DVD Recorders

[DARTHVADER]

Considering purchasing a dvs recorder.

There appears to loads of choice!!

Think the 160gb looks a good bet in terms of capacity?

Can anyone recommend any must haves in terms of features etc.

One question I do have is that the tv I have has a built in freeview (its an lg hd ready plasma) and the question is will an analouge recorder record content from the tv sets built in digital freeview.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

I got a couple of Lite-On recorders, quite cheap and hard drive very handy with good editing.

I see from the recent Which report that the Panasonic is the best. Not cheap though. I reckon the one to get is one with freeview and hard drive and DVD (so you can copy away stuff you want to keep or share)

If you get one without Freeview you have to set timer and channel on Freeview thing as well as setting recorder timer but you can connect a Scart to do this if you have to

Best buys were (best first)
Panasonic DMR-EX95VEBS (with VCR)
Panasonic DMR-EX87EB-K
Sony RDR-HXD710
Sony RDRHXD860

and some others

 

[DARTHVADER]

OK thanks for that John.

 

[Diyisfun]

Pause live tv
2 channel record
look good
freeview
Im looking at the moment as well, so these are what I want

 

[DARTHVADER]

Thanks DIYISFUN,

I think the feature of record one channel whilst watching another is useful.

The built in freeview too, although the recorders seem more expensive with this option.

I would like ideally to utilise the freeview in the set and if this can be done with a scart as you say. I'll look into this as I know the epg will be a bonus in terms of easy timer set up.

Thanks again.

 

[JohnD]

if you buy a recorder without its own freeview you will regret it

I do

Quite apart from having to set the freeview source every time you set the timer, if you Scart from the TV you will be unable to watch one prog while recording another. You may even be obliged to leave the TV on all the time so the recorder can use it.

 

[DARTHVADER]

Thanks JohnD.

 

[streetlighter]

d recommend buying one with Freeview and also one that has a HDMI output socket so it can upscale exisiting DVDs and Freeview to near HD quality.

 

[DARTHVADER]

Thank you streetlighter.

 

[Adam_151]

if you buy a recorder without its own freeview you will regret it

You want to get yourself a freeview dvr, most of them come with two tuners these days, which means you can record two things at once, or be recording one channel and watching another and pause the one you are watching to go and answer the door, etc

Most stuff can just be kept on the drive in the dvr, but if you want to save something, you can transfer it to the dvd recorder.

I've not yet come across a freeview DVD recorder with two tuners, apparently its because there isn't an SOC (solution on chip) available for this

We use the thomson 6300 topup tv dvr, but don't bother with the top up tv (and perhaps best not to bother with the free trial, because some people report being locked out of record features, when canceling )

Its a good price for what it is (£80 on tesco online) but I must say its not the best, there are a few bugs in the software at the moment, sometimes when fast forwarding it'll jump back a bit!, and sometimes a corrupt recording will confuse it and it'll think its got no free recording hours left

... on the plus side however, the disk drive inside can be upgraded to anything upto a 500GB unit, if you wish to mod the unit

 

[JohnD]

Richers sent me a link to their sale today, looks OK, Panasonic, hard disk, freeview, HD
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PANA-DMREX87

I have no connection with the company except as customer

I expect other retailers have them on sale too.