It was Bad day at Fraggle Rock when I received my new black Humax HDR-1100s 1TB the other day . Suddenly I was faced with a really dumb issue trying to connect to my network. I use static IP addressing and MAC filtering and MACs are bound to IPs...even wireless devices. It's a lockdown basically. I like security. I also use 10.1.1.0-254 addressing scheme for everything so went to find where to manually set up the network but low and behold no manual settings page. Nothing. Pulled the ethernet cable out and the Humax simply reverted to wifi. Plugged the ethernet cable back in and the Humax again used DHCP. Infuriating. The only solution I found was to disable DHCP on my router and then run the Humax set up/wizard again and after the Humax failed to obtain an IP via DHCP it then (and only then) brings up the option to manually configure the network. Pulled my ruddy hair out trying to work that out. The manual is so simple it is riduculous. No help at all. There is hardly anything resembling help in it or specifications. I almost packed the box up to sent it back to be honest, but after working out how to get the manual network settings option to show I mellowed a wee bit.
I get that the idea is to keep it simple and simple is good. But on the other hand stupid is bad. In my opinion it's too dumbed down for its own good and crosses over to stupid. It tries too hard to be simple to use but I like it despite that. Settings are scarce; there aren't many. That's a plus on some counts and a minus on others. Haven't discovered any other hidden options or menus.
The old Humax portal is available but it seems out of place as it's no different to previous incarnations (identical to the portal on my Freeview HDR FOX T2) and hasn't been revamped. And not very useful...for me personally.
Picture quality is typical humax, bold and vivid and very pleasing on the eye. The integrated catch up is almost brilliant. Personally I'd prefer the same view of the previous week as the current week when going back in time on the TV guide rather than a vertical list of programmes but that aside it's well thought out and simple to navigate.
The green colour scheme isn't so great. Prefer blue myself but I'm getting used to it...well sort of. Putting up with I should say.
There aren't any user CEC options in the settings but it just works for the most. Except when you turn the Humax box off; it doesn't return you to the TV screen (leaves you on the source). But previous Humax boxes didn't have CEC so this is a step forward IMO.
It's a small box, unobtrusive, no useless lights on the front and delivers excellent picture and sound, is easy to use (once you work out how simple it is) and delivers in bucket loads with regard to catchup services. Maybe they'll add a few more apps in future which would make it even better (Netflix for one). I like it but there do need to be some improvements with firmware... undoing the dumbing down and making the manual network settings always available would be a good start. Doing something about the ghastly green scheme might also be something to consider...but unlikely.
I get that the idea is to keep it simple and simple is good. But on the other hand stupid is bad. In my opinion it's too dumbed down for its own good and crosses over to stupid. It tries too hard to be simple to use but I like it despite that. Settings are scarce; there aren't many. That's a plus on some counts and a minus on others. Haven't discovered any other hidden options or menus.
The old Humax portal is available but it seems out of place as it's no different to previous incarnations (identical to the portal on my Freeview HDR FOX T2) and hasn't been revamped. And not very useful...for me personally.
Picture quality is typical humax, bold and vivid and very pleasing on the eye. The integrated catch up is almost brilliant. Personally I'd prefer the same view of the previous week as the current week when going back in time on the TV guide rather than a vertical list of programmes but that aside it's well thought out and simple to navigate.
The green colour scheme isn't so great. Prefer blue myself but I'm getting used to it...well sort of. Putting up with I should say.
There aren't any user CEC options in the settings but it just works for the most. Except when you turn the Humax box off; it doesn't return you to the TV screen (leaves you on the source). But previous Humax boxes didn't have CEC so this is a step forward IMO.
It's a small box, unobtrusive, no useless lights on the front and delivers excellent picture and sound, is easy to use (once you work out how simple it is) and delivers in bucket loads with regard to catchup services. Maybe they'll add a few more apps in future which would make it even better (Netflix for one). I like it but there do need to be some improvements with firmware... undoing the dumbing down and making the manual network settings always available would be a good start. Doing something about the ghastly green scheme might also be something to consider...but unlikely.
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