What recorder do you think I should buy ?

beardedwarrior

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I am looking for a DVD Recorder with a hard drive which has a freeview tuner built in to it that can also record from an external device like a Sky / Cable TV Box as well, we mainly watch the freeview channels on the tv we have but I like to record the MotoGP and Superbikes on Eurosport to watch while the wife is out at work and would like to be able to record this to the hard disk if possible to save having to use too many disks.

what do you suggest I go for Price range anything really from £100 to £275

any model numbers and personal reviews would be great

thanks in advance

Beardy
 
Ignore Samsungs as their 853 and 855 models have a long long list of bugs and problems.

the main 2 alternatives are the Sony HXD 870 (or 970) and the Panasonic EX77 (or EX87).

for the Sonys, the 870 has a 160GB HDD, the 970 has a 250GB one.

for the Panasonics, the EX77 has a 160GB HDD, the EX87 has a 250GB one.

try to go for the larger HDD versions if you can (you can easily get either the Sony or Panasonic 250GB models for under £275 if you shop around online).

i think both brands' recorders come in black and silver finish, the black ones are usually cheaper for some reason, i think they look better than the silver ones too, but it depends on what other hardware this will sit next to in your home setup.

the Sonys play DivX stuff (avi files etc), but the Panasonic don't.

the Panasonics record to RAM discs, but the Sonys don't.

I have the EX77 and it's fantastic, no problems with it at all, although some owners have reported that there can be an aspect ratio problem on recorded programmes (i haven't experienced any (yet)).

the Sonys sometimes have problems with programmes not recording when you've set the timer, and the EPG is slow and not very good.

so my recommendation would be to go for the Panasonic, but that depends on whether you want to play divx discs on it, in which case you'd need the Sony.
 
Thanks MuksC

Divx is not a problem as I mainly watch them on the PC/laptop anyway sounds like the Panny is the one to go for to me as it will fit in perfectly with the Panasonic TV I am looking at getting in a couple of weeks I just didn't want to buy one before finding out I could record from en external source I trust I can with either the EX77 or EX87

regards Beardy
 
yes you can record from an external source (Sky/Cable box, VCR etc.)

our Sky box is connected via scart and so can record Sky programmes to the HDD, but i can't change the Sky channel then because it will record whatever i change it to. but that will happen any way you work it unless you have Sky+.

i have also connected our VCR via component leads to transfer stuff from videotape to the hdd, and then onto dvd after editing.

you can record from external sources with any recorder that has at least 1 spare scart socket, and also component connectors (red, yellow and white connections).

if you're recording from the freeview tuner in the recorder, then again you can't change the channel, but you can watch a dvd or something you already recorded, at the same time.

so if your new Panasonic tv has an inbuilt freeview tuner too, then you can record a freeview channel from the recorder's tuner, and watch a different freeview channel on your tv with its own freeview tuner.

please note, that if you're recording from an external source (Sky for example), then you can't watch a freeview channel with the recorder, but you can watch a dvd or something previously recorded. you can get round this by having a tv with its own freeview tuner to watch while recording off Sky.
 
cheers for the reply

It's only going to be used to record to from either the cable tv box or from the internal freeview tuner in the recorder because the TV we are looking at has got the Freeview tuner built into it

Thanks Again Beardy
 
Hi Beardedwarrior,
I bought my EX77 in response to an exchange MuksC was having on this forum with several contributors before he bought his, then for a short while after. I also am very glad I did and wouldn't swap it. I've had mine for ten days now.
I originally was going to buy a Sony 870. After reading about problems members were having recording programs from the epg I decided it was a no go. There is a work around similiar to programming a vcr but as my wife couldn't handle that when we had a vcr....Bringing up the epg and pressing record, much better. I really like Sony gear and they probably will sort it out eventually.
As I said I'm really glad I bought the Panny, and thanks to this forum I'm learning much more about it. Picture quality is great, HDD recordings quality is superb. It's always recorded when it should and in the correct format. It's extremely quiet in operation etc etc.
Do a search on this forum for EX77 and 870. See what you think.
Hope this has been of help.
Dave.
 

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