When my Philips failed I also looked for a replacement and they were rather expensive. So simple using one can't go much better than the Sky+ HD box, you don't need instructions it is all intuitive. The down side is you need to pay for sky and as soon as you stop paying you can't view what you have recorded. Upside even the program guides description is retained with the recording. And it does auto adjust times.
So for long term recording I use a PC, with Windows 10 under the TV just like the DVD recorder was and I record now to a external hard drive. I bought a USB dongle thing which came with software and I record from the Sky box. It was not by design I was given the PC which then I found would not work with the PC input for the TV, until that is when Microsoft did an update from 8 to 10 at what point it worked A1. Yes I could record to DVD but easier to use a 1 TB 2.5 inch hard drive, all programs are together no hunting through the DVD's. Daughter also down loads films onto hard drive so we often swap hard drives.
You try watching game of thrones one after the other all the way through, not sure how many days but far more than will fit on any DVD or Blu-ray.
My son-in-law got a free to air box which would record onto a stick, however it was some odd format and it would only work with that box, my mother has a HD free to air box and that one is far better it records and plays in a standard format and I can plug in the hard drive not too expensive from Maplin. However the internet bit is useless called an IceWeasel it does what she wants to watch and record TV but internet seems to be Weather reports only.
I have a blu-ray player which allows one to view U-Tube etc. But when I went to get one for mother seems they have moved on and now the units will only work after you have registered your bank credit or debit card. I was not into that so took it back.
Best of it the TV my mother has will record it has a built in hard drive. But with alsimizers she can't work out how to use it. She has an old LG TV and again it was a case of click on the program guide to record. However the freeview program guide often did not show the programs on her TV, clearly something to do with TV as my Panasonic shows the programs OK when we used freeview, now disconnected got fed up with having to re-tune all the time.
This is a problem with any freeview device, until you buy you don't know how good the program guide will be. With satellite we seem to have two systems "free to air" which is like freeview hit and miss to if program guide works and often only now and next. And "Freesat" which has same program guide as Sky.
I am sure Lucid will correct what I have said, she is really very good, believe what she says. But if you want easy no fuss record then the Sky+ box has to be top. But the "Freesat" boxes are not far behind. And in some ways "I believe in better"! as with the free to air boxes I have I can re-order the programs so I have ITV 3 then next one is ITV 3+1 so much easier when one misses something to just go up one channel rather than having to wade through the listings.
