Hard disk video recorders

[Stephen Coates]

Just wondering if anyone here used a freeview PVR, and if so, what type.

I'm considering getting one. Our 'digital switchover' is occurring next summer so I will no longer be able to record on my VHS machine without a freeview receiver. My 6.5 year old Goodmans GDB3 broke last year so I can't use that.

My Mum has a Digihome DTR80, which I have used a lot this year. It works, but is very slow (that's slow as in unresponsive) and crashes sometimes. The remote control isn't very logical (but I have got used to it now, just) and the software just seems incomplete, like they never bothered to test it properly.

I've been looking at ones by Humax. Currently they have an older model, the PVR9200TBX, for £105. Looks pretty good. It has a large HD, and a USB socket so it can be connected to a computer to transfer videos.
See http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/Product...65&cat=Factory

I might get one.

[Harrison]

The only freeview recorders I've used are Panasonic and they have always been very good, although more expensive due to the high quality of their products. My mother-in-law has a Sony one which seems good but the software seems over complicated.

But I only use Sky+ and SkyHD+ boxes myself and don't think they can be beaten. Great interface and easy to use. Sky have also just released a 1TB version, and upgraded Anytime to Anytime+ to give a much larger offline viewing experience.

[Stephen Coates]

I just ordered from Humax Direct, a refurbished 9150 for GBP85 inc delivery. Should arrive on Tuesday.

The 9150 has a smaller 160GB hard drive, but unlike the 9200, this one uses SATA. It also lacks the USB port, but I think I can manage without that.

[Harrison]

Would it let you upgrade the HDD yourself? If so, you can get 1TB HDDs very cheaply now if it is SATA. About £35-40.

[Stephen Coates]

I think an HD upgrade will be possible if I wanted to do it.

I know that some PVRs are quite fussy about HDs. Apparently some (all?) Vestel boxes use HDs that don't do any error correction unlike most standard HDs. Or something like that.

I don't think I will need to upgrade the 160GB drive for a while though, as I currently manage to record all my progammes onto the few spare GBs on my Mum's box.

Apparently I should be able to access Interlink's website sometime this morning and find out roughly what time it will be delivered.

[Harrison]

I suppose for SD video 160GB should be plenty for quite some time. The problem is when wanting to record HD. It really eats up the HDD space on my SkyHD box.

Have you consider FreeviewHD yet? It should be available all over the country now, with all 5 terrestrial channels being in HD now. Worth it for those without Sky or Cable.

[Stephen Coates]

We should be able to get Freeview HD here. I don't have a suitable television/monitor though.

[Stephen Coates]

Interlink couldn't be bothered to deliver it on the day they were due to deliver it. It came two days late. Never mind.

Anyway, I have it set up and have just about figured out how to use it. I wouldn't say the interface is any better or worse than the Vestel machines. But it works and is a bit quicker.

[Stephen Coates]

The PVR seems to be doing well. All year, it has had sat next to it the Vestel based one (mentioned in other thread) which has hardly been used. I just had a look in the Vestel based one and it has a 320GB Western Digital SATA HDD, so I might just stick that in my computer.

The Humax PVR does get a bit slow and crash sometimes but not very often. The only real problem I am having is recording the new episodes of Family Guy on BBC Three on Saturday/Sunday, but this seems to be a problem with a lot of PVRs as far as I can tell.

[Buleste]

Actually it's major problem of Huimax PVR's that it cannot for some reason playback Family Guy and American Dad. I emailed Humax earlier (I have the 9150T as well) and this is what I got back.

We are currently reviewing this situation and thoroughly testing this on a range of our units such as PVR9150T, PVR9200T, PVR9300T, HD-FOX T2 and HDR-FOX T2.

Apologies for the delay in response, customer feedback is essential to us and we really appreciate your feedback and apologise for the issue you are experiencing, once we have further information on this issue we can update you accordingly.

I did have a Thomson PVR up until just before christmas and that worked fine but it died on me. The Bt Vision box can be all right especially as it has the BBC iplayer on it but you can only have one in your house because of the way it's information is stored.