DVR Recommendations

RunDMC

I've been thinking about getting a DVR for a couple of months now, and last weekend I say a Sony RDR-HX1000 in the Sony Centre in Liffey Valley. It has a 250Gb hard drive, and a multi-format DVD recorder, and can record 320 hours of TV!. Sounds great except for the €1,341 price tag.

Does anyone have eny experience with, or recommendations for this type of equipment?

DMC

eoinf

allinace electric on georges st in dublin have most of the brands in stock sony, pioneer, jvc, panasonic give them a call or pop in the have good prices on them too

kenmc

I've got the Philips HDRW720, and whilst I wouldn't have gone and bought one blind, now that I have it I wouldn't be without it. 80GB HD and DVD+R/W is the difference in spec to that sony one. totally revolutionises my TV watching. No longer do we start watching a show at the beginning. instead I set it up to the channel and pause it for about 10 mins or so. Which means that when it comes to the ads, we can skip through them!
Also has the ability to edit out bits of video, (ads) before archiving them to the DVD, so that you don't get all the rubbish that goes with it.
As I said - wouldn't be without it, but would have thought long and hard before buying it.
Don't know about the other models to be honest....
K

mobile04

if you go to www.pricerunner.com click on the english flag
youll be surprised the savings

i got a pioneer dvd machine very cheap a few months ago

i will say to steer clear from philips. as they are a lover of the plus format.
panasonic pioneer and sony i would say are in my top 3 in that order.

but what ever you buy .
ask can you have a test at home . for a few days and if you have incompatability problems. give it back
when youre spending 500+++
you want to make sure you want the right gear.
where the old richer sounds is on the quay in dublin city centre.
theres a dj shop i forget the name of it .

but a mate told me they were doing cheap dvr machines 300 euro i think.
ill find out the name of the shop . its beside subway.

ic

I've got the Philips HDRW720, and whilst I wouldn't have gone and bought one blind, now that I have it I wouldn't be without it. 80GB HD and DVD+R/W is the difference in spec to that sony one. totally revolutionises my TV watching. No longer do we start watching a show at the beginning. instead I set it up to the channel and pause it for about 10 mins or so. Which means that when it comes to the ads, we can skip through them!
Also has the ability to edit out bits of video, (ads) before archiving them to the DVD, so that you don't get all the rubbish that goes with it.
As I said - wouldn't be without it, but would have thought long and hard before buying it.
Don't know about the other models to be honest....

KenMC,
I was thinking about buying one of these philips HDD recorders. Have you
had any problems using it with simple coax (i.e. not digitial TV).

Does the Guide Plus+ system work using just the normal 15 channels from NTL.

Thanks

Brian.

antomack

Check out www.idealo.de for prices in Germany on any AV items you are looking for. Even with P&P it works out quite a bit cheaper than here in Ireland.

Some German suppliers that are pretty good from the reviews I've come across from Irish and UK buyers
www.digitalo.de (c.€50 P&P)
www.mediacheckpoint.de (c.€45 P&P)
www.technikdirekt.de (c.€60 P&P)
www.pixmania.com (based in France but have Irish portal) (c.€13 P&P)
www.hificomponents.de (c.€30 P&P if paid in advance, c.€60 for COD on some items)

From the UK I can recommend tvandvideodirect.com although with P&P about €100.

RunDMC

Will those units shipped from Germany and France have the right VHF/UHF tuner?

John R

VHF/UHF tuners are not the only difference to look out for.

AFAIK the UK is one of the only places in europe where it is strictly UHF only.

In general you should beware of buying television equipment from other countries, France in particular. Unless you can confirm that the equipment will be 100% compatible it is probably not worth the potential hassle. Slightly different types of transmission formats are used in the rest of Europe, with some equipment it doesn't matter as they are built to be compatible but some are not.

France however use a different video format and as it is relatively unique it has to be specially built in, again some units may be capable of switching to the correct format but the chance of getting an incompatible one is high.

kenmc

ic wrote:

KenMC,
I was thinking about buying one of these philips HDD recorders. Have you
had any problems using it with simple coax (i.e. not digitial TV).

Does the Guide Plus+ system work using just the normal 15 channels from NTL.

Thanks

Brian.

Sorry Brian, didn't see your post till now.
I'm just using it with bog standard NTL without any probs whatsoever....
. I have guide+ info for the 4 tv channels worth having info for - ie BBC1&2, C4 and ITV. I tell it I live in Croydon
The guide plus comes in on UTV. Handy, but a bit cludgy - it's a bought in module from gemstar - they run the guideplus stuff.

slyi

Has anyone had any success getting the UK freeview DVR's working in ireland as they seem much cheaper option than the philips (€600) vs http://www.pvruk.co.uk/products.cfm (€300)?

Zaphod

The French use the SECAM system.

Also be aware that while the Germans and others use PAL, it's PAL B/G and not PAL I as used in Ireland and the UK. A PAL B/G tuner used in Ireland will record video, but no audio.