Sony RDRGX350B recorder Help

[Anna25]

Hi
New to this site but have been reading items on this subject but would like some more info.
I have a samsung HD TV with lots of HDMI connections have a Panasonic Theater system and a basic sky box.
I want to purchase a recorder the one above but would like to know how I would connect it to each other, and can I record from sky whilst watching one channel and recording from another. Also is this a Digital Recorder, or by using HDMI makes it digital? Is this recorder 5.1 stereo?
Sorry about the questions but would like to know this before purchasing as the reviews given is good.

Thanks Anna

 

[ramjet]

its not a freeview recorder , but an analogue one

this means it would require an external method of recording freeview , sky or virgin

in other words it would need a freeview stb ( set top box ) , or a sky box , or a virgin box

and while it was using one of these boxes , that box and the recorder are out of bounds and cannot be used , leaving you to watch standard analogue or freeview tv on your big tv using its inbuilt tuner

if you wanted to watch a sky channel whilst recording another sky channel , you would need skyplus as it has 2 tuners built in , and has a hard drive for recording too

it doesnt appear to have 5.1 stereo after a google on the net
so it appears to be single tuner analogue , no freeview , no 5.1

 

[Anna25]

Thanks for the reply, this business is very confusing, I thought I could buy this recorder, record from sky box, then watch another sky channel, but this seems not to be the case.
Yet this recorder has a very good write up - so back to square one - what do I get which is not expensive but will allow me to record? Does it have to have a tuner? I am baffled by all the technology.
Cheers

 

[ramjet]

2 watch one sky channel and record another you need sky plus from sky

if you want a recorder to record sky , and also record say bbc1 etc , then ideally you want a freeview type of recorder , ie:- a digital recorder

you could use an analogue recorder like the 350b to record sky , but after analogue tv is switched off the recorder cannot do say bbc1 anymore , and while it is recording sky you cannot use the recorder or sky as they will both be busy

if you bought the sony 970b or the panasonic ex77 , they will record freeview , or will record from your sky box
but again , when you are recording from the sky box you would have to leave it on that channel as you are recording from it

so for sky users , you need sky plus to record from one sky channel and watch another sky channel

and for virgin users , you need virgin plus ( v+ ) to record one virgin channel and watch another virgin channel

hope that makes it clear ?

sky plus for 2 sky

v+ for 2 virgin

 

[Anna25]

Hi Thanks again as you say it seems that only answer is to get Sky+
Cheers