Humax - has the recent issues been corrected? Looking at purchasing.

[Tezza]

Hi guys,

I've been keen to buy a Humax HDR - 7500 from ice TV for a while, and after saving up I went to purchase one a few weeks ago online but noticed two critical issues being raised on these and other forums (padding and missing epg) which made me pause on purchasing one?

My question - has it all been resolved?

I don't want to spend money on something which has issues that might be current with it.

I just noticed the Beyonwiz (2TB) deal for an extra $100 or so in comparison to Humax.  If Humax is still experiencing issues I might go this way as I'm really keen on getting a pvr this week from ice TV - just need to make the right decision on the model. 

How does the Beyonwiz compare in quality and reliability against the Humax out of interest and which way would you guys go?

Cheers for your advice guys - appreciated.

[prl]

Beyonwiz works reliably with IceTV, and padding works (with or without IceTV).

It has both pre- and post-padding, each separately configurable up to 120 min (from a menu, so the choices are limited, but flexible enough - but you can't, for example, have anything between 90 and 120min). It also allows the choice of whether pre-padding, post-padding or the original timers has priority when there are padding clashes in cases where keeping the padding would require more simultaneous recordings than it supports (max 2). I thiny the padding priority choice over-complicates the interface and makes it harder to explain, but if you set it to None (rather than Pre- or Post-), then the set timers have priority, and the padding works as it does on most other PVRs. I have padding priority None, and 2 minutes pre- and 25 min post-padding.

The behavior of the Humax complained of in one post here for consecutive recordings of the same service is handled similarly on Beyonwizes: you often end up with part of one of the two consecutive programs in the "wrong" recording. This can be worked around by getting the Beyonwiz to play the two recordings back-to-back, but there's always a short interruption to the playback (~1 sec), and a short break in the actual recording (again ~1sec) for the time the Beyonwiz takes to stop making one recording and start another.

It's in general a pretty stable PVR IMO, though still not without some bugs. The bugs and wishes list may appear rather daunting, but many are minor or very infrequently occurring. There's a pretty much complete history of bugs and firmware release notes maintained by Beyonwiz users. I don't know of any similar resource for any other PVR. The bugs list also contains notes about bugs fixed and wishes implemented from the previous version.

Unfortunately, Dealspace is currently showing Out of Stock for new DP-Lite i PVRs. They are lower cost than the DP-P2 and don't have as large HDD (500GB vs 1TB or 2TB), don't have analog in, and don't have a front panel display or memory card reader). But otherwise the capabilities are pretty much the same (apart from obvious differences due to the hardware).

[Beyonwiz beta tester]

[carlprowse]

Our Humax is working well. Our impression of the state of the issues are:
1. Padding. It appears to be fixed, even with power saving settings on.
2. EPG missing. We have not experienced this issue
3. Storing recordings in folders. Most, if not all recordings, are now not being stored in folders. (A backward step?). We did do a full factory reset after the firmware upgrade
4. SBS OnDemand. It has been added. Now that is an extra, not a fix. Good stuff!
5. Bonus or phantom recordings. (unrequested recordings). We get these very rarely. I have never investigated this issue.

Wish List
Longer padding options. The longest post padding is 20 minutes. Yet commercial channels, such as channel 7, can be running late by more than this. I will spare you my extended rant about commercial TV. The Federal Government should insist these channels honour their broadcast licenses and stick to the published schedules. Until they do this, the commercial channels have no grounds for complaint if we download shows.

[lespato]

Hi Tezza

I own a Humax pvr bought from Icetv. I went through the padding issue which was a problem for a while. But since the release of the new firmware I have had no more problems. It has been working great. Putting programs in there correct folders and the padding is spot on. I would recommend this pvr. I am thinking of buying a second one in fact.

Les

[lespato]

Hi carlprowse

After I did the firmware update and factory reset I then deleted my recording schedule from the box. I also  deleted my folders. I then went to the computer and my icetv account and made sure I had no programs scheduled . I waited 1 hour to make sure all was in sync. I then rescheduled my programs from the icetv website.  It has been over a week of recording now and all programs are in there correct folders.

Les 

[Tezza]

Hi guys,

Thanks to those that have replied - helps me out a lot with making a decision to purchase one.

So, from what I am understanding it sounds like the Humax problems encountered (padding issues and missing EPG) are fixed via the new firmware upgrade!  Let me know if I'm incorrect here!

As an alternative to the Humax, Beyonwiz also sounds like a good pvr to get.  However the humax pvr is more in my price range, considering you get the wifi dongle for free and a 5 year Ice Tv subscription fairly cheap so I was sought of hoping that the Humax would end up the way to go.  But as I previously mentioned, I don't want to invest money into something which isn't working!  Ha - my wife doesn't want me to get one, so imagine it if I do purchase one and it doesn't work for her shows = disaster (and a big 'I told you so')!!!!!

Any other comments on the Humax is welcomed!

Cheers guys!

[swamprat96]

Everything working here now too. No more phantom recordings either.
Now just give us padding up to 60 minutes, mkv and samba support and you'll have a winner

[alby]

Hi there,
For me, NO the issues have not been resolved - EPG still disappears after a few days.  I have been advised that a new firmware update is due shortly which will hopefully fix the problem.  Been a little frustrating but communication and support from ICE TV is good.

[swamprat96]

I have had no issues whatsoever since applying the firmware and applying a factory reset

[ozpowell]

I have had no issues whatsoever since applying the firmware and applying a factory reset

No issues for me since firmware update and factory reset either.

[stt602]

NO the issues have not been resolved - EPG still disappears 

The same here, EPG goes blank sometimes, not sure what causes this, seems to happen to me intermittently when recording manually.
There seems to be also a bug with the display control of the unit, i.e after starting a manual recording and switching the Humax off and back on again (with remote), the display stays off. To get the display back on, the recording has to be stopped and unit soft power cycled.
This only happens when power saving in standby is set to On. Maybe others users could try and verify this.

Any other comments on the Humax is welcomed!

I'm still happy with the Humax. The unit itself seems very stable, it did not crash/lock up once or play up in any way other than mentioned above. The tuners are quite sensitive, so good reception even with low signal strenghts, picture quality and colors are excellent, channel changes are fast. Audio seems to be a little fast, works fine with lip-sync set to 120ms though.
Initial set up is easy, networking (via Wi-Fi for me) works without a hitch. Remote is strong (point it almost anywhere in an average sized room and still control the Humax), although position and function (i.e use of secondary commands) of some buttons could be better.
Trick play is almost instant- good for ad skipping. I also like that one still can pause and chase play live broadcast while recording 2 programs at the same time. Menus are quick and easy to navigate through, schedules are set up in a snap (icetv subscription is a must IMO), recordings quite easy to access due to folder structure (no Find function for files though).