I went from the Humax 4000T and it was also a major upgrade it has everything I want and need in a box, admittedly there were a few teething issues but these are all sorted now, don't listen to the nah sayers.
My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » Aura UHD
Any Substantial Benefit to Buying the Aura?
(14 posts)-
| Tue 8 Jun 2021 7:33:21 #11 |
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alba - 1 week ago »
Hello again Paul
Ironically my wife initially saw the folders as another complication added to our already multi-button-pushing system. She is the one that now uses it the most and doesn't want to lose it. I am not that bothered about keeping recordings.
She still wants a more simplified system of button-pushing and I would prefer that too, hence my interest in the Aura. From online comments, I get the impression that the Aura was released with far too many glitches, and this would defeat our aim of having a more refined and simplified control and switching system.
I haven't dug into the Aura that deeply but it doesn't seem to offer us any more than we have already. With the Sony Android Brava TV we can access useful apps, Netflix, Prime Video, Youtube, Youview etc. The Fox T2 HDR is easy to order and use and fast enough for recordings. The video quality is good, and so on.
The drag is the amount of button pushing necessary to switch between systems. I would prefer everything in one unit and with a minimum of button-pushing. Ideally, this would just be incorporated within the TV itself. The Sony Android TV has gone some way towards that. I think a manufacturer who would beef up the TV sd drive and incorporate a pvr recording facility without an add-on would capture the market. A good sound system would be the icing on the cake. The technology is already here. They just need to bolt it all together, so to speak! A true multi-media system!
We can but dream!Many Smart TVs do have the ability to attach a hard drive and record from the TV itself. Not as sophisticated as a dedicated PVR. Have a look at at Aura filing system. It does put all episodes of a series in a sort of ‘folder’. But you can’t as yet put all films in a folder but you can view recordings by date or channel and it’s all searchable so if you want folders in order to find recordings the Aura presents another way of organising and finding stuff. You can also easily access catch-up services via the guide or apps. Iplayer on the Aura will show you selected UHD football at present (but also available on TV Iplayer app) and 4K YouTube. And of course the Aura is now Android based too. And it’s a much faster in terms of response to commands than previous Humax boxes.
I’ve recently unearthed my HDR Fox T2 for comparison and find the remote slightly less easy than the Aura remote in terms of button pushing. I had a problem with no sound but once I had turned off ‘deep colour’ on the LG’s HDMI port it was fine.
I am now happy with my replacement Aura and the 2TB drive feels vast.
| Tue 15 Jun 2021 9:50:37 #12 | -
I bought the Aura as a replacement for the Virgin V+ as we canceled our Virgin subscription, it is predominately used for recording Freeview TV as our LG TV handles all our streaming requirements without any issues.
There are a number of day-to-day issues with the Aura which makes it frustrating to use.
1) It kept rebooting during recordings, this appears to be related to too strong signal reception and Humax sent an inline attenuator (ugly little thing with a red knob to adjust, not hi-tech!). This has reduced the reboots, but either the attenuator loses potency or my signal is getting stronger as I keep having to turn it up. Surely there is something they could do in software to mitigate this issue which brings me to my next gripe.
2) Software updates: For a permanently online device the lack of updates is concerning, bug fixes and feature improvements whilst not critical would be welcome, but the absence of Security updates shows a lack of support from the manufacturer and new buyers should be aware.
3) Functionality:
Series recordings are less flexible than the Virgin V+ and if something in the guide "description" changes, it misses the new recordings until a new series recording is created. Things like the World Cup spring to mind, going between qualifying matches and the knockout stages, this never happened with the V+.Fast forwarding when watching recorded content, when trying to fast forward, it often resets back to the earlier or to the beginning of the recording, this can happen multiple times within one viewing and is the most frustrating thing! Especially since I bought the Aura and my partner is the one getting wound up by it
Just recently I've also become aware of (as I mentioned mostly used by my partner) a black screen with a spinning arrow for a few moments whilst watching live TV, when I asked my partner said this happens quite frequently. I've reset the Aura (not the 1st time) to see if this relieves this issue.
Conclusion:
Whilst I'm sure a lot of the issues could be resolved with software updates the lack of these from Humax (last updated 2021) means I consider the box hardly fit for purpose and if I had to use it more or if I didn't have Prime/Netflix etc and so not for just the occasional recording, I would have returned this within the 1st year.
I also wouldn't buy it again given the chance and have advised anyone who has asked the same, I feel a company needs to stand behind its products and not abandon it's customers.| Sun 27 Aug 2023 16:46:39 #13 | -
Couldn't agree more - lack of support on the Aura. Dont buy one. Too many glitches. Could be resolved for sure, but as has been said, no updates for years now.
| Fri 6 Oct 2023 16:57:54 #14 |
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