Hard Drive TV Channel Recorders

[Samster]

My ?120 Sagem PVR (Argos) just downloaded itself a software upgrade - took about 15 mins but now all the menus have been freshened up, many of the little bugs fixed and some enhanced functionality added - liekbeing able to rename your recordings which you couldn't do before.

Wouldn't be without the thing - for the money it's bang on.

Buy one from Argos Rob, try it for a week then take it back. Best way to find out what it's all about

 

[R2B2]

Agree with Samster 110% - the Sagem is another good one. I was a bit shallow in only mentioning one...... there is some good kit out there.

 

[ianrobbo1]

Cmon Rob, keep up, people are watching every post with added interest, :bow: now you say your not giving us all the info!! :t

 

[the all new REEFER]

most of the new higher end dvr/pvr have twin tuners in them now

one thing to remember is to get a unit with "digital" tuners as the analogue transmissions will end soon

have a look on the the manufacturers web sites such as sony, pioneer and panasonic
sony have launched a new generation of units and have been getting good reviews but they are in short supply with people going on shop waiting lists for stock to come in
you can even record 2 diffrent channels to a single dvd disc in real time on some leaving the hard drive still untouched!
depending in your situation you may want to steer clear of some models as they have a cooling fan
as a rule if you fnd one that has all the goodies you require do a search for reviews on it and also do a search on www.dvdrhelp.com as they have a lot of feedback on units on thered34l

this unit is getting good reviews at teh mo..http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProd...en_GB&pageType=Overview&category=DVD+Recorder

 

[R2B2]

Cmon Rob, keep up, people are watching every post with added interest, :bow: now you say your not giving us all the info!! :t

I can see what you mean Ian - there is room for potential confusion here because there are two distinct lines of thought in this thread. There are two very different routes you can go with this equipment depending on what your viewing preferences and cost preferences are. The overriding factors are.......

1) The SKY DIGITAL route

2) The FREEVIEW/TERRESTRIAL route

What I've tended to err on in my postings has been regarding the Sky option. To get the flexibility of recording different channels on Sky Digital, as far as I know and to the best of my knowledge, the only way is with a Sky+ box (cost etc in my earlier post). This is because it's the only box that can decode two Sky Digital signals simultaneously. I stand to be corrected if I've missed something obvious in my searchings, but I'm 99% sure this is the only way.

There are other good boxes out there like Sams and Reefers and the Humax I mentioned earlier that have dual tuners and huge hard drives which have the flexible recording and operation features just like the Sky+ box, but they only work on the terrestrial channels and terrestrial digital signals provided by Freeview (and Top-up TV). They are not able to be connected to Sky digital as they can't perform the decoding. These tend to be cheaper than the Sky+ box but with equal feartures and, in most cases, bigger hard drives than the standard Sky+ box (there is a Sky+ box available with a 160gb hard drive).

Does that help?

 

[Murt]

It helps me..
I think I will wait until Sky swap over to the new set up in the spring. then go for the new Sky+, ( if Telewest dont come down in price, cos thats another option).
Thanks for all the info

What a minefield fl4g71
Murt.

 

[ianrobbo1]

just "nipped" over to sky's site and I see their sky+160 box option is free IF you subscribe to two premium channels!! ?10 a month if not!! :cry: would it be cheaper to buy the sky + box from somewhere else I wonder,?? as I refuse to pay any more than the basic package, as no one here watches "sport" and most films we can get free "elsewhere" if you know what I mean!!

 

[R2B2]

just "nipped" over to sky's site and I see their sky+160 box option is free IF you subscribe to two premium channels!! ?10 a month if not!!

That's what I was explaining in my earlier post. And thats on top of box purchase and installation!

would it be cheaper to buy the sky + box from somewhere else I wonder,??

That's the problem! Sky have it stitched up, you can't buy one elsewhere. You could buy a second hand one I suppose but it would only work when Sky sanctioned it's operation by activating it with a digital signal broadcast through your satellite dish!! Back to square one, - ie, pay Premium Channel subs or ?10 month. Yes - they do have that sort of control over the Sky+ box

A friend of mine recently decided to end his Sky Premium Channel subscriptions and they said fine, no problem, but we will wipe the hard drive on your Sky+ box so he had to delay his termination 'til he watched everything he wanted that was stored on his hard drive!

I think I will wait until Sky swap over to the new set up in the spring. then go for the new Sky+

Exactly what we are doing! However, my suspicions are that the new HD Sky+ box will be both more expensive to buy and install, AND that progs broadcast in the HD format will also have higher subscriptions! I hope I'm wrong but I think I'm right sadly. It's all about money with Sky I'm afraid. If it is all more expensive then that'll be when I ditch Sky and go with Freeview and a dual tuner box like Sams or the Humax. Will ultimately loose some stuff like Sky Sports and Discovery and Nat Geog etc, but will save about ?40 (min) at my guess.

