[Black Hole]

Originally Posted by mikej

Also - with the sheer size of the HDD, does anyone with a lot of recordings find the fact that you can only view 5 at once awkward in any way ? Or do you get used to it and/or use folders to get round this ? I appreciate that thumbnail previews are always going to have this effect on the archive view.

You can scroll through quickly enough, and there is the option to sort alphabetically instead of by time stamp. For an unrestricted list, use the custom firmware and use a web browser to inspect it.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by Black Hole

You can scroll through quickly enough, and there is the option to sort alphabetically instead of by time stamp. For an unrestricted list, use the custom firmware and use a web browser to inspect it.

Thanks for the info. My Topfield TF5800 PVR (with MyStuff TAP installed) displays 10 recordings at once when the archive is selected, but the remote can be incredibly unresponsive at times so scrolling isn't exactly slick.

The reason it can fit so many on one screen at a time is that it doesn't have thumbnail previews of the shows which I'm hoping, on the Humax, will make it look a bit more modern and slick. Can you scroll down a whole page at a time fairly quickly with one repeated button press ?

I'm really looking forward to getting to Richer Sounds in the next few days to check the HDR-FOX T2 out - I'm just hoping if I phone ahead that they can hook it up to a TV for a quick demo. I'm already sold on it on paper TBH, but a quick run through of the menus (etc) will hopefully help to seal my decision.

As a long time Toppy user, I'm used to installing and using custom software too, so the custom firmware for the Humax you mention interests me as well

The only potential spanner in the works is the recent release of the Panasonic DMR-HW220 - a 1TB PVR which can be had for around the same price. It's only the reputation of the HDR-FOX T2 and the fact that it appears to be the logical HD replacement to my trusty SD Toppy that's making me ignore the new Panasonic for now...

[TeeDoubleUDee]

Originally Posted by mikej

Also - with the sheer size of the HDD, does anyone with a lot of recordings find the fact that you can only view 5 at once awkward in any way ? Or do you get used to it and/or use folders to get round this ? I appreciate that thumbnail previews are always going to have this effect on the archive view.

Cheers.

I personally use folders to tidy things up (guess it's born from my many years of working with MS Windows ). I find only a few necessary eg Movies, Documentaries, Drama, Comedy and my "wife's stuff". I don't usually go more than two levels of nesting - not sure how many levels are allowed?

[Owen Smith]

Originally Posted by mikej

The reason it can fit so many on one screen at a time is that it doesn't have thumbnail previews of the shows which I'm hoping, on the Humax, will make it look a bit more modern and slick. Can you scroll down a whole page at a time fairly quickly with one repeated button press ?

The thumbnails are a total waste of space. The chances of them happening to pick up a meaningful video frame which usefully identifies the recording are virtually zero.

[ALIEN1X]

Will the Humax FOXT2 HDR PVR play media files from and external USB HDD 1TB?
or something
What is the full list of media files the humax wil play?

Can media files be loaded on the humax internal drive and dose it have jke box facility similar?

[Owen Smith]

Originally Posted by ALIEN1X

Will the Humax FOXT2 HDR PVR play media files from and external USB HDD 1TB?
or something
What is the full list of media files the humax wil play?

Can media files be loaded on the humax internal drive and dose it have jke box facility similar?

You can connect USB sticks or USB hard discs and play files off them. But they have to be either FAT32 (limited to 4GB files) or Ext2/Ext3 (Unix) formated, there is no support for NTFS media except with the third party modified software.

The HDR Fox T2 contains an FTP server (if you enable it) and using this you can download content onto the internal hard disc over your home network. This is what I do, this can handle files above 4GB in size.

I'm not aware of any definitive list of media formats. The HDR Fox T2 can play from a DLNA server streaming over the network, but many media formats are not supported this way eg. .mkv files don't work. But the same .mkv files work fine for me when downloading by FTP direct to the box's hard disc.

I don't know what you mean by a juke box. Please explain.

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

You can connect USB sticks or USB hard discs and play files off them. But they have to be either FAT32 (limited to 4GB files) or Ext2/Ext3 (Unix) formated, there is no support for NTFS media except with the third party modified software.

.

I thought the standard boxes support read only access to ntfs

[Owen Smith]

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

I thought the standard boxes support read only access to ntfs

That's possible. Since my only use of USB sticks (or drives) on the HDR Fox T2 is to copy stuff off the box (while decrypting it), read only NTFS is of no use to me so I may have forgotten that the box supports it. I use an Ext2 formatted 32GB USB stick for taking things to or from my parents, using Foxy so that copying to USB will decrypt them.

[ALIEN1X]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

You can connect USB sticks or USB hard

I don't know what you mean by a juke box. Please explain.

The juke box is were you can downoad media info for recored content .ie movie posters/skins, what the film is about, ratings etc. It adds album covers and things to your recorded or loaded content.All thios comes when the box is connected to the internet, bit like windows media player.

[Owen Smith]

Originally Posted by ALIEN1X

The juke box is were you can downoad media info for recored content .ie movie posters/skins, what the film is about, ratings etc. It adds album covers and things to your recorded or loaded content.All thios comes when the box is connected to the internet, bit like windows media player.

