Humax HDR-3000T Review

Score

Summary: The Humax HDR3000-T is a great PVR that does just about everything you want when it comes to TV and multimedia, including net access!

4.9

PVR Magic!

Personal Video Recorders (or PVR’s) have been around for awhile now but as technology advances, so do these machines which is where the Humax HDR-3000T comes into the picture that offers the user some great features in order to ensure a flawless entertainment fix. Although the main use for this device is to capture from free to air television, it also supports online apps such as Plus7, YouTube and HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) plus Freeview! Add in the ability to access multimedia content via your network, including transferring content to smart devices and this is only the beginning for the Humax HDR-3000T.

Key Features

With two in-built tuners, you can record two programs from one network, and record another two from another network, all while watching back a recording or live TV.
IPEPG allows advanced recording options via your internet connection, meaning the Humax PVR can record entire series or designate a number of episodes to keep at once, and identify the first, or a repeated episode.
Full Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV 1.5 support enables the Quad Recorder to links certain IPTV services such as Catch-Up to your free-to-air broadcast.
A simple home screen, reachable via a dedicated remote button, offers quick access to live TV, TV guide, Recordings, Media Center, and more.
With the included WLAN stick, you can stream videos, photos, and music from your smart device to your TV and control them using the remote.

First thing first. The HDR-3000T retails in Australia for around $449 (July 2016) and almost contains everything you need to set this product up. The additional pieces that you do need to purchase is an antenna and HDMI cable. Apart from that, you have everything you need, particularly the WLAN dongle which allows you to connect the device wirelessly to your network plus batteries for the remote control. If you do need assistance, there is a manual and you can contact Humax directly should you encounter any problems with the installation.

So out of the box, the first thing that I noticed was how light this product is (just over one kilogram) and compared to the TiVo which was released (and failed) in Australia quite a few years ago, PVR’s have thankfully advanced in size and capabilities. Given that there is a 500GB hard drive installed in the unit, it’s quite small at 280 x 48 x 200mm. The HDR300o-T is also quite a good looking PVR with this faux leather top and raised volume, channel and the power button on the top. On the back you have the RF-In, RF-Out, Audio, Video/SPDF, HDMI, Ethernet, USB for the WLAN stick plus the power connection. That’s basically it!

Installation

The installation process of the HDR-3000T was extremely easy. The first step was to connect the device to your antenna and then to the TV. With that in mind, you do need an extra antenna cable to loop the free to air channels back to your TV plus a HDMI cable to connect the HDR-3000T to it. After that, you connect the power cable and also the Wi-Fi dongle (2.4Ghz). Once done, you just go through the simple installation wizard which sets up your network (Ethernet or Wi-Fi), an update of firmware (AUTFAD 1.00.28 to AUTFAD 1.00.37), channel scan and then you’re ready to use the Humax HDR-3000T. Furthermore, there is even a tutorial to surf the channels, access the various apps plus recording TV shows on the PVR.

The remote control for the HDR-3000T is well designed and feels quite sturdy. Thankfully the designers haven’t cluttered it up with useless features because in reality, you only use a handful of buttons which include volume, channels, home, guide, OK, back and exit. Sure there are other buttons but most people (myself included) don’t need to know the fiddly nature of other buttons on controllers. More so, channel surfing is a breeze on the HDR-3000T and it’s quite a responsive PVR unit in that everything comes up fast. Catch-up TV is a little slower but that’s because it’s accessing the net but once loaded, we had no issues whatsoever.

Navigating the menu of the HDR-3000T is quite good and by pushing the guide button, it brings up what’s playing on Live TV. By pushing the home button, you can access other elements of the HDR-3000T like its apps or searching for shows to record. In relation to its EPG or electronic program guide, it does keep 7-days and for recording, you can choose to select ‘repeats’ and include padding such as adding an additional 5 minutes before the show starts or 15 at the end. It also supports a very generous buffer of up to 2 hours!

Another cool aspect about this device is that you can setup favourites and in terms of resolution this product supports 1080p or can be downsized to 576i but overall, the picture quality was sharp, vibrant and very clear.

If you’re away from this PVR, you can setup remote recording and by registering your PVR on the Humax website (myhumax.net), it allows you to access the HDR-3000T from anywhere in the world or your home for that matter. If you want to setup quite a few shows on your HDR-3000T, I would recommend you access myhumax.net from a PC or Mac because it easily allows you enter multiple ‘season passes’ opposed from the slow text input from the remote control. The video quality of the recordings was quite decent and like other PVR’s, you can pause, rewind and fast forward which is great to skip those pesky ads on free to air TV.

It should also be noted and although there are some apps for catch-up TV, the easiest way to access this functionality is via accessing catch-up TV directly from the channel you are watching (e.g. 10, 9 or 7 Mate) That is, by pressing the red button on the remote control, it will access catch-up TV if that channel supports like iView or Ten Play. Freeview is of course the other alternative. Lastly for parents wishing to ensure that their children don’t stumble across any inappropriate content, the HDR-3000T does support a Parental Control feature which is accessed through the general setting via the menu system.

As mentioned, the HDR-3000T does come with some inbuilt apps such as Plus7, SBS On-demand, Netflix (subscription required), SMH.TV and even social media sites like Twitter. There is a slight pause when accessing these apps but once they connect to the net, data is streamed quite fast and we had no issues with pausing while it was trying to catch-up. There is a web browser that uses the Opera interface and although nothing special, it does allow you to surf the net or access other multimedia content online.

Another cool aspect is the ability to use your smart devices to access live TV and information recorded on the HDR-3000T via the Humax app. Furthermore, you can stream video, music and photos from your PC which does increase the overall scope of this product or you can connect an external device like a flash drive of even a hard drive.

Final Thoughts?

With a 24-month warranty, the Humax HDR-3000T certainly packs a punch when it comes to multimedia and whether that’s free to air TV, connecting additional USB devices or accessing files from your PC, this PVR really ticks all the right boxes. Best of all, it’s quite easy to use, setup is almost non-existent and overall, it’s a well designed and fast PVR that has been streamlined for the Australian TV market.