Bug hunt
You can record up to two channels and watch anything at the same time from HDD or online. It does the usual Humax trick of allowing a live channel to be watched while two others are being recorded, as long as it's in the same multiplex being used by one of the tuners.
The remote is uncluttered and intuitive, but cursor keys are a bit loud and clicky
A 1TB version is due, along with a possible cheaper zapper box that is to have no HDD and only one Freeview tuner, but will still carry the online portal. Apps for smartphones and tablets to act as a remote control and for remote booking recordings are apparently on the drawing board, to bring it in line with Sky and to some extent TiVo.
At its heart is a well built Humax Freeview HD recorder
The box takes about 30 seconds to boot up, or more than two minutes if you set it to power-saving deep sleep. There is no media playback from network or USB sources, nor streaming from the HDD as a server. There are hints that these could follow in firmware updates because they are features Humax provides elsewhere. At launch, YouView is keeping it simple.
Oh dear, this was happening a lot, inexplicably dropping its network link
That makes sense, especially as there are still annoying bugs to be fixed. For instance, my review sample sometimes wouldn’t go back online when a catch-up programme had finished, or when the box had been resting. There's already a catalogue of error codes in YouView’s FAQ. If these prove widespread, they have to be fixed fast or customers will wonder what they are getting for their money.
Needs some refining but could be a winner among the Pay TV refuseniks
Verdict
The terrestrial networks account for the majority of TV viewing, even in homes that have satellite or cable. So by pitching YouView at pay-TV refuseniks, it has the concept right. The launch price equals about 14 months of basic Sky payments; however, it’s currently too expensive to go flying off the shelves.
There are plenty of YouView naysayers but I think there’s a need for a unified free-to-air digital and internet-TV hybrid like this. Taking the box in its own right, it's more user friendly than most 'connected TV' screens and set-top gadgets. When it comes to the catch-up services that people use regularly, then it's got those sorted, with plenty of potential to improve. ®
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Humax YouView DTR-T1000 IPTV Freeview PVR review
COMMENTS
Re: Like Humax but won't buy them any more
Why report it to Humax, go back to the shop you bought it from and ask for it to be fixed/replaced. Your statutory rights are with the retailer not the manufacturer.
By law they would have to fix it for you.
Right pitch, wrong platform.
"The terrestrial networks account for the majority of TV viewing, even in homes that have satellite or cable. So by pitching YouView at pay-TV refuseniks, it has the concept right."
But at a price that exceeds the price of a decent Freesat HD recorder box by some margin.
Too much money for too little functionality on an unreliable platform. Another E-m@iler for Lord Sugar, I think.
Re: Like Humax but won't buy them any more
He could happily send it back to Humax as well. The HDR-T2 comes with a two year warranty.
On the price, to be fair it's launching at the same price that the Foxsat HDR launched at (and which could still be its list price?).
Given how long YouView has taken to get to market, and how much it has cost to develop (which must be many times what Humax dropped on their own interface), the limited functionality and number of bugs is really disappointing.
Does anyone know what's happened to the next gen Humax Freesat box? I heard good rumours about it. Freesat coming into its own at the moment - 24 HD olympic streams.
"exceeds the price of a decent Freesat HD recorder "
Freesat requires the installation of a dish, which costs money on top of the recorder. On top of which, not everyone can install a Freesat dish - a lot of renters, for example, and people who live in listed buildings. I shan't comment on the functionality, but the cash is less of an issue than you make out.
