Alternative to Humax etc.

Pig Cat

Pig Cat

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Suffolk
Our Humax freeview and hard drive recorder box was great for the first few months but over the last year has gradually become more temperamental. Currently it is not allowing us to watch BBC1 and BBC2. :mad: Can somebody recommend a good alternative to this, but please bear in mind the following:

We have no dish on our house, just an aerial.
We are moving house. Could be weeks, could be months.
We are probably going to get Freesat HD at the new place.
We are considering a cheapo bog-standard Freeview box to tide us over.

So, should we go for a cheap box or is there something we can buy now that we can use at the new place?

Oh, and to further complicate things we really want a system that uses just one remote control. Is that going to be feasible by buying all one make or will we end up buying a universal controller?!

Sorry! :blush:
 
Have you tried resetting the box to defaults and rescanning for channels? I know you haven't moved and maybe none of the channels you watch have shifted, but they do have a habit of shuffling stuff around within the multiplexes for no apparently sound reasons....

If that does nowt, I'd buy a cheapy freeview box to (a) tide you over and (b) maybe get slotted into the kitchen/bedroom/shed/garage as appropriate. Should be easily less than £20 for that.

As for newgaffâ„¢ - Here we have a TV with FreesatHD & Freeview built-in - if I was doing it again I'd probably buy a TV with only Freeview/FreeviewHD built-in and a separate FreeSatHD box (with or without dual tuner recording function). Make sure the TV has plenty of HDMI inputs (defined as at least one more than you believe that you can conceivably need).
 
Yep...Menu>System>Default setting>Yes

I have to do that every now and then when my machine starts locking up.

If it locks up immediately when you start it up, remove the aerial connection and turn it off and on from the power switch at the rear.

With no tuner enabled you'll then be able to access menu and default reset, do a rescan of the channels and after that you should be fine.

Worth checking....that MENU>INSTALLATION>SOFTWARE UPDATE is enabled too.

As Hunny says if you go for FreesatHD get a seperate tuner rather than in built unless you actually mean FreeviewHD. I've only just upgraded my kit admittedly but I'm still happy to use my standard definition Humax to record stuff because the program guide on the Humax is just second to none for ease of use and searching.
 
I wouldn't bother aiming for a one manufacturer system, you'll probably end up needing to use all the separate remotes anyway. Just get yourself a good universal remote. The Logitech Harmony series are fantastic. I've been running a Harmony 885 for the past couple of years and wouldn't be without it. One remote controls everything we have (TV, amp, PVR, games console, media centre, radio...) and the rest are all shut away in a drawer.

Logitech Harmony 885
 
Thanks chaps, you're all great! The normal retune didn't work so I did as suggested and reset the machine to its defaults then it tuned again. The channels were back and it had even kept the recorded programmes so the piglet kittens (that's kids :-/) can still watch Inspector Gadget!

And the Logitech remotes look good. I remember the ones you got years ago as being pretty crap, but these modern ones seem to get the job done really well. Might buy one for my in-laws as they have even more remotes than us.

I'll now wait until we move in to get the telly hardware as there isn't the urgency any more.

:icon_razz:
 
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