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What to buy?

E

Ed Ludlow

Member
Hi there. I’m after some advice…

I’ve always owned Humax boxes, most recently the HDR-FOX T2, on which I’ve always run custom firmware. Over the last few years I’ve used it less and less, relying on streaming and catch up services.

My wife and I suffered a house fire in the summer, and pretty much all we own has been written off. About to move home, and spending some considerable time and money on home entertainment systems (which be of the few upsides of the fire is having the insurance cash to play with). I’ve toyed with not having any recording facility, but I think I’d like something just for the rare occasions we want to record and then skip adverts etc.

I really think usage will be a few times a year if that 🤣

What Humax box would folk look at? Recording freeview only, so 1080p only is fine. No real need for much storage, 500GB is ample. Happy to refurbed. What would you go for? Quite like the idea of running custom FW (for remote access primarily) but I guess not essential

Don’t want to spend money where I don’t need to but at the same time I want something reliable that can be used when needed.

For the very few times I’ll want to watch live terrestrial TV, I’ll probably use this box too.

Thanks in advance.
 
Ed Ludlow said:
Quite like the idea of running custom FW (for remote access primarily) but I guess not essential
Click to expand...
There's really only one game in town for that, you know what it is but you would have to buy used. On a different tack there's a thing called a Homerun which is essentially a tuner interfaced to the home network which streams broadcast TV and can be controlled/recorded by computer. See https://hummy.tv/forum/forums/diy-pvr-building.55/

Ed Ludlow said:
I want something reliable that can be used when needed
Click to expand...
A used HDR-FOX could expire at any time, but frankly so could anything else. Electronics equipment doesn't like sitting around unused.

It strikes me you are conflicted. For casual, unconsidered, entertainment, no doubt live+catchup does the job and there is no need for PVR facilities. But catchup expires, so for something worth saving for a rainy day you either have to record it or rely on subscription services. Recording it is a considered, planned operation, which requires discipline and proactivity, not lazy casuality.

I think you should decide whether you are going to take a proactive, curated approach to TV, and be a committed PVR user, or give in to the Sky approach of stack it high and sell it cheap.

However, the latest PVRs offer the best of both worlds: Live TV, PVR, and the full range of catchup services (not just iPlayer). Really, you should be looking at the Humax Aura (which, IIRC, also has remote programming).
 
Thanks, @Black Hole. Should have said, I'm heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, so the vast vast majority of the catchup stuff will be via Apple TV. Sky is a tricky option (all to do with property being in a conversation area, hence dish gets messy), plus I don't want really like paying them 😂 For sport, it's Sky Go with the PS5 with a family Sky Go account, or NOW TV.

The Aura looks interesting, but probably more than I want to pay.

I think a used HDR-FOX is probably best bet for the moment, will see what I can find. Shame there's nothing refurbed on the Humax Direct site, but I imagine they're very much in demand.

Appreciate your input - thanks!
 
You're probably sorted by now but I replaced my Fox-T2 with a BT Pro Box. Officially only available from BT with a sub to their TV services, but I got mine from CEX. They also appear on Ebay but mostly over-priced & with CEX there's a warranty. Triple tuners, Youview, 1TB HDD & remote recording via the BT TV app without subscribing.

I tried an FVT-5000 last year but went back to the Fox-T2 after a day. Humax seem to have lost the plot somewhat with regards to flaky software. BT have dropped them & the new Pro Box is made by Sagemcom.
 
I picked up a Humax HDR-FOX T2 on eBay last year for £45. Now running CF. Very happy with it. Being all of the similar age (I'm guessing) is there reason to think that a second-hand one is more likely to expire than the one you lost in the fire?
 
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