Which Freeview DVD/HDD recorder should I buy?

On Sun, 1 Oct 2006 21:39:55 +0100, Pyriform wrote:

Linda B wrote:
We have a Sony KD-28DL10U IDTV (about three years old) We have tried a
Liteon LVW 5045 HDD DVD recorder but discovered that we can't record
digital Freeview channels with it (and there were other things we
didn't like about it so it has been returned)
My question therefore, is can anyone suggest a suitable replacement
that will *definitely* work with the IDTV?

You want something with its own Freeview tuner built in. You don't want to
be reliant on the TV's tuner.

The TV has SmartLink (Sony) so does whatever we buy need to have
something compatible, if so what?

No. See above!

Or should we buy an HDD with
Freeview tuner or would that conflict with the integrated tuner part
of the tv and does this get complicated in connecting things together?

Not at all. It will have the same relationship to your TV as a VCR would
have, back in the olden days. The aerial lead plugs into the box, and
another lead plugs into the TV's aerial socket. A Scart lead connects the
box to the TV. You will have to choose between two basic approaches:

1) Single or twin tuner Freeview HDD recorders.

These are ideal for timeshifting, and offer picture quality which is
identical to the broadcast. With a twin tuner version, you can record two
programmes at once, whilst watching a previous recording. You can also
typically pause and rewind live TV. However, none of these incorporate a DVD
writer, so you will not be able to archive programmes you wish to keep
without an external DVD recorder (or performing various complicated
shenanigans involving a PC).

2) Single tuner DVD or HDD/DVD recorders.

You've already used one of these, so I won't go into details. They can only
record one programme at a time, but you will be able to easily transfer
recorded material onto DVD (in the case of a machine with no HDD, that's the
only place it can go!).

Personally, I think (1) is the way to go, and can't understand why anyone
would choose (2). But your mileage, as they say, may vary...

Thankyou! I'll pass on the information to my hubby and we'll get hunting
online... hopefully to find something we can buy/install without too many
questions :-)
Of course, if anyone actually has any recommendations, that would be
helpful (I'm not being too lazy to trawl the web and read up, it's just
nice to know that someone that has a similar set up has it working!)
Thanks again.

On Mon, 2 Oct 2006 00:43:31 +0100, Pyriform wrote:

Chris Leuty wrote:
"Pyriform" wrote:

1) Single or twin tuner Freeview HDD recorders.

2) Single tuner DVD or HDD/DVD recorders.

Personally, I think (1) is the way to go, and can't understand why
anyone would choose (2). But your mileage, as they say, may vary...

For the sake of argument if you choose 1, what if you wanted to record
from an external source (e.g. satellite, vcr) onto the HDD: can it be
done by any box currently available?

No. I could have mentioned the lack of external inputs as a further drawback
of (1), I suppose. But the OP's requirement appeared to be for a digital
Freeview recorder.

Yes, as the OP, I can confirm that is what we're looking at.

We've done all this at length here before,

I'd just like to add here that I did download the last 1000 posts and hunt
through for info but this thread was the only one I could find. I know its
not really polite to butt in on someone else's thread but it did seem kind
of relevant. I hope the original poster also finds what he needs.

but briefly the difference
between the two approaches is that devices in group (1) do not have a
built-in MPEG2 encoder, whereas devices in group (2) do. I guess unless you
know what is going on inside the boxes, the distinction must be rather
confusing...

Er, to me... it's all highly confusing but we'll get there in the end, I
hope.

Linda B wrote:
Of course, if anyone actually has any recommendations, that would be
helpful (I'm not being too lazy to trawl the web and read up, it's
just nice to know that someone that has a similar set up has it
working!) Thanks again.

A few months ago, I'd have happily recommended the Thomson DHD4000,
especially as Argos were briefly selling them for £99.99 (I couldn't resist
buying a second!). But I think you'd have trouble finding one now.

The ones that tend to get recommended here are Humax and Topfield twin tuner
machines, so I suggest you research those. My *perception* (as a non-user of
either), is that the Topfield is more versatile, in that it can be augmented
with third-party software add-ons (TAPS), but that the Humax is more useable
out-of-the-box.

Owners of both tend to get a bit evangelical, so one might be along to
preach to you shortly...

If not, you might find this resource useful:

http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/...splay.php?f=90

On 29/09/2006, Chris wrote in message
:

Surely nobody
would buy a TV today without an integrated digital tuner?

I think that's the wrong way for living-room TVs. I don't think they
should have any tuners in at all. Since, to get decent sound, you already
need to plug your video system into your audio system, it should become
completely disintegrated: you have

* your media inputs (broadcast TV system, DVD)
* your media recording/playing apparatus (VCR/PVR)
* your audio output (stereo system) and
* your video output (nice big display screen with no interpretation logic
at all).

You can use the stereo system to play audio without needing the other
things. You can use the big screen to display pictures without needing
the other things (e.g. by using it as a screen for your computer). You
can use the input/recording components without needing the output stuff.
Why tie up the biggest, most expensive component by including lots of TV
logic in it ?

One exception is portable TVs. If you want an integrated system you can
pick up with one hand, then you need the tuner in with it. What I'm
waiting for is a TV which lacks the analogue circuitry. That should
reduce the cost by ten pounds or so.

Simon.
--
http://www.hearsay.demon.co.uk