“I have installed many of the previous FVP-400t recorders and there is nothing else on the market to equal the facilities and quality.
The machines are well made, conveniently small and have some excellent facilities, but there have always been small 'niggles'.
I always spend some time teaching customers how to use their new machines and in doing this, the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies become apparent. (One would hope that these would be addressed and corrected in the newer model...but more of this later..)
Previous complaints about the 400t from me, the installer and teacher and also from the customer/user:
Set-up:
Virtually every item on the set-up menu, as supplied, needed changing for best performance. (regular auto-standby disabled, 'ARC' HDMI control enabled, etc etc)
Very annoying information screens appearing every time a new feature was used making it impossible to demonstrate the usage without interruptions. Also it was not obvious to customers how to cancel these screens.
No WPS auto WiFi connection.
Dropping of WiFi connection after software update, necessitating re-entry of all wifi settings and reconnection.
Usage:
Delay after every button press whilst setting recordings etc.
Delay when changing channels, particularly HD channels.
NO SIMPLE CONFIRMATION ON SCREEN THAT A RECORDING HAD SUCCESSFULLY BEEN SET AND TO THEN PRESS X (exit) TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.
No simple confirmation on screen that an item had successfully been cancelled or deleted and suggesting "PRESS X to EXIT"
BIG COMPLAINTS FROM MANY, MANY CUSTOMERS:
1) The red/blue LED power light is in a ridiculous place, UNDER the box so it cannot be seen unless the box is standing on something reflective. Even then, its not easily seen.
(The first incarnation of the FVP 4000 did have the lights on the front!)
2) Transparency of guide etc so that the programme shows through when viewing guide and menus making them difficult to read.
3) Untidy and cluttered guide. Very small channel name and numbers on the guide and completely unnecessary logos for the channels. (Anyone who owned much older Humax Freeview PVRs will remember how much clearer the guide was, with larger print and no 'frills'.
4) No "i" button on the remote for direct access to programme information.
Unnecessary extra buttons on the remote handset....:
The HOME button leads to everything..so it is completely unnecessary to have a "recordings" button, an "on demand" button, a "search" button, a "+" button and even a "guide" button on the handset.
Customers demand SIMPLICITY and not multiple ways of achieving the same result.
Also a small point from me...Inconsistency of font (typeface) across all of the menus etc which rather spoils the company identity.
So,
The new FVP5000:
One would hope that all of the above would have been addressed...
1) The power LED is still ion the same ridiculous place
2) There is still no 'WPS' easy wifi set-up, unlike almost all other wifi enabled equipment.
3)The transparent on-screen guide can be made opaque BUT you have to go to the menus to do that! (So far, when I have asked, not one customer has wanted the guide to be transparent as it makes the guide very difficult to read). Surely it would be better to default to non-transparent menus unless the customer chooses to set them to transparent?
4) There is little, if any change to the clarity and layout of the guide. (Still complaints from customers re size and unnecessary clutter).
5) Still no 'i' button. (programme information is available but only by finding the item on the guide and then pressing ok, as if to record it, then pressing 'X' (exit)..which is not suggested on the screen.
"ON DEMAND" button has been spoiled as it no longer directly leads to the on-demand screen with the previous clear 'blocks', channel catch-up, Youtube, etc. (They are still there but are more difficult to find.)
Again it has been made that there is more than one way to achieve something which leads to confusion.
A combination of the On-Demand button and the "F" (Home) button leads to on-demand items and is difficult to teach the customer, which is a sure sign that it has not been well thought-out.
It would be far better to remove the on-demand button for the sake of a tidy remote, and to simply use the "F" (home) button for everything.
The delay after button presses is still evident, but may be slightly less. Customers still press the button twice because they think nothing has happened.
THERE IS STILL NO SUGGESTION ON SCREEN THAT THE "X" (EXIT) BUTTON SHOULD BE PRESSED TO EXIT THE MENU SCREEN AFTER A RECORDING HAS BEEN SET OR DELETED etc. This still leaves users stranded at that point, not knowing what to do, and wether they have completed their actions.
