why I'm returning my 2000T - what should I get?

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why I'm returning my 2000T - what should I get?

(23 posts)

pabc

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I've had the box for a few days and more and more niggles and annoyances keep appearing. With no response from their tech support I'm left with no choice but to return it.

Issues:

Inability to the firmware to realise back to back recordings on the same channel don't overlap, therefore system detects them as 2 recordings and prevents another channel being recorded which crosses the 'overlap' time. (it thinks there are 3 concurrent recordings!) This issue alone means the device does not work as advertised.

Regular loss of sound over HDMI requiring reboots. I've read A few others having this issue and that tech support suggested it was their Sharp TVs and as it works fine on the test Sony Bravia it must be the TV's fault. I have a Sony Bravia. Definitely a 2000T fault. Switching both the TV and PVR off and on solves the issue but it's a PITA.

Regular loss of network connectivity over LAN - no 'network' option in 'storage' from media. The PVR is LAN connected but regularly doesn't show the 'Network' option when in the 'Media' section and 'storage' is selected. I can't work out a sure fire fix for this. Switching the PVR off, rebooting the router then switching it back on sometimes gets a connection back.

No RF pass through in standby mode. Known issue. This shouldn't take this long to fix. Get an interim version of the firmware out whilst you fix everything else

DLNA server implementation very poor. If device is recording the server doesn't appear on the network. If it does appear on the network by simply connecting to the server the box no longer works for the 'local' user. There really is no excuse for such a poor implementation of the DLNA.

So its going back.

I'm open to suggestions for an alternative freeview HD PVR. Ideally at least 1TB of space. It needs to correctly handle recording 2 multiplexs and allow viewing of a third channel on one of the plexs being recorded. Ideally I'd like the TV portal functionality and the ability to play directly from my media server.

Basically I want a 2000T that's been programmed properly! Any suggestions?

| Tue 3 Jun 2014 21:05:12 #1 |
MontysEvilTwin

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HDR-FOX T2? Humax Direct have stock at the moment of both the 500GB and 1TB models.

| Tue 3 Jun 2014 21:25:40 #2 |
Barry

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I would have stuck with the 2000T - The speed with which you can 'whizz' around the menus/guide is enough to convince me to stick with it.

I cannot replicate your timers issue eg no problem setting tomorrow, BBC1 2000-2100 and itv 2000-2030 and 2030-2100, all as series record timers - If you would like to post an example I will try to replicate.

RF loopthru we have already covered, it should be fixed in the next release.

Internet problem - try just accessing the internet settings menu, and exit.

No HDMI sound problems connected to a Toshiba and Philips TV's

DLNA server - just checked and unit appears on network whilst recording, however you cannot access a recording in progress on the 2000T, and I have full function of unit as expected.

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 9:43:41 #3 |
Martin Liddle

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Barry - 57 minutes ago »
Internet problem - try just accessing the internet settings menu, and exit.

Barry, do you know if anything will be done about this issue in a future software release?

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 10:42:26 #4 |
colirv

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Barry - 1 hour ago »
No HDMI sound problems connected to a Toshiba and Philips TV's

But for Bravia owners like us it is a problem. And if it becomes too much of a pain in the neck it's a lot cheaper to change PVR than change TV.

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 11:09:32 #5 |
grahamlthompson

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colirv - 7 minutes ago »

Barry - 1 hour ago »
No HDMI sound problems connected to a Toshiba and Philips TV's

But for Bravia owners like us it is a problem. And if it becomes too much of a pain in the neck it's a lot cheaper to change PVR than change TV.

Presumably the HDR2000T has the option to disable surround sound in the TV setup menu. Turning off surround sound will output the same stereo lpcm audio from a HD channel as you get from a SD one.

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 11:18:57 #6 |
colirv

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I suppose it will. But one of the pleasures of, and reasons for spending good money on, an HD TV/PVR combo is being able to record and replay Freeview surround sound broadcasts through my surround sound system.

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 12:13:49 #7 |
grahamlthompson

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colirv - 3 minutes ago »
I suppose it will. But one of the pleasures of, and reasons for spending good money on, an HD TV/PVR combo is being able to record and replay Freeview surround sound broadcasts through my surround sound system.

If you have a surround sound system it should be perfectly happy with the standard ac3 (2.0 or 5.1 audio) output by the Humax (aka Dolby Digital). You should be able to connect the system directly using the S/Pdif output. If you can't use ac3 audio no other box will help The situation will be identical with any Freeview-HD box you buy, in fact possibly worse as the actual audio is transmitted in aac format. The Humax transcodes to the near universally supported ac3 codec, others may not do so. Direct support for aac audio is not very common.

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 12:22:55 #8 |
pabc

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to be clear - if I turn off surround sound the sound dropout over HDMI goes away?

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 12:52:07 #9 |
grahamlthompson

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pabc - 1 minute ago »
to be clear - if I turn off surround sound the sound dropout over HDMI goes away?

As I already explained turning off surround sound changes the audio output codec from ac3 to lpcm stereo. This is the same audio format as you get from a SD channel.

What do you mean by audio dropout ?. If you mean the volume is lower, that's normal. Basically you need to turn down the box volume when on a SD channel using the Box remote control volume control till it's about the same level as you get on a HD one. Now set the volume level using the TV or Surround sound amp controls.

| Wed 4 Jun 2014 12:58:33 #10 |