Got it!

Under the sliding flap, it’s the same button for DVD subtitles – the one with a picture of a screen with dots on the bottom, on the left between the Input Select and Rec Mode buttons. Press to select “English” or “Off”

Corned beef---- deef = deaf!! It's a form of hybrid cockney slang, but I'm Scots.

Anyway, you are a star! I've found the button under the sliding flap and it works perfectly. Many thanks. x x


PS - did you find that by trial and error or in the book? Cos I couldn't find it in the book at all.

Aaah!! I feel so silly now!

You're very welcome - partly trial & error, followed by an inteligent guess

Hello everyboy.

I am following this forum since a few weeks.

I have a question about the 710 : does it have a special recording mode, dedicated to DVB-T, that records directly the MPEG2 flow coming from DVB-T ?

If such a mode exists, it should use 1.8 Gb/hour for recording with 0% quality loss.

Have you seen that so far ?

Thanks for advance.

Fred.

Good points:

You can edit recordings (either by splitting into two or by deleting a section).

It is quite fast to change channel. [unlike old Nokia STB]

It has an svideo input on the front (under the flap)

There's an option to monitor the EPG when recording if a programme is rescheduled - I don't know how well this works though [Edit: actually this is for when you schedule it to record every week (etc) so that it will still work if the times change on next week's episode. It's not a PDC equivalent]

The manual says that the firmware can be automatically updated if you are tuned to a BBC channel.

Bad Points

It's not top-up-tv enabled
One tuner
No mute button on remote control
It has only stereo phono output [maybe someone more knowledgable can confirm whether the digital output is 5.1]

You can't record a programme longer than 8 hours.

Other points

It will play MP3s and JPEGs but I don't think you can copy these to the hard disc and I don't think it has a random option.

I don't think it will record the DVB stream direct to the hard disc (it has an HQ+ mode but the manual says 21 hours to fill 160Gb).

It will record what you have set whether or not you have put the recorder in stand-by [it has to do this as you may want to watch something else you have recorded]

Everything else is really cool and behaves as expected [pause live tv, playback while recording, recording by selecting a programme from the EPG]

Verdict: buy it! (if you want two tuners, buy two )

Murkle (another lurker)
Last edited by murkle : 24-09-2005 at 10:59

Sounds to me like you would be better off buying something like the Humax 9200T or Topfield 5800, and a separate DVD recorder - you may even save some money for more functionality. Seriously, what you gain by having one of the Sony's - apart from HDMI and higher capacity hard drive on the 910? If only they had two tuners!

I know I'm missing something really obvious, but I really can't think what it is...

Please, what is the big deal about having two tuners?

Anybody?

If you're using the PVR as your only source of Freeview then you can record one channel whilst watching another. When we all have IDTVs there should be a load of decent channels on Freeview which increases the liklihood of there being more than 2 things that you want to watch on at the same time. One tuner suited 5 channel tv, but I think we're more likely to need more than that as we move to 30 channel TV.

I got mine this morning and I'm very pleased with it. The manual says that the machine "features an EPG timer auto extend functionality", which implies that you can pad timer recordings. As soon as my wife has watched Casualty I'll give it a try.

One thing I don't like is that the t.v. is always switched to 4:3 when you open a menu, even though the t.v. type is set to 16:9. That's only a minor niggle though.

I've only had my RDR-HXD710 for 6 hours but I've already been unable to record one program as it clashed with something else I was recording.

murkle : thank you very much for your answers. Especially for the information "I don't think it will record the DVB stream direct to the hard disc (it has an HQ+ mode but the manual says 21 hours to fill 160Gb)."

But I don't understand what you mean by "It will record what you have set whether or not you have put the recorder in stand-by [it has to do this as you may want to watch something else you have recorded]".

Could you give some more explanations ?

Thank you for advance.

Murkle just means that you don't have to put it in standby for the timer to work (like you do with some vcrs).

I thought that recording one channel and watching an other one require 2 tuners (one for each), how can one be enougth ?

To record 2 channels at the same time, your PVR needs obviously 2 tuners but also have 2 heads to record on the HDD, no ?

Told you you so! I have seen the Sony machine, well built but my earlier points vindicate me - a twin tuner is almost essential. Afterall, SKY+ sort of started it (and 100s of 1000s now can't live without it)... and it made total sense. Though I am now quite attached to my Panny, I will only ditch it if Sony build one - I started with a Humax 8000, realised the benefit of a PVR, yearned for 2 tuners, got one, thought a DVD-R would be useful, however, not so sure I need one now.

Anyway, enjoy the Sony, I am sure the quality is excellent (all my other equipement is Sony), however the moment you get a release date for a Sony twin put your single up on eBay and recover most of your money - I got within £10 of what I paid for my Humax...

Murkle> It will record what you have set whether or not you have put the recorder in stand-by [it has to do this as you may want to watch something else you have recorded].

Paul21> Murkle just means that you don't have to put it in standby for the timer to work (like you do with some vcrs).

Ok, but why Murkle says it is a bad point ? Because recording may start in the middle of a football match, preventing you from seeing the end of the macth (because the unique tuner switch to the recorded program) ? After all, a choice has to be done between the football match and the other program.

It was under "Other points" not "Bad points"

Hard discs are fast enough that they can record several programs at once by jumping between two files as they record.
A DTT channel is only about 0.25MB/s, a standard hard disc can transfer 133MB/s.

The fact that this Sony 710 / 910 unit only has one tuner is very disapointing and has put me off buying it. I think that it is a very valid point to suggest that the increase in recording options provided by Freeview increases the chances of a programme clash. It seems silly on behalf of Sony to do this. Or maybe they want you to buy the unit first, then find out that you need two tuners and then upgrade in about 12 months when they launch a twin tuner model. Two sales as opposed to one. Perhaps not that silly of them after all!

What I would really like is a twin tuner Freeview PVR with the facility to transfer selected recordings to DVD all inside one box. Is there such an item or are all the manufactures playing the "upgrade later suckers" game?

Thanks

Tom

It's an "upgrade later suckers" game...

Cynical old me thought that would be the case. I think I’ll wait.

Thanks

Tom

There are several threads about twin tuner PVR boxes, with one favourite being the Panasonic TUCTH100.

However, no unit will ever be perfect, especially if you play the 'what next' game. E.g. is it HD ready? Does it support HD-DVD/Blu-Ray?


Or, if you're really price-conscious, but yesterdays technology today!

After a couple of days fiddling with the Sony I have to say I love it. The ONLY complaint is the lack of twin tuners but I already have a Pace PVR so it's not such a major problem.

Just a niggle now:

I was recording something and could only watch one other channel - couldn't move around the channels. I know I can't watch anything else on Freeview whilst recording a channel via Freeview but I was lumbered with Monarch of the Glen last night! Not good.

LOVE the radio option button and now that the BBC have added interactive stuff to the radio pages it's even better.

Money well spent I reckon. It would have only gone on wine and wild times!!

Radio option, Jags ? Have I missed something ? What Radio Option ?

Does it relate to the freeview radio channels i.e. shortcut button?

Seems like there are a few more owners around so has anyone found out whether you can send the output through the co-ax as well as through SCART?

To Paul21 - did you locate the autopad functionality for EPG programmed recordings?

Someone asked about the digital audio output, as far as I know the digital audio outs carry 5.1 or whatever surround format the source is in but admit to not knowing for sure. Part of my reason for thinking that it does anyone make a DVD player that doesn't have digital output for surround?

Bill