freeview recording box for a pensioner with reduced eyesight to use?

cranleyleaf

Hi
My pensioner dad still pays £58 a month to Virgin for TIVO but he only watches and records some freeview channels, so he wants to switch to a freeview recording box, and I'll organise him cheaper broadband.

Any ideas please for a freeview recording box for a pensioner with reduced eyesight (I'd say his vision is about 60% ok still) to use?

I can attach an external hardrive to it if needs be. 

His indoor TV aerial picks up freeview channels fine.

Crucially the menus etc on the box would be very easy for him to see and navigate.

Thanks

Robin9

Can you not change the TV itself for one with Freeview built in ?

km1500

you are limited anyway when it comes to freeview recording boxes there are very few available

have a look on Amazon

cranleyleaf

Robin9 said:

Can you not change the TV itself for one with Freeview built in ?

That's an idea for sure! Thanks!!!

Rodders53

Humax and Manhattan are the major makers of Freeview Play (latest standard) and earlier Freeview HD+ recorders.  Panasonic still make HDD/DVD/BluRay recorders that work.  Some like the UI of those.

Take him into John Lewis, Richer Sounds or a similar place (where they don't do the hard sell routine) to play with the remotes of all brands they stock and see the User Interface.  One may be an immediate 'NO'.

The sales staff may know if there are some 'accessibility' options to make on screen text larger, for instance.

Don't use Amazon to research such an important for him decision.

USB hard drive connected devices are not Freeview certified and likely to be the least user friendly.  Even ones connected to TVs are not easy and can even prevent recording one while watching another.

RumRat

You could buy him a smart TV from Samsung etc that has voice activated controls. You could then tell him about the catchup services available so recording would not be needed. 
Everything is going to be a learning curve whatever you choose.

missile

BT Youview box works for me. Cheap second hand on eBay

Eldi_Dos

One big benefit of a recording over catchup is you can fast forward when adverts come on or annoying bits of programmes.SCD is so much more enjoyable when you can fast forward and skip the judges comments.

OP ,check that the light in room is suitable for your Dad,to see control and not cause reflections on bezel or screen, these can make a difference which might not be obvious to other people.

RumRat

Eldi_Dos said:

One big benefit of a recording over catchup is you can fast forward when adverts come on or annoying bits of programmes.SCD is so much more enjoyable when you can fast forward and skip the judges comments.

OP ,check that the light in room is suitable for your Dad,to see control and not cause reflections on bezel or screen, these can make a difference which might not be obvious to other people.

And you can't fast forward your SCD because????? Is your iPlayer broken? The others show ads at the beginning and end and skip them in the middle and fast forwarding is always present.....Of course, because you are getting it free you are going to need to pay somehow....Watching an ad beginning and end is small potatoes in the scheme of things.

facade

If he likes the Tivo, ring Virgin and speak to disconnections/retentions  (I forgot which they call themselves follow the I'm thinking of leaving trail, helps if you have an offer price from sky or someone) and negotiate it cheaper, I get 250meg broadband, the home telephone (free calls at weekends, free caller id etc) and the basic Tivo package for £48. I do have to re-negociate every 18 months though.

Not as cheap as freeview obviously, but where could I get 250meg broadband and a phoneline cheaper?

I have a Humax freeview recorder and it is pretty rubbish, it doesn't let go of the HDMI when it is off, and it is about a million times slower to react than my fingers. It also doesn't download the EPG when on standby or recording so recordings fail after a fortnight.  On the plus side, you can download SD recordings via the ethernet port.

The freeview+ catchup is via the dreadful ITV hub etc. which is just death by unskippable adverts as Eldi-Dos says.

I use the timeshift on "live" ITV, just hit pause at the start of the programme, then go to the toilet/vacuum the living room/make tea etc to use up the advert time usefully, then when I resume I can fast forward the adverts.

Eldi_Dos

RumRat said:

Eldi_Dos said:

One big benefit of a recording over catchup is you can fast forward when adverts come on or annoying bits of programmes.SCD is so much more enjoyable when you can fast forward and skip the judges comments.

OP ,check that the light in room is suitable for your Dad,to see control and not cause reflections on bezel or screen, these can make a difference which might not be obvious to other people.

And you can't fast forward your SCD because????? Is your iPlayer broken? The others show ads at the beginning and end and skip them in the middle and fast forwarding is always present.....Of course, because you are getting it free you are going to need to pay somehow....Watching an ad beginning and end is small potatoes in the scheme of things.

If you are going to jump down people's throats it is better to have your facts right, the couple of catch up channels I have watched do not allow you to fast forward through the adverts.It is a curious concept that watching television is free.

Sorry to hear about your potatoes mine where quite good size this year, I find the secret is making sure the ground is well prepared and fed at the beginning of the season.