Any feedback on Humax

[lespato]

Hi Everyone.

I have just joined this forum so I am a complete newbie. I am looking at getting a new PVR to replace my old Topfield 5000 masterpiece (which is still going great by the way). I got interested in the Humax HDR-7500T and tried to find everything I could on it. I read the review linked on the icetv site but was looking to hear from people that have one so I could get some feed back. My next choice would be the Beyonwiz DP Lite-i .   

Any suggestions or feedback on the Humax would be appreciated.

Les

[prl]

IceTV only started selling and supporting the Humax in late August, so there may not be much experience of it around.

[lespato]

Thank you Peter for your reply. I didn't realize it was only just released. The fact that they are giving a 2 year warranty means that they must be confident with the product. I might then have a closer look at the Beyonwiz DP Lite-i .

Les

[bakerbirch]

I used a Humax PVR in the UK for 4 years and was disaapointed there weren't available here when I arrived. Thankfully IceTV have introduced them and I bought one immediately. Glad I did.

[lespato]

Hi bakerbirch

Thank you for your input. I recieved my Humax yesterday. So far I am quite impressed. Icetv works great with it. Have you had any experience tranfering files to an external source?

Les

[Cods]

I'm tossing up buying either the Humax (probably the 1Tb Humax 7500t) or the 1Tb Topfield Masterpiece HD-PLUS PVR TRF2460.

I'd also be really interested in any feedback on the Humax by owners.

Cheers!
Cods

Here's what I posted over at the DTV Forums at http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?s=&showtopic=95867&view=findpost&p=1743872.

_______________________________

I apologise in advance for the latest instalment of the Which PVR Should I Buy post.
Obviously I'm not so apologetic as to avoid posting it though...

I'm in the market for a good PVR that has the all-important high WAF.She's used to various TiVo's (OzTiVo, US TiVo HD, briefly an Australian TiVo 320) so that'll be what the interface of new PVR will be measured against.

It can't be a TiVo, as for whatever arcane reason, Australian TiVos will not play nicely with my US Panasonic plasma TV. I've exhaustively checked this, and whilst it should be impossible, it's definitely the case - annoyingly, exasperatingly, bewilderingly the case. Suspect some bizarre HDCP issue, possibly some weird power artefact, but that's off topic. I've tried with two different new TiVo 320's, and ze TiVo, she doesn't like to play. Kmart HD set top box is OK. Australian Mac Mini OK. US Apple TV2 OK. Random laptops via DVi-HDMI adaptors OK. Australian PlayStation 3 OK. Everything but Australian TiVos...

OK to pay in the $550-650 region if that's what it takes.

Environment:
- Free to air TV only, no Foxtel/Austar etc.
- Will be connected to an HD plasma via HDMI, initially directly, soon via a nice A/V amplifier.
- Will be always connected via Ethernet to internet.
- Will always be used with an IceTV subscription, IceTV settings probably done via iPad2 or iPhone.
- Already have a PS3 for Blu-Ray playback, and it gets used quite a bit these days for ABC iView.
- Already have an Apple TV2 that accesses our expanding iTunes library of HD movies and kids shows.
- Already have an Elgato EyeTV Netstream DTT happily sending TV via WiFi 802.11N to an iPad2 (very high WAF!) and also recording stuff for the archive to a MacBook Pro with an attached NAS. Was going to set up an old (CoreDuo) MacMini as an HTPC, but just cannot find the time, and the WAF of the HTPC has been tested as low. Seeing a pattern here...

High Priority / Must Have:
- Good user interface, easy to use.
- IceTV compatible (this may outweigh an average UI?)
- Twin HD tuner minimum (ie: record 2x programs on different networks simultaneously)
- Reliable, with decent support.
- Decent capacity for HD recordings.

Medium Priority / Nice To Have:
- Expandable HDD capacity (either via swapping in a new, larger HDD, or adding an external HDD).
- ABC iView

Low Priority / Don't Care If Present or Not:
- Catchup services from Channels 7, 9, 10, etc
- Playback of video, audio or images from other sources.
- YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Weather, <insert Next Big Thing here>
- WiFi

Other Commentary:
I quite like the look of the Humax 7500t 1Tb or the Topfield Masterpiece HD-PLUS PVR TRF2460 1Tb.
That said, I'm open to other suggestions if there's a compelling reason to choose X over the two models mentioned above.

In favour of the Humax 7500t is:
- Lower cost, $549 on the IceTV web store.
- Has ABC iView capability
- Deeper IceTV interoperability (?)
Against the Humax 7500t:
- Unsure about storage capacity expansion via external HDD
- No TAPs (Toppy owners seem to love these)

In favour of the Toppy TRF2460 Plus! Whiz! is:
- The Quad record capability (yep, I'm aware it's over 2x networks only)
- TAPs
- Known 1Tb internal + 1Tb external HDD capacity
Against the Toppy TRF2460
- ~$100 more expensive than the Humax on IceTVs web store.
- No ABC iView capability

I'd really appreciate recommendations from you guys!
Cheers,
Cods

[lespato]

Hi Cods

I have had my Humax now for 2 weeks and liking it very much. The only thing I can’t do so far is open the .TS files which I download to the computer through the FTP server. I have tried VideoRedo to open and convert the files but no go. It says unknown format but Videoredo has .ts files listed in file types menu. Unable to stream to the computer also. I will play around with it a bit more when I get more time.
IceTv works great with the Humax and as a PVR I couldn’t be happier.
Les

[Dave at IceTV]

I have had my Humax now for 2 weeks and liking it very much. The only thing I can’t do so far is open the .TS files which I download to the computer through the FTP server. I have tried VideoRedo to open and convert the files but no go. It says unknown format but Videoredo has .ts files listed in file types menu.