No, the HDR Fox T2 has no capability to download metadata about the media. It plays what you give it (or not), nothing more.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by mikej

I'm really looking forward to getting to Richer Sounds in the next few days to check the HDR-FOX T2 out - I'm just hoping if I phone ahead that they can hook it up to a TV for a quick demo. I'm already sold on it on paper TBH, but a quick run through of the menus (etc) will hopefully help to seal my decision.

I phoned Richer Sounds today - they're not willing to let me demo one unfortunately

I'm very tempted just to 'go for it', but fear that taking it back if I'm not happy might be tricky (they're excluded from the Argos 30-day money back guarantee, for example)

Anyone know where I might be able to have a quick play elsewhere ? John Lewis stock it, as do Currys/Comet etc but they're only available for home delivery which suggests to me they won't have them in store and if they do, they'll presumably be on shelves and not connected to a TV.

Did any of you guys buy it on the strength of the reviews alone ?

[panaman]

Originally Posted by mikej

I phoned Richer Sounds today - they're not willing to let me demo one unfortunately

I'm very tempted just to 'go for it', but fear that taking it back if I'm not happy might be tricky (they're excluded from the Argos 30-day money back guarantee, for example)

Anyone know where I might be able to have a quick play elsewhere ? John Lewis stock it, as do Currys/Comet etc but they're only available for home delivery which suggests to me they won't have them in store and if they do, they'll presumably be on shelves and not connected to a TV.

Did any of you guys buy it on the strength of the reviews alone ?

I bought on the strength of reviews and I'm loving it. I got mine from Amazon.

I was an avid Toppy fan before, but the HDR makes it seem old fashioned in comparison. I still have my 5800, but it's just used for recording stuff for upstairs. I will be replacing it soon with another HDR and will then be able to watch recordings from downstairs and vice versa.

[undecided]

Originally Posted by mikej

Did any of you guys buy it on the strength of the reviews alone ?

I'd had a Humax 9200 for about four years and it was still working but it had a problem with the clock. I wanted to go HD and this was just the excuse I needed (can't record from standby if the clock isn't working).
I lurked on this forum for a bit, asked a couple of questions and read all the data provided by the other, extremely knowledgeable, people plus I read a couple of other internet reviews.
So I didn't purchase "on the strength of the reviews alone" but on the strength of a lot a people who don't have an axe to grind (although this IS the Humax master forum!) and I haven't regretted the decision for a minute; neither has the good lady.
It all depends what you want from the box; you can see that some posters expect/want multi media capability; I'm astounded that I've been able to connect this box to the internet so we can now watch iPlayer in the comfort of our lounge, not scrunched up in the study in front of the PC. It records everything we want, it doesn't miss, it is very user friendly, has a very easy EPG/recording feature etc etc. We love it - but that's just us (OAPs who don't Tweet or use Facebook, still listen to CDs and other old fashioned things)
Go on - take the plunge; you almost certainly won't regret it.
Cheers
Undecided

[Black Hole]

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

I thought the standard boxes support read only access to ntfs

Absolutely.

[ALIEN1X]

Will the fox t2 hdr allow transfer of media files to its own internal drive and create folders. The transfer would be from an external usb hardrive?

[Black Hole]

Yes

[simplesimon1]

Originally Posted by panaman

I bought on the strength of reviews and I'm loving it. I got mine from Amazon.

I was an avid Toppy fan before, but the HDR makes it seem old fashioned in comparison. I still have my 5800, but it's just used for recording stuff for upstairs.

As a long-time Toppy fan whose 5800 was on it's last legs, I tend to agree with panaman. The only thing I don't like is that, as other people have commented, compared with the Toppy + MyStuff, the HDR media library organisation is somewhat primitive. The five files per screen display (cos of the thumbnails) is clunky and even if you make use of sub-directories and move top-level recordings into them, series link recordings always recreate top-level directories for the next episode. Also, if you rename a top-level series link directory, the next episode will recreate the original directory name

I believe that the hummy.tv custom firmware addresses at least some of these issues but I haven't had time to look at it, yet. However, I'm willing to overlook these relatively minor issues for a PVR that provides good-quality HD & SD recordings and plays 2.35:1 media files on a 16:9 TV, in a proper letterbox format

[Black Hole]

Originally Posted by simplesimon1

Also, if you rename a top-level series link directory, the next episode will recreate the original directory name

We have a fix for that!

[mikej]

Well I only went and bought one !

I'll post my thoughts properly soon but, in the meantime, I wanted to post about a problem that I've found already - the Toslink optical output socket seems to be a bit dodgy.

I'd noticed an occasional loss of sound and discovered that the slightest movement on the plug causes the sound to drop in and out. I've switched leads so I know it's the socket at fault, not the lead.

Now - I'm only using the Toslink socket at the moment while I test the unit out. Once it gets permanently installed into my set-up, I won't be using the Toslink output - I'll be connecting via HDMI to my plasma and taking the audio from the TV to the amp via RCA until such time as I update my AV amp to one that's HDMI-equipped, where I will connect the HDR to the AV amp via HDMI directly. In neither case will the Toslink socket be used.

