back to article Humax YouView DTR-T1000 IPTV Freeview PVR review

YouView is the ambitious but agonisingly delayed joint venture from the UK's main broadcasters involved in Freeview along with telcos BT and TalkTalk. As expected from that bunch, it combines a digital terrestrial recorder with internet-TV extras such as catch-up programme players and (soon) on-demand video, including optional …

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  1. Eponymous Cowherd
    Thumb Down

    Right pitch, wrong platform.

    "The terrestrial networks account for the majority of TV viewing, even in homes that have satellite or cable. So by pitching YouView at pay-TV refuseniks, it has the concept right."

    But at a price that exceeds the price of a decent Freesat HD recorder box by some margin.

    Too much money for too little functionality on an unreliable platform. Another E-m@iler for Lord Sugar, I think.

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      Headmaster

      "exceeds the price of a decent Freesat HD recorder "

      Freesat requires the installation of a dish, which costs money on top of the recorder. On top of which, not everyone can install a Freesat dish - a lot of renters, for example, and people who live in listed buildings. I shan't comment on the functionality, but the cash is less of an issue than you make out.

    2. ACZ
      Thumb Down

      Re: Right pitch, wrong platform.

      Agreed - the price point is massively wrong, and the large amount of snagging is very worrying. Lack of what is now basic features in terms of apps/subscription services (Lovefilm etc.) also looks bad.

      I've said it before, and I'll very happily say it again - should have ditched YouView a couple of years ago when HbbTV was clearly going to be the winner. We need a single platform that all manufacturers and content providers can target so that the box, format, interface and functionality used in France or Germany etc. is essentially the same as that in the UK - would lead to more products, lower prices and much quicker and more complete (and broader) delivery of apps/channels/services from content providers. Would also give a much better chance of decent firmware and speedy bugfixes.

      The winner here is going to be the box that provides freesat/freeview, catchup TV (and other online content) from terrestrial broadcasters, apps/services etc. from other content providers (and the ability of the user to add their own chosen services etc. - enter URIs of your own chosen repos for content/services), gigabit ethernet with access to content on the home LAN and the ability to copy recorded content onto the home LAN, remote access for scheduling recordings, excellent search (all recordings, all scheduled broadcast content, all catchup TV, all online content, all LAN content), and a fantastically simple and easy-to-use interface. Not much to ask... :)

      Overall, good on Humax for putting out the box (even though it has issues), but as ever a fail for YouView.

    3. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: Another E-m@iler for Lord Sugar, I think.

      Funny isn't it, that Humax have a pretty good reputation but as soon as LordSirAlanSugar's name can be tied to their product it's automatically a steaming pile of shite.

      The price is too high for me but it's comparable to other PVR offerings. I'm holding out for something like this which supports Freeview and Freesat, IPTV, internet and local streaming, with integrated Blu-Ray player and it would be nice if it supported some means (even analogue) to get my Sky and VM services into it so I don't need separate PVR's for those as well. Internet and local server web browsing would also be handy. For that I'd likely cough-up £300, perhaps more.

      One day there may be a single TV or integrated system that does it all and does it well but I think we're going to be stuck with multiple boxes and remotes for quite some time to come.

      1. Lamont Cranston

        Re: I'm holding out for...

        That'll be a small PC, with a couple of tuners, then. I gave up waiting, and decided to make do with whatever catch-up services I can get through my devices (TV, PVR, Blu-ray are all networked, and from different manufactures), and the joyless experience of DLNA.

        I would be quite upset, but it's only telly.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: That'll be a small PC, with a couple of tuners, then.

          So build it then! I spent around £300 to build a HTPC with dual DVB-S2 (HD) tuners, SSD for fast start up, 1TB HD for storage and quality components to ensure low noise and power useage. I run MediaPortal on it with the StreamedMP skin (all free) .

          It gives me amazing customisation options, awesome quality, more features than I could even begin to explain, and I heard somewhere that alot of people use it to get Sky for 'a very cheap price' ;-) . Best of all I use it to network the TV to other PC's in several rooms around the house - I could even set up a client (with full functionality) in another country if my upload speed was a little faster.

  2. dms05

    Too expensive and you have to watch the ads

    YouView is a great idea. This isn't the product to make it appeal to a mass market. Will adverts be compulsory on all YouView equipment? Integration with other streaming sources seems a problem so it won't appeal to many people who already have these.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    75% ?

