Looking at a new blu ray player

[foxhole]

But seems to be a lot more variety, need plex app on it [have samsung 6500 at the moment ] so probably another Samsung, seems you can also get freeview with hard disk recording also built in , this would reduce number of boxes under the TV.
Any recommendations or things to avoid.?

 

[JBR]

Yes. I have two Panasonic Blu-ray recorders with Freeview and PVR built in. A bit expensive, though, at about £400-£500.

The problem is that, as far as I know, only Panasonic does this sort of unit these days. Even Freeview PVRs with DVD recording facility are difficult to find.

I don't know why they are so unpopular these days, though. I find it convenient and very cheap to record films and programmes from the television, edit out the adverts(!) and then record on to Blu-ray disc.

Much cheaper than buying pre-recorded films, and even cheaper than paying through the nose to go to the kinema!

 

[JBR]

Foxhole seems to have sorted out his own problem. Nice of him to let us know!

 

[JP_]

I bought a cheap Philips one from the supermarket, about £40 I think. No apps though. I get Plex on xbox, and Smart TV, and the amp picks up the music. I did get Plex working on my Now TV box once too - had to download and install from my PC. The problem with getting a bluray with loads of apps is that you tend to pay a big premium for what you can get for £30 on a dedicated app box. I had a Sony bluray, spent about £300, then it broke down after a couple of years. Never again!

 

[Lucid]

Yes. I have two Panasonic Blu-ray recorders with Freeview and PVR built in. A bit expensive, though, at about £400-£500.

The problem is that, as far as I know, only Panasonic does this sort of unit these days. Even Freeview PVRs with DVD recording facility are difficult to find.

I don't know why they are so unpopular these days, though. I find it convenient and very cheap to record films and programmes from the television, edit out the adverts(!) and then record on to Blu-ray disc.

Much cheaper than buying pre-recorded films, and even cheaper than paying through the nose to go to the kinema!

BIB: My guess would be that the mass market has moved on. I don't know if the general public ever warmed to DVD recording. It didn't help that there was a format war and, compared to recording on VHS, recording on to DVD was a bit of a faff. All the while hard drive PVRs were creeping up in the background: Tivo, then Sky+, and then the change to digital TV made it far easier to record to hard drive. By the time we had affordable multi-format machines and ReWriteable discs the PVR was answering what most people needed which was a simple way to time-shift without worrying if the programme would overrun the storage medium.

I'm one of the people with a DVD+Hard Drive recorder gathering dust because the laser failed. It's a shame as it was a useful tool for archiving stuff that is difficult to source. I was never in to archiving TV films in general though. I prefer the quality and proper sound plus optional subtitles of DVD and Blu-ray.

 

[JP_]

Never seen the point in DVD recording. Even HDD seems a bit pointless now. Stream it! I have a HDD of stuff that I cannot bring myself to delete, but at the same time, never watch. DVDs would be even worse!