Freeview Play recorder recommendations please

[raybarrow]

Hi Folks,
Been absent for a while, combination of flu and moving/downsizing house. Anyway Virgin Media has gone so now just having Freeview which is fine, but miss the ability to record programmes. Looking for a Freeview Play recorder (main TV doesn't have Freeview Play built in). Would like to record at least one programme whilst watching another. Recording two or more would be a bonus. Is Humax the way to go? Don't need to go too cheap as it's a one off purchase, but don't 'need' the Rolls Royce version. I presume they all have HDMI and LAN connectivity?
Any comments/recommendations welcome.
Thanks,
Ray.

[Gerry557]

I have a human aura that probably fits your needs. It seems fine but as I rarely watch terrestrial TV so it s used sparingly.

It can do other stuff too read a few reviews

[Redmires]

I've been a Humax user for a few years and never had an issue. I currently have a Freeview & a Freesat recorder and both were refurbished models

https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/refurbished.html

[fisher]

The Manhattan boxes are fairly well regarded, but you can't get one new at the moment. The Manhattan T4-R has been scheduled for release for 6 months or so now but keeps getting delayed. I understand the delays are something to do with the BBC requirements to offer forward support for the tv broadcasts being turned off in the future. Manhattan boxes offer freeview and iPlayer etc. In one box.

More here: https://manhattan-tv.com/freeview/manha ... v-recorder

I'm currently waiting for them to become available as my 15 year old Topfield PVR finally gave up a few months ago.

[Ma1co1m]

We have had a Humax 5000T for a couple of years after our Humax Fox died. Unfortunately it was a step backwards - the Fox was great until it broke but the 5000T has some really irritating issues:
1. Setting a recording randomly stops working, sometimes in a few weeks sometimes longer. It isn't obvious unless you notice that the expected "Recording set" message hasn't appeared, and it has to be reset by switching off and on at the mains. Whilst this is simply irritating, no 2 is really annoying...
2. There is no facility to move recordings into folders. So whereas on the Fox we had a number of folders - for films, for music videos etc, what we have now is one big long list of all of the recordings you have made.
3. Recordings ( provided they were SD not HD ) can be extracted to a USB stick for storage elsewhere but it's reallllly slow. Much slower than the Fox

So, I don't have any experience of any other manufacturers, nor of the Humax Aura, but from my experience I'd say steer clear of the Humax 5000T

ma1co1m

[jaizan]

My Manhattan box has not been trouble free.

It used to crash every couple of hours or so. I contacted Manhattan and they sent me some updated software. It took about 3 updates before that problem was fixed & I'm fairly sure they were testing software on me, as the update wasn't where the regular approved updates reside on their website.

Now crashing is much more rare.

I also have an intermittent problem with the coaxial loop through to the TV, so at times I cannot watch TV from the TV tuner. There's a bad contact somewhere. I've tried remaking the connector co-ax lead and I've tried a completely different coax lead and adaptor. Also, if I bypass the Manhattan and connect the aerial direct to any of the leads that normally run from the Manhattan to the TV, it works fine.
So I suspect the Manhattan unit is responsible for the bad connection.

With all the options for TV, recorder, iPlayer, YouTube etc, it would be helpful if we could type in the search box more easily.
I wish one of these TV box suppliers offered a device with a keyboard, rather than a remote.

What I do like is the ability to fast fwd through adverts on recordings at 16, 32, 64x speed.

[kiloran]

We have had a Humax 5000T for a couple of years after our Humax Fox died. Unfortunately it was a step backwards - the Fox was great until it broke but the 5000T has some really irritating issues:
1. Setting a recording randomly stops working, sometimes in a few weeks sometimes longer. It isn't obvious unless you notice that the expected "Recording set" message hasn't appeared, and it has to be reset by switching off and on at the mains. Whilst this is simply irritating, no 2 is really annoying...
2. There is no facility to move recordings into folders. So whereas on the Fox we had a number of folders - for films, for music videos etc, what we have now is one big long list of all of the recordings you have made.
3. Recordings ( provided they were SD not HD ) can be extracted to a USB stick for storage elsewhere but it's reallllly slow. Much slower than the Fox

So, I don't have any experience of any other manufacturers, nor of the Humax Aura, but from my experience I'd say steer clear of the Humax 5000T

ma1co1m

Similar experience here. We've had a Humax Foxsat (Freesat) box for 12-13 years and it's been brilliant. Totally faultless and easy to use. In comparison, the Humax 5000T (Freeview) is slow and clunky and far less intuitive, and I also find that series recording often stops for no apparent reason.

--kiloran

[Infrasonic]

With decent older kit that has died have a look locally at 'repair cafes' - generally monthly free local community projects with a few experts on hand who will either fix stuff for you or help you fault find so you can repair yourself - basic tools are generally provided. Facebook often has listings, that's how I found out about them - there's two in my immediate catchment area.

Quite often it's some cheap (pennies) component like a resistor or capacitor that has failed and if it's a reasonably sized board it's normally a quick desolder/solder job to resolve.

I've got a few bits that need doing and I've already searched YT for working solutions to most of them - my issue is my eyes and hands aren't what they were (60 now..).
When I was younger I used to routinely fix electronics stuff myself as I already had all the required tools through my job as a sound engineer.

[Dicky99]

Doesn't help the OP, sorry, but for the last 5 years or more I've just had a £20 external USB drive plugged in to my TV to record programmes on.
I felt I didn't watch enough TV to warrant spending a couple of hundred quid on a box but with so little that floats my boat I didn't want to miss out what does.
I can't watch one terrestrial channel while recording another but in most cases I'm recording because I'm out or in bed and on other occasions I can still watch digital channels such as Iplayer or C4 catch up etc while recording from the aerial.