    Seems to fail in every section of the review, is well overpriced and yet it gets 75% ? deserves 30% max

    No mention of Netflix / Lovefilm, this would help get people across from expensive Sky Movie packages or expensive Virgin pay-per-view movies. Youtube HD and support for DLNA should be there too from the outset.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 75% ?

      Correction: there *was* a mention of Netflix and Lovefilm in the review. It said they are not provided in this platform.

      I agree with the 30% rating. A box which constantly crashes? A box which doesn't do rescheduling? Fixes "might" appear in new firmware, but has not even been suggested by the manufacturer that these are forthcoming (and as many phone owners know, even if the manufacturer promised a firmware upgrade at the time you bought the phone, it may never deliver it in practice)

      Buyer beware. If it doesn't do what you want today, then don't buy.

  4. Kevin7
    FAIL

    Obsolete by design?

    I think the era of monolithic formats like this are coming to an end. Five years ago this looked quite innovative, now it looks like Betamax. You can get IP-based devices and televisions that look to me like leapfrogging this.

  5. AndrueC Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Why such poor handling of programme clashes? Their Freesat box offers alternates - even from different channels. Mind you Sky doesn't have anything for that either. Two minutes to boot from deep sleep is a bit much? Christ on a crutch - I thought their Freesat box was bad enough at half a minute from deep sleep. Presumably this box will at least have the 'Power On/Off' scheduling function so you can work around that.

    Still - I might suggest that my Dad by this box to replace his existing Humax.

    1. vitaminj

      The programme clash section of the review isn't true - the box does conflict resolution at the time of recording, either by offering to record a +1/repeat alternative or allowing you to cancel another recording.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Two minutes to boot from deep sleep is a bit much?

      How do you Sky around this? The box is never really off - you click off and it just makes the light go red! Unplug a Skybox at the main and then plug it back in to see what their real 'deep sleep startup time is' . Apparently the long start up time on these Linux based PVR's is extremely hard to avoid unless you 'avoid' the problem completely like Sky have.

  6. Fihart

    Powerline Adapters ?

    Less Hassle ? Not in our home.

    1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

      Re: Powerline Adapters ?

      Ditto here - the damn things kept falling asleep to the point of going comatose (I tried 2 different ones, same problem). I wonder if they were used for this review, which may go some way towards explaining the frequently dropped network..

  7. Martin 47

    3 mbps? No bloody use here then.

  8. Rufus McDufus

    Don't think I'll be swapping my Humax Fox HDR T2 for this any time soon by the looks of it.

    1. druck Silver badge
      Thumb Down

      I initially wondered if you wouldn't be able to put the YouView firmware in a HDR T2, but on reading the limitations it would be a retrograde step.

      1. Greg 16

        The YouView minimum spec (which is actually pretty high) is almost identical to the new FreeSat spec, so I imagine that we'll see it on those boxes in a couple of years. In fact I think we'll see a shaky start to YouView, but then suddenly see it turning up built into new TV's etc, as they almost all have enough spec for it already due to all their 'Smart TV' features.

        The idea behind Youview is definitely the future (remember that FreeViewHD only has the bandwidth for 5 HD channels) - but I think YouView will look A LOT different in 5 years time.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Youview FAIL

    I thought YouView was intended to be a consolidated IP service with defined standards for UK catchup TV - so manufacturers could support ALL UK broadcasters with a single application.

    As it is now, SmartTV/IPTV device manufacturers have 4 majors players to support (iPlayer, ITVplayer, 4oD, Demand 5). You could get a YouView settop Box with whatever other features you wanted, but it was the integrated backend interface that was important.

    The product that has been produced is nothing like that, and seems to be absolutely rubbish.

    1. mrh2

      Re: Youview FAIL

      That's not what it was, that product was what became SeeSaw which crashed and burned.

      You also seem to be having some issues understanding the role the device makers play, YouView provide all the code other than the device drivers. The makers don't have to support any players, just the YV core software on a box built to a given spec.

      The features are all decided and rilled out by YouView via software updates.

    2. Joseph Lord

      Re: Youview FAIL

      It has been clear for some time that Youview is itself a Platform that manufacturers are asked to provide underlying hardware and OS on which Youview implements the UI and many functions. They have just leaped into competition with GoogleTV really.

