Which Sony DVD Recorder ?

J

joanwitness

Guest
I was all set to get a Sony 710 but after reading the reviews about it having a weak tuner & I reside in a weak signal area.

I use at the moment a Sony set top box model I think is 800 which is the latest set top box from Sony & I find it is excellent being the best box I have had after trying various makes in the past.

Would I be better buying another model of Sony DVD recorder without the Freeview built in & using the Sony 800 to tune in Freeview.

What model would you recommend without blowing the bank.
 
Sorry to hi jack your thread but I will be advertising my Sony RDR-GX7 soon whist waiting for my Arcam DV137.

I don't know how it compares but it its about a year old and Ive realised that I never use the recording function so going for a dedicated player. I know that what hi fi raved about it when it was there top flagship model. I paid £700 for it, its truly mint condition and looking for £480 delivered with original box and manual Really is a work of art too. Will be putting in classifieds soon.

Thanks
 
I am rather perturbed at asking a question as a newcomer, I am answered by someone trying to sell me a second hand product.

Is this normal for your forums as I have never had this on other forums.
 
joanwitness said:
I am rather perturbed at asking a question as a newcomer, I am answered by someone trying to sell me a second hand product.

Is this normal for your forums as I have never had this on other forums.

My sincere apologies joanwitness, I am also new to this forum and have to say I did not think I would cause you any offence. Just trying to see I it was of interest to you, thats all. As for the forum, I can say that I have found it and all individuals to be extremely helpful and polite and I sincerely apologise to you and anyone else who thought my post to be wrong. I shall place it in classifieds as mentioned.
:oops:
 
Your apology accepted Mr X.

I am still hoping for a reply on my question but want to spend below £300.
 
If you can extend your budget to £320 the RDR-HXD860 will be out the first week in September, or if you can't wait, then get the RDR-HXD560 with the smaller 80GB HDD which is available now.

I would avoid the 710 if you live in a very poor reception area as you will be disappointed.
 
Why not ?
 
Aitch_Kay said:
Why not ?

Now where do I start? :)

Well I used to fix a range of Panasonic products for a living, to component level, and their build quality was appalling.

Their customer support is rubbish, and their unreliability is showing now, judging by the number of complaints on this forum regarding faults.
 
But they seem to review pretty darn well !

Should I skip the Panny EX range ..... and get a Sony 860 ??
 
mildred said:
If you can extend your budget to £320 the RDR-HXD860 will be out the first week in September

Is it really out in the first week, and will that really be the price? I can't find much information on the RDR-HXD860 apart from that it will be released 'some time in September' and will cost around £400.
 
Hi codam,

electronics online.co.uk have the sony hxd860 for £324 (region 2) and £329 (multiregion). I rang them today and they say the first batch will be sent out friday but have all sold out, the next delivery will be ready for the 15th September and they are taking pre-orders. There sales line is 01494 461 777.

multiregionmagic.co.uk also have it but for £349.00
 
Thanks a lot, the site isn't clear at all, it says they're 'in stock' which is clearly a lie.
 
jamo1978 said:
yeah and to add to the confusion theres also a HXD860S listed as well for which i cant find out the difference between the 860 and the 860S.

S just means silver.

For some reason you sometimes find the same model listed twice with an s added even when there isn't a b (black) version.
 
mildred said:
Now where do I start? :)

Well I used to fix a range of Panasonic products for a living, to component level, and their build quality was appalling.

Their customer support is rubbish, and their unreliability is showing now, judging by the number of complaints on this forum regarding faults.

Every bit of Panasonic (or their sister company JVC) gear I have had has never failed
. Wish I could say the same about Sony = yes looks good works well and falls to bits not long after warranty is finished.
 
mildred said:
If you can extend your budget to £320 the RDR-HXD860 will be out the first week in September, or if you can't wait, then get the RDR-HXD560 with the smaller 80GB HDD which is available now.

I would avoid the 710 if you live in a very poor reception area as you will be disappointed.


How do you know the freeview tuner will be any better in the 860 than the one in the 710?
 
mildred said:
Now where do I start? :)

Well I used to fix a range of Panasonic products for a living, to component level, and their build quality was appalling.

Their customer support is rubbish, and their unreliability is showing now, judging by the number of complaints on this forum regarding faults.

I have had loads of Panasonic kit and none of it ever failed and I still have 3 Panny VCR's in the house. My Sony TV finally packed up but after 20 years service I can't complain.

I tried out an LG recorder which seemed to not be able to do more than it could do and got a Panasonic EX75. So far it seems fine but as with any device of this type I got a 5 year warranty.
 
Well BOS Electronics have just let me know my new Sony HXD860 will be here on monday, will post next week on how good it is
 
jamo1978 said:
Well BOS Electronics have just let me know my new Sony HXD860 will be here on monday, will post next week on how good it is

Can you let us know abouut the DivX compatibility?
- does it read DivX3, divX6?
- what about audio track in divX? Will it playback divX with AC3 audio?
- CBR vs VBR?
- will it read divX that are in subfolders on a DVD or CD?

Thanks in advance
 
mildred said:
Now where do I start? :)

Well I used to fix a range of Panasonic products for a living, to component level, and their build quality was appalling.

Their customer support is rubbish, and their unreliability is showing now, judging by the number of complaints on this forum regarding faults.

Such views need putting into perspective.

Any type of machine, no matter who the manufacturer, will suffer unreliability problems.

If your job was to fix them then obviously they will all be brought to your attention.

It so happens that when [truly] independent evaluation of reliability is done by the likes of 'Which?' Magazine, that for the type of product that is being dealt with on these forums, Panasonic has done consistently well year on year and has been the best brand for the past 2 years.
 
Can you let us know abouut the DivX compatibility?
- does it read DivX3, divX6?
- what about audio track in divX? Will it playback divX with AC3 audio?
- CBR vs VBR?
- will it read divX that are in subfolders on a DVD or CD?

Thanks in advance

elkabyle,

Sorry don`t know much about the divx capability but can tell you what I know if its of any use,

*can play a file upto 4gb in size, upto 720*576 in resolution
* it should read divX thats in several sub folders but warns that for speed of playback you should limit it to 2 sub folders
*The manual says the player will read and playback any disc that has .divx file extension

Thats all I know for now but will re-post if I learn anything new
 
Re. Sony RDRHXD860

Well got my recorder this afternoon and at the moment everything seems fine.

Set up takes less than 3 minutes with just 6 steps to tell the player how you want the picture and sound to be outputted.
At present I have it set up through the composite video jacks and the picture is spot on. Its actually better through the digital tuner than my freeview set top box.
The remote control at first feels a little cheap but is actually very well laid out and easy to use.
The chasing playback feature is a big added bonus you do have to wait 2 minutes after starting the recording to start the playback though.
A nice little feature that was`nt on my last hdd recorder is on the EPG it tells you how much memory the selected program will use up on the hard drive.
Fan noise really is minimal and you have to be up close with the TV on mute to even hear the whirl (and I live in the country so theres no road noises), its also been turned on for a few hours and is still very cool to touch.

I know its not the most technical review but for me it seems more than adequate and more importantly its easy to use with no need to do several button presses to record etc.
 

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