So, my question is... for those of you who use an HDR-FOX T2 and an AV amp that is HDMI-equipped, is there any scenario in which you would also use the Toslink optical out ?

I'm just trying to gauge whether it's worth the hassle of returning it for a dodgy socket that I may never use.

[Black Hole]

There are a couple of types of plug - are you using the right one?

[mikej]

Originally Posted by Black Hole

There are a couple of types of plug - are you using the right one?

I'm using an spdif Toslink cable like this

[Black Hole]

Fair enough, just an idea. I have never had cause to use mine, but when a friend of mine went shopping for a fibre cable I know he came back with the wrong type.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by Black Hole

Fair enough, just an idea. I have never had cause to use mine, but when a friend of mine went shopping for a fibre cable I know he came back with the wrong type.

Yes - there is a mini Toslink too I believe, although I've never seen one. Digital coax was also used as an alternative for 5.1 audio, but it's not so common now.

Presumably an HDMI connection straight to an AV amp from the Humax makes the Toslink effectively redundant - I just wanted to check I wasn't missing a trick somewhere.

[panaman]

I used to have my HDR connected to my home cinema via the optical out but I found that it took an age for the audio to connect and every time I jumped or fast forwarded I had to wait again. The only way I could get it to come back immediately was to unplug then plug back in again.

Advice on this forum suggested the issue could be to with settings on my home cinema, but I couldn't find any settings to change, so I decided to live with it as I rarely use that feature.

Last week when I was watching the Jubilee concert I was getting frustrated with the intermittent loss of sound so I thought as an experiment I would connect the optical lead to the TV instead of the HDR and now it works perfectly every time.

My connections are now:

HDMI - HDR > TV

HDMI - Home cinema > TV

Optical - Home cinema > TV

hope this helps :-)

[Owen Smith]

Originally Posted by mikej

Yes - there is a mini Toslink too I believe, although I've never seen one. Digital coax was also used as an alternative for 5.1 audio, but it's not so common now.

I use Toslink optical for all audio (stereo and 5.1) from my HDR Fox T2 to Arcam AVR350 amp. I've never had any trouble with it, completely reliable and no delays on channel switching or similar.

The lack of digital coax output on most equipment is annoying. My amp has 3 optical and 3 coax digitial inputs. I'm using all 3 optical ins and when I get a YouView box I expect I'll need another. By contrast I'm only using one digital coax in (from my Oppo BDP-95 blu ray). I foresee an optical to digital coax converter in my future, which is annoying because I'm short of space and mains sockets behind my AV rack. A digital coax output on a Youview box would be a major selling point for me.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

I use Toslink optical for all audio (stereo and 5.1) from my HDR Fox T2 to Arcam AVR350 amp. I've never had any trouble with it, completely reliable and no delays on channel switching or similar.

Thanks for that. Out of interest - do you use toslink instead of HDMI to amp or is your amp not HDMI-equipped ?

[petrev]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

I use Toslink optical for all audio (stereo and 5.1) from my HDR Fox T2 to Arcam AVR350 amp. I've never had any trouble with it, completely reliable and no delays on channel switching or similar.

The lack of digital coax output on most equipment is annoying. My amp has 3 optical and 3 coax digitial inputs. I'm using all 3 optical ins and when I get a YouView box I expect I'll need another. By contrast I'm only using one digital coax in (from my Oppo BDP-95 blu ray). I foresee an optical to digital coax converter in my future, which is annoying because I'm short of space and mains sockets behind my AV rack. A digital coax output on a Youview box would be a major selling point for me.

Hi

Agree on both points - Never had any issues using SPDIF optical on my very similar DS DHR and bemoan the lack of more Digital Coax equipped devices as similarly have unused Coax and no spare optical on my system.

On a usage front I find the SPDIF to be very useful - I have both HDMI and SPDIF connected (HDMI is to TV then using TV Optical passthrough function) and mostly use the optical direct as I can then listen to some programming while swapping to another HDMI video (eg. PC) enabling some concurrent activity while following a program in audio mode. Then I just switch back if something interesting comes on eg. during Breakfast News etc.

I like having options !

Pete

[Owen Smith]

Originally Posted by mikej

Thanks for that. Out of interest - do you use toslink instead of HDMI to amp or is your amp not HDMI-equipped ?

The Arcam AVR350 does not accept HDMI audio. It has two HDMI ins and one HDMI out, but all it will do is switch the output between the two inputs. It won't even upconvert analogue video to HDMI, nor will the amp display its setup screens on HDMI.

I can't run HDMI audio through the TV either. It only accepts stereo HDMI audio in and will only output stereo audio over its optical output. So to get 5.1 audio from the HDR Fox T2 it has to go direct from the Humax to the AVR350 on Toslink.

[Black Hole]

Just a possibility - could it be the cable itself that is broken?

[Pendragon]

The HDR FOX-T2 is almost 2 years old in a couple of months time and is yet to be bested? I've quickly had a look at the available PVR thread, but couldn't see anything on the next Humax PVR. Humax have got to be working on an update?