Humax Foxsat-HDR Freesat+

Want access to satellite TV and a Sky+ type system but don’t want to pay a monthly subscription. Then Freesat and the Humax Foxsat-HDR is the solution. This offering from Humax is the only hard disk recorder on the market for Freesat. The only other option is to record to DVD or VHS in conjunction with another Freesat receiver. Freesat is a free to air satellite system giving you access to satellite channels and HD channels. So if you are in a poor reception area and cannot receive Freeview then this is one answer if you don’t want to pay the monthly subscription to Sky.

The Humax Foxsat-HDR box is a slim stylish box with a blue LCD window on the front. It is well built and contains a 32oGb hard disk enabling you to store about 20 hours of HD programmes or up to 200 hours of standard definition (SD) programmes.

The Foxsat-HDR box comes with a good range of sockets including an HDMI to connect to a HD ready television for watching the HD channels. A digital optical audio socket also enables Dolby Digital sound connections to you surround sound system. Two LNB inputs are also available meaning you can record one channel while watching another or record 2 channels while watching programmes recorded on the disk already. There is an Ethernet port which although not used at the moment could be used in the future to connect IPTV facilities such as BBC iPlayer. There are two USB sockets, one on the back and one on the front which means the recorder can also be used as a media hub at some point in the future.

Installation is quick with the cables from the satellite dish just needing to be connected up. If you haven’t got a satellite connection already then you will need to get this installed buy a professional company to install the satellite, line it up and lay the cabling needed to where the box will reside. Once installed the setup is simple and intuitive to give you access to all TV and radio channels.

The menu system is easy to use and the EPG guide is easy to navigate making it easy to select the programmes you want to record. It comes with series link so you won’t miss any episodes of your favourite programmes. You can easily search for programmes if you are unsure when it is broadcast. It is easy to organize programs into folders manually or TV programs will automatically be stored in a folder with the programmes name.

Playback is straightforward and you can fast forward or rewind at speeds of x2 , x4, x8, x16, x32, x64, x1/2, x1/4 and x1/8 normal speed making skipping adverts easy. We also really like the option to resume playing from the last watched point. So if you decide to finish watching a film another time rather than start the beginning and fast forward you can just resume playing. A very nice feature.

The Good
The Foxsat-HDR is well built and stylish meaning it fits well under any television. The range of options are great with some really nice features such as the resume playback option. The EPG is easy to use and the menu is straight forward enough.

The Bad
The only slight downside is that the box can take 30 seconds to boot up but to be honest this is just us being picky in the day and age of instant availability.

Conclusion
A great offering from Humax for the Freesat market. Rivals Sky+ and without the need to subscribe monthly to Sky. with the popularity of Freesat increasing there will be more and more channels added in the future but already the range of channels is great.

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