I'm looking for advice or recommendations about buying a reasonably sized TV (28"?), and with it a VCR, DVD (do these record?) and Freeview. I admit that I'm not savvy about these things. I might, if readable instructions come with these things, be able to set it (them) up. Is it better to get a set like this for example:
I've had a quick look at that, and I advise against it. The VCR is crap (mono only). The DVD is a player only.
My advise would be to buy individual items. And for your Freeview requirements, I strongly urge you to buy a dual tuner PVR - that is, a box incorporating two tuners and a hard drive for storage.You really won't want to go back to tapes once you've tried one.
Did you have a particular budget in mind?
Hi chris,
The last telly I bought was a 28 inch widescreen job, I got it second hand from a local telly shop and it has worked perfectly - the shop gave it a 6 month guarantee too. It cost me 180 quid and is 'Hitachi'. I only really ever buy tellies second hand as I'm not too bothered about newness, and for less cash generally get a better item. It turns out the telly had external speaker sockets so I plugged in some old hi-fi speakers and improved the sound a billion times over.
As for the DVD, yeah, they record, best to splash out and get one with a hard-drive for the convenience, I have a panasonic DVD-RAM one without the hard drive but it still does simultaneous play and record (time slip kind of thing) but I am thinking about getting a hard drive one to replace it.
As for the freeview box, the other fella here suggested one with a HD too, I would second that, definately. Humax brand perhapse or that Australian one? There's definately people out there who can tell you more about these things than I can.
Video - if its just to play your existing tapes, get at least a 4 head nicam job, but dont worry about recording capabilities of a video as if you get a recordable DVD player and/or freeview box, there's pretty much no way you'll go back to recording on tape, due to the vastly improved convenience if nothing else.
Cheers.
Thank you for your information, which I have read (with some difficulty, due to squinting) which I shall reply to tomorrow, hopefully, as it's past my bed-time and I'm having difficulty in focussing/triping my reply. Co-op cider. There is a reason for this, I'm not normally "soaked". Pah! Goodnight. All the best.
That was an example, as I know little about these things. Thank you very much for your advice. I would not have known about the DVD bit.
PVR.... PVR? I had it in mind that I might buy a TV/VCR/DVD (thing), and be able to play old video tapes (including family ones made on my full-size VHS video camera Panasonic NV-M7), or DVDs, record TV programmes onto DVD (or tape), and transfer VHS tapes to DVD. Am I expecting too much? Note: I am a (comparatively) young Old Duffer.
Um, yes, possibly about £350, although I could "push the boat out" for something that is simple and does what I want. I am rather constrained for budget, and would rather have a TV with a smaller screen and more associated gadget functionality than a ruddy great thing taking up most of one wall!
Classy. I prefer Ice Dragon (not really).
Well, you said you wanted Freeview, and by far the best way to enjoy Freeview is with a PVR. If you don't understand the benefits such a device offers, I am quite happy to explain. Just let me know.
Note that if you want a VCR with a built-in Freeview tuner, your choice will be severely limited (and it will be unsatisfactory, compared to a PVR). If you just want it to handle legacy recordings, no problem.
If you want a DVD recorder with a built-in Freeview tuner, tough. There aren't any. At least, there weren't the last time I looked. What many of us are waiting for is a Freeview PVR with a built-in DVD recorder (for archiving recordings). Now that would be a highly desirable piece of kit.
A little optimistic, I think. Here are some suggestions, along with approximate prices. Please note that these are not specific recommendations (although I do own and thoroughly approve of the PVR!), but are merely illustrative. I have veered towards lower priced products which seem to represent good value.
TV - Goodmans K28W05 - £180 PVR - Thomson DHD4000 - £160 VCR/DVD recorder - JVC DR-MV1S - £240
So that comes to £580, or £420 without the PVR. But I really, really want you to have a PVR!
Erm, yes, please explain! I don't even know what a PVR is... I will look it up on the 'net, but an explanation from someone who knows what they're doing might help!
I don't know, I really don't. Built-in this and that, archiving, etc. - perhaps what I want is for someone to *tell* me what I need!
Wow! I may have to give up beer for a while!
Sagem twin tuner PVR £130.
Particularly for time shifting they are brilliant. I have got a Pace Twin and have it programmed to record a whole list of programs each day or each week and it will keep recording them until told otherwise (or the disk fills up). A big plus of Freeview being that R4 is as easy to record as TV channels)
When it comes to playback you just press the library button and everything recorded is listed by title, select and play - then delete (or copy elsewhere). No messing around hunting backwards and forwards through tapes. Brilliant concept - just a pity that the execution in the Pace Twin is somewhat flawed (buggy firmware)
idtv's ("integrated" digital tuners) not a good idea. Buy a tv set, and Freeview receiver, separately.
Can you get Freeview (are u in a fringe recepion area?). If necessary, check on
The Freeview receiver plugs directly into tv set, also video recorder, via SCART leads (avoids using aerial socket, for best quality pictures).
