Humax HDR-1100s 500GB

Purchased this after ditching Sky and being told to keep the recording facility is not free. I've had a Humax basic receiver before but after checking out reviews I decided on this model. It comes with all cables and the receiver itself is very neat and compact. Not bulky like the Sky box. The set up was so easy and straight forward I was amazed how quickly it scanned the channels once I put in my post code. The HD picture quality is better than Sky I would say. Some people complained about the remote clicking but it's not an issue with me. Or the fact the light is on the bottom of the unit. I can see it clearly. I did have a problem finding the right code to operate my Samsung tv which I had to google as it's not shown on the Humax web site or if it is I could not find it. I'm not sure it's still right as there are so many different codes and you have to go through them all but again it's not difficult. It pauses live tv which is a great plus. The recording facility is easy. I downloaded the App so I could record programmes from my iPhone which I do first thing in the morning before work. Plus you can also use it to operate your tv. I paid a fortune to Sky not realising that minority of the channels I was watching were all on freeview 😡😡 how naive we all become with complacency. Take your cards out and see just what your paying for?? Ditch Sky folks and save yourselves loads of money. This unit is a highly recommended piece of kit. I would say with all it's added facilities it out does the Sky box. The 500gb storage is ideal for me but the added bonus of the larger storage recording capacity would be ideal for a larger family. It's a no brainer folks 👍👍👍

I've been eyeing up this box for the last 18 months to replace my extortionate sky subscription. I've read the Amazon reviews again and again for reassurance! My father in law finally took the plunge a few weeks ago and since seeing his box up and running I've followed.The box takes seconds to set-up, the LAN and HDMI cables supplied are good quality which was a nice surprise. Yes the buttons around the circle in the middle of the remote make a small clicking sound which I only noticed due to it being mentioned on these reviews so much.The unit is much more compact than my old Sky HD box which is a positive and is finished in gloss black with a subtle blue light (on) and red light for standby.I like the guide, it's clean and easy to navigate, I also like the feature that prompts you on screen that you are watching a SD channel that is available in HD and with one click of OK it switches over for you.The best thing for me (and I saw it mentioned here a lot and hoped was true) - picture quality! HD channels are much more vibrant and sharper than Sky, I found it very noticeable (just remember to select 1080p if your TV supports it during the initial set-up, the box defaulted to 1080i despite my TV being 1080p).I can't comment on the catch up features as I use my PS4 for iplayer, All4, Amazon, Netflix etc.I'm now saving £40 a month which means the box pays for itself in under 6 months. Any 'must watch' Sky exclusives I might crave like Game of Thrones, Westworld can be viewed using a £7 a month Now TV pass.Sky TV is dead, this box makes the transition vey easy!

Finally got around to giving Sky the boot and moving to Freesat. The Humax appeared to be the best brand on the market and this was the latest model available. The box is smaller than the Sky unit and although I didn't like the round lines initially once its under the TV it looks fine. Setup process was an interesting proposition as the unit crashed on setup, I restarted it and it crashed again. I thought this was going to be a DOA unit, however I found the issue. I was using wired Ethernet connection to the device, when the cable was connected from power up the setup would crash. If I waited until I got to the network setup screen and then plugged the cabled it worked. So I think there is a bug there in the firmware, to be fair I suspect most users would use WiFi to connect it so this might be because I am still a wired man.Once setup the unit found all the channels straight away, and to be honest I was surprised at the picture quality. The SD channels, I've been used to living in HD land with Sky, were a lot better than I was expecting to the point that I don't really miss HD. There are a few HD channels on Freesat and they are very good as well. The on demand channels work efficiently as do the pay-per-view options like movies.The unit has been pretty reliable, I've had to reboot it once as the guide went wonky. However this is nothing new as the Sky box used to have it's moments. The guide is pretty easy to use and it does everything a PVR should do. A couple of things I miss from the Sky box, like the ability to scan through favourites with a press button and on a recording there is no function to start viewing it from a time other than the start.The only negative of the box is the hard disk is quite noisy, not a typical chattering but a low volume hum this is pretty easy to tune into. I guess the box doesn't have much in the way of sound insulation and it is sat on a glass shelf so the noise is getting reflected out.Overall I am happy with my purchase, it does everything I need and more to the point I am not missing my Sky box.