Aug 16 2010
REVIEWS: Humax HDR-Fox T2
High-def home hub?
Ever since Freeview HD began hosting three free-to-air high-def channels the chase has been on to deliver the ultimate piece of hardware. But while simple Freeview HD receivers have impressed with their pretty pictures, only a recorder can truly improve your daily life.
And that’s exactly what Humax’ latest does. There has been a slew of Freeview HD recorders of late from the likes of Panasonic, Digital Stream, Sharp and Samsung, but not all include Freeview+ functionality. That’s crucial since Freeview+ introduces series links and scheduling from the EPG; in short, it brings the freedom that a recorder should.
And there are few products that offer as much freedom as the HDR-Fox T2. Following on from its simple and successful forbear, the HD-Fox T2, this far larger incarnation introduces a 500GB hard disk for making recordings. That’s around 125 hours of high-def recordings from the three HD channels, or 300 hours of SD.
On the rear is the all-important HDMI output, flanked by ports for USB, Ethernet LAN, a Scart, Composite video, analogue audio and optical audio – the latter capable of taking Freeview HD’s native HE-AAC sound and changing it into the Dolby Digital surround sound before outputting it to a 5.1 amplifier or home cinema system. That’s a rare feature on rival boxes (to our knowledge Philips is the only other brand to feature Dolby Digital on its Freeview HD gear – as found on its DTR-5520 Freeview HD receiver).
There’s a further USB slot on the front of the unit (as well as a CI slot for Top-Up TV viewing cards), and a good job, too; a Wi-Fi USB adaptor is available from Humax, which will obviously permanently occupy the rear’s USB port, though you could argue that Wi-Fi should be built-in.
From external USB drives or sticks a plethora of file formats can be played. Although WMV files aren’t recognised, almost everything else we tried was – including DivX HD (MKV) files and even VOB files, an improvement on the HD-Fox T2’s frustrating file compatibility. A nice media player deals with MP3s, though, oddly, WMA music files are treated as video files (though they play without problems). Files can also be transferred to the hard disk after a relatively simple process. If you think physical media is just too pass?, this unit’s Ethernet (or Wi-Fi adaptor) enables these same files to be streamed from a PC or Mac. That Ethernet is also set to deliver online content services such as Sky Player.
It’s not all good news, however; playing digital media necessitates choosing whether you want to playback media from wither the hard disk or USB, and also whether you want to play video, music or photos – not a major issue, perhaps, though not being able to just play whatever, whenever can become a little tiresome.
It is, however, the user interface and 8-day electronic programme guide that are at the core of this box’s brilliance. Showing seven channels across 2 hours, series links and single recordings can be set in seconds from an interface that’s as fast as it is good-looking, with excellent use of high-res graphics and nuanced colours.
This slick approach carries on with HD channels, which are presented in glorious HD and with plenty of colour and contrast to keep the detail company, though we did lose reception for the HD channels (only) for a short period, suggesting that this product’s tuner isn’t as sensitive as it could be. Switch to a normal TV channel and quality takes a dive; the HDR-Fox T2 isn’t as skilled an upscaler as it should be. Recordings, meanwhile, are identical to the original broadcast and a delight to skip through using the excellent lightweight remote, though there are no editing functions.?
Verdict:
For the most part a joy to use, this slick and speedy set-top box/home hub’s Freeview+ functionality is perhaps as important as its high-def ambitions and puts it alongside the likes of Sky+ and Virgin V+ on sheer ease of use. It does lack a third tuner – as all Freeview HD recorders do – but trumps its rivals by adding DivX HD and Dolby Digital support. It may look similar to other Freeview HD recorders on the market, but presentation is key and Humax’s concentration on its user interface has once again paid-off – this is the finest product in its category.
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Tags:
Home Cinema Freeview+HD Set top boxes PVRs Humax Humax HDR-FOX T2
Humax HDR-Fox T2 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:03:30 +0100
