Recording Freeview HD

[GeoffreyW]

As we can now watch Freeview HD, can we expect all new Freeview recorders to have HD recording facilities, and will WHFSV be reviewing Freeview HD recorders, please?

 

[professorhat]

WHF have done a roundup of Freeview HD PVRs a while back. Top of the tree from my point of view are the Digital Stream DHR8025 (the one I have, my thoughts found by clicking here and now available for a bargain price of £185 from John Lewis) and the Humax HDR-FOX-T2 (available for around £250 these days).

There's also the Philips HDT8520 which was a disaster when it was released and when I owned it (see this thread), but with the latest 7.21 firmware seems to actually finally be quite stable (though not completely stable by any means) and is available for about £150 now I think. Finally, the Technika Smartbox 8320HD is worth avoiding despite the WHF review of 4 stars - from what I've read, despite numerous firmware updates, it still isn't reliable as a PVR and therefore isn't worth the hassle, despite its numerous features.

 

[GeoffreyW]

Thanks for that, professorhat, I'd forgotten the review, must look it up. I already have a Panasonic DMR-BW780 combo Bluray player/recorder, which has twin HD Freeview tuners, but a friend was chuntering that he thought his HD ready tv would allow him to watch Freeview HD, now that we can receive it. I think that they are now looking for a new telly. I expect more Freeview HD PVRs will appear, over time. It's a pity that Freeview's unlikely to have more than four HD channels, though.