      This is all a result of Sky envy. Sky can control their STBs, push software updates, new user interfaces and new features without going through standardisation work at the DtG and then persuading the manufacturers to adopt the features (and which manufacturers haven't often done to persuade them to backport to old models). Of course the reason Sky could do this is that they bought and then sold on at subsidised prices billions of pounds worth of STBs. The BBC wants its own Youview to be it's own Sky box to ensure it's own content is properly promoted and not hidden.

      Of course since Project Canvas (aka Youview) was originally planned to be launched in late 2009 the BBC iPlayer has gained a prominent position on a massive range of devices that weren't available then including most major brand TVs, blu-ray players, network streamers, Freeview HD boxes, Virgin Tivo, iPads and other tablets plus it has gained access to iPhones, Android devices, and the Xbox 360 (it was already on the PS3 and Wii). The BBC has already gained what it needs to ensure it's content is presented and accessible on many different device types rather than be trapped as a deadwater on Sky and Virgin boxes which was their great fear.

      1. ACZ

        Re: Youview FAIL

        Yes, but the issue for the Beeb is having to support iPlayer on all of those platforms/devices - I suspect that it's an absolute nightmare and a total black hole for developer time and resources. At which point, some open/defined standards in terms of minimum hardware and OS can help, and that gives us YouView. If it takes off and device manufacturers incorporate it in future TVs and STBs then they'll be able to deliver a single build of their IPTV service for an awful lot of devices.

        So presumably irrespective of how iPlayer progresses, the prospect of reduced costs and a more consistent and better user experience will ensure that the BBC are keen on YouView. That and the fact that, as you say, they'll be able to control to a certain extent how their channels and services are presented. Big fish in a relatively small pond.

        GoogleTV could be the real issue for them. However, as the broadcast content provider they'll be able to decide whether or not to support it and therefore until it gains a critical mass and their hand is forced, they'll probably avoid it like the plague - much bigger pond and an awful lot more fish to fight with for people's attention.

        1. Joseph Lord
          Thumb Down

          Re: Youview FAIL

          There is no way that Youview as it stands can be incorporated into TVs or Blu-rays at least on a large scale. So they will still need to support the largest players as they will have millions of devices rather than a few hundred thousand in a year's time.

          1) Hard disk is mandatory which would keep it to a niche range of TVs not currently available unless they change the platform.

          2) It is a UK solution. TV's are global products with tweaked software for each region's broadcast characteristics with tuner units potentially changed for each market (although increasingly integration means that you get more tuner types than you need and costs are saved though high volumes).

          3) The major players (Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic) are not about to hand their entire UI including branding, content placement and promotional possibilities not to mention any feature differentiation over to Youview.

          Now if they had delivered a set of service standards instead of a software platform that would be a completely different matter.

  10. Drummer Boy
    FAIL

    No media streaming = fail

    If it won't replace my 8 year old Topfield and my WD TV Live then it's not a win for me.

    I need a box that works on terrestrial, records 2 channels, and watches a 3rd, allows me to see all UK catchup TV services, and works as a media streamer.

  11. Lxbr

    Like Humax but won't buy them any more

    Unfortunately my HDR FOX T2 died just over a year after I got it. It was a great box while it was working, UI was nice, particularly good at picking up low strength Freeview signals, and the picture looked somehow better than my TV built-in decoder, but I'm avoiding them till I get positive evidence their quality control has improved.

    1. dms05

      Re: Like Humax but won't buy them any more

      I have a Humax 9300 PVR that failed after 14 months and Humax just ignored my complaints. So I too would avoid the brand as it seems to have very variable reliability. Lots report it OK but an underlying percentage report problems like this. I won't be buying one again.

      1. Daf L

        Re: Like Humax but won't buy them any more

        Why report it to Humax, go back to the shop you bought it from and ask for it to be fixed/replaced. Your statutory rights are with the retailer not the manufacturer.

        By law they would have to fix it for you.

        1. rich_a

          Re: Like Humax but won't buy them any more

          He could happily send it back to Humax as well. The HDR-T2 comes with a two year warranty.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Like Humax but won't buy them any more

            I suggested my parents buy a Humax T2 on the strength of a Reg review. No complaints about core functions, mostly used by my mum to record and watch crime dramas. However, its 'TV Portal' (iPlayer etc) is unusable through the £30 optional dongle. Maybe poking it with a firmware update will cheer it up...

            That, and my dad doesn't get the concept of pressing [TV] [ON] [PVR] [ON] to get everything powered up. Might have to do the old 'string the remote controls together with a bungie cord' trick again. But he can find videos of Hitler being annoyed by Ryan Air on his Samsung tablet. Oh well.

