alaniho said:
Or maybe someone can recommend a better option within my £250 budget.
*Do you need RGB Input? i.e - Are you planning to record from Sky or Cable? If not then definitely the 85.
* Does your TV only have 1 RGB Scart and no HDMI or Component input? If not then definitely the 85.
* Do you like recording something and watching something else? If so then definitely the 85.
In just 2-3 years time that lovely analogue tuner in the majority of AV equipment from the past 50 years will be as useful as a demented hedgehog. In other words it's completely crazy to buy a Recorder without Freeview.
Even if you have Sky I bet you record off Sky and watch analogue from time to time. Sure some can't pick Freeview up but come Analogue switch off they say 97.5% of the UK population will be able to to, so think ahead.
It surprises me virtually no one is thinking of the future when buying new equipment. Do you want your new sparkly AV equipment to be out of date in only 2-3 years? IMO those cheap DVD Recorders with only an Analogue tuner aren't worth the hardware they made with.
Sure you can get around the issue of only 1 tuner (remember most people have 2 - TV and VCR, both will not work in 2-3 years time) by buying a second Freeview box and yes this is cheaper BUT do you really want TWO Freeview boxes. I sure don't.
Personally I have a Pioneer 540 with Freeview which I use 90% of the time but when recording I take my Freeview box out of standby and use that (as I only ever use it for watching now it goes direct into my TV). The quality is not reduced whatsoever by looping through my Recorder before it gets to my Freeview box.
So in short yes the Toshiba 85 has it's failings (but then so do all Recorders) but for £250 it's by far the cheapest on the market (£259 from rgbdirect.co.uk MR too).
MICK WATTAM said:
I've just come across a Grundig HDD/DVD recorder (GDR5530HDD) on the Grundig website. It says it has an inbuilt tv tuner. Would this mean it can receive freeview? It is only £179.99, so I suspect it doesn't. Anyone come across this machine?
A good rule of thumb: If it doesn't specifically say Freeview or Digitial tuner (or some variant) then assume no.
That said as it's Grundig it's possible, Wharfedale do one for £199.99 BUT frankly for the price of the Toshiba (another £79) why get a cheap/crud make?
JayCee said:
Apologies, you're quite correct...the RD-XS24B does NOT have RGB input.
I was under the impression it was only the RD-85 that didn't.
This is only an issue if you are a Sky or Cable subscriber. If you have Freeview I can't think of a reason you're ever going to need RGB Input. It's not like you're ever going to plug a Freeview box into it
The thing is to get RGB Input you need to pay at least another £50 for a Pioneer, Panasonic or Sony. So it's definitely worth thinking do you need RGB Input (i.e - Sky/Cable)