The installation went quite easily and quickly; with the simple not very long whip antenna (you can connect a power supply, but I did not) and the Receiver is activated 5V antenna supply he found the same TV channel as my previous Medion Receiver. The site is more than 40 stations can receive, if you count these non-usable Internet stations and multiple NDR and WDR-country versions. The Order was reasonable, although I'm used to from my old Medion recorder greater ease. DVB-T radio stations there with us not (there the anywhere at all?), So I can not say anything about. The power consumption according to data sheet is in operation at 9 W (he has indeed no hard drive supply), standby less than 1 W.
I have connected the Receiver via SCART, it worked without any problems, I only had the aspect ratio to 4: 3 Letterbox change. The modern connection options do I have for lack of equipment can not test. A LAN connection has not Reciever incidentally.
One of the first steps I have downloaded and installed the latest firmware from the home page of Xoro.de; proceeded smoothly and naturally also for not so experienced hikers technology. The new firmware is a must, otherwise annoys you probably only, as you can read in numerous articles in the forum on [...]; I put any prospective or owner of the HRT 8300 this forum to my heart, here also some not properly documented functions are called and well clearly enumerated all quirks.
In operation, of course, you have to fumble in first; that for years I had been a Reciever because not really helped me further. However, most of the buttons small, handy remote control are labeled conclusive. In the opened menus relevant notice are usually displayed what z. B. on the site are the four colored buttons. Some, however, getting used to such. B. is the PVR button that calls the menu of recorded programs, not while you record. Since you have to press 2x Info. Why? Well, so be it. From such points there are several.
TV is completely unproblematic, the operation is as usual the TV. Switching between the programs is quite fast, the image is frozen briefly.
The OSD is not always really see well, because the presentation is a bit clumsy color (gray background, light blue font); the selected function is displayed in color but clear and readable. You can adjust the transparency, I left the set value of 10%.
The EPG is not shown so successful; gives a not very wide list, in the line at the station are displayed. So when I am with transmitter D, I have about AC and including E- So you only see a few shows, and you have to scroll a lot, if you want to select a broadcast at 11:00, which runs at 23:00. Actually, one should by repeatedly pressing the Info button also can retrieve the background information of the current program, which I never succeeded. With the EPG menu itself but that is oddly with other key but possible. From the EPG, you can move with a few keystrokes, the program to the timer and subsequently change the times. With 16 possible timer places the HRT 8300 scores here, other devices have less.
Shots are freely definable but startable immediately by pressing a button or via the normal timer menu. Not possible times noticed the HRT 8300 and bleats (z. B. to station A Programme 1 8:00 p.m. to 21:00 and second broadcast on A 20:45 to 22:00). Without correction, the device does not allow to save the timer. Are registered / taken over start and end times, with manual correction / programming must specify the recording time. (On my old Medion time is given, I find easier.)
At the start of a programmed recording the Receiver always jumps to the channel of the recording; which is stupid when you just watch a different program. But my old Medion HDD recorder on the television always switches on the receiving channel when it starts a recording, I'm used to.
Timeshift I switched off and thus can not comment on the operation; I probably would have it, because the Receiver yes then actually constantly recording, a faster medium used.
Recording format is the way * .ts, which can play z. B. the VLC Media Player without any problems. In my test, the sound was in sync with the picture.
Up to this point I had convinced the device. Especially it had just done me the chance parallel picking two transmitters.
But we come to the real in my eyes downsides. Actually, all of them already described in the Forum of www.xoro.tv. And as I wrote above, yes, the manual is not really exhaustive.
- The background information of the current program are not directly available, but you can only call the EPG. This should go though, it did not do in my experiments, however.
- The EPG is often only appears if you have previously selected the transmitter.
- Really bad in my eyes (and many in the Forum) storing the broadcast name. For instant shooting I often had only the sender name. If you have programmed a recording, this then starts and the sender nor the first minute shows the preliminary program (the PSB coat Not willing), the name of the Vorprogrammes is stored, as well, if you intentionally start earlier one minute. That's what my six year old Medion but even better now!
- Taking two consecutive consignments, the HRT has 8300 a problem it happened earlier that the second shot was easily ignored. He had offered long (s. Forum), but only with the new firmware in July 2013, a workaround (and not more!). Now a recording pause is enforced simply between shots, in my experience, between 15 to 45 seconds. This means in plain language that a nearly a minute may be missing from the end of the first shipment, and sometimes can be important. And even if not important as a problem solving a known problem for many months is an absurdity!
- From Medion I'm used to it, he asks me if I want to continue playing or start over if I have interrupted a play that does the HRT 8300 also, but not always. I have not figured out what criteria the entrance, and I have started a number of attempts. As a precaution you should therefore set a marker before you press Stop. (The backward and forward navigation in the Play menu is so not really documented detail.)
The media functions (music, movies) I have only been testing, they work fine.
All in all, the device for its price a whole lot. Compared with other equipment of the HRT 8300 is apparently as good too. And maybe the quirks are so remedied via firmware (but considering the Firmware History, which will probably take!). For me, however, outweigh the negatives, which is why I'm not going to keep the machine well and only two stars awarded.