  12. Joseph Lord
    Facepalm

    This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

    > It’s said that just a third of Freeview-only homes have a hard-disk recorder. YouView is chiefly aimed at non-PVR viewers who have an aversion to making direct debits to media conglomerates but want a no-fuss way to see free catch-up content on their HDTV, and then maybe sample the hedonistic pleasures of pay-TV in a small way.

    It's a £300 product aimed about 6.5million households who have shown no interest in £200 PVR products that are in many ways quite similar or paying for more advanced TV reception generally. Also at a time when tablets are competing for gadget spend in this price range and also offering the catch up services. There won't be a team of sales people demonstrating attractive content in the aisle of every shopping mall in the land (like Sky has). It will be a box on the shelf in Currys next to all the other black boxes from Humax and Topfield.

    I'm also not certain that Humax can add the features back that are on their other products as the relevant layers in the software stack may belong to Youview so I wouldn't count on Humax controlling the featureset.

    It is interesting that the broadcasters seem to have allowed access to their content by routes other than through their individual players. That was certainly something that they were never amenable to a couple of years ago when I was trying to persuade them to allow more options on a different connected TV platform. I imagine there might be grounds for a complaint on competition (given the multiple broadcasters working together and favouring their shared platform) grounds but the CE brands may find the risk of losing iPlayer or having it launched late on a new model too great to risk complaining.

    1. mrh2

      Re: This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

      >> There won't be a team of sales people demonstrating attractive content in the aisle of every shopping mall in the land (like Sky has). It will be a box on the shelf in Currys next to all the other black boxes from Humax and Topfield.

      No, instead there'll be three commercial terrestrial broadcasters advertising it, SKy's NOW TV platform listing it as a place to receive the service, at least two major ISPs pushing it and a stream of other content providers (I know some but can't say) pushing their availability on it.

      Overall that's probably a bit better than a pushy bloke disrupting your trip to Waitrose.

      1. Joseph Lord

        Re: This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

        Really???

        Firstly fair trading rules at least for the BBC will have to say that you can get iPlayer on Youview, Games Consoles, Connected TVs, Freeview HD devices, iPads, iPhones, Android phones, Android tablets, and PCs.... There is a real limit to how much they at least can push Youview against competing platforms. This may not apply to the others but they don't give much promotional airtime away for free so Youview would probably have to pay for adverts (as Freeview and Freesat have done for brief campaigns in the past).

        For the target market of those who have not yet got a PVR a ten second advert talking about Youview is not going to send people out to buy. Actually seeing it working is (assuming it is worth the £100M spent on it) what is needed to persuade people to buy. This is where having it millions of homes (so you can see it at a friend's) OR having nice friendly people to show you how it works and what you can do with it in every shopping mall in the land. Youview have neither of these and while they might set up a number of mobile demonstrations and take them around shopping malls I doubt that they can cover a fraction of the ground that Sky can.

        1. mrh2

          Re: This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

          >> Firstly fair trading rules at least for the BBC will have to say that you can get iPlayer on Youview, Games Consoles, Connected TVs, Freeview HD devices, iPads, iPhones, Android phones, Android tablets, and PCs....

          Indeed they will, which is why I specifically referred to "hree commercial terrestrial broadcasters" - i.e. not the BBC.

          >> This may not apply to the others but they don't give much promotional airtime away for free so Youview would probably have to pay for adverts

          There's a difference, this is a product designed to ensure the broadcasters retain control over their content's distribution not merely to enable its reception. It's in their interests for this to sell more than Smart TVs and other competing devices.

          >> assuming it is worth the £100M spent on it

          That was £70m between 7 equal shareholders including two ISPs using it as their next-gen TV boxes. including one who has some major football rights to milk for cash and who has already said they'll be offering some exclusive goodies only on their platform.

          >> OR having nice friendly people to show you how it works and what you can do with it in every shopping mall in the land

          I've never seen a shopping centre Sky demo which had a live working box.

          1. Joseph Lord

            Re: This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

            >>Indeed they will, which is why I specifically referred to "hree commercial terrestrial broadcasters" - i.e. not the BBC.

            >>>> This may not apply to the others but they don't give much promotional airtime away for free so Youview would probably have to pay for adverts

            >>There's a difference, this is a product designed to ensure the broadcasters retain control over their content's distribution not merely to enable its reception. It's in their interests for this to sell more than Smart TVs and other competing devices.

