Recordable hardrive

Curly_haired_lass

Hi

I cancelled my sky package recently after realising that I mainly watched channels provided by freeview. I'm not missing sky at all, but even with iplayer and Channel 4 on demand I'm still missing a few programmes which are on after I've gone to bed. I have been pricing up recordable hardrives and have seen one for £150 from John Lewis but it doesn't mention HD. Do I have to have a hardrive that is HD? If I don't, does it mean I just can't watch/record HD tv? I don't watch any programmes which are HD at present anyway, but wonder if this box will become obsolete in a few years if all programmes become HD in time.

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

moneysavingwannabe

I am interested in the answer to this!

I have had a dvd recorder with a hard drive for a few years, I just assumed it would record but a lower quality than HD but then again it doesn't use HDMI so would maybe not work then?

It has a choice to record from AV1 or AV2 and won't access my flip HD camcorder. Oh well maybe I don't want a HD box then?

jem16

Curly_haired_lass wrote: »

Do I have to have a hardrive that is HD?

Not unless you want to watch/record in HD.

If I don't, does it mean I just can't watch/record HD tv?

Yes it does.

I don't watch any programmes which are HD at present anyway, but wonder if this box will become obsolete in a few years if all programmes become HD in time.

It won't become obsolete that quickly. Technology always moves on eventually. However it's taken around 60 years to get to the digital era - the HD era isn't going to take over just yet.

macman

If you want Freeview HD then you need a a Freeview HD tuner. If you want to record Freeview then you need a Freeview HD PVR (twin tuner with hard drive). The former are already available, and Humax will be bringing out a Freeview HD PVR any day now. But it will be around twice the price that you quote. Your cheapest (non HD) option would be a Freeview PVR something like the Humax PVR 9300T at about £140.
Cheapest way at present to get HD would be via Freesat and a Freesat HD PVR (Humax Foxsat HDR).

almillar

It's not a 'hard drive' you're looking for, and there's no such thing as a high definition hard drive either. You want a PVR (personal video recorder). As Macman says, you can choose either a FreeviewHD or FreeSat HD PVR. FreeSat will plug into the cables you had for Sky+ (2 satellite inputs hopefully) and is cheaper at the moment, and is definitely broadcasting in your area. The whole of the UK will not be FreeviewHD enabled until 2012.
If you've got an HDTV, you'll certainly want to get an HD recorder, else you've wasted the money you've spent on the TV.

harz99

Curly_haired_lass wrote: »

Hi

I cancelled my sky package recently after realising that I mainly watched channels provided by freeview. I'm not missing sky at all, but even with iplayer and Channel 4 on demand I'm still missing a few programmes which are on after I've gone to bed. I have been pricing up recordable hardrives and have seen one for £150 from John Lewis but it doesn't mention HD. Do I have to have a hardrive that is HD? If I don't, does it mean I just can't watch/record HD tv? I don't watch any programmes which are HD at present anyway, but wonder if this box will become obsolete in a few years if all programmes become HD in time.

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

You will get better advice if you can state what kit you currently have and what uses you put it too.

TV-HD or not, built in Freeview or not?
DVD Player/recorder - built in Freeview or not and what do you do with it?
Stand alone Satelite or Freeview Box?
Home Cinema System?

How much space you have and what your budget is, and so on.

Jo_2k

Hello, I'm interested in this too and would love some advice.

I currently have sky plus but would like to do away with it completely, I also have an hd tv. If I bought a freesat hd box, would I be able to just connect it directly to the sky dish which is already up to save me having to have a new dish? Also, would I then be have to get an hd freesat recorder or is there a way of getting a recorder/hd player all in one? Budget is around £200.

Thanks

Jo

jem16

Jo_2k wrote: »

If I bought a freesat hd box, would I be able to just connect it directly to the sky dish which is already up to save me having to have a new dish?

Yes you just use the two cables currently connected to your Sky dish.

Also, would I then be have to get an hd freesat recorder or is there a way of getting a recorder/hd player all in one? Budget is around £200.

Not sure what you mean here.

If you buy a Freesat PVR ( i.e. recorder as you said) it gives you the ability to watch HD channels, record HD channels and playback HD recordings.

Cost is £249 though.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5321832/Trail/searchtext%3EHUMAX.htm

daveyjp

We have just had freesat HD installed with the Humax PVR - great piece of kit once you have spent an hour learning how to use it, it's not as intuitive as our Virgin+ box was.

The USB slot is great for transferring home videos and photos to the player and getting data onto the laptop to burn DVDs.

Amazon do it cheaper than Argos.

Curly_haired_lass

Thanks all for taking the time to reply. Apologies for my lack of specifics, but I'm just not a techno person at all so I didn't even consider the relevance of what I've currently got in terms of HD ready tv (which I have) with built in freeview (which I have). I don't have a DVD player, so I'm just using the bedroom tv which has built in freeview and the living room tv which has sky presentation of particular channels but also has freeview if I want to use it (viewing through sky doesn't give entire range of freeview channels). I've been to Asda today and bought a Sagem digital tv recorder 320gb which will be enough memory for what I want to record but it has built in freeview as well so I'm going to read instructions very carefully before doing anything as I don't want to mess up my tv.

Thanks again to you all for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.:T