DVD recorder or freeview box with hard drive?

onejontwo

As my video recorder has decided to call it a day, I'm undecided as to upgrade to a dvd recorder or invest in a freeview box with twin tuner.
As I already have a standard freeview box and a standard dvd player, I'm unsure of which would be most benificial for around the £75-100 mark.
As far as I can see , with the freeview I can record and watch a freeview channel at the same time, whereas with the dvd recorder I could store any good stuff to disc.
So if any of you good people out there have any experience of these items please let me know before I make the wrong choice!
Thanks in anticipation:j

jonesMUFCforever

DVD recorder gives you the option to copy to disc - does the Freeview box do this?

jem16

I have a Sky+ box and a DVD Recorder.

I use my Sky+ box all the time and the DVDR very infrequently. The ability to record two things and watch something I have already recorded at the same time is great. Very occasionally have I needed to dump stuff onto the DVDR.

I'd go with the Freeview PVR.

Gers

I've got a Sony PVR which has Freeview and a 160gb hard drive - best of both worlds. Unfortunately it cost more than the £100.00 you have to spend, sorry.

Woby_Tide

ejones999 wrote: »

DVD recorder gives you the option to copy to disc - does the Freeview box do this?

The freeview PVR (can) give you the option to record two different channels at once whilst watching a previous recording - does the DVD recorder allow you to do this?

Searcher2

Woby_Tide wrote: »

The freeview PVR (can) give you the option to record two different channels at once whilst watching a previous recording - does the DVD recorder allow you to do this?

No - You have to decide if you want to be able to record two different channels at once OR be able to archive off to DVD. If you need both then you need to buy a PVR (to record 2 channels at once) and a DVD recorder (to archive off to DVD).

I would suggest £100 would not be enough for something that would change your viewing habits.

DVD - Panasonic DMR-EX75 160Gb HD about £260 or Panasonic DMREZ25 about £170 without HD. Both with Freeview built in. These prices may drop significantly soon as new models are out in May.

PVR - Humax PVR9200T about £170.

If you want to spend less than £100 then have a look in Argos.

onejontwo

Gers wrote: »

I've got a Sony PVR which has Freeview and a 160gb hard drive - best of both worlds. Unfortunately it cost more than the £100.00 you have to spend, sorry.

How much more?

Searcher2

Gers wrote: »

I've got a Sony PVR which has Freeview and a 160gb hard drive - best of both worlds. Unfortunately it cost more than the £100.00 you have to spend, sorry.

I thought all PVRs have Freeview and a hard disk - though the size of the HD is variable.

Here is a comparison table for twin tuner PVRs and the Sony listed here is the SVRS500... though it is only listed as an 80Gb so this table may be out of date. This table has so much info you will probably get confused but it is generally recognised that the Humax and Topfield are the most reliable and practical.

http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/compare/

If you want to get confused even more try out the AVForums site.

This would be a good start if you want to spend under £100

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461814