Freesat HD recorder.

[admin_exported]

Does such a thing yet exist? I know that there are Freeview HD records, but we've not yet got coverage. I suspect it would be one of those things where being an early adopter probably doesn't make sense. The TV also has an output to record onto an external hard drive, but I don't know how it works. Will the TV need to be on (as I'm still wary of screen burn), could I just use a PC-style external drive?

 

[daveh75]

12th:Does such a thing yet exist? I know that there are Freeview HD records, Yes,

http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=products.Products&type_id=3

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that, though I realised I wasn't following my own guidance on technical matters.

Panasonic tell me that a standard external hard drive will do, though the TV will format it so that it can't then be used on a PC, for copyright reasons. The screen won't be on, so no screen burn issues. £63 for 1TB, which is about 120 hours of HD footage, apparently.

 

[markyd]

12th:Does such a thing yet exist? I know that there are Freeview HD records, but we've not yet got coverage. I suspect it would be one of those things where being an early adopter probably doesn't make sense.

The TV also has an output to record onto an external hard drive, but I don't know how it works. Will the TV need to be on (as I'm still wary of screen burn), could I just use a PC-style external drive?

Yes it does. Humax foxsat HDR for one. I've got one. It's really good. Very happy with it. No issues or criticisms whatsoever. I also have a 42V20, but don't use the built-in tuners.

The with a memory stick/drive in the USB slot on the V20 is a sort of PVR. It will let you record off-air programmes, but I think the functionality is very limited. Probably worth trying to see if its any good to you as everyone must have a USB drive knocking about somewhere.

READ THE (BIG) MANUAL!!!

 

[Anonymous]

I've actually gone through the manual rather more than is usually the case, but this crossed my mind at work. I will read up when I get home.

The set only has one tuner, so is limited to recording what's being viewed. As we've got a (non-HD) freeview tuner HDD recorder, I'm going to use the new drive for HD-only and see how it goes.

Thanks again.

 

[b33k34]

I've had the Humax FoxSat HDR for 18 months now. It's a proper PVR - set up a 'series link' and leave it to get on with recording. 2 tuners. VEry easy to open up and replace the disc (mine's running with 1TB). The user interface is OK rather than great but still better than most i've seen (still not as good as Tivo). Build quality is better than the others except for the panasonic but interface (and price) are better).

It will do iPlayer if you connect it to a wired internet connection

There's a Freesat + forum on Digital Spy which is the best place i've found for discussions.

A new model was announced at the start of the year and is due some time soon. I'd hope they've upgraded the processor which might make it a bit 'snappier' in use (its sluggish compared to a Sky+) and it's meant to have a few nice new features.

 

[Gozaradio]

I'll add my strong recommendation to the Humax FoxSat HDR. I've had it since December 2008 (I think that was when it was launched).

The biggest niggle when it came out was that you couldn't delete a file while it was recording which has since been sorted. I love the fact that I can copy SD programmes onto an external HDD or USB stick and archive on my NAS. Not something I do every day, only when I want to keep something long term. You can't do it with HD programmes at the moment but that's just because all HD programmes are flagged as copy protected. The BBC have said they will do selective copy protection once they've worked out where they stand legally on such things (that was a while ago though).

Haven't used the iPlayer feature since early on in the Beta but it definitely worked; FF and RW were a bit fiddly though and sometimes crashed iPlayer (not the box). On the subject of crashes, I think I've had to reboot about three times since I've had it and possibly all of those were with the original firmware, so it's pretty stable in my experience and I keep it very busy.

Will be interested to see the new box when it surfaces but I also want to take a loser look at the Panasonic Blu-Ray / Freesat recorders.