Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Hi all

I posted this a good few months ago but my trusty Thompson Freeview/HDD just kept on going despite being a bit flakey....until it died tonight

I know that the Topview stuff is good but I was looking at the Panasonic / Sony kit like this .. I would like something with a DVD writer to record stuff off the telly

Amazon.co.uk: Panasonic DMR-EX78EB-K - 250GB HDD - DVD Recorder with Freeview: Electronics & Photo

or this which has a DVD recorder / playback (I think)

Amazon.co.uk: Sony RDR-HXD995 250GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder: Electronics & Photo

All suggestions welcome

Cheers


Shaun

Sonic'

ASDA are doing one for about 90 quid with 80Gb Hard Drive too

albob

i have a panasonic ex75 - very pleased with it. u can record stuff on the hard drive, and if u want to keep it, transfer to a dvd

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

albob

.. Looking now

Shaun

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

is it this one ?

Amazon.co.uk: Panasonic DMR-EX75EB-S - DVD Recorder with 160GB Hard Disk - Freeview Tuner - and HDMI With 1080i Upscaling: Electronics & Photo

corradoboy

The Panasonic's are reputed to be unreliable, with quite poor build quality. The Sony's were plagued with technical glitches up to the *70 range when they ditched their own chips and firmware and used Pioneer's internals (I'm told). I have the 970 (250gb) and the picture from FV, HDD recordings of FV and subsequent transfer to DVD are superb. DVD playback is as good as expected with HDMI and upscaling.

The unit you suggested above can be had HERE for £10 less with free delivery and free multi-region activation (essential if you want to have the freedom to buy movies from anywhere to get either the cheapest price, best audio/PQ or extra features !!!!!).

albob

Yup - cept mines black...........! (cost a lot more than dat tho' !!! -- things are soon out of date )

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Corradoboy,

Which Sony one would you recommend

Shaun

corradoboy

Whichever you want after the *60 range which were the last with Sony internals and soft/firmware. As I say, the 970 I have is superb and has been faultless for over a year now. The 995 looks a good unit and is the same price I paid for my 970 (£240), and yet my older 970 is now priced at £280 I'd get the 995 Doing a 'product compare' on Sony's site shows little or no difference CLICKY.

There was some controversy with the smaller HDD units when it was discovered that the 80GB and 160GB were identical units with the 1st partition made smaller on the 80GB, so anyone with the technical know-how could remove the HDD, connect to a PC, reformat the partitions and make an 80 into a 160. People have also worked out how to strip out the drives and install bigger ones, a full guide on fitting 1TB drives is on AV Forums somewhere.

MMT WRX

Ive had one of these for about 18 months and its a great peice of kit.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Corradoboy........

Did you mean this sony one ? it doesn't seem to have a DVD recorder like the Panny ??

Amazon.co.uk: Sony RDR-HXD995 250GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder: Electronics & Photo

Cheers


Shaun

corradoboy

Also, make sure you get it 'Multi-Region' as in the RGB Direct link I posted earlier

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Corradoboy......I'll get my coat

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Corradoboy....sorry to be a pain but could I just ask a couple of questions as you know a lot more than me about this sort of thing

Are these guys OK to order from ?

Sony RDRHXD995B : MultiRegion - £241.49

And the other question is about Aldi LOL

I was looking at getting one of their cheap LCD TV's which come with freeview BUT they come with a BIG disclaimer that they won't work with the new Freeview HD service coming in 2009 !!

Do I need to wait to buy a Freeview HD digital TV DVD unit ??

All help most welcome

Shaun

corradoboy

AFAIK none of the current Freeview tuners will be able to cope with the HD service so we'll all have to upgrade again I don't think Freeview will be viable for a reasonable amount of HD content for quite some time, maybe until after 2011 when all the analogue services are gone. For free HD stuff I'd consider Freesat on top of your Freeview, but again you'll have to wait as ALL the Freesat boxes are toublesome ATM, and there are new ones in the pipeline with HDD and twin tuners. You could sit on the fence and wait for all the technology to settle, but you'd be there your whole life. For me, a FV/HDD/DVD-R and a FV TV, and adding FreesatHD later is the best compromise. In 3 years or so if FV HD is viable then think about moving the Sony to the bedroom and upgrading to a FVHD/HDD/BD-R unit maybe.

RGB Direct have been around a long time and although I haven't ordered from them, I'm not aware of any reason not to.

HTH

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Corradoboy

Very helpful.......many thanks

Rather than sit on the fence I'll get the Sony one which you have mentioned as you say I could wait a lifetime !!

I'm in a similar situation with my lads broken PSP..... do I wait until the new PSP 3000 comes out in October or do I get him another one now ??

Many thanks again

Cheers


Shaun

hux309

Most pc freeview tuners are fine for hd as they come with the necessary drivers and support.