Yes, I mean the shortcut button on the right of the remote control. Once the BBC radio station is loaded look for the BBC interactive stuff now.

I'll have a look tonight to see if the output can be fed via the r.f. output.

I'm slightly confused about the auto extend feature. The manual says the machine "features an EPG timer auto extend functionality", but it also says you can't extended the duration of EPG made timer settings. Either way, it missed some of the opening titles fof the first program I set it to record.

The way I read this was that if you set something to record by the EPG, and the broadcaster changes the time of the programme and changes the EPG, the 710 will pick up the new time and still record it.

So if the film is late staring (say) because the news over-runs by 10 minutes - tough, but if the broadcaster changes the published times on EPG then you should be ok.

I may have read it wrong, and it's not something that's easy to test! I, too, am a bit disappointed about lack of auto-padding, but it's only a little niggle - if there's anything I simply mustn't miss the start or end of, I'll just use the manual timer.

Well, we've been together one week today, and I'm very impressed. It's taking a while to get used to some of the features (I accidently deleted everything from the HDD yesterday, thinking I was deleting from the DVD )

The things that I bought it for - direct record of digital tv, ease of use, extra quality, straightforwardness (i.e. no changing tapes, finding a blank tape, accidentally taping over something, etc) - it wins hands down.

Only one tuner is really not a problem, as I have a digital tv as well, so I can watch and record digital together.

I was hoping to be able to record two things at once, but not a huge disappointment as I have my old Freeview box and VHS in the back room if needs be.

So all in all, if you're happy to live with the minor shortcomings - buy one!

Just how noisy is the internal fan? The reason I ask is that if it replaces the bedroom VCR then would it keep you awake at night?

1. How noisy / distracting is this unