OT - hard disk recorders for TV?

[Ziggy]

have one and it has performed well for me BUT the software is not bomb-proof and can give problems. However, it is one of the few that currently have twin tuners so you can watch one channel and record another. Recording quality is excellent - indistinguishable from broadcast quality. Again note that archiving is real time only to VCR. The hard drive is also notebook size 2.5in as opposed to the far more common 3.5in.

The drive it is supplied with is 20GB which gives qo hours recording time. The drive can be changed to a larger one but an 80GB 2.5 in costs nigh on £100 (as opposed to £30 for the 3.5)

Other models (Humax, Fusion) have standard 3.5 in drives and these can be upgraded but there is IIRC no twin tuner model yet.

Thre was only a 24 hour programme guide but IIRC parts of the country no get up to 7 days EPG.

I would wait at least six months until newer models hit the market or the dual mode - HDD/DVD writers come down in price, then you can record to HDD, edit and burn to DVD.

Regards

[Dave Liquorice]

I think you really mean that you can't tell that you are watching a recording. You do not get real broadcast quality over freeview it's fairly heavly compressed using lossy methods.

[Michael Mcneil]

A disk cost about 10 pence doesn't it? And are rewritable these days are they not? Is that an unbearable expense?

What are those 7 to 2 or somesuch DVD card readers on sale in Lidle? Is that what you lot are talking about?

£55 sounds a lot cheaper than the above prices. But a lot more than an ordinary DVD TV player only.

[Dave Liquorice]

Read back a bit further, it was suggested that WORM discs were used. It is also a waste of resources.

[tony sayer]

In article , Mike Pepper writes

What you really, really, want is a head end that tunes the sat/ terrestrial signals whatever, that has an output over 10/100 ethernet which puts all the necessary data on the "server" in the "racks room" elsewhere in your house, then you can dump all the stuff you want to record timeshift on there.

Then you "edit" what you want to archive, share etc, and burn that onto a DVD which all in all gives you the best of both worlds. We've been using a Manhattan Starlight 5900 satellite receiver for some non UK programmes and this has a built in HD and the quality easily exceeds VHS. The 160 G/B drive in that offers some 60 odd hours of video and or sound and very nice is that too.

However this unit can't get the signal off the drive and thats where some of the newer receivers are quite good such as IIRC the Keon or similar sounding units from Germany that have the 10/100 streaming connection. IIRC too the dreambox has this on, but all in all I think that "architecture" of radio/TV viewing is about to develop along these lines.

We have a 10/100 network here and we use that to distribute audio around the house, the big server outside in the garage/shed carries all the CD's and other audio which is just picked off as and when needed by other user PC's round the gaff:)) Very similar as to how a local radio station/studio works these days.....

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And I'd guess the recorder will throw away some more. But probably only noticeable on some types of movement.

[Colin Irvine]

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:37:55 +0000, Ziggy squeezed out the following:

Fusion and Thomson both do them now.

Correct. The Thomson's recent software upgrade allegedly gets 14 day EPG.

Anything you get is superceded a month or two later. I think UKP200k or less for a Freeview box with built-in 40Gb HDD is worth going for.

[Tony Bryer]

7 days here (London)

[Mogweed]

We bought a Philips DVDR725H/05 about 4 weeks ago. It has a 160GB hard drive which will store, according to the manual:

M1 = 1 hour on a DVD+R/RW or 32 hours on hdd, M2 (pre-recorded DVD quality) = 2 hours on DVD or 64 hours on hdd, M2x (better than S-VHS quality) = 2.5 hours on DVD or 80 hours on hdd, M3 (S-VHS quality) = 3 hours on DVD or 96 hours on hdd M4 (better than VHS quality) 4 hours DVD or 128 hours on hdd M6 (VHS quality) 6 hours DVD 192 hdd M8 (VHS-LP quality) 8 hours DVD or 250 hdd

DVD+RW's can be written to, erased and written to again over 1000 times and cost between 80p and £1 per disk (depending on brand) from local computer fairs. The unit sits openly next to the telly and there is no noise whatsoever from it. And as for the electronic program guide, it gets updated each night, covers 7 nights in advance and makes recording a breeze - even the wife can do it. Simply select the programme, press the red button, and that's it - timer is set! (find out more about it here

features and benefits are far too many to mention here so have a look at to see it for yourself. OK, it cost us £499 from and it'll be outdated and probably obsolete within 6 months, but hey, it really is one of the best things we've ever bought in the context of home entertainment.

Mogweed.

[stu]

I've got a Pace twin that suffers from this problem. Passing traffic seems to trigger it. Anyone know a possible cure? BTW I'm supposedly not in a freeview area and the box often reads a signal strength of less than 20%, but picture quality is pretty good as long as it sits still. Also, it's possible to record direct to VCR from the second tuner if there's something you want to keep. Stu

[MST]

I have just purchased the Philips DVDR725H and at first I got a guide plus listing and every morning after it says it has not updated the 7 day listing. I have read the manual and left it on standby, on itv as i have only terestrial and the next nigh used the power off button on the front of the panel, thied leaving it on the itv1 channel prior to power off to standby. Tonight i will leave it turned on and observe.. Have you any tips ?

Malcolm