Freeview twin tuner + 160Gb HD + DVD recorder £150 @ Aldi 25/11

WATSOFT_2

I managed to get to these whilst everyone was still looking at the DVD player from a previous offer. I thought great and greedily picked up two, one for me and one for an Xmas present.

It was unpacked and installed as soon as I got home. Unfortunately it wasn't quite what I expected.

1. The Freeview tuner is twinned with a Analogue tuner, it's not twin Freeview.

2. The Freeview tuner is inside the case, but not well integrated with the driving software (i.e. You can view its EPG, but not use it to set the recording timer...very poor).

3. I could not see a way that you can record two channels like the web site stated as it only records what is being viewed.

The good point is that it is very versatile, being able to record from a number of sources. Unfortunatetly it is less versatile than buying a DVD/HDD recorder and separate Freeview box.

Freeview PVR's bring a welcome change to your Freeview viewing habits. I bought a DigiFusion twin tuner (no Humax or Topfield at the time) and have been very happy with it for over two years (except for the dodgy power-pack that was shipped with them initially). I have used quite a few PVR's and find that the DigiFusion software is particularly reliable and easy to use...shame the same can not be said about the build quality (a common problem, though not so common on the Humax and Topfield boxes)

Both of my Tevion purchases went back, but there were no questions asked (perhaps because the web-site is misleading or because they’ll fly straight back off the shelf).

Anyway, back to work.

A little late, but I hope this helps someone.

Chris_Preston

Thanks, Watsoft. I'm not as technically savvy as you and am still in the process of setting mine up but it does say on the box 'Twin DVBT Tuner', 8 Event Programmable Timer and 'One Touch Recording'. The machine certainly is not intuitive in operation but perhaps if we dig deep enough, these features will be there?

WATSOFT_2

Argh...I wrote a detailed reply and the site had logged me off...so I lost it!

Chris

I do hope that you find I'm wrong, but the unit operates similar to my LiteOn DVD recorder with hard disk and analogue tuner with a £20 ASDA freeview box inside (the EPG are virtually identical).

Let me know if you manage to record two things at the same time...I didn't. The box crashed the first time I attempted it and ignored one timer the second time I tried.

The clue might be "Twin DVBT tuner" not "..tuners" which could suggest that it's only twinned with an Analogue.

Here's hoping I'm wrong, but if not; the web-site clearly states that you can record two channels at the same time (so a refund should not be a problem).

WATSOFT_2

...ask the missus!

BUT, I found the following thread on the Digital Spy forum and it does back up my own conclusions.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=696984

Again, I hope it's useful!

PS. It's still not a bad product, but just a shade of what it could be!

Chris_Preston

I persevered with this machine and found it to be extremely disappointing. It will be going back to Aldi tomorrow morning with a complaint about their marketing description which I believe is inaccurate and misleading.

I would strongly advise anyone thinking of buying one of these not to.