First off, I should say that I have had a Freeview PVR unit pretty much since first getting Freeview.

I can remember back when I bought my first non-PVR Freeview box… I was bored one day, and my partner at the time had been ‘nagging’ about getting Freeview. So, being bored, I wandered up to ASDA Eastlands (Manchester) and purchased a freeview box for us as a surprise for him.

After a few months, we popped into Morgan Computers and saw that they were selling a PVR Digifusion FVRT 150 for a reasonable price and so bought that to replace the ‘normal’ freeview box that I’d puchased earlier in the year.

Now, several years later, and my Digifusion packed up at the end of August 2009, and so I found myself forced to replace it as I didn’t want to spend more money on trying to fix it myself. (Incidentally, the unit is currently on sale on eBay if anyone is interested…).

Thus, we had a quick look around online and the Humax 9300T seemed to have glowing reviews all around… so whilst in Manchester over the Bank Holiday weekend, I bought one!

For those unfamiliar with what a Freeview PVR (Personal Video Recorder) is, it is essentially a box that allows me to record Freeview channels directly onto a hard disk. The easiest way to think of it is Sky+ for Freeview.

Some of the main features of the Humax 9300T include:

• 320 GB Hard Drive (200 hours of recording)
• 8 day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)
• Record one Freeview channel whilst watching another
• Record two freeview channels whilst playing back a recording
• Record two freeview channels whilst watching another channel from the same multiplex
• Pause Live TV (and then rewind/fast-forward through recorded content)
• Set the unit to record a whole series
• Accurate Recording (i.e. it will track the programme and, even if the programme is delayed, it will still record it from the start through to the end – NB only on channels which support this EPG function).
• Loads of different visual options for the image, including dual screen.
• A proper computerised display on the front of the box with Channel and Time information.
• HDMI output

I could go on and on…! (especially as this box supports Freeview+) heh.

All in all, it is a marvellous little box and, thus far, we have nothing but high praise for the unit! It is certainly my favourite piece of tech in our house, and easily blows the Digifusion out of the water in my opinion.

For anyone considering getting a PVR unit for Freeview/Freeview+ then I really would recommend the Humax 9300T.

9300Ts can currently be picked up for around £170.00, and Humax do have a range of cheaper/smaller HDD units available for purchase too.

Once you have a PVR unit, it’ll feel like your right arm is missing when you’re without it heh!