 

[Murt]

Cost...
Just contacted Sky AND Telewest..
Frightening amount of options and cost..

Worked out that , to stay on our Sky package, and get Sky+ ( at the mo ?21 per Month)..... wait for it....... ?259 to 'install'
and an extra ?10 a month on top... that works out to.......... ?631 a YEAR..
( but Sky would give up an 80 hour Sky+ box, Bless em.

Telewest, with 'Teleport'......... ?17.50 a month ( ?5.50 for first 3 months co I'm a phone customer).. Free install,...... Total cost. ?210 per year. :bow:
Guess what I will be doing.

Will report further.
Murt..

 

[Pugwash]

1) The SKY DIGITAL route

2) The FREEVIEW/TERRESTRIAL route

3) TiVo - It comes with wired infra-red emitters that you stick on front of your sky/freeview decoder so it can change their channels. It's capable of controlling freeview, sky or both. It can only record from a single source at once, and yes can only record or watch a single source at once, but after a few weeks your viewing habits change anyway. I almost never watch live tv any more.

Personally, EVERYTHING I watch on TV is either picked-up on the original airing or a repeat. Sky repeat their own main channels a lot with Sky1, 2 & 3. Channel 4 repeat on E4, and of course there's all the +1 channels.

The cost for me is the basic Sky package (about ?20) plus TiVo subscription (?10) per month, although you can buy a lifelong subscription for about ?300 that removes the monthly.

The extras I've installed on my box include web front end (so I can control the recorder from any PC in the house), a 300GB hard drive upgrade, a 512MB cache card (speeds up some operations). As a bonus, I've password-protected the web interface, and routed an internet port to it so I can access it from my smart phone's browser :yo:

 

[R2B2]

Cost...
worked out that , to stay on our Sky package, and get Sky+ ( at the mo ?21 per Month)..... wait for it....... ?259 to 'install'
and an extra ?10 a month on top...

Precisely! That's what I explained in the earlier posts above. ?199 (ok, I had rounded it up to ?200) is to "buy" the Sky+ box, ?60 to have it installed by one of their contractors (another stitch-up) and then ?10 month. The ?10 month is waived if you subscribe to two premium channels, which costs you more anyway. Catch 22!

 

[the all new REEFER]

3) TiVo - It comes with wired infra-red emitters that you stick on front of your sky/freeview decoder so it can change their channels. It's capable of controlling freeview, sky or both. It can only record from a single source at once, and yes can only record or watch a single source at once, but after a few weeks your viewing habits change anyway. I almost never watch live tv any more.

Personally, EVERYTHING I watch on TV is either picked-up on the original airing or a repeat. Sky repeat their own main channels a lot with Sky1, 2 & 3. Channel 4 repeat on E4, and of course there's all the +1 channels.

The cost for me is the basic Sky package (about ?20) plus TiVo subscription (?10) per month, although you can buy a lifelong subscription for about ?300 that removes the monthly.

The extras I've installed on my box include web front end (so I can control the recorder from any PC in the house), a 300GB hard drive upgrade, a 512MB cache card (speeds up some operations). As a bonus, I've password-protected the web interface, and routed an internet port to it so I can access it from my smart phone's browser :yo:

you need to get out more

 

[R2B2]

'Kin 'ell Pugwash That all sounds great mate but most of us haven't got the techno knowhow to do all that...!! (well I know I haven't, and Robbo hasn't, not sure about Murt!).

Respect :bow:

300 GB ?? How many hours TV is that?

 

[ianrobbo1]

'Kin 'ell Pugwash That all sounds great mate but most of us haven't got the techno knowhow to do all that...!! (well I know I haven't, and Robbo hasn't, not sure about Murt!).

thanks for that "vote of confidence" Rob!!


.



.

:xm he's bloody right though!! :bang:

 

[R2B2]

thanks for that "vote of confidence" Rob!!

Lol! Don't mention it Ian - that's what friends like me are for

 

[ianrobbo1]

Lol! Don't mention it Ian - that's what friends like me are for

best get in the Que then just behind Bert!!

anyone need an enemy?? :dunno: :}

 

[D.S.]

you need to get out more

Alternatively, you could stay in and contribute to one of the best bike sites on the web these days! :yo: :bow:

 

[Pugwash]

you need to get out more

You think? All that technology and my girlfriend uses it to watch Trisha when she gets home. c7u8

 

[the all new REEFER]

quality show :bow: :yo:

 

[Pugwash]

Today's "to do" list on the device:

Mon	23rd Jan	09:25	ITV1ANG	The Jeremy Kyle Show
Mon	23rd Jan	10:30	FIVE	Trisha Goddard	
Mon	23rd Jan	19:30	ITV1ANG	Coronation Street
Mon	23rd Jan	20:30	ITV1ANG	Coronation Street
Mon	23rd Jan	21:00	C4	Celebrity Big Brother

I think it's faulty!