sky + or dvd hdd recorder?

[Glastofreak]

A question for you is it posible to use a dvd recorder with hdd to record sky programs ie series link and the like. I have sky already but none of the premium chanels (movies or sports) so a year and a half would cost me £459 with multi room or about £430 with out if that money was spent on a dvd recorder could it do a similar job? thanks in antisipation

[Mark_a]

You can use a DVD recorder to record Sky programmes, but you may well have to program the timers of both machines independently, depending on the make and model you buy. But the main feature you'll be missing is the ability to record one Sky channel while you watch another, or the ability to record two channels simultaneously while you watch a third recording. All of which a Sky+ box can do and a DVD recorder can't.

Regards

Mark

[Glastofreak]

I thought that you could watch and record another chanel with some recorders which have two tuners.

[Rasczak]

I thought that you could watch and record another chanel with some recorders which have two tuners

If you're using Sky+ (or, for Freeview, a twin tuner PVR) then the answer is yes. However for recording from Sky all you can do is record one channel at a time. Most decent brand DVD recorders allow you to watch anything else on the HDD/DVDR whilst recording though (known as Timeslip).

[garydhooper]

One option would be a Pioneer 530 DVD recorder. (I have one of these together with Sky+). The DVD recorder uses the Guidestar EPG and can change channel on the Sky box. The Guidestar EPG is not as good as the Sky EPG though. For example, it can record every week at the same time but has no true series link so if a program's broadcast time is changed you will miss it. Also it only includes an EPG for about 20-30 of the "main" Sky channels e.g. BBC, ITV, C4, C5, Sky One, some movies, etc, but does not include channels such as FX. With the DVD recorder solution you cannot record one Sky channel and watch another though.

[Monty Burns]

If your thinking about the limitation on the amount you can record, you can enhance the disk drive in your Sky+ box to allow you to record and keep more. Simply whip out the Sky+ disk and replace it with a bigger 3.5" ide disk. It requires a hard reboot and the phone line to be connected but it works fine. Worked for me ;-)

If you need to know how to do this properly, can i suggest you look on google.

I agree with others though that you will loose the two decoders. The primary reason for Sky+ for me is two channels at once.

[Rasczak]

For Sky+ upgrades advice on what drives to use/where to find guides can be found in this thread here. I have recently (several months ago) upgraded my Sky+ v1 to 200GB and have never looked back!