My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » HDR 1800T, 2000T

HDR-2000T - first impressions

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    NorthPole

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    I recently purchased an HDR-2000T to replace my PVR-9300T, which was suffering big-time from the well-known 'stuttering audio' problem when playing back recordings; and just thought it worth setting down my first impressions of the HDR-2000T.

    Apart from the 'noisy drive' issue commented on elsewhere in this Forum (did no-one at Humax notice?), I find the rather long period without any TV display after the initial boot-up screen appears (and that not always, for some reason!) disconcerting. Could Humax not have arranged for a loading image or progress bar to show at this time, giving reassurance that the box is actually working?

    Some features, e.g. the ability to display the progress bar on playback with left or right arrow (which I found on this Forum), are not documented in the User Manual. By contrast, Page 50 of the Manual refers to the time not appearing on the (non-existent) front panel display when power saving in standby is on!

    I find the unit has a nasty habit of locking up when using the BBC iPlayer (wired internet connection); and I can guarantee to freeze it completely by going through the list of channels in the System/Signal Detection menu and checking the signal strength on each. It will lock up with the first HD channel for which this is done, every time.

    Talking of the iPlayer, what a non-event the Humax TV Portal is! Where are the on-demand players for the other channels such as 4oD or Demand5? A job lot of mostly useless apps is no substitute. Hardly the wonderful world of smart TV!

    | Wed 13 Jan 2016 16:01:30 #1 |
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    Minstrel SE

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    You are right Northpole!

    Did nobody at Humax notice that this is flawed machine? I get the distinct feeling that many people are putting up with the issues.

    There seem to have been issues since the 8000T.

    I dont like returning things but and Im confused that some dont find it noisy. By hard drive standards its very noisy.

    I have had the hard drive functions become unavailable until I have booted the unit again to make sure they are.

    It also locked for a moment when going through the signal strength etc as you stated. I was able to free it quickly but how bad is this going to get

    I suspect that Humax may know of all these issues but they keep refurbishing them and getting them back out on sale without addressing the fundamental problems. Am I unfair? Hmmm something doesnt seem right here.

    | Tue 6 Sep 2016 21:06:02 #2 |
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    Faust

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    Minstrel SE - 1 hour ago  » 
    You are right Northpole!
    Did nobody at Humax notice that this is flawed machine? I get the distinct feeling that many people are putting up with the issues.
    There seem to have been issues since the 8000T.
    I dont like returning things but and Im confused that some dont find it noisy. By hard drive standards its very noisy.
    I have had the hard drive functions become unavailable until I have booted the unit again to make sure they are.
    It also locked for a moment when going through the signal strength etc as you stated. I was able to free it quickly but how bad is this going to get
    I suspect that Humax may know of all these issues but they keep refurbishing them and getting them back out on sale without addressing the fundamental problems. Am I unfair? Hmmm something doesnt seem right here.

    If you use the unit simply as a PVR i.e. nothing else then you will find it gives you good service. However, the apps portal is a disgrace and I think Humax have now basically abandoned it.

    Beware using the BBC iPlayer as well. It has a nasty habit of kicking you out and rebooting the unit when you try and stream a programme. At least mine does and that too is via Ethernet. Others have reported this issue.

    This is a PVR that was produced by the bean counters at Humax in order to save every penny and it shows, not the development team. At least that is my view.

    | Tue 6 Sep 2016 22:59:37 #3 |
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    Luke

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    Minstrel SE - 2 hours ago  » 
    Im confused that some dont find it noisy. By hard drive standards its very noisy.

    They vary. There is no way that even the fussiest quiet room person would have found either of my 2 HDR-200Ts noisy.

    I was not exaggerating when I said that I thought that my HDD was not spinning because it was so quiet.

    Even the start up spin is less obtrusive than either of my 8000Ts.

    | Tue 6 Sep 2016 23:22:18 #4 |
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    Minstrel SE

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    Luke - 18 hours ago  » 

    Minstrel SE - 2 hours ago  » 
    Im confused that some dont find it noisy. By hard drive standards its very noisy.