            Sorry missed that you had spotted the BBC's limits. I still don't think that the commercial broadcasters will do much they will do much. Different departments budgets and priorities mean that giving up advertising time costs real money and peoples bonuses will depend on it. That money would be better spent doing nice players for Samsung, LG and probably Sony and Panasonic along with business deals for long term high profile placement. That is where the numbers are going to be as the natural TV replacement cycle roles along AND that can get them a strong placement even in Sky and Virgin homes.

            Will the New Media (or equivalent) departments at ITV and C4 get multi-million pound pots of money to spend on advertising (even on their own channels)? I really doubt it. And

            >>>> assuming it is worth the £100M spent on it

            >>That was £70m between 7 equal shareholders including two ISPs using it as their next-gen TV boxes. including one who has some major football rights to milk for cash and who has already said they'll be offering some exclusive goodies only on their platform.

            I think you are probably right although I haven't been following the latest accounts but the original plan was £100M MOSTLY for advertising with development taking a small proportion. Haven't got time to check the old plans now.

            BT have spent hundreds and hundreds of millions almost giving away BT Vision and I think that they don't have much more than 500K users (again haven't checked detail figures but would be surprised if off by more than 50%). Its hard to imagine them getting much back from their investment^W reckless splurge on football unless they offer something on other platforms. Again I think that the need to make a real cash choice between boosting their platform or avoiding making obscene losses is going to lead the exclusive offer to be fairly weak.

            I also don't think that there is anything next-gen about Youview it is very much current-gen along with Virgin Tivo and SkyHD (launched in 2006) although it may be better than both I don't see any generational shift. Although this does indicate how far behind BT still are (as they haven't launched their Youview offer yet).

            >>>> OR having nice friendly people to show you how it works and what you can do with it in every shopping mall in the land

            >>I've never seen a shopping centre Sky demo which had a live working box.

            Probably a fair point, I've never subjected myself to a discussion with them. They have demoed HD and 3D though, I've seen that as I walk past. Sky's pitch is very much content, except for the time they did the rather good Sky+ ads and even those were very clear what content you were getting. Youview's pitch is user experience and ease of use (I think) so actually being able to demo it is rather important but even having someone there who can explain the product is quite an achievement. Have you ever mystery shopped TV products in Currys or Comet? When I tried asking questions about Connected TVs a couple of years ago only about 1 of the 5 I tried did a good job.

            1. mrh2

              Re: This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

              >> That money would be better spent doing nice players for Samsung, LG and probably Sony and Panasonic along with business deals for long term high profile placement.

              Except that TV makers drop support pretty quickly - there's a thread about this on Digital Spy right now, some big brand TV sets have been denied the iTV Player despite being a maximum 12 months old.

              YouView will support devices until they cannot be supported without holding up improvements , not because maker X wants to lift another £1k from your bank.

              >> That is where the numbers are going to be as the natural TV replacement cycle roles along

              Ofcom reports that Smart TVs are less then 5% of the market and of these around 1/3 have never been connected to the internet. IF they're ever dominant it won't be for a long time.

              >> Will the New Media (or equivalent) departments at ITV and C4 get multi-million pound pots of money to spend on advertising (even on their own channels)? I really doubt it.

              They don't need millions. They already display ads for their catch-up services, it costs next to nothing for Channel 4 to redub the 4oD ad to include the line

              'you can watch again or catch-up on Channel 4 shows on your big screen TV via YouView'

              (except they'd word it better ;) )

              >> I also don't think that there is anything next-gen about Youview it is very much current-gen along with Virgin Tivo and SkyHD (launched in 2006) although it may be better than both I don't see any generational shift. Although this does indicate how far behind BT still are (as they haven't launched their Youview offer yet).

              I have a review YouView box in front of me. I used TiVo as paying customer and it was shite. YV works like the TiVo should have but still doesn't.

              Once the third party content providers some on board it'll be a free marketplace - good for consumers - something TiVo and Sky+ can never be without taking cash away from the box providers.

              And unlike TiVo, YouView will be available to everyone. VM can operate where they've laid down cable so 50% of the nation is closed to them.

              >> BT have spent hundreds and hundreds of millions almost giving away BT Vision and I think that they don't have much more than 500K users

              They have closer to 750k users....

