**Numpty warning** How to record Freeview from telly..?

[admin_exported]

Right - I don't know much about anything and right there at the top of the list of 'stuff I know nothing about' is the word 'Telly'.

We have recently got a Panny TH42TX70 (or something like that - the non HD one) and have NTL (sorry - Virgin Media). We want to ditch Virgin (NTL) because there's a hundred channels of sh*t to choose from (Pink Floyd?).

So, can we use the telly's bult in freeview tuner and record it onto an external DVD recorder (or soemthing)? i.e. can the telly output, erm, telly?

I suggested to the missus using an external Freeview box, but she firmly, no - agressively, mentined she wanted to reduce the number of boxes.

Please help, so I don't appear to be such a numpty to the missus...

 

[Anonymous]

Usually works the other way, the recorder is in line with the TV and the aerial. I don't think your TV outputs it's aerial signal. The box to buy would be the Sony RDRHXD970B £232 from RGB Direct. (That's down from a £380 retail price). Records Freeview and lets you archive to DVDs. Perfect combo and 5*s from What Hi-Fi and an award this year!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Will, thats pretty much what I thought and suggested to the missus, but she (quite reasonably) thought it was silly to have a freeview tuner in the telly but have to bu another box and feed it to the tv, but if thats the way it is then fairy nuff.

It taken me a few minutes to recover from the weeping after seeing the £232 for the Sony Is this the sort of money we'd need to spend for the missus to record Eastenders occasonally? And to replace our old DVD player (£20 ish fro Tesco's! But the remote doesn't work, so we can't use the DVD's menus!)

 

[Andrew Everard]

The reason for a Freeview tuner in both TV and recorder is so you can watch one Freeview channel while recording another, should you so wish.

And you don't have to spend that much on a recorder - you could buy a sub-£100 DVD recorder and simply use erasable DVD-RW or DVD+RW discs over and over again if all you want to do is time-shift Eastenders.

Just be careful what you record on those DVDs or there could be all kinds of 'fairlmilly' trouble...

 

[Anonymous]

Aah - record one while recording another! I don't think these things through, do I?!

I'm just being lazy now, but are there cheap DVD recorders with built in freeview recievers, keeping box count down?

Thanks for ther advice and sorry for the stoopid questions and being lazy!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, all but the least expensive DVD recorders now have a Freeview tuner built-in - for example the Panasonic DMR-EZ27 will do what you want and is about £130, and there are models from Samsung and Philips for the same kind of mney.
.

 

[Anonymous]

Cool, many thanks Chaps - thats armed me with all I need to know!

 

[Anonymous]

Nope, sorry. One more question:

As I mentioned, we have Virgin (NTL) cable. I've heard it said that if one terminates their contract with their cable supplier, one will still receive the basic (freeview?) channels down the cable. Is this true?

If so, is this a better way forward than me reconnecting a reel of coax to my old disconnected roof arial? I guess I'd need to buy a 'cable' set top box and then plug the output into a DVDR and then onto the tv? Should I just go to bed and stop worrying about it?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Not sure - ir's so long since we had NTL cable that I can't remember what was left when we discontinued our contract and switched over to Sky. All I do recall was that I gave up trying to get back £19 they owed me after about two years of writing to them and hanging forever on the phone - the time I was wasting wasn't worth if for the money - and the fact that they never came to collect the set-top box.

I'm sure it's all changed for the better since it became Virgin...