Combo HDD recorders

[Basil]

I know it isn't computers but does anyone know of a UK spec video recorder with the following:

dual digital terrestrial freeview tuner / HDD / DVD / VHS

Nearest dual tuner I can find is: one digi & one analogue and, as we're being told, analogue tuners will shortly be of less value than chocolate teapots.

[NutLoose]

well this does not do VHS or a dvd but has the twin digi tuners you were looking at.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=7021

you can see some on ebay too..........

Or you could go with the SKY HD box but again thats only to a hard drive..

or look at something like

http://beststuff.co.uk/humax_pvr_9200t.htm

[Bushfiva]

The Humax has a USB port so you can get stuff off it onto a computer if you want to burn disks. The format is MPEG2, and a third-party utility to clean up any burps from the broadcast stream is sometimes useful. The Humax has two digital tuners, which means in practice you can record up to two channels at once, plus watch a third if it belongs to one of the same digital streams as a channel being recorded.

The 9200's getting a bit long in the tooth now, I'm surprised it hasn't been updated. An ethernet port would be nice. Some people have trouble with the USB port: getting data off the machine can be slow and erratic.

There are also devices such as Tvix which can take digital TV tuner add-ons, but I don't know if they specifically support the UK standard. The Tvix 4100/5100 is a nice piece of kit if you have any plans of investing in a media server.

[Basil]

Thanks for the advice.
May not now require integrated cassette deck.
Just bought a cheap video capture card for the PC which can accept the RF output from a VCR and digitise the analogue tape signal to .mpg.
Just figuring out, with advice from graphic artist son how best to encode to DVD after editing. His advice is iDVD which doesn't help a PC user; one thinks the lad may be given a HDD of .mpg files to encode and burn :)
Would still like a dual digital PVR with DVD deck.

[Keef]

I'm in the same market! I want a two-digital-tuner (watch one, record the other), HDD, DVDRW, VHS cassette device. Not found one yet.

The cottage has a TV, a DVD player, a VHS recorder, and a large stock of prerecorded VHS tapes and DVDs. We don't need a new TV, so one new thingybox is the answer - if anyone makes one.

[TURIN]

This is probably as close as you'll get....

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/dvd-recorders/dmr-ex95vebs/index.htm

[gingernut]

I've got one of these machines, and they really are brill:)

Mine's only got a single freeview tuner, but it doesn't seem to cause any problems, as most of my viewing, now, is what's on the hard drive. (And you can watch one thing , and record another at the same time. ) I guess the extra flexibility may have been useful on occasions, but if finding a twin tuner is difficult, you could always shove a cheap freeview box into a secondary scart on the tv. (I've not found the need for this as yet).

It also allows you to start recording something, have a bath/cook the tea/beat the wife, and watch it from the beginning when your ready. I've not worked out how to watch something in advance of the airing, when I do, I'm going to buy a lottery ticket:) (Mrs G thought I was serious..)

It's got a built in dvd player/recorder, which is great for archiving favourite series, (Wainwrights Walks, Mountain, and Hill Street Blues!), and seems to work pretty simply. The dvd's seem to work ok on other machines as well.

It's quite a simple affair to connect up an existing vhs recorder/player to the combo, and this works well for archiving old home movies.

Play.com appeared to have a few bargains at the time of my purchase, and it looks like the prices are coming down all the time.

Cheers, Ginge:)

[Keef]

That Panasonic device is only a single tuner though. SWMBO often wants to record one channel while watching the other. She won't cope with a separate digibox - it's enough of a faff with the stuff that's there now.


More research needed before we get close to analogue switchoff, I fear.

[gingernut]

SWMBO often wants to record one channel while watching the other.

Do you mean to say you let a woman dictate the TV viewing- get a grip man:)

[Keef]

She watches television, I fly. Seems a good deal to me.