Is Freesat recording still worth it?

[GeoffreyW]

My Humax 1100S recorder has just decided to stop recording programmes which have been recording series with no issues. It's ten years old, and been handy to use separately from Freeview, and we're wondering whether it's worth replacing it? I see that there are still Freesat recorders available, but are they worth the cost?
I see that the Humax aren't very helpful, and don't have much stock, but there are Freesat Recordable 4K boxes, which would work in the same way but to flash drive rather than hard drive?
Any guidance will be welcome.
Thanks.

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

Potentially off-piste; and not something I used greatly, but you could investigate whether your television can record directly to USB stick / thumb drive.

My c.10 year old Samsung had the ability to plug in a USB stick and record to it. I used it once or twice, but that was about it. I am not sure whether you can set it to record series.

Just a thought.

 

[GeoffreyW]

Potentially off-piste; and not something I used greatly, but you could investigate whether your television can record directly to USB stick / thumb drive.

My c.10 year old Samsung had the ability to plug in a USB stick and record to it. I used it once or twice, but that was about it. I am not sure whether you can set it to record series.

Just a thought.

Thanks, Lizzie Wuzzie, I think my telly does have that facility, but oddly enough the issue seems to have resolved itself ,possibly, as two programs have been recorded, so fingers crossed. Since those terrific folk at WNF let me win a Freesat recorder many years ago, it's been in regular use, but the original STB has been replaced.

 

[nopiano]

I guess it depends what content you want to record. We find anything we want is on iPlayer, ITV X, or another catch up service.

 

[Dave_]

Humax no longer make Freesat boxes.

The contract for the 3rd gen (4k/UHD) boxes was given to Arris and they've had a bug since day one, that means they flag all content incorrectly as being in HDR that's never been addressed because Freesat/Arris view it as expected behaviour.

I personally wouldn't be investing in any STB in 2025, but I guess it depends on how reliant you are on linear broadcast.

Our viewing has been exclusively "On Demand" for a decade or more now

 

[abacus]

Thanks, Lizzie Wuzzie, I think my telly does have that facility, but oddly enough the issue seems to have resolved itself ,possibly, as two programs have been recorded, so fingers crossed. Since those terrific folk at WNF let me win a Freesat recorder many years ago, it's been in regular use, but the original STB has been replaced.

Sounds like the HDD may be on the way out so think about replacing it (They don't cost that much these days), however you will lose all your recordings on the old HDD.

Bill

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Mrs GSV records two things from Drama, which are no longer working - but everything else is fine. May well be the channels in question.

 

[GeoffreyW]

everything seems to be working as it should again, so we'll see how it goes. There's loads of stuff yet to be watched, and don't want to lose it. We do occasionally get brief (annoying) pixellation, with sound loss, which I presume to be HD issues, to be expected after ten years.
I see there is a new box but will see how we go. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Timbot]

We stream on demand and also use a Freesat box to record. The big benefit to me of the Freesat recorder is that you can fast forward through the adverts. The ads you have to sit through for the on demand services do my head in!