the website says no
the manual says yes
richer sounds say no
comet say yes

which is it? Can someone who owns one please confirm one way or the other for me please?

Provided you have two cables the answer is yes. I don't know any twin tuner pvr that can't. Some can watch a selection of third programmes while recording 2. Afaik the Samsung is one of them.

Yes it can record two channels at once.
Yes it can allow you to watch a third channel from a limited selection if currently recording two others.

I know this as I have the Samsung.