Will new Foxsat HDR give me advantages over old?

My Humax Forum » Freesat HD » FOXSAT HDR

Will new Foxsat HDR give me advantages over old?

(18 posts)

Penners

member
Joined: Dec '13
Posts: 11
offline

I've had my Foxsat HDR unit since about four months after they were originally launched. I can't remember how long ago this is, but I guess it's around 6 - 7 years.

The unit still works perfectly well, but I wonder whether buying a new one would give me any real advances/advantages? I know I could get a larger HDD (mine is 320GB), but would the new model have other improvements?

Annoyances on the old model are:-

* Very sluggish response to the remote control since Day 1.

* Extremely long boot-up time in cold weather. If I wake the unit up on a cold day, I get nothing but a blue front-panel light for a long time - sometimes 5/6 minutes - before the word Boot finally appears.

* Using the Pause button always switches on subtitles. It's easy enough to switch them off again with the Exit button, but it's a stupid annoyance.

Should I renew?

| Fri 27 Dec 2013 17:44:39 #1 |
grahamlthompson

special member
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 14,442
offline

No advantage. Hardware hasn't changed. If your box has latest firmware it should work like a newer one.

Very easy to stick a larger hard drive in your box (Up to 1TB is straightforward), and copy your existing recordings to it. A new box will not play back existing HD recordings.

Long boot in cold conditions is a known issue (turn up your heating).

Very sluggish remote - do you have the latest firmware.

On any channel with the subtitles issue, tune to the channel and turn on the subtitles, now turn them off again.

| Fri 27 Dec 2013 17:55:00 #2 |
gomezz

special member
Joined: Mar '11
Posts: 943
offline

The other reasons for a sluggish remote are

1) Did you remove *all* the protective, packing film from both sides of the flap covering the IR sensor?

2) Is the flap darkened all the way across or does it have a circle of transparency where it covers the IR sensor?

| Fri 27 Dec 2013 17:58:46 #3 |
grahamlthompson

special member
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 14,442
offline

gomezz - 3 minutes ago »
The other reasons for a sluggish remote are
1) Did you remove *all* the protective, packing film from both sides of the flap covering the IR sensor?
2) Is the flap darkened all the way across or does it have a circle of transparency where it covers the IR sensor?

Gomezz you have a good memory , long forgotten the remove the film under flap and scraping the lacquer of the ir window posts.

| Fri 27 Dec 2013 18:03:36 #4 |
Penners

member
Joined: Dec '13
Posts: 11
offline

grahamlthompson - thanks (for the second time today!) for that advice, which I'll follow up.

Gomezz - thanks for responding. I vaguely remember the packing film issue cropping up when I first posted about the sluggish remote control, several years ago. I'm confident that there's no film on the outside of the flap (I remember removing it), but when I look at the flap it looks dark right across.

Are you suggesting that I should do something with the small round "porthole" that's visible on the back of the flap?

| Fri 27 Dec 2013 18:30:59 #5 |
grahamlthompson

special member
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 14,442
offline

Open the flap, look very carefully there may be a near invisible film stuck to the display (it's very hard to spot).

Now locate the round IR window from the inside, if it looks dark scratch very gently (I used a cocktail stick) to remove the dark lacquer coating to leave a totally transparent window.

| Fri 27 Dec 2013 19:11:29 #6 |
Penners

member
Joined: Dec '13
Posts: 11
offline

Great! I'll do that.

Many thanks Graham.

| Fri 27 Dec 2013 19:15:41 #7 |
Penners

member
Joined: Dec '13
Posts: 11
offline

Reporting back!

I've scratched the lacquer coating off the IR porthole, and the machine's response to the remote control does seem to be improved.

It's still not nearly as quick as on my son's Sky box or my daughter's Youview box, but I guess I can live with it (having done so for several years already!).

Many thanks again, grahamlthompson and gomezz, for your advice.

| Sat 28 Dec 2013 12:36:38 #8 |
grahamlthompson

special member
Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 14,442
offline

Penners - 40 minutes ago »
Reporting back!
I've scratched the lacquer coating off the IR porthole, and the machine's response to the remote control does seem to be improved.
It's still not nearly as quick as on my son's Sky box or my daughter's Youview box, but I guess I can live with it (having done so for several years already!).
Many thanks again, grahamlthompson and gomezz, for your advice.

The custom firmware available free has a remote control that works in a web browser (PC/Smartphone/tablet etc). Being WiFI it can be used anywhere in your house to control the box (even over the internet from anywhere). It adds lots of other capabilities as well.

| Sat 28 Dec 2013 13:19:13 #9 |
Penners

member
Joined: Dec '13
Posts: 11
offline

Thanks for that information, Graham. It's food for thought!

Presumably the wi-fi remote control means that watching an upstairs TV connected to the downstairs Humax box becomes a viable proposition? Our Humax box is connected to our router via powerline and we have a wi-fi range extender upstairs, so I guess the wi-fi remote would have no trouble talking to the Humax box.

| Sun 29 Dec 2013 10:26:04 #10 |