Product Reviews: Humax PVR-9200T Personal Video Recorder

The Humax PVR-9200T Personal Video Recorder (also known as a Digital Video Recorder), which is available in the UK for around 175 GBP, allows you to record Freeview TV programmes. It uses an internal 160GB hard disc so there is no need to use VHS tapes or DVDs to record programmes.

Note that there is a very similar model available called the 9200TB but the specifications are about the same.

Specification:
* 160GB Hard Disc
* 2 SCART outputs connection (for TV & VCR/DVD recorder)
* 2 Freeview tuners
* USB socket

With this PVR, you can easily record up to 2 different Freeview TV programmes at the same time (ie. from 2 different Freeview channels) for later playback. You can also record 1 programme while watching another. Note that you can have quite a number of recordings scheduled, as long as they aren't set to record from more than 2 channels at the same time.

Picture Quality:
The picture quality is very good, and unlike DVD recorders, the TV recordings are stored on the hard disc exactly as they were broadcast (ie. without any further compression).

Hard Disc:
The 160GB Hard Disc allows you to record over 100 hours of programming, however there are PVRs available which have 250GB hard discs so they should allow a lot more recordings.

USB socket:
There is a USB socket on the unit which should allow things like copying programmes to your PC so you can view them on your PC. However this does not work well in practice as it can put invalid characters in the file names and the software to rename the files does not work. The USB socket can also be used for transferring things like MP3 files from your PC to the PVR.

Interactivity:
Changing channels or recording programmes is fairly easy, as there is a guide button to scroll through channels and make a selection. You can also change channels by entering the channel number, just like any TV or Freeview Receiver.

The menus are fairly simple, though I think they could have been slightly better designed. eg. to play back a recorded TV programme, you first have to go to the "Record" menu, then "Recorded Programme", then select from a list. An alternative way of selecting a programme to play back is to press a button under the flap of the remote control (I think this button would have been better if it was more accessible).

Problems:
If you have the unit connected to a 4:3 TV (ie. not a widescreen one), with the output set as "Centre-Cut". If you press the red button to view the interactive content on a widescreen channel, exiting the interactive content can leave the channel with the wrong aspect ratio (though it can be corrected by switching to another channel then back to the one you were viewing).

Conclusion:
Although this is a very good PVR, they have not upgraded the specifications in a while. I would also recommend checking out the "Topfield 5800PVR T" which is on sale for around 250 GBP. A cheaper option to the Humax is the "SAGEM DVR64250SL-TUK" and this comes with a bigger internal hard disc (250GB instead of 160GB), and, like the Humax, it has twin tuners for recording programmes from 2 different channels at the same time.