Freeview with HDD

natanddan1

Would appreciate any help and advice on the best freeview with HDD as I have just told sky to get stuffed!!!!

thanks in advance

L.S.D.

"I have just told sky to get stuffed!!!!" Join the queue. I can only speak about my Freeview & it's the Digifusion 150 80 gig receiver. We've had it since February & although we have a Panasonic DVD recorder, it has almost made it redundant. It is so easy to use. I've only had a couple of missed recordings, out of hundreds, it seems all do this. There are other good (& not so good) PVR's out there as well. After the DVD recorder it's the best thing we've bought this year. There is one other option. You could get a Free to view satellite receiver that takes cards or Cams, an 80 cm dish & a Digialb card or ART card & for less than £200-00 you get Football, movies & naughty stuff, all legal. Then it's around £70-00 per 6 months to keep the cards going.

grumbler

which?extra (not sure that info is up-to-date; I also have not removed Sky so you can compare):

The personal video recorder (PVR) for you depends on the type of digital TV you use. Two models work with Sky’s satellite digital TV, while the others work with Freeview (digital TV via your aerial).

There are currently no PVRs available for cable digital TV though Telewest is planning to launch one later this year.

All these PVRs are Best Buys – and all make recording from digital TV much easier than recording on a VCR, thanks to on-screen electronic programme guides (EPGs). Recordings are stored on an internal hard drive.

PVRs for Sky satellite digital TV
The Sky+ 160 has 80 hours’ capacity – four times that of the original Sky+. Both are easy to use, can record subtitles, and have two tuners so you can record from one digital channel while watching another. They also let you restrict access to channels and remove listings for adult channels from the EPG. The Sky+ 160 costs £299, and existing customers also pay a £60 installation fee.

The original Sky+ costs £99 including installation for new Sky customers (£199 + £60 installation for existing customers).

For both boxes, you pay £10 a month on top of your Sky subscription (unless you subscribe to two premium channels). Existing subscribers pay more than new customers for the Sky+ box and also have to pay £60 for installation of either box.
PVRs for Freeview digital TV

The Humax PVR8000T-80 works with Freeview. It stores the most recordings (40 hours) of all the Freeview PVRs. It can also record digital subtitles. However, unlike all the other PVRs, it has only one tuner. This means that, unless you already have a Freeview set-top box or integrated digital TV, you can’t watch one digital channel while recording another. It costs £170 from Currys, Dixons and John Lewis and £150 at Miller Brothers.

The Thomson DHD4000 also works with Freeview. It has two tuners so you can watch one programme while you record another. It can store about 20 hours of programmes and has recently had a software upgrade so it can now record subtitles. It’s £200 from Miller Brothers.


Other hard-disk recorders are available, but these don’t have the advantage of an electronic programme guide. Click for details of combination DVD/hard-disk recorders or combination VCR/hard-disk recorders.

See also: Looking for a set top box

paul_h

I've got a Sagem PVR6240T, which is at the cheaper end of the market at around £130.

Despite it having most of the features you would normally look for - 7 day epg, timeshifting, twin tuner, etc. - it does have a number of annoying quirks which make it a little clumsy to use at times. Sagem has been promising an over the air software update for a while now, but so far nothing. Bugs are well documented on the user forum here.

So, I cannot really recommend them - the hardware seems to be good, but the software lets it down. This could all be put right with a software update, Sagem just need to pull their finger out.

The Humaxs seem to be well regarded.

L.S.D.

Following on from the other post. My Digifusion can record for 40 Hours. It also has a 2 Week EPG, bigger than most & VERY useful. It also records subtitles. It has 2 Tuners so you can record one or two programmes at a time & also watch a previously recorded programme at the same time. I also said about the free to view satellite system, (not the SKY one) & for a little more you can buy a 'Fortec star' (& others) with a twin tuner to do all of the above, but the cheaper ones (inc the Fortec Star) need a hard drive added. Any old drive or a cheap new one will do.

divadee

Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this thread has been moved to the i wanna board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [email="andrea@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/email].

Poppycat

The Humax are the dogs dangles. I have two freeviews pvr's 8000T and the lteats dual 9200T pvr on order just came out late last week, its a twin tuner. You can hook pc up to it via usb2 and take off recordings on to pc for play or burn to disc.

L.S.D.

Poppycat wrote:

dual 9200T pvr on order just came out late last week, its a twin tuner. You can hook pc up to it via usb2 and take off recordings on to pc for play or burn to disc.

How much is it?

Poppycat

iIts about £210 I got mine on order from hughesdirect for £200 inc del and some slight discount. The Topfield is similar spec but is £290, some say its slightly better. Humax are quality build boxes as I said I got two pvrs and one single tuner (no hdd) Fox-t, they quality pieces of kit, it worth paying the extra for a freeview box.

Poppycat

Topfield http://ws4.hughesdirect.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=TOP-5800PVRT

Humax
http://ws4.hughesdirect.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=HUM-PVR9200T

pre-reg

i have just brought the pvr9200t (latest one just come out) for £229 from comet. Search under pvr 9200

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/ecometHome.htmlder 9200T on comet website.