PLUS POINTS:
The ability to control the on/off and AV of the television is very, very useful and important to all customers, particularly the older ones.
BUT, many TVs need confirmation of the AV selection (with a press of 'ok') so in all of those cases, the AV button is useless as there is no ability to confirm the selection without the original TV remote).
The ability to set up HDMI control of the tv is good so that the tv and the box switch on and off in tandem is great (although, why this is not defaulted to ON initially doesn't make sense).
The "search" function is excellent, especially as it includes findings from Catch-up, Coming Programmes and Youtube. For many customers this is a first introduction to Youtube and helps to demonstrate its worth.
The streaming facility which allows recordings to be viewed from one box to another in another room is great, although it will only ever be used bu some customers, of course.
However when HD programmes will not stream, it becomes rather pointless.
The streaming to mobile devices and control etc is also very good, if slightly glitchy, but the remarks re HD still apply.
All in all, an excellent device with almost no equals, but with some operational and design flaws which could be corrected to make something which would be truly stunning.”
“I wanted a machine to replace my 'Virgin box that I no longer required. A friend had a Humax Box which he recommended but it was via Freesat but I needed a box via an external aerial and not a dish - this machine (FVP-5000T) seemed to fit the bill for me after reading reviews. So I decided to give it ago and I have to say that it does the job and it was easy to set-up and so far all is fine. (Plenty of recording memory for me.) If there is a slight criticism, looking for individual programme details could be better.”
“I purchased this as a present for my husband's birthday in November and to replace the Humax Fox Recorder we have had for a few years. He is very impressed with the FVP-5000T - much quicker, more features, very easy to use. In fact he was so impressed with it that I purchased another FVP-5000T as a christmas present for him and to use in our other living room”
“I am delighted with my new Humax box, I realise it has more features than my previous model but the display is not very bright & there s no clock also when you pre record if you miss the message on screen you don't know if the recording has started so you have to double check where previous with my older machine I could see. from my armchair it was recording.”
“My first experience with a 'set top' box. It arrived quickly and went through the automatic set up process including 'finding' my wireless router which my existing 'internet ready' TV set never could. One of the reasons I bought his model was it's Wi Fi connection capability, all the catch up services seem to work fine.
I had a few problems in the first week which were resolved after restoring factory settings and it's been fine since. Easy to use, the EPG isn't as good as the one on my Panasonic TV which as a shame as you need that to set up any recordings. In truth I'm still getting used to it and learning about the more advanced options but all the signs are good. Occasionally the sound track gets a bit out of synch with the picture but I don't live in a brilliant area for TV reception so that's probably not helping. All in all I would recommend this device.”
“Despite ordering on Friday and expecting it on Saturday it transpires that next day delivery by Humax does not mean that. It means when they get round to sending it out you will get it next day so did not arrive until Tuesday.
As others have mentioned, having a picture behind the Guide and recorded programmes screens is a pain as it makes them difficult to read. Also have had the machine lock up a couple of times. Otherwise very good.”
“Worked for a day or two then developed problems. After many attempts to contact Humax I was given advice over the phone on how to correct the problems followed up by a two page email setting out the "recovery" steps. Unfortunately, none of these worked so I returned the unit. I received a refund some two weeks later.
This was my third Humax recorder. The first worked perfectly for three years until I bought a newer model. The second worked OK for approximately nine months then developed a series of annoying faults until it gave up the ghost.”
“The equipment works well and was easy to set up, however two or three point I would wish to bring to your attention 1. For the price and quality of the equipment the operating instructions leave a lot to be desired and require the user to learn by trial and error.
2. The stacking system when making recordings makes it difficult to play the earlier recording first ?? 3. The on/off light is difficult to see so l have stood my unit on a piece of white paper which works for me.
Point one is my main concern”
