Freeview set top boxes do, of course, provide you with access to the 70+ channels available from Freeview – but they make it easier than ever to explore everything the platform has to offer. Like FiestaOwner, I too have a HDR-2000T, the only differences to the 1800 being that it has a 500GB (a few can have a 1TB one, rare though) hard disk rather than the 350GB one on the 1800, and it also has a USB 2 port if you want to upload video or photos for storage (which I used, though just to see if it worked).

Step up to the 1TB HDR-2000T and recording time increases to 250 hours of HD and 600 hours of SD, plus it comes with a wireless dongle in the box and adds BBC News, BBC I've only owned this HDR-1800T for a few days, but owned Humax boxes for many years, and this box seems to meet the standard. If I find any major issues in the future, I'll update this review. Read full review I needed to be able to make a playlist of my recorded programs, and the HDR-1800T can do that. (although not as neatly as the 9200t)Pause live TV to answer the door or make a cup of coffee then return to where you left off. No more missing that vital moment or dialogue. With the 320GB hard drive you can record and store up to 80 hours in HD of your favourite programmes.

On the networking side, Humax’s TV Portal brings you a selection of online content. It’s split into ‘Featured Apps’ and ‘My Apps’ – the former offers BBC iPlayer and YouTube, while the latter lets you install other apps from the App Market. The fascia is minimally adorned with a few stylised buttons controlling power, volume and channel changing. A sliver of light peeps out from below the central ridge, glowing red when recording or blue when watching live TV. There’s no LED readout – everything you need to know is displayed onscreen.

HDR-1800T

UPDATE: After using this box for a while, I cannot recommend buying one. These are still being sold new, but are already out-dated. It does not support hardly any 'tv portal' apps (youtube is supported, but you can't log in). Surfing channels is easy – you can view the channel list, set up Favourite lists to weed out channels you never watch or browse programmes in the terrific electronic programme guide. With the Ethernet port rigged up to your router, you can also stream your own content from DLNA servers on the same network as the HDR-1800T. The unit supports an impressive range of formats including MKV, AVCHD, AVI, DivX, WMV, XviD, MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV and JPEG. The only indicator on the front is a red/blue led, which is red when in standby and blue when the box is on, but it then goes red when its recording. Its useless! Also, while watching live tv, the picture will freeze momentarily every few seconds on many channels .