Personal Video Recorders now under £50

Torkijo

makinprogress wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what make etc....
We have just got rid of Sky and the lack of Sky+ facilities is what I miss the most!
TIA

We can do this with our Toppy - Topfeld PVR

goldcroft10

Getting confused. I took up the one off offer via Dixons to get a Sky dish and box installed, but I have refused to sign up to Sky.

My programmes though come through the Sky digibox. Will these cheap recorders work with BBC1, BBC2 etc (ie: not sky programmes)?

Ahmed

ILikeFreebies wrote: »

I've just taken out BT vision. It's an extra you can get with BT broadband. You get a 160gb freeview twin tuner PVR (made by philips I read) which can also receive on demand downloaded programmes (films, sport etc) via broadband. The PVR is free, though you are charged £30 for 'line activation'. If you're already on BT broadband you have to sign up for a 18 month contract from the date you order BT vision. You also need a BT home hub according to BT which can be ordered for a discounted price of £30 if you're on BT broadband option 1, but it's free if you're on option 2 or 3. If you haven't got BT broadband you can get about £40 from Quidco for signing up.

My vote also goes for the BT vision. You need BT broadband to get the box but dont need the homehub, any router will do.
Also you get free replys from the BBC of the most popular programmes in the preceding 7 days. You can record 2 programmes at the same time. If you ask BT nicely they will waive the activation fee. The best thing about the box is ability to record series etc. Only downside is it will act up if the BB connection goes down.

goldcroft10

Compatibility with Sky
Any knowledge would be appreciated. thanks. mike

Getting confused. I took up the one off offer via Dixons to get a Sky dish and box installed, but I have refused to sign up to Sky.

My programmes though come through the Sky digibox. Will these cheap recorders work with BBC1, BBC2 etc (ie: not sky programmes)?

RHaywood

marcus01293 wrote: »

I had a digifusion 80gb. The power supply went funny after a year of use.

I had the same problem but a new power supply has solved the problem and its been working since. I got mine from here.

dc

goldcroft10 wrote: »

Compatibility with Sky
Any knowledge would be appreciated. thanks. mike

Getting confused. I took up the one off offer via Dixons to get a Sky dish and box installed, but I have refused to sign up to Sky.

My programmes though come through the Sky digibox. Will these cheap recorders work with BBC1, BBC2 etc (ie: not sky programmes)?

Not from the Sky box, just from the Freeview signal via an aerial pointed at your local TV mast.

They only record from the inbuilt tuner and generally only have a scart for output not input. You need to be in a Freeview reception area to use one of these, sorry.

dc

RHaywood wrote: »

I had the same problem but a new power supply has solved the problem and its been working since. I got mine from here.

The original power supply was not hefty enough and caused a lot of problems, which were solved by doubling the power.
12volts 3 Amps is recommended

sb1876

I have just cancelled my Sky + and really miss the ability to record programmes using the hard drive, I also can't watch any of the programmes that I have already recorded or that I have saved.

I was on the look out for a digital TV recorder and bought one today from Tesco for £99.95 (half price), its brand new and can be returned etc. if it's faulty or unsuitable, the one I bought is a 160gb hard drive (about 80 hours) Sharp TU-R160HA, I haven't used it yet although I should be able to hook it up to my Sky box and record things as I used to (except the sky channels that I no longer get after cancelling).
The box also has freeview built in as they all do???? however I will still need to use my sky box as I'm not in a freeview area.

Anyone who hasn't used Sky+ or one of these hard drive boxes they are great, series link will record a whole series of programmes week after week and with this one it has a twin tuner so will also record two channels and let you watch an already recorded programme at the same time.
Again with all of these boxes you can pause and rewing live TV as long as you don't change channels (they only do this Live pause/rewind on the channel you are watching)

I bought mine as I thought the price was good for such a large memory, plus the reasonably good brand name, although would recommend doing a quick search for independant reviews if anyone else is considering buying one!

SB

fonzy8

howard_bretman wrote: »

Do not buy the digifusion. I bought one from microdirect in March last year and it worked ok for a few months then died. I then paid to return it and got a second one which was dead on arrival with the identical fault of the first one. When I phoned to report this at 0915 I was told it was the 3rd. report that morning of the same model. Microdirect refunded the return costs and two thirds of the original units price. When I queried this I was told because it had been ok for a few months. Buy a better model.

I got a digifusion last year from Microdirect as well - with the upgraded power supply that was supposed to solve all the problems the unit had. I was not given return costs (although it was in the 'hold' mode) and was offered about a £20 refund as it had worked for 6 months or so, meaning we had use out of it. After getting in touch with one of the directors I was offered a replacement unit. I went for it as the digifusion box was easy to use and did what we wanted - even the mrs could use it :-) But that was dead on arrival - the tuner was broken.

Rather than spend the several extra hours and money on returning that one as well I ended up leaving it as it had already ramped up from the £50 I paid for the unit, to about £65 counting postage costs and phone calls.

Noticed the same unit elsewhere for about £10 extra but it was from a dealer I've never had to pay extra for returns or support as it's all done thorugh email. I really wish I'd bought it through them!

Really, I wish I bought a Humax from wherever - it's only about £30 more than what I spent after all the hassle anyway and they are excellent.

Summing up - DONT BUY FROM MICRODIRECT IF YOU WANT SUPPORT!!! If you take the risk of their cheap prices, you are likely to end up paying more in the long run if the unit breaks - and searching thorugh google there seems to be a fair few people like me with Microdirect.

fonzy8

One other thing with Microdirect I forgot to mention! I left some not very positive feedback on the unit on their 'review' system on the website but it never appeared on the customer feedback review. I just pointed out that the unit I got had a great user interface and did all that we wanted, but broke after 6 months - nothing slagging the support off as I hadn't had the hassle at that point.

So, if you buy from Microdirect, don't trust their review system. Make sure you research the unit you are buying from other sources as Microdirect's may be a little one sided!