Manhattan T4-R 500GB Freeview Play 4K TV Recorder

Very early days, I only got it a few hours ago. Set up was very straightforward although the HDMI cable wasn't quite long enough to reach the only place I could sensibly put the recorder...luckily I had a longer one to hand. No problem finding all the channels and I've already set up recordings some episodes of which have recorded but I haven't checked the playback yet. Display quality is about the same, if not better than on my current tv box. I find the basic Quick Start Guide helpful and I'm looking forward to learning my way around the recorder. Update: After not quite 24 hours of owning the unit I have had the remote become unresponsive, nothing is blocking the line of fire between it and box, change of batteries made no difference, all cables were secure. Had to turn the unit off at the wall plug. Remote seems ok now but I clearly need to investigate what has gone on. My initial thrilled review has now gone down to 3 stars; hopefully will have no further issues and I'm still excited about my new tv recorder that should save me lots once I lose the popular subscription version on Monday. Update 2: after 1 week there were some new issues that the internet help said was low power, easy fix to unplug for 5 mins then restart...I hope I won't have to be using this work around every week! They clearly are aware of the various issues and are staying on top of posting work arounds online, which is promising. The recorder will be worth four or five stars when the range of common issues are permanently fixed, rather than customers having to do research and apply work arounds. I'm happy with playback of recordings, the auto shut off works fine. I can't sync the HDMI control - it could be because my TV doesn't have the HDMI CEC turned on and no way to turn it on that I can see (which Manhattan say is the reason for not being able to sync the HDMI control); so I'm stuck using two remotes to turn on and turn off TV and recorder...not a major issue but I wish I could confirm that this feature actually works. All in all, I'm happy with my purchase as the main features work fine (recordings, series link, play back, tv guide, etc). Not sure how many more issues I will uncover in the coming weeks so I'm not yet convinced that I should be giving this more than the 3 stars given. Final update 2.5 months in: The box has frozen one other time but it's an easy fix and to be frank the big name tv box i had before used to occasionally also need turning off completely, waiting a few minutes then turning back on. missed one recording but I can't figure out why as it didn't flag a clash as it has done on two other occasions when I've tried to record more than the box can cope with. the two channels are generally quite enough recording power for me. i recently got a message that the box had updated its firmware overnight so I can confirm that this feature works. overall i continue to be pleased with my purchase and would gladly recommend this recorder...now 5 stars because it is no worse in performance than the big name recorder i had before and even better, it will finish paying for itself through stopped subscriptions in just another 2.5 months

Having spent several hours browsing products and reading reviews I settled on the Manhattan T4-R 500GB. My time spent was not wasted. Upon receiving the product and opening the box it was immediately clear that this is a quality product. Setup (tuning) was straightforward - being menu driven. Picture quality was noted to be excellent. Standby mode has an option to link through the antenna signal so you can watch TV with the Recorder on standby. The remote can be programmed to control your TV's basic functions which is an additional bonus. Basic recording of two channels at once and playback along with program selection was found to be equally simple and plainly logical. You do not need to have an internet connection to use the box, but to perform a firmware update either wifi or ethernet is necessary (unless you want to perform a firmware update via USB! The box respondy quickly to channel changes and all the menu options you could dream of are available for configuring - if you so desire. If you do want to use the box with the internet then be aware that although there are pre-installed apps (iplayer, youtube, etc) additional APP installation facilities are not provided. There are parental control options to restrict access of selected free-to-air channels. You may have to understand IP addresses to set up the ethernet if your router is not on 192.168.8.x (I'm keeping the tekky stuff simple for this review). WiFi is easy to set up. There is an optional two year guarantee. So - should you buy this item? Well if you want a good quality simple to setup freeview recorder with excellent picture quality and SOME internet accessible apps (freeview play is there too) then yes. Go for it - you will not be disappointed.

This was easy and quick to install and it updated straightaway as I’d connected its LAN to the Internet, with all the channels then found. It’s designed by a British company going back 30 years and made in China for obvious reasons. They either design the circuitry or work with the main chip providers which is probably why it’s so good compared to the others. The very few HD BBC/CH4 programmes with real Dolby 5.1 sound had lip sync issues, but were fixed within a couple of weeks of my install, a few weeks after its lunch. After a month, so no Amazon return, it’s working well enough for me with live viewing and replay of many recordings. The HD pictures and sound using high end OLED TV and Audio System are great. As all HD channels from the BBC, ITV, CH4,CH5 are on just two multiplexed frequencies I can record two programmes and watch a third. If you’re into the 100’s of SD channels using many frequencies then there could be a conflict so only two channels can be recorded and/or watched at the same time - the T4 can warn you of this in the guide. The user interface is better than most, even the newer streaming boxes, and is very fast. I knocked off one star for now as there are the odd issues, however, there are workarounds mostly and these are being actively resolved with more updates promised to come - in fact the Manhattan support is the best I’ve seen in many decades. They actually like feedback and have already provided fixes,and features customers asks for… … so will, hopefully, update to 5 stars soon.

Very disappointed, looked like an old model, need to buy an adapter to be able to use it