Keep an eye out for a firmware update.

[lespato]

Hi Dave

Thank you for your reply. I will keep an eye out for a firmware update. Do you have any idea as to when this might be?

Lespato

[Dave at IceTV]

The latest firmware (version 1.04.00) goes a long way to solving this issue. If you copy the files to a USB drive you can now play and edit them on a computer, as they are regular unencrypted .ts files.

With firmware version 1.04.00 and earlier, do not copy recordings from the Humax to a computer using ftp as they are still encrypted when transferring via ftp.

With firmware version 1.04.00 and earlier, after copying the a recording to a USB drive you will need to delete the .htm file if you want the Humax to be able to see the .ts video file, so it can play it.

With firmware version 1.04.00 and earlier, do not copy a Humax recording from USB back to the internal HDD. But if you do, and the Humax cannot see it, you can delete the files via ftp. Copying .ts files is ok.

[Dave at IceTV]

Humax are due to release an update to fix these issues sometime in December... just in time for Christmas.

[agabb]

Having fiddled around with tranferring files, here's some info.

I copied the file in the Humax to a USB drive. I found that I couldn't connect the drive to the front - it didn't work there, though USB flash sticks do - so I connected it on the back.

I couldn't open the .ts file in VideoRedo Plus, but I could after updating VideoRedo Plus to the latest version. I could only open it in Windows Media Player by using the popup 'open with' - other methods failed.

FTP - The FPT user name is Humaxftp, the password is '0000' and the IP address is as shown on the Internet LAN settings in the Humax. I used FileZilla for the FTP - Internet Explorer also worked using ftp://humaxfpt:0000@192.168.1.101 (for my IP), but it's klunky. Firefox doesn't do FTP. As Dave pointed out, if you ftp a .ts file to the PC, it won't open (encrypted). I FTPd an mpg file to the Humax and it played OK. (Note that you also need to enable FPT on the Humax,)

BUT ... with files FTPd from the PC and files on the USB, I had no control over the playing of the files, ie I couldn't move forward or back or use FF. Downer. ... but see below

NETWORK - this was a pain too, but I got there. I downloaded the latest version of Windows Media Player for XP and added some mpg files to the Library. I enabled sharing and then the Humax could see and play them over the network. In this case I can control the playback (which is weird but given the problems above is also encouraging).

Humax needs to do a lot more documenting in this area. Virtually everything I learnt was from random forums like this.

Andrew

[Cods]

I bit the bullet and ordered the 1TB Humax 7500T, which was delivered on Monday.
Unfortunately, whilst it turns on fine, I get nothing on screen on my Panasonic plasma, whether connected via HDMI or Component video.
I've spent an hour or so buggerising around with the TV settings trying to work out what the issue is, and I still can't get any picture whatsoever to display.
Any tips?

[agabb]

Worked fine using HDMI on my Sony - easiest installation I ever had. Not sure how you configure a Panasonic input channel, but on the Sony you just select the HMDI channel.

Andrew

[markrmarkr]

Humax HDR-7500T as a DLNA server

I actually did some research to find out if the Humax had this capability (to serve DLNA) but I couldn't find anything to suggest it had it.   The Ice spec page here http://www.icetv.com.au/store/PVRs/Humax_HDR7500T_1TB_PVR  doesn't imply this, though it does show a DLNA player capability.   Also there is no mention in the Humax manual, though again there is mention of a DLNA player capability.

So imagine my surprise when I switched the source on my Samsung TV, looking for my TVMobili DLNA server, and found HDR-7500T as well!!!!

When I tested if it worked I was again pleasantly surprised.   The Samsung TV didn't have any problems playing the DLNA stream (which is surprising because normally it is quite fickle - I have a NAS which claims to serve DLNA, but that's another story...).   It also played fine on VLC on both computers in the study...simultaneously, while the wife was also using the Humax to watch TV in the lounge room, oblivious to my background machinations.

The wife and I are planning to get another TV for our bedroom and this would work brilliantly with the Humax serving DLNA and being programmed via Ice from our phones.

Also TPG (my Internet provider) is playing with serving multiple IPTV streams via DLNA see here http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1619072 So DLNA has a big future in our house.

There is only one small fly in the ointment - it takes a minute or two to find the Humax, and this is true for both The Samsung TV and VLC.  Both of which find TVMobili and the NAS straight away.   But otherwise I couldn't be more stoked.   I really think both Humax and Ice need to update their documentation though.   The ability to serve DLNA is an important selling point, which customers need to be made aware of.

Mark