    They vary. There is no way that even the fussiest quiet room person would have found either of my 2 HDR-200Ts noisy.
    I was not exaggerating when I said that I thought that my HDD was not spinning because it was so quiet.
    Even the start up spin is less obtrusive than either of my 8000Ts.

    Does this mean that there is a noisy batch out there.

    Levelling it down then. Either my unit is faulty or you have hearing problems.

    I was thinking about this today and I have been sucked into a false economy. With Vat at 20% it means that have to make the unit very cheaply to make some profit. Probably too cheaply to be a real quality unit

    The vat alone was £30 on my unit which puts it into perspective

    | Wed 7 Sep 2016 17:45:30 #5 |
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    Luke

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    Minstrel SE - 9 minutes ago  » 
    Does this mean that there is a noisy batch out there.

    That has been postulated before a few months after the 1TB first came out, but I doubt it due to the continued dribble of reports for noisy 1TB.

    But for the 500Gb the noisy reports are so rare that is even more unlikely for a 500Gb which I take it by your £30 VAT is what yours is?

    Minstrel SE - 9 minutes ago »
    Levelling it down then. Either my unit is faulty or you have hearing problems.
    I was thinking about this today and I have been sucked into a false economy. With Vat at 20% it means that have to make the unit very cheaply to make some profit. Probably too cheaply to be a real quality unit
    The vat alone was £30 on my unit which puts it into perspective

    What you describe at start up with the disk not being recognised every time indicates a faulty unit.

    And if my hearing is bad then at least the majority of other people's hearing is worse, which would make a nonsense of the word bad.
    I tend to notice when PVRs are doing their thing in a room when I other people can't hear a thing from the same PVR, in the same room, at the same time, from roughly equivalent vantage points.

    I have experienced a few dozen digital recorders and of them all the HDR-2000Ts were both there at the top for being next to silent.

    | Wed 7 Sep 2016 18:20:26 #6 |
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    Faust

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    I should have added my 2000T is the 500 gig model.

    | Wed 7 Sep 2016 22:57:59 #7 |
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    Luke

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    Faust - 8 hours ago  » 
    I should have added my 2000T is the 500 gig model.

    I was aware of that, but it doesn't change that it is far easier to find unique reports of the 1TB being noisy than the 1TB.

    | Thu 8 Sep 2016 7:24:01 #8 |
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    Minstrel SE

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    I think we can take the 500gb vs 1TB out of the equation as they are clearly both reported as noisy

    We also need to be clear that Im not talking about the hard drive spinning or bearing noise which is fine and acceptable.

    Im talking about the rasping or chuntering of the heads (however you want to term it) every six seconds or so. It's loud and there is no denying that unless mine is within a noisier, bad batch.

    There are probably different batches which gets us all talking at cross purposes. If thats the case, its a bit shameful that Humax havent recalled the noisy versions and done something about it. I get the sense that they are just putting them back out for sale in the hope that the next customer doesnt care

    However I will probably keep it as the picture is superb and it seems to wake up ok from a standby. It doesnt seem to recognise the hard drive only when first starting from totally switched off.

    It has recorded superbly and is very fast starting playing a recorded programme or moving to play another. There are good points about the machine so I may keep it for a custom refit in future

    Its also within the price area where I can put it down to knowledge/experience and eventually try other models and makes

    | Thu 8 Sep 2016 12:55:42 #9 |
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    Faust

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    It doesnt seem to recognise the hard drive only when first starting from totally switched off.

    I had this problem with mine, not when it was in standby (you say totally switched off and I'm not sure what you mean by that?). Mine would fail to find any recorded programmes (though everything else was okay) if I used the manual timer to start the box in an evening in readiness for me coming home from work.

    Once I stopped using the timer the problem went away.

    | Thu 8 Sep 2016 15:15:41 #10 |

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