Recording in advance with Sky +

[Nick Odgers]

My trusty 15 year old Panasonic video records programmes up to two weeks in advance; handy for a fortnight`s holiday. I looked to see how far in advance Sky + can record and it appears to be a week, hope it gets extended when analogue is switched off!

 

[Scapegoat]

My trusty 15 year old Panasonic video records programmes up to two weeks in advance; handy for a fortnight`s holiday. I looked to see how far in advance Sky + can record and it appears to be a week, hope it gets extended when analogue is switched off!

Most things that you want to record more than a week in advance are liklely to be series linked.

Movies - repeated often enough not to be an issue?

 

[Cyril]

Most things that you want to record more than a week in advance are liklely to be series linked.

Movies - repeated often enough not to be an issue?

I guess it is a problem if you go away for more than 2 weeks!

I guess you will have to do manual recordings, or use a TiVo or MCE or HTPC like MythTV or Freevo which can record years in advance and have up to a one month EPG.

Alternatively hook your recorder up to your PC and control it wirelessly over the internet. Not easy to do with Sky+ (I think you will need a webcam and PC controlled infrared remote), but all the other PVRs above have that ability as they can be networked.

 

[Nick_UK]

I guess it is a problem if you go away for more than 2 weeks!

If I were ever that desperate, I'd take a holiday

 

[Nick Odgers]

I don`t suppose it matters too much, it just seems strange that a 15 year old video recorder can record two weeks in advance, and the latest technology cannot. What about Freeview receivers that are connected to video recorders, how far in advance can you record with them? I feel sorry for older people who must be worried about the loss of analogue services. The Government probably is more concerned about the vast amount it will get for selling off these frequencies than how people will cope.

 

[Starburst]

It is a bit bizarre that the manual recording option on SKY+ doesn't allow for more than 7 days but I would imagine that it would not be too difficult to change the OS to allow for a greater range.

The EPG is a totally different matter both in terms of the capabilities of the hardware that runs it (7+ years old or 4years for SKY+) and how reliable that data could be when even now 14 day listings are not to be totally trusted.
One of the biggest plus points for TIVO is that the listings are compiled and sorted on a daily basis by themselves and takes away direct reliance on the platform providor and broadcasters by the viewer.

 

[Cyril]

I don`t suppose it matters too much, it just seems strange that a 15 year old video recorder can record two weeks in advance, and the latest technology cannot. What about Freeview receivers that are connected to video recorders, how far in advance can you record with them? I feel sorry for older people who must be worried about the loss of analogue services. The Government probably is more concerned about the vast amount it will get for selling off these frequencies than how people will cope.

'Latest' technology is not always the best technology.
Just because something is newer doesn't mean it is more advanced.
When you get errors with digital you get horrible break-ups in picture or nasty jumps in sound on CDs. With analogue the picture and sound degrades much more gracefully if you have a poor signal.

Sky+ and current Freeview DVRs are newer than TiVo or ReplayTV but are IMHO technologically 5 years behind on metadata and software features compared to them!
The Rio EMpeg car audio player has no modern successor and is 6 years old!

Obviously modern devices have far superior hardware, but the design and the usability and software/metadata are very lacking compared to the older technologies used in TiVo and ReplayTV.

Musicians often use older equipment as the newer technology just doesn't match the sound and/or usability of the older stuff.

 

[Nick_UK]

Cyril, I just don't know how you can be such a fan of a company which has "dumped" upon the heads of its customers. People frown on spending £10 for Sky+, but if I'd purchased a "lifetime" access of the Tivo EPG for £199, I would be livid if the support of the Tivo had evaporated the way it has in Europe