Twin Tuner STB without HDD?

[Sinster]

Hi
Can anyone suggest a Freeview STB which has twin tuners but doesn't have a HDD (as I already have the Panny EH50)?

I've only been able to find the Goodmans GDB9 in Argos - not been able to find any information about this on the Goodmans website.

Thanks

 

[alex3867]

do you have a link to the argos listing? i can't seem to find the GDB9 on argos nor the web - does it exist!?

 

[clockworks]

What would you need two tuners for, if there isn't a HDD?

 

[Sinster]

do you have a link to the argos listing? i can't seem to find the GDB9 on argos nor the web - does it exist!?

I beginning to doubt its existence as well.

See the catalogue p336.

 

[Starburst]

What would you need two tuners for, if there isn't a HDD?

One for the telly and one for the VCR/TIVO/DVDr.

Personally I would still go for a DVR even if I had any of the above three just for ease of use.

 

[Sinster]

One for the telly and one for the VCR/TIVO/DVDr.

Personally I would still go for a DVR even if I had any of the above three just for ease of use.

DVR - what's that? Or is it a typo of PVR.

Found it on the Argos website http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/s...&langId=-1&searchTerms=5320675&go.x=13&go.y=9 the name's been changed to GDB10F2 but still can't find it on the Goodmans site.

Personally I would want a PVR/DVD-R/Freeview all in one box hooked up to an idTV but I already have the Panny EH50 and a non-idTV and it feels a bit extravagant to buy a PVR when a twin tuner Freeview STB would do.

 

[FrankS]

Why not buy 2 set top boxes, the Bush scart adoptor one would plug straight into your EH50. We have one on one of our TV's and its very good.

But the big thing you would be missing by not getting a twin tuner PVR is the ease of programming. Plus you are decoding the digital signal in your STB and then re-encoding on your EH50. A PVR records the actual MPEG2 signal so when you play it back it is at broadcast quality.

 

[Starburst]

DVR - what's that? Or is it a typo of PVR.

Digital Video Recorder.
A more generic term for an integrated hard drive and digital tuner/epg device.

PVR is more directly related to TIVO in my opinion and doesn't apply to anything else even SKY+.

 

[clockworks]

One for the telly and one for the VCR/TIVO/DVDr.

Personally I would still go for a DVR even if I had any of the above three just for ease of use.

Maybe I should have added a sarcasm smiley to my previous post. I can understand people making-do with existing kit for recording, but not people who would buy new kit to record things the hard way.

 

[clockworks]

DVR - what's that? Or is it a typo of PVR.

Found it on the Argos website http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/s...&langId=-1&searchTerms=5320675&go.x=13&go.y=9 the name's been changed to GDB10F2 but still can't find it on the Goodmans site.

Personally I would want a PVR/DVD-R/Freeview all in one box hooked up to an idTV but I already have the Panny EH50 and a non-idTV and it feels a bit extravagant to buy a PVR when a twin tuner Freeview STB would do.

Get yourself a twin tuner Freeview HDD recorder (Humax, Topfield, etc).
A decent Freeview box isn't cheap (the Sony is close to £100). With the Humax, you're getting 2 top quality tuners, and a HDD recorder, for the price of 2 Tuners.
It's not extravagant - you'll still use the DVD recorder to archive programmes from the PVR.
Since a PVR records the original digital data, there's no loss of quality, unlike the Freeview tuner and separate DVD recorder solution, and they are so much easier to use.

 

[Sinster]

Get yourself a twin tuner Freeview HDD recorder (Humax, Topfield, etc).
A decent Freeview box isn't cheap (the Sony is close to £100). With the Humax, you're getting 2 top quality tuners, and a HDD recorder, for the price of 2 Tuners.
It's not extravagant - you'll still use the DVD recorder to archive programmes from the PVR.

It's a purely financial decision - the Goodmans twin tuner is £80, 2 separate budget STB's about the same. A twin tuner Humax about £200 which would then mean my Panny's HDD becomes redundant. So the way I see it I'm paying £120 for something I already own.

Since a PVR records the original digital data, there's no loss of quality, unlike the Freeview tuner and separate DVD recorder solution, and they are so much easier to use.

I'm happy to be corrected but I think this is where the law of diminishing returns would kick in - with my current set up I doubt I would see any difference between a pure digital record and a DAC-ADC converted record. Perhaps when HD-TV arrives?

So for me the bottom line is basically cost as I'm happy with the equipment I have at the moment.

Just had a thought - seen a single tuner DVR for only £95 - combined with a £40 STB would only be an additional outlay of £55 - slightly more palatable.

 

[clockworks]

A decent tuner will be better than a budget one, and a PVR will be better than a decent tuner and DVD recorder. Only you can decide on the value.

My Humax 9200 gives me a picture that's as good as Sky+. Some channels are actually better. Playback of recorded material is as good as live.

It really depends on how much live TV you watch, and how much you record. I hardly ever watch live TV anymore. With both Sky+ and the Humax, it's just so easy to record stuff. I can watch things at a time that suits me, and I can skip all the adverts. This saves about 10 minutes in every hour of viewing, giving me an extra 30 to 40 minutes of my life each day to do something else.

 

[Sinster]

A decent tuner will be better than a budget one, and a PVR will be better than a decent tuner and DVD recorder. Only you can decide on the value.

I think I'm starting to come round to your way of thinking. How easy is it to transfer recordings from Humax to the DVD recorder? How easy is the Humax to use in terms of recording and editing? It's extremely simple and convenient on the EH-50.
If I did get the Humax I could still use both HDDs if I ever wanted to record two channels at once (admittedly an unusual occurence but maybe every now and again).

Time to raid the piggy bank

 

[clockworks]

Transferring recordings is easy. You just set the recording playing on the PVR, and set the DVD to record. You obviously have to do it in real time - no fast dubbing.

Recording on the Humax is simple - my mum (nearly 70) can use theirs. She could never get the hang of a VCR, my dad had to program that. You just highlight the programme in the EPG, and press a button. If you want to record what you are already watching, you just press the record button. It's not quite as user friendly as Sky+, but much easier than a VCR.

Since you've got an HDD/DVD recorder, it's probably easiest to transfer recordings to the HDD, edit them, then copy to DVD. I worried about doing this myself, but I actually transfer very little to DVD these days. When I need to edit, I do that on my PC (my DVD recorder doesn't have a HDD).

Remember that a twin tuner PVR can record 2 programmes at once.

As a bonus, you can also copy mp3s onto the Humax 9200, over 120 hours of music at 128kb/s.