TV Recorder

Casterina

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I have Samsung 46" LED TV UE46C6000 with Freeview HD built in, but I want to buy a recorder to record TV shows, which is a good one to buy but not expensive? I live in UK
 
Depends on your budget and whether you ant to be able to record in HD or not (I presume you would do).

We'll all have our opinions, but as an owner of the Digitalstream DHR8205 I can highly recommend it. 500Gb hard disc, two tuners so you can record two channels at the same time, and even watch a third if one of the recordings is on the same mux as the channel you want to watch. Never locked up, never missed a recording, Accurate Record works as it should and great picture quality too. A couple of minor things, the media list of recordings is a bit strange compared to other boxes and the remote isn't the greatest as it looks a bit cheap. But the remote does actually work well and you get used to it, or do what I did and replace it with a universal all in one remote. The box itself though is well built and looks good, although it is festooned with lights. Support from MIT London (the UK manufacturer/distributor) is absolutely first class too and if you buy it from John lewis (currently they have the best price at £185), you get a two year guarantee as well as 28 days to decide if you like it or not. The biggest complaint seems to be one of fan noise, it seems some are very noisy while most aren't. If you were to buy one and the fan noise is intrusive at normal TV volumes, then get it replaced.

I researched quite a few HD recorders before settling on the DS. I liked the Humax HDR Fox T2, but at £300 it was out of my price range. Internally it is very similar to the DS but it has excellent media streaming capabilities and a very good remote. It's also a cracker in the looks stakes in my opinion.
 
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Depends on your budget and whether you ant to be able to record in HD or not (I presume you would do).

We'll all have our opinions, but as an owner of the Digitalstream DHR8205 I can highly recommend it. 500Gb hard disc, two tuners so you can record two channels at the same time, and even watch a third if one of the recordings is on the same mux as the channel you want to watch. Never locked up, never missed a recording, Accurate Record works as it should and great picture quality too. A couple of minor things, the media list of recordings is a bit strange compared to other boxes and the remote isn't the greatest as it looks a bit cheap. But the remote does actually work well and you get used to it, or do what I did and replace it with a universal all in one remote. The box itself though is well built and looks good, although it is festooned with lights. Support from MIT London (the UK manufacturer/distributor) is absolutely first class too and if you buy it from John lewis (currently they have the best price at £185), you get a two year guarantee as well as 28 days to decide if you like it or not. The biggest complaint seems to be one of fan noise, it seems some are very noisy while most aren't. If you were to buy one and the fan noise is intrusive at normal TV volumes, then get it replaced.

I researched quite a few HD recorders before settling on the DS. I liked the Humax HDR Fox T2, but at £300 it was out of my price range. Internally it is very similar to the DS but it has excellent media streaming capabilities and a very good remote. It's also a cracker in the looks stakes in my opinion.
I don't really have a budget at the moment but my LED TV has Freeview HD built in so I can view BBC 1 HD and BBC HD and ITV 1 HD and Channel 4 HD and the rest is SD so if I buy a TV recorder that records in HD, will it record none HD channels to HD?
 
Can someone recommend me a good SD TV Recorder that I could buy in the UK?
 
The two most respected would be the Topfield's and the Humax SD PVRs, they aren't that cheap though.

The user interface of the Topfield isn't great, but you can install an add on called MyStuff which basically replaces the EPG etc., and improves the user experience. From user reports here and at Digital Spy the recorder itself is very good, especially with MyStuff installed.

The Humax is reliable but from reports has some issues with accurate recording in that it can cut off the beginning or end of programmes.

A new Topfield 5810 costs around £200-£220, but you can buy second hand for about £100.
A new Humax 9150T costs around £140 with a 160Gb HDD, but can be bought second hand for around £90.

At the bottom end is the various Vestel clones, sold under the Alba, Hitachi, Wharfedale, Bush and various other names. They are generally good for the money, but have their own issues. EPG and menus slow down over time, especially with a large number of timers set and the boxes are prone to random lockups and stuttering when playing recordings. It doesn't happen a lot, but often enough to be rather annoying. They cost around £100 -£150 depending on the size of the HDD.
 
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The two most respected would be the Topfield's and the Humax SD PVRs, they aren't that cheap though.

The user interface of the Topfield isn't great, but you can install an add on called MyStuff which basically replaces the EPG etc., and improves the user experience. From user reports here and at Digital Spy the recorder itself is very good, especially with MyStuff installed.

The Humax is reliable but from reports has some issues with accurate recording in that it can cut off the beginning or end of programmes.

A new Topfield 5810 costs around £200-£220, but you can buy second hand for about £100.
A new Humax 9150T costs around £140 with a 160Gb HDD, but can be bought second hand for around £90.

At the bottom end is the various Vestel clones, sold under the Alba, Hitachi, Wharfedale, Bush and various other names. They are generally good for the money, but have their own issues. EPG and menus slow down over time, especially with a large number of timers set and the boxes are prone to random lockups and stuttering when playing recordings. It doesn't happen a lot, but often enough to be rather annoying. They cost around £100 -£150 depending on the size of the HDD.
So HD and SD TV Recorder prices are nearly the same price?
 
So HD and SD TV Recorder prices are nearly the same price?
Not from the same manufacturer ..... HUMAX UK Direct Sales Website - Freeview, High Definition Freeview, and Freesat. lists their products and prices -- add £6 for delivery (iirc). But a budget brand HD may well be close to the price of a top-flight brand's SD model.

There are numerous threads here on every model of PVR out there for you to read and digest. All of them have some issues. None is perfect.

You need to set your needs very specifically (One or two tuners? Hard disc, Blu-Ray or DVD recording? and budget <£100, £100-150, the sky's the limit) to get down to a shortlist.

If you can stretch to a HD recorder you will be more future-proofed than buying a SD-only recorder. As you have a HD receiver, I think you might be disappointed by the picture quality of SD recordings of the same programmes.

One thing you may not realise is that, once you have agood PVR (record two channels and watch a third or a recorded programme at the same time) you may find you virtually never watch TV 'live' ever again. We just record everything we want to watch and then watch it when it is convenient... pausing for a 'comfort break', to answer the 'phone etc.,. It's then you also realise you need the biggest hard disk you can afford.
 

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