Do you want topup tv? Do you want the 7 day electronic programme guide?
VHS video acceptable, in my opinion, get one that has fm (hi fi) sound recording (nearly all do, except very cheapest!). But might not look too good on 28 inch tv!
otherwise, there's the more expensive DVD recorder type, fro better picture, which records directly onto (fairly cheap) reusable DVDs.
Ok. Let's define some terms. I'll try not to include any extraneous information, however fascinating I might think it is!:
PVR: Personal Video Recorder. Before going any further I should point out that people argue about exactly what this term means. We don't need to go into that. Here, I mean simply a device that has one or more tuners, a hard drive to store recordings, and (crucially) access to an EPG.
EPG: Electronic Programme Guide. This is downloaded automatically every night (over the air), and contains details of the programming on all channels for the next 7 or 14 days (depending on whose guide your PVR uses) on a rolling basis. As well as the programme title, there will normally be a brief textual description of the content, just as you would find in a magazine listing. You access this guide via the remote control of your PVR, and use it to select programmes you wish to view or add to your Record List.
Record List: A list of programmes you have scheduled to record, but which have not yet been transmitted. Once they have been recorded, they appear in your Record History.
Record History: A list of the programmes you have already recorded. These are stored on the hard drive. The amount of programming you can store will depend on the capacity of the hard drive. The Thomson DHD4000, for example, can store around 20 hours on its 40GB drive. You can select programmes from the record history for viewing, just as you would from the EPG. The title and textual description from the EPG are stored with the recording, together with the date the recording was made. This makes it very easy to find what you are looking for. And because a hard drive is a random access device (unlike a tape), you can view recordings in any order with no delay in finding them, delete them in any order and so on. You can even be watching one recording whilst making two new recordings from two different channels (if you have a dual tuner PVR)! You can add bookmarks to recordings so that you can find places of interest again easily. If you stop viewing a recording, the PVR will remember where you were so that you can resume from that point next time.
As if all that wasn't enough, PVRs automatically 'buffer' live TV. That is, while you are watching a live transmission, it is being recorded to a reserved section of the hard drive. This mean you can pause live TV (say if the phone rings) and then carry on watching where you left off. If you miss something, you can rewind it to watch it again. You can choose to delay the start of a programme on a commercial channel for 10 minutes or so, fast-forward through all the adverts, and still end your viewing at the same time as the broadcast programme ends! Most PVRs buffer for up to 30 minutes, on each tuner (so you can even pause and flip between channels, if you brain can handle it!).
You can record subtitles, and choose to display them or not on playback (this was just about possible on a S-VHS VCR, on a good day, with a following wind).
Oh, and because Freeview PVRs are 'bitstream' recorders, there is no degradation of picture quality. The image you get on a recording is exactly the same as the live broadcast.
Convinced yet?
By archiving, I mean storing the recordings for posterity. That's where it all goes slightly wrong, to be honest. You'll need to record in real time from the PVR to a VCR or DVD recorder, which is a bit pants, as the young people say. There's hope on the horizon, but it's not here yet (enthusiasts can choose the Topfield PVR, which lets you copy files to a PC and burn them to DVD from there, but I'm guessing that's beyond your hassle tolerence level!)
Well, I did! You need the items in my list (though not necessarily those particular models). One thing you would need to check is the options for connecting them together. I didn't look at any of that when constructing that list. I'm afraid that's a whole other area of complication!
It'll be worth it!
...snip loads of good stuff
Beware not all PVRs are dual tuner and not all have auto buffering - you are probably talking about features of a specific PVR here
If budget is tight then dump the DVD recorder and buy a cheap player - you can still archive to the VCR until you can afford a DVD recorder.
Blast. It says I can't. Areas all around can, though. Is there any way of making sure? I suppose I could borrow a "freeview" box & plug it in...
What is this "topup tv" of which you speak?
I'd like a DVD recorder and a VHS, so that I can copy videos onto DVD.
Yes, do that. I can't receive Freeview either, except that I can. I borrowed a box to confirm reception before purchasing my own.
Pay TV for Freeview. A few extra channels. Not interested myself, but it may influence your purchasing decision.
Guilty as charged. I did make the point about dual tuners (somewhat obliquely) but I admit to assuming they all did auto buffering. Certainly the ones I researched before buying did that.
Hmm. That sounds a bit silly now I've read it again!
How about Pay TV for Digital Terrestrial Television, AKA Conditional Access.
I have been told by several people nearby that they can get freeview except during adverse weather conditions.
Enough is enough, I think - I won't go for it.
Then it sounds as you're in an area where a good aerial really matters - I was lucky just to plug a box on the end of my existing feed. uk.tech.digital-tv has a number of people who really understand these things.
Just an idea from me, in this case, I'd get a freeview box but also spend some money on a good aerial on a big stick rather than just relying on your exsisting aerial.
Cheers.
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