Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51311 in Consumer Electronics
• Model: PVR-9200TB
• Dimensions: 8.16 pounds

Customer Reviews

If digital is the future...
First of all, this is essentially the same device as the PVR9200T which was introduced in 2005, with a black case and upgraded firmware to adhere to the new Freeview Playback standard. The good news is that this means the bugs and lack of certain features which caused problems for early adopters have now been ironed out and this is has a quality feel and provides a slick and well presented interface. I've been trying to find a major fault with it since it arrived and I'm glad to say I've failed.

The best thing is "it just works" which is how things should be - record two programmes at once, watch something before it's finished recording, select a bunch of programmes from the 8-day EPG and let it crack on and fill the 160Mb HDD with TV, all with no fuss - the only problem I now have is finding time to watch it all. I live in the Isle of Man, without an official Digital signal, and get all of our Freeview channels from across the water in Cumbria - weather permitting, reception is excellent and we get access to teletext and "red button" services where we didn't with the previous Freeview box. There's so much more to this thing I'll run out of words before I can describe them, and I'm still finding new functions... The Humax community is very well estabished, and the company themselves support and update their products better than most - there will be an update for the earlier version to bring it up to the same as this new one - but they don't get the nice shiny black case ;-)

I think the only criticisms I can come up with are a couple of issues which have dogged the box since it's inception, namely a slow USB transfer to PC (if that's your bag) and an EPG which can take time to populate, as well as a couple of regularly used buttons on the new remote which could have been on the main section rather than hidden behind the sliding panel which keeps the lesser-used buttons tidy, none of which are show-stoppers.

With the changeover imminent, you shouldn't think twice about buying one of these, you really won't regret it.

Forget Sky+
This box is going to really hit the market in Sky + boxes and the like. This digital TV receiver is amazing and incredibly easy to use. You just plug it in and it does the rest for you. It receives all the Freeview channels and has two recorders so that you can record two programmes and watch another if you wish. Recording a programme is unbelievably easy- you just highlight the programme on the menu guide, which I think shows programmes for the next 14 days and then press "OK." My only very, very minor gripe is that if you want to specifically look for a programme that you can't see in the guide, the facility to enter your search term is a bit unwieldy as you have to enter each character by moving a cursor around a diagram of the alphabet. But absolutely no other gripes. It's fantastic for anyone like me who doesn't want to have cables/satellite dish installed and/or doesn't want to pay any ongoing Sky/Virgin media/BT vision subscription (in fact I think with Virgin you don't even own the box, so if you cancel your subscription, they would take it away).

Changes the way you watch TV
I've had one of these awesome pieces of kit for about 8 months now, it is the single best piece of technology I've ever owned bar none!

If you've read all the other reviews I'm not going to bore you with technical specs or what it can or can't do. What I will tell you is how it has changed the way we view TV.

The programme guide is great, you can simply pick programmes to record at the touch of a button and the PVR does the rest for you.

If you're watching a film late at night, and decide you really should get yourself off to bed, just press record and leave it to run. It'll record the end of the film for you. Better yet, rewind the live TV broadcast to the beginning of the film, press record and you'll get the whole film! You can only do this if you've stayed on the same channel, channel hoping will prevent you from doing this.

Taken a little longer to cook your dinner than you expected? As long as you're on the channel you wanted when the programme started, simply sit down with your plate of dinner, rewind the live TV to the beginning of the programme and watch. If it's a commercial channel when you get to an advert break simply fast forward through the adverts until you catch up.

Fed up with changing tapes or discs? Can't remember which one that episode of the wife's favourite drama series is on? Forget it, with this baby you simply bring up the recorded programmes list, find the name of the programme, complete with time and date information too, and press play...simplicity itself.

It's easy to set up, easy to use and as it's using the freeview service, unlike Sky + there are no further monthly bills to pay.

Downside? Well downloading off the machine into a computer is frankly a nightmare, and if that's successful, authoring the files to burn to DVD is even harder. If you're prepared to modify your machine, so voiding the 2 year, (yes 2 year!) warranty then it can be done quickly, but the authoring software isn't cheap. I would say if you want to make recordings of TV programmes to keep for ever, or copy to DVD for friends/ relatives etc this isn't the machine for you.

Just occasionally it will miss a recording for no particular reason, or cut the end off.

If you put it on standby overnight, which you really should do, it takes a few minutes for the programme guide to reload.

However, this machine more than warrants 5 stars, it blows VHS out of the water and points and laughs at DVD recorders.

If my children poured cola into my machine and destroyed it tomorrow morning, I'd have a new machine in place before the evening, it's that good!!

For those who have asked, if you're already recording two channels you may not be able to watch another of your choosing. Freeview channels are transmitted in groups or Muxes. If the channel you wanted conflicts with the mux of the other channels you'll be out of luck, but you could watch something you recorded earlier. Believe me, you will always have something to watch once you've had one of these for a while.

Don't think about it, just press the buy button!