Need easy-to-use setup for Father-In-Law...

[Steve Tustin]

Can anybody help?

My Father-In-Law has now decided he wants "one of those DVD things with a hard disk that can record from the telly" (I have had a RDXS32 since they came out)

Plus Point: He moves with the times
Minus Point: Guess who will be expected to set it all up and will get calls at least once an hour asking the same questions over and over....!!

Anybody got any ideas? A system utilising an EPG would be the easiest thing for him (he uses FreeView at the moment) but from what I can see the only viable option is as seen in this thread: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showp...8&postcount=23 - but it sounds complicated!

Thanks for any help

[eddyad]

If he doesn't want to keep recordings on DVD then a PVR is the answer. You'll have to decide if he could cope with a twin tuner model - then he could forget his Freeview box and still have just one box.

If he wants to keep the occasional program on DVD then a separate DVD-only recorder would do it. If you get a PVR with two scarts then copying won't be difficult.

Do customised instructions for him to do the tasks he needs. The manuals are usually pretty impenetrable, even the 'Quick Start' sections. In particular, say how to change the automatic recording times from the EPG to start 2 minutes early and end about 4 mins late or he'll miss bits.
When you find a suitable PVR, download the manual and see what you think of it first.

I have neighbours in their 80s and I've done step-by-step instructions for them to do a limited number of things with their Freeview box and VCR. They manage to record Freeview to the VCR using both timers. The Freeview 7-day EPG has confused them a bit so they stick to setting the timer - slower but OK.

It'll be a bit of a job to get it all set up and written, but you should be free of lots of phone calls.

[etaf]

a digitfusion fvrt200 twin tuners and 80GB Harddrive - may be the answer at £179