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Don't miss your favourite programmes ever again. Equipped with the latest technology and a slimline design, the Humax PVR9300TB provides digital terrestrial broadcast reception, and offers up to 200 hours worth of recording with its integrated 320GB hard disk drive. It enables you to record one channel while watching another and to record two channels simultaneously while playing back a previous recording. There's also a Picture-in-Picture function so you can enjoy two of your favourite programmes at the same time.
The Humax PVR9300TB has a highly sensitive tuner for excellent reception and a live eight-day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), for even better programme information on all channels. It also enables subtitles, digital teletext, and interactive features. The PVR9300TB is also compatible with broadcasts carrying the Audio Description service, which offers a useful narration for sight-impaired people. The USB 2.0 connection allows viewers to enjoy digital photos on a large TV screen or to listen to MP3 files downloaded from a PC. An HDMI output allows you to connect to a compatible HD Ready TV for best picture quality. Installation is simple, just plug in and play.
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 Humax Improved |
| Review Date: November 29, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Hugo, |
I'm happy to be the first to review this product with it's new software upgrade.
When I purchased this a week ago I was horrified at the ridiculously loud fan noise. After contacting Humax to see if it was a fault I was told an over the air upgrade was coming this week. What a difference it makes, it's gone from being the loudest PVR on the market to the quietest! So instead of telling people to avoid it give it five stars. The picture quality is superb with no blocking or freezing, it's a piece of cake to reord shows and even series. And it never misses the end of a show, a big improvement on my old one.
Sure there are a few ways I'd like the software to be improved but it's nothing you can't work round with a few clicks. Top marks. |
Great Piece Of Kit
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| Review Date: May 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Steve, UK |
Had this for a few of days now, after ditching my Thomson box, which just kept freezing and not turning on..only over a year old. Hughes direct were quick to deliver and had no problem with them, although as others have said they send this out in its product box, not within a brown box, but you could say they are reducing the impact on the environment.
The Humax pvr9300t is well worth the money and once you get used to the functional differences then it's straight forward to operate.
Set up it a breeze, just connect, switch on and its scanning channels
before you do anything else and then save them and you're there. Each channel is displayed in the led on the pvr itself (nice touch!) and the time is downloaded from the aerial and pretty close to the radio controlled clocks. Yeah. The EPG is slow to download, due to Humax beleiving that 9300t should have the most up to date programme inf and will adjust recording times if a programme's schedule changes, but leave the pvr, for 5 to 6 minutes, on BBC1 and all channels and days are populated or set it up to auto switch on before you're ready to watch.
Unlike other pvr's depending on which mux (multiplex) you are recording on you are able to watch a third programme whilst recording two other programs (whilst normally viewing TV just press OK to see the other channels available when recording), not heard of this on another box. Another nice touch!
If you're having trouble with programmes series linked on Channel 5 and find every occurence of a programme set to series link is recored (including the one's on FIVER), this is not the box but the interesting way Channel 5 have imbedded their series link data and can easily be overcome by manually setting a programme up to record weekly.
Finally. Fan noise..the software is fully up to date and this is a non existent problem..some old reviews may state it's noisey.
In summary. This is a great piece of kit.
**Update**
Had this now for a couple of weeks and I must say I am well chuffed with it. Watch it more than Sky+.
**Update...Update**
Had this nearly a month now and like McDonalds....I'm loving it!
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Still The Best Freeview PVR
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| Review Date: December 30, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Jason Darragh, Sunbury on Thames |
The Humax PVR9300T is a Freeview box with two tv tuners and a built in 320GB hard drive, for those not in the know it means you will receive (signal permitting) all Freeview tv and radio channels currently being broadcast (not Top-Up Tv - the additional pay tv channels, these are subscription based) and due to having two tuners and a hard drive capable of storing 200 hours of programmes you can record 2 channels at the same time, watch a recording whilst making those recordings OR depending on the channel you may be able to watch a 3rd channel whilst making those 2 recordings, if this is your idea of tv heaven then welcome to the world of the Humax !
I previously owned the Humax PVR9200T and that is one of the best pieces of tech I have ever bought. The only real differences that this model provides is the greater hard drive capacity, an HDMI upscaling connection and it now sports the "Freeview Playback" badge where a box has to offer a standard set of features.
The box is definitely sleeker and better looking than its previous incarnation. Set up is simple, attach your tv aerial into the back of the box, connect the box to your tv using a scart cable and turn on. Initially the Humax will scan for all or any available tv and radio channels being broadcast in your area. You may not get all available channels if the Freeview signal in you area is weak or the aerial you are using is not strong enough. Once the channels are in and you have confirmed you can then adjust various settings to customise your Humax to your content.
To record tv programmes the Humax has an 8 day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) that it downloads via the skys above whenever the box is turned on from standby, you can then go through the days and channels clicking "ok" to record at your hearts content. I basically get my tv guide on a Saturday then start clicking for the week ahead - real couch potato me ! Be warned though, when the Humax goes to standby it loses the EPG and has to repopulate when it is turned back on. This is a niggle that annoyed many "9200" users and means that you have to wait a few minutes at least for the EPG to fully populate.
Those new to the whole PVR thing will enjoy being able to "pause" live tv. So you are watching tv, the phone rings, door goes...just hit the "pause" button and the live picture will freeze. In the background the Humax is cleverly recording the programme still to the hard drive. So when you return you can hit "play" and continue from where you left off, if you want to catch up just hit the "FF" button. Equally if you want to rewatch a scene or say a goal scored in a football match hit the "REW" button, the Humax does this as it records the programme to the hard drive temporarily as you watch it ! Clever stuff hey ?
