Afternoon all!

I'm looking for a christmas present for S.W.M.B.O. at the moment (for the first time ever, I am planning ahead! woohoo!), and I have struck upon the idea of getting her something to record her favourite TV programmes on.

But, what is the best device to do so? I've seen dvd recorders, hard disk based recorders, video tape recorders etc etc, but which is the best one to go for?

It would be good if we could record tv programmes, to watch later, and also have the option to keep a permanent copy, so what do people think about the hard disk recorders? Is it possible to create a permanent copy of programmes stored on one of these?

I'm off to do a bit more research now, but if anyone would care to enlighten me, offer opinions, they would be much appreciated!

cheers
Andy

do you have SKY??, we just got a SKY+ box(hard disk recorder) if you pay for a sky subscription, might be wirth a look

Ray

tivo


it learns aswell so you dont have to programme stuff in once youve had it a while ittl record things it thinks you might like aswell as what you ask it to

and you can fit a bigger harddisk if you need to

You can get a hard drive recorder with recordable DVD too. Quite pricey though

DVD recorders are quite well priced now, you will pay at least £120 for a 80gb harddrive recorder. You can get decent DVD recorders for £100 or under now.DVDs have at least 4.7gb storage and I think 1hr recording is about 1gb so you can fit a reasonable amount onto a disc and if you use a RW disc you can delete and re record as many times (realistically) as you want. And if you need to save anything the disc can be stuck on the shelf. DVD RW are pretty cheap and easy to get hold of.

Have a look at the format of the recorder the cheaper ones will only record on either DVD R+/RW+ or DVD R-/RW- there are a few differences but ive never looked into it enough to tell which is the best to go for. Most players will play either format though. Or you can go for a more expensive one if you dont want to stick to one format.

[Edited on 22/11/05 by greggors84]

sky +,,you'll wonder how you ever managed with out it like i wonder how i am living with out it a few friends have it including my brother ,so having seen it in action i know i need it as much as i need a turbo kit

Freeview hard disk recorder all it needs is a SCART socket --- and you don't have pay dane geld to Rupert Murdoch.

DVD recorders are a bit iffy for live recording OK where they are built into a hard disk recorder for archiving

I save stuff on the hard drive and if it's worth watching again I put it onto a dvd +rw disc, that's what my writer does. It was £229 and has a 160gig HDD but 80gig would get loads of stuff. On the lowest res it will hold about 240 hours tv so an 80 would be half that. It plays divx files as well so I can get stuff off the net.

Yeah go for sky+. Dont know how I lived without it!! Best bit is being able to fast forward the dam adverts.. I wonder how many hours of our lives we spend watching the same adverts over and over???

If you want something different, go for one of these: been setting one up (messing with one) for work, its the sexiest tv/pc ive seen!!!

http://vaio.sony-europe.com/ShowProductCategory.do?category=VD%20V%20Series&language=en&country=GB&domainname=vaio.sony-europe.com

Sky+ is good but they can catch you out on the £10 per month fee unless you are on the top package. Just upgraded ours from standard 40gb to a 200gb harddrive, 100 hours worth of recording. Also have a DVD recorder to suck stuff off from it.

Was going to also mention those freeview recorders. I think they are about £100 and record like sky+ where they have a series link so that it automatically records the programmes in the series.

IMHO the sky+ is good but can get quite costly, whereas freeview is a one off fee

HTH

quote:

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Originally posted by richijenkin
Yeah go for sky+. Dont know how I lived without it!! Best bit is being able to fast forward the dam adverts..

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We've got one of the hard drive recorders - it's exactly like Sky Plus but without the subscription!

Get the twin tuner type - you can record two programmes and watch one you've recorded at the same time - that's much cleverer than me! You can record from the scart socket using VCR or DVD if you want.

Wyn

i have a freeview hard disk recorder and they are now reasonably priced - i would go for one 80gig upwards as that can hold 35-40 hours of TV. Some good features and you pay nowt to Murdoch. Freeview has a decent range of channels now

Anyone know if there is a freeview HD recorder that supports topup tv?

if you have at least one of the premium channels (about 31 quid a month) then sky plus is free. Think box is free for new subscribers at the mo.

atb

steve

i have a hard drive dvd recorder box
a standard dvd disk on standard play will hold 2 hours JUST!
you can change the recording rate to a higher or lower setting, this will obviously change the amount of time you can record on a disk
i tend to record to the hard drive, then edit out the bits not needed like start and end (as i always tend to allow a bit of time) and commercials
nice bit of kit