“I was a little disappointed about the absence of a SCART socket as this is how I was going to connect the box to my TV. Never mind, I got my soldering iron out and made up two RCA leads which are doing the job nicely.
The box takes a couple of seconds to boot up but when it does it produces a crystal clear picture on my CRT telly. Although I haven't explored everything that it comes with I am happy with the product, especially as I can watch telly in bed again, after the failure of a previous lower spec box. I would certainly buy from Humax again. Just for the record, we are currently running two Humax boxes in our household.”
“The unit has worked well as a replacement for a previous Humax PVR 9300T which had become unreliable.
There was no evidence that the box had been used before. All cables and power supply brand new.
The FreeviewPlay facility is limited and not as useful/universal as suggested/implied in the publicity from Freeview and Humax.
Although recording and the guide function well, navigating around is slower than on the previous model. This applies particularly to getting info about programmes in the guide.
The search facility by genre is not as good as the previous model when looking for movies. It will only find a limited number on that day, say 15. Previous model would find 125-150 going ahead six days
I look forward to a future update and also I suspect broadcasters embracing the format and conforming to the standard.”
“FVP-4000T Software UKTFAE v1.02.13
My setup: Yamaha Sound Bar with 3 HDMI inputs:
HDMI1: Humax FOXSAT-HDR
HDMI2: Humax FVP-4000T
HDMI3: Sony Blu-Ray player
My comments are in comparison to the 4 Humax PVRs I own: FOXSAT-HDR, HDR-FOX T2, BT Vision PVR (Humax DTR-T1000) and previously owned PVR9200T.
Good points:
1. Three tuners – should minimise recording channel conflicts
2. Works with “MiniDLNA” server for internal streaming. (This did not work out of the box with the original firmware (UKTFAE 1.01.57).
3. TV guide populates quickly, and you can now look at previous week where “catch-up” is used if available
4. The PVR firmware appears to be still being updated – I hope the problems below will be fixed in a software update.
Bad points:
1. Single power light no display – power status is confusing (I miss the display!)
2. The PVR powers up randomly when using other devices on the same sound bar.
3. No "Next, Instant Replay, Skip" buttons on the remote
4. Difficult to find programme information both in live and in recordings (no info button!)
5. Fixed to icon style menus (no option for lists)
6. The PVR response is slow actions do not register on screen straight away (e.g. please wait message) – this is compounded with an unreliable remote (press buttons hard fixes that)
7. It doesn’t grow in you – I had the PVR since early May 2017 and I wish I had never purchased it, after writing this review I’m beginning to loath it.
Conclusion
The lack of skip button, single LED indicator and random power up problems are the biggest gripes.
I’m sure some people will prefer the new icon style format, but for existing Humax owners wishing to continue with ‘list styles’ it should be an option. If you are upgrading from earlier Humax PVRs I would avoid unless you have to. There are many other bugs I haven’t mentioned I hope Humax continue to fix them.
I use the FVP-4000T mainly as a backup for my older FOXSAT-HDR which I have reverted to using. For streaming “MiniDLNA” media I use the Sony Blu-Ray player, it is easier to use (smaller fonts) and more reliable.
More detail on issues:
1. It is not always possible to know if the unit is off or on.
There is just one LED power light and no display.
Power light is blue when on but not recording.
Dim red when in power saving mode (not on or recording)
Bright red when recording (the manual says this should be purple – fault?)
When bright is it not easy to know if the PVR is off or on – pressing ON when it is off but recording the power led flashes once, when on and recording turning the PVR off the power LED remains the same.
This may explain why I keep finding the PVR powered on (blue LED) hours later after I thought I’d turned the PVR off.
2. The PVR turns itself on when I turn the Humax FOXSAT-HDR (the remotes have different multi codes) – with “HDMI-CEC” disabled the PVR just powers up (blue LED if it’s not recording). If “HDMI-CEC” is enabled the FVP-4000T takes control.
Additionally when the FVP-4000T is powered down after a few minutes it must continue to talk to the TV/Sound bar, because I get ‘sound system failure’ messages on the screen (when the sound remains OK), Very annoying, I need to report this it might be a fault.
3. This is the first Humax PVR with no Skip "pause Live" TV - there is no skip button. It now takes multiple remote key presses to do the same function.
4. There is no display: you cannot turn on the PVR and pause (something I do first thing in the morning when I don't want to record but want to skip live TV) - you also have to turn on the TV to check if it’s paused and you have the right channel first. I've given up on this and reverted to my FOXSAT-HDR.
5. Recording off air and then turning the PVR off stops the live recording (other Humax PVRs don’t do this)
6. You cannot “list” recorded programmes/shows as with older Humax PVRs, only Windows 8/10 metro style with icons for programs is supported; this might be a good idea if TVs were touch control.
A list is used for media player directory/folder listings, but the list font is too big.”
“it didnt work so i bought another one and it didnt work either. both kept switching themselves off, did not recognise wi-fi and could not receive signal in spite of being able to see the picture in the background while the pop-page was saying this. Hopeless both of them and I am bitterly disappointed with the aftersales service. It has been over four weeks and the faulty box from humax has still not been collected and the only time they contact me is when i put in a message from paypal”
“Having had 4 previous Humax PVR's this is the least liked in our household. OK it's got tons of features but this is its problem as it makes the most complicated to use so unless you want catch up TV you are better off with an lower spec model. Also the remote is a cheap nasty thing, not the usual quality we've had before.”
