record in those circumstances?
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I don't know about the Foxsat, but the HDR T2 only does that in the LIST function (where you hit the LIST button to list all channels.
The old PVR-9200T (and PVR-3000T and PVR-1500T) used to make it obvious in the TV Guide.

Edit: Apparently the FOXSAT does also grey out unavailable channels in the guide.
Edit: and the Manhattan T4-R has an option to add an indicator in the TV Guide, and the Channel Browser, against unavailable channels.
 
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Well, thanks for all the info and confirmation about the Foxsat greying out etc. so my memory bank has not totally failed yet!

Might be wise to wait a bit then before buying the S4-R as that is still pretty recent in view of your comments regarding the T4-R problems which took a few months to resolve.

Just an off topic note - we usually watch nearly everything via my EE TV Box as I suppose it is convenient as off air, recordings, Netflix and Prime are all available in one place with a single RC. However tonight, for some reason, I decided to just use the LG TV as the source because I was not intending to watch any recordings and noted a better PQ both on Prime HDR and broadcast TV HD!
 
woodbar said:
However tonight, for some reason, I decided to just use the LG TV as the source because I was not intending to watch any recordings and noted a better PQ both on Prime HDR and broadcast TV HD!
Click to expand...
Your observation of freeview native TV vs freeview from a set top box is not the first.
For broadcast TV the television decodes the broadcast signal natively, meaning the TV can handle the internal processor handles scaling and de-interlacing without an intermediary device altering the feed.

I guess that may also apply to Prime HDR but there may be other factors.
 
Check the well known forums for user feedback on the S4R box: Here (obviously)., DigitalSpy, and AVForums at least. For a new box it appears pretty stable from what I've read.

Note the T4R is crippled to two tuners only on Freeview and there are far fewer channels in HD cf Freesat.

Once the TV confirms the LNB still works, if two tuners is enough, possibly seek out an old Humax Foxsat-HDR and install the custom firmware / patch on it... ;) You may seldom need to record more than two channels and could use the EE box for those occasions; or even the TV with an attached usb hard drive.

Picture quality / appearance may well be due to per input settings differences... so internal tuner uses one set, internal streamer another, and the hdmi input from the EE box a third... Tweaking / copying settings is usually simple enough.

Note that the EE box may also do a worse job of upscaling cf the TV so try that as well.
Your eyeballs are what matters. So set things to suit you!

UHD HDR content from external sources sometimes need specific hdmi inputs to be used and enabled to work... it's not always automatic and can be called different things by different makers.
 
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