              >> Its hard to imagine them getting much back from their investment^W reckless splurge on football unless they offer something on other platforms

              BT will offer the football matches but not the extra content - they've already said this. Expect exclusive post match interviews via a red button or app. This will help drive take-up as will finally offering HD.

              >> Again I think that the need to make a real cash choice between boosting their platform or avoiding making obscene losses is going to lead the exclusive offer to be fairly weak.

              They're using TV content to keep broadband and phone customers. The content is just an infrastructure cost like upgrading exchanges to Infinity.

              >> Sky's pitch is very much content,

              Indeed but that pitch has signed up as many people as it will using their current business model, hence why they've launcehd NOW TV and are going to be on YouView.

              >> Youview's pitch is user experience and ease of use (I think) so actually being able to demo it is rather important but even having someone there who can explain the product is quite an achievement.

              Agree. And on those front IMO it performs very well. But people need to see it.

              >> Have you ever mystery shopped TV products in Currys or Comet? When I tried asking questions about Connected TVs a couple of years ago only about 1 of the 5 I tried did a good job.

              Surprised it was that high.

              1. Joseph Lord

                Re: This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

                I think we may be in more agreement than disagreement.

                A key question is the likely promotional success Youview will have and we clearly have different views about what it will take to promote it to the public. If I'm wrong and it does reach a couple of million households or more then content will be attracted and viral promotion effects (seeing it at a friend's house) will kick in. But I think this is unlikely to occur even over the next 3 years.

                The comment with regards to Sky pitching comment was to indicate that they had less need of live demo than Youview whose pitch is ease of use as all the content is available elsewhere.

                I suspect that the issue with ITVPlayer support on older products is mostly about ITV requiring features that are only available on the newest products. It may or may not be possible to backport features to the older products but going forwards I would expect them to be maintained. TV manufacturers have a tricky task balancing how much to add additonal features and API to their interactive platforms that won't be available on older products. The more they add the more attractive this years product is to content providers but the less they benefit from the scale of the existing devices. At the moment there are frequent (often annual) platform changes to keep the costs coming down but that may need to slow to build platforms of scale.

                1. mrh2

                  Re: This is why it will fail to get mainstream adoption

                  >> I think we may be in more agreement than disagreement.

                  Always a welcome sign of intelligence ;-)

                  >> If I'm wrong and it does reach a couple of million households or more then content will be attracted and viral promotion effects (seeing it at a friend's house) will kick in. But I think this is unlikely to occur even over the next 3 years.

                  All it takes is most of BT and TalkTalk's existing customer base to upgrade from the legacy boxes and there's 1m users there. Remember too that each ISP will have its own content on the system via a branded player, so content competition will be a key factor in driving take-up.

                  I'll be honest and say I think it'll actually be huge once the content is there and there are providers waiting in the wings to announce in the coming months. Some will probably surprise a lot of sceptics, certainly one is on very few large screen devices and will be massively popular.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    On the price, to be fair it's launching at the same price that the Foxsat HDR launched at (and which could still be its list price?).

    Given how long YouView has taken to get to market, and how much it has cost to develop (which must be many times what Humax dropped on their own interface), the limited functionality and number of bugs is really disappointing.

    Does anyone know what's happened to the next gen Humax Freesat box? I heard good rumours about it. Freesat coming into its own at the moment - 24 HD olympic streams.

  14. Jason Hindle Silver badge

    It needs a record to disk option for online content

    Sometimes my internet connection is good for 720p, sometimes not. I'd prefer the option to download content to the disk and then play it.

  15. The BigYin
    FAIL

    No streaming

    No streaming off the HDD? Fail. Not interested.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I don't suppose anyone will actually pay £299...

    ... that price is set intentionally high so that Talktalk and others can say "get a free(*) YouView box WORTH £299 when you sign up for our service"

    (*) actually you have to pay £50 for the "free" box

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I don't suppose anyone will actually pay £299...

      thought the fifty quid was for the engineer install...

      1. Eponymous Cowherd

        Re: I don't suppose anyone will actually pay £299...

        "thought the fifty quid was for the engineer install..."

        You mean some bloke with a bit of training plugs it in and switches it on.....

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I don't suppose anyone will actually pay £299...

