If I do a full format using my laptop, then the Humax does it's own, won't that undo any good work the full format has done? If so a new box won't be the answer, try looking at your aerial installation and ask your neighbors if they get the same signal strength variations. My suggestion is just a simpler and non destructive way of fixing the problem than your brute force format the drive approach. It was first seen on BBC3's Family Guy and American Dad but has been seen on other programmes since.

It’s slimmer and sexier, with the display panel moved to the centre and all of the control buttons hidden under a flap on the left. Alternate instance recording alerts you when recordings clash and lets you know when the programme is being repeated. Doing a PC based format will be helpful if the hard drive has spare sectors available to map out any marginal sectors that are found by the format.Also onboard are two Freeview tuners that enable you to record one channel while watching another, or record two and watch a third. All that's crammed into a modestly sized, elegantly turned-out cabinet, its bright, informative front panel display making channel identification a breeze. The picture-in-picture mode lets you watch two channels at the same time and even has its own set of controls on the remote. Hi, I've experienced spoiled playback recently when the unit skips ahead, in the same or similar places each time, during the recorded program. Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

For example sometimes I can watch Sky News via the TV's freeview tuner and its fine but when I try to watch via the Humax it halts and stutters. You say you get some channels one week and not the next, is this because of large signal strength changes? I thought you might be interested in my successful solution to this problem – as you were probably aware I do have some expertise in this area so your help in pointing me at your Humax Beta site and at your recovery tools was a really helpful contribution although the site itself does need a bit of work to bring it into the space of being consumer friendly.

There are also four devilishly addictive games embedded in the firmware, which help pass the time when there’s nothing on TV.