Humax PVR-9150T 160GB Twin Tuner Freeview TV Recorder

After having a Sky + box for 4 years I've always been a big fan - it's simple to use and much more convenient...recently though I begun questioning the validity of forking out £18 a month when all I was doing was recording freeview channels. Hence I purchased this Humax and overall I'm very happy it. It's worth considering the following pros and cons though when purchasing one:

Pros:

- Excellent picture quality - a noticeable improvement on the Sky + machine particulary with football.
- 160 Gb Hard Drive. Although pretty standard now you should never run out of space!

Cons:

- Noisy fan which is always on when you are watching/recording. You will need to have the telly on quite loud to drown it out. I just ignore it but it may bother some..
- No Audio Output so you cannot connect directly to an Amp (you need to upgrade to the 9300). I've connected phone leads from the telly to the Amp which does the job - nb - you will need to have the volume on max for you to hear it via the Amp.
- Tries to be to clever sometimes with some unnecessary functionality
- High quality remote control but one or two essential buttons can only be found by pushing down the cover on the bottom half of the remote which is a bit stiff.

Thought I'd clarify a few of the points made by other reviewers. Firstly, you can see a third channel whilst recording two others, but the choice is limited. E.g, if recording BBC1 and ITV1 at the same time, your choice will be limited to other BBC and ITV 'group' channels, using the same multiplex frequency. If you try watching Virgin1, forget it.

Neither this machine nor the 9300T with its HDMI port are 'HD upgradable' - the port on the 9300T is only for upscaling to 720p.

Anything you've read about fan noise has now been cured with an over-the-air update

this product can not be upgaded to hd as it does not have a hdmi port in the back ,the 9300t does

This is a very good machine and changed the way we watch TV. I have had one for 3 years now and the reason I was looking to day was for a larger disk and up scaling which the newer models have now that I have purchased a large TV.
The first time the box updated its software over the air, and worked, I was amazed being used to windows on my PC and it hardly ever working first time.
I can't hear a fan on my machine but that's not to say that others can't, the kids got the hang of it and even the wife, that's unfair as she has the hang of the washing machine and I haven't.
The only niggle I have is that taking the films from the Humax hard-disk to the PC isn't as easy as the other operations on it, but that could be more to do with the PC than the Humax.
I don't work for Humax and I'm not a share holder but if they keep making machines of this quality I think they will go far.

First of all, unless I'm doing something wrong I can only record 2 things at the same time and I have to be watching one of those two programmes... if i try to watch a third it just doesnt work?

that said, its great, soooo easy to set up and navigate. has totally transformed how i watch and enjoy tv.