        If the engineer visit is not optional, then you are compelled to pay £50 for the box.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    wow, what a bunch of moaning people you lot are

    I'll post anonymously as I am part of the trial for this fine piece of kit and I can say that I am loving it. Previously had a Humax SD twin tuner, (a 9800 I think) now donated to my parents. So having no PVT, getting this plugged in to my 40" Sony with an aging EPG was a dream.

    Yes there are adverts on 4OD, but I believe there are adverts if you watch 4OD on your Xbox or PC or PS3, so whats the difference? The all in one On Demand functions works great, yes you can load up the individual players, but using the EPG, you dont see these until the program has loaded up and you are straight into your show.

    One nice feature I like is, if I record something and it is repeated a few nights later it shows up in the EPG as being available to watch straight away, at the same time, if you go back to the show in the guide it knows you have it recorded it and loads it without streaming it from the player.

    The pricing for this doesn't seem to be final yet, I have just had an email from Richer Sounds that shows it for £290 so no doubt this price will come down once more retailers start competing on price.

    As part of the test group we are still getting emails for features we would like to see and the latest was for streaming across a home network so it is likely this feature will be added.

    Finally I think this is the 3rd or fourth "review or preview" of this product, but is it even released yet? My testing period is going on for another 6 weeks or so yet.

    sometimes it just seems to me that you lot want the moon on a stick for about £99.99.

  18. b166er

    The good thing about this collaboration will be a good EPG.

    Hopefully it'll be open-sourced/portable at some point.

    If I was considering spending that sort of money on 'free' TV, I'd probably get a VU+ Ultimo instead as it offers so much more, including the ability to connect to satellite based networks too.

  19. Richard Lloyd
    FAIL

    Late, expensive and missing features - YouView flops on day one

    After an eternity waiting for this, we get a 300 quid box (50-100 quid too expensive to get mass adoption) that actually seems to have less features than the old 200 quid Technika 8320HD box I retired a few months ago (to be replaced with a PC-based media centre setup, which is way more flexible than any set top box). What seems to be missing from this Humax are:

    * Wireless connectivity - not everyone keeps the TV and their router close together (they're often in different rooms). The 8320HD had both wired and wireless in case you're wondering.

    * Only a 500GB hard drive on launch - with the ability to record two HD channels simultaneously, that won't last long.

    * No way to save streamed recordings, which is utter pants.

    * No way to play anything from USB or the network, which is a total joke in this day and age (even smart TVs can do this!). Again, the 8320HD could do both. Any new net-enabled media box like this should really be able to be a DNLA server to stream its content to other devices in the house - not providing this on a 2012-launched box is almost criminal.

    I'm sorry, but this is a hugely damp squib of a launch. Maybe in a year or two, there'll be enough well-spec'ed models and firmware updates to make it more atractive, but at the moment, it's a big letdown. It's doing very little new that various PVRs and smart TVs haven't already been doing for years (and does less in some cases).

    1. Joseph Lord

      Re: Late, expensive and missing features - YouView flops on day one

      Agree but wanted to strengthen a couple of points.

      The eternity is 2.75 years from initial target launch date (Late 2009-August 2012). The major CE manufacturers all launched 3 generations of TV products in this time period.

      It is not £50-100 too much for mass adoption but probably £200 too much. For truly mass adoption it needs to be impulse buy piled up in Tescos. That doesn't necessarily mean it is bad value for what you get or that it won't appeal to a large niche but it won't get mass adoption at anything like it's current price and the product as currently defined can't be brought down to mass market prices for some years to come.

      Being a DLNA server it would need to be restricted to encrypted streams only for some HD content by Freeview rules. The content rights for IP streaming probably specify the timelimits in most cases so I doubt they can allow downloaded content to be treated as recorded.

      On an additional point I read elsewhere that with the quick startup mode enabled it uses over 16W in standby and still takes 20s to become usable. With proper standby it takes over 2 minutes to boot. If these figures are correct it is outrageously bad (although maybe no worse than Virgin boxes which always seem hot even when not in use). [http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?s=b68a92c6d4e596ebb02996dcc2fcc807&t=1706789&page=2] The Reg review quotes the low energy standby time and the high energy boot time.

  20. Frankhugh

    Will it work from Canada?

    Anyone have any idea whether or not the dtr1000 will work if I take one out to Canada and use my uk IP address. Not wishing to buy a 300 quid dud

    1. Bob H

      Re: Will it work from Canada?

      It is a hybrid broadcast and IP receiver, Canada uses the American standard for TV and so it won't work for broadcast. I wouldn't take one to Canada.

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