The Humax FOXSAT-HDR
Here it is, the 380mm x 250mm x 55mm set-top box that promises subscription-free, recordable HDTV. That's the epitome of TV goodness, we reckon.
The tinted-blue front-face creates a unit that could easily be mistaken for a Blu-ray player, and it blends nicely into an existing AV rack. Compared to, say, a Sky+ box, it's longer in terms of width but thinner in terms of height.
Adorning the sleek blue front is just a single standby button and an LCD display. The latter, sadly, albeit bright and informative when displaying channel information, can't be dimmed and can be distracting in a darkened room.
Behind the pull-down blue door you'll find a series of buttons to navigate the unit's on-screen menu, a useful USB port - which can be used to archive recorded content - and a Common Interface slot for use with premium channels such as Setanta Sports. All fairly straight forward.
Over to the rear and there's every connection needed to get up and running. On the left are three LNB connections - two of which are inputs required to feed the FOXSAT-HDR's twin tuners. Users wanting to watch one channel whilst recording another should be aware that both inputs will be needed in order to get the best out of the box - a dual-LNB satellite dish is therefore a must.
Providing support for a wide range of televisions, the box sports RCA, Scart and HDMI outputs - the latter of which is recommended for best picture quality. An optical output provides easy connectivity to audio equipment such as an amplifier, and there's a second USB port, too. The interesting-looking Ethernet port, however, isn't anything to get excited over. At present, it does nothing and Humax states that it is simply "for future use". There are rumours of forthcoming support for web-based on-demand content such as BBC iPlayer, but nothing has yet been confirmed.