Manhattan T3-R Freeview Play 4K Smart Recorder 1TB

Product Information

The latest networking libraries have been integrated for improved network performance and reliability (e.g. in a Carrier Grade NAT environment). They’ve told me that (2) and (5) will be looked at, but I have no idea about the others. (1), (4) and (9) are must haves for me. Ensure your aerial is connected to your T3•R and an HDMI cable is connected from your T3•R to your TV. The usual features you might be used to on your Sky/BT/Virgin Media box – such as pausing live TV for up to two hours, initiating series links and making one-touch recordings – work like a breeze. When padding was set to Manual and a recording started, if the Guide information had not yet been retrieved the recording would be saved with only the channel name, date and time the recording started.

Setup is refreshingly straightforward: just hook up the PVR to a network connection and store channels. (Manhattan sent us two boxes to test the Wi-Fi performance after our original review encountered issues with it. We’ve concluded that the issues in the review were down to interference, and that the box offers solid enough connectivity.) Our suggestion would be to hard-wire the network connection if you can, to avoid any weak Wi-Fi connectivity or wireless interference. That’s something many were hoping for – especially for the ability to set recordings remotely (via the app), or even the ability to stream recordings from the box to your smartphone. Rough location of where you are could be useful to see if such things could be commonplace in the area? The Manhattan T3-R, available in 500GB and 1TB options is the brand's best yet, and can be found at prices that don't break the bank.The T3-R also has great support for subtitles and audio descriptions – if you watch a show with subtitles (which can be turned on and off easily with a dedicated button), recording that show will keep the subtitles available – and you can again turn them on and off with the press of a button. The same goes for Audio Description, when available. The following changes are since v1.02 (the original launch release). Please note that v1.03 was not released publicly. When connecting the T3•R to a 4K AV Receiver or Soundbar that is in turn connected to a 1080p TV, after the T3•R woke from sleep no Audio/Video would be seen and the AV Receiver would display an error message stating it needed to be connected to an HDMI input on the TV that supports HDCP 2.2.

When using an Ethernet connection, occasionally after booting and the last viewed channel was a BBC channel, the BBC Red Button+ service would fail to load until the channel was changed. The T4 and T4-R, however, will support the required technology for Freeview-over-broadband. Therefore, if and when Freeview decides to implement it and start streaming channels over broadband – the T4 and T4-R boxes will be ready for it. In Wi-Fi networks with multiple access points, the T3 would not always connect to the access point with the strongest signal When a major retune event (e.g. addition of a new multiplex) is signalled by the broadcasters, the T3 will display a prompt to retune. This can be done straight away or postponed until convenient. Such retune events normally occur no more than once or twice a year. As with every Freeview device, the number of channels it can find depends mainly on your aerial and on the Freeview signal and reception in your house. Once the scanning is finished, it’ll jump straight into Channel 001, which is, in most cases, BBC 1.The T3•R could be unexpectedly found on in the morning (we’ve resolved one issue but are aware that there is another still causing it for some customers). The T4 and T4-R will also support Channel List Management, a newer Freeview function that enables HD-swapping of channels. This update introduces support for ITVX and resolves known issues from v2.00.Please note that v2.01 wasn't officially released; it was distributed directly to customers who reported an issuewith creating child profiles on BBC iPlayer that wasn'tresolved by a fix in 2.00. What signal strength and quality numbers are reported by the box for each and every tuned frequency?

When a series episode was broadcast simultaneously on two or more channels, it could be recorded on a different channel than the one originally scheduled for the recording. When content in an app (e.g. ITV Hub) was regionally restricted the error message made it sound like there was a problem with the app or T3-R. The message now clearly states it is the content that is unavailable. When connecting the T3 to a 4K AV Receiver or Soundbar that is in turn connected to a 1080p TV, after the T3 woke from sleep no Audio/Video would be seen and the AV Receiver would display an error message stating it needed to be connected to an HDMI input on the TV that supports HDCP 2.2. When Auto Standby was disabled and the T3-R was left on overnight on a channel with broadcasting breaks like Blaze (channel 64), recordings on that channel could fail.

One sad piece of news is that an accompanying smartphone app for the 4-series won’t be coming at this point. The Manhattan T3-R is the perfect upgrade for those looking for a smarter Freeview experience, complete with UK-focused on-demand apps and PVR capabilities.

The T3•R will wait for the Hard Drive to be unmounted before restarting, going to sleep or standby. Keep in mind, there could still be additional last-minute delays due to tests and certifications that are always necessary with new devices. Fix the ‘R’ option when looking at Schedule entries marked as ‘Searching ...’. At present, the entry is deleted without any warning. There should be some sort of prompt to confirm that the entry should be deleted or retained/action cancelled. The incorrect regional channels could be chosen when the T3 received signals from multiple regions. When padding was set to Manual and a series recording was stopped during the start padding, if you tried to start the recording again it would fail.As expected, SD channels are more compromised – but, again, what you see is what you’d have viewed live, so no complaints here. It would be nice to have some sort of on-box confirmation that the PVR was recording, however. Your T3•R will update automatically overnight whilst in standby, as long as you haven't disabled automatic updates in the System Settings menu. Press HOME and then select: Settings > Information. If the version shown is lower than 2.02, you should update. Update your T3 over the internet The “On Demand” button displays the most popular Catch-up services, which are all in one place, providing easy access to the the world of iPlayer, ITV Hub, ALL4, Demand 5 and UKTV