"Chase Play" is another feature many will use. Where you have been recording a programme that is still in operation you can start watching it from the beginning and again using the "FF" button begin to catch up or "chase" the recording. If like me you detest adverts then I use this alot to skip them.
Another feature to mention is "Auto Padding", we all know programmes often start late or overrun. The Humax has options to automatically add so many minutes onto the beginning and end of a recording to ensure you don't miss that dramatic drum roll at the end of Eastenders ?!
The Humax does contain a feature where if a programme is running late it should automatically start and end with the programme, however, my understanding is that this only works when the networks send out a signal via Freeview, experience has shown this cannot be relied upon so I use auto padding to be safe.
Maintaining the hard drive is easy in terms of deleting unwanted programmes etc.
Finally the old "noisy fan" kerfuffle, Humax have now updated the software to resolve this issue via an over the air update. The box does this automatically, if your box does have a noisy fan do not worry as there will be a repeat of this eventually. By the way the noise of this fan will vary depending on where and how you store your Humax, my noisy fan was not a hinderance at all, maybe it depends on your annoyance gene ?!
If you are aware of Top-Up TV, the additional pay channels then there is a slot to enable the receipt of these channels.
Well thats pretty much the basics of what the Humax does, but what it does....it does brilliantly, it just sits there and does what you tell it to do, no fuss or bother. If this is your first PVR then you really will see a different way of watching tv with the Humax it is still the best Freeview PVR on the market.
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Amazing piece of Kit
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| Review Date: February 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mr. Michael N. Heryet, STRATTON, North Cornwall United Kingdom |
I have been considering getting a PVR for some time now and have been reading the reviews of this 9300T. A friend had bought one and seemed pleased so, with the oncoming of Digital Switchover in the South West approaching fast (meaning my Sony Video will in effect be redundant) and my birthday last week, my family clubbed together and purchased this.
I have to say I find it an amazing piece of Kit. Already I find it taking over our lives - the problem is finding time to see all the programmes I have recorded already!
A few comments on the problems people are experiencing: -
i) The fan - apart from the initial power up mine has been silent. Checking the status I note that the unit was initialised in mid-December so it must have the latest software - a fact confirmed when I did an update test.
ii) The EPG - I don't know why others have a problem loading it as mine loads instantly - actually it is there instantly when I press Guide button. I know our Transmitter was upgraded for digital some two/three months ago, so it may be that there are problems in some Transmitter areas. I have found no problems and use it to record/reserve programmes without any problem. I must say I do this when tuned to BBC1 - don't know whether this gives faster access.
iii) Like others I do find it strange that there is a USB outlet that is non-functional. I do hope that there will be a software update to allow this to be used as the lack of an output device is a major and annoying fault. I did consider a DVD Hard disk recorder to enable output to another format but decided against this option.
iv) The picture quality is stunning, far superior to the Panasonic Freeview box I had previously (now doing a job on the ancient Sony TV in our Breakfast Room). It is powering a 9 year old Sony 28" Art Couture CRT and, as I say, giving stunning picture quality. Makes me think I'll stick with it and not buy a HD flat Screen. Who needs it?
Overall I'd recommend this unit to anyone thinking about making the move to a PVR. |
R .I. P. Sky
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| Review Date: October 25, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Mr A Sullivan, London UK |
I bought this Box 3 days ago and are so pleased with it have decided to add this review.
First of all I would like to say that I did allot of research before parting with my cash.. I always read these kind of reviews to give me an insight of what to expect.
Before purchasing this I made the mistake of buying a sony dvd recorder/pvr/freeview big mistake less said about that the better it went back the same day and I swapped it for this marvelous machine.
Picture:
Outstanding almost as clear as sky HD (I am not kidding) The built in up-scaling kit is perfect and does a fantastic job (this kind of technology is always tricky to get rite as many engineers will tell you)
User interface:
Pure genius and fantastic looking.
you'll learn how to use it in an afternoon (I did) it is very similar to SKY's interface but the Humax system makes sky look about 20 years old and cheap and nasty it is also noteably quicker than SKY, bringing up recording lists and info in a instant.
I used to have to wait for sky to catch up on many occasions.
I have not experienced any lag in loading up guides as some reviewers write
perhaps they have a signal issue?
The search feature is fantastic and finds things quickly (unlike sky)
I really like using it perhaps the death of a paper TV guide?
when choosing a program to rec it asks you if you want to rec the whole series of something without any non sense, just one click you don't have to wait for this (unlike sky)
another great feature of this box is: when you choose a prog to rec and it clashes with something else that you have already set to record. it cleverly looks for other times the prog is on and selects another time to rec it. it's just genius!
added with it's great looking interface, various picture on picture viewing modes and it's compact box it pisses all over sky in every way.
The Fan noise:
yes it's there but a small price to pay for what this piece of kit can do.
once you are using a decent sound system through the Humax's audio digital out, you won't notice it. Also I think you have to upreciate the upscaling uses allot of processing power and the fan is cooling the machine down to stop a thermal cut out. the machine is very compact and therefore has a very small fan. to composate for this it spins faster hence more fan noise it's previous older brother doesn't have the benefit of being compact, The box is bigger and therefore a bigger cooling fan inside witch doesn't need to spin as fast.
So Don't be put off by the noise You'll be enjoying this box too much to notice it. a real pleasure to use.
summary:
To sum up Humax have done a great job on this little baby it's well made and they have thought allot about how it will be used and what interfaces it should have.
With the addition of great features like
being able to use it as a radio without even turning your TV on.
and the smart slick user interface. you'll be grinning all over thanks to owning one
Top job Humax
Will certainly buy other Humax products in the future
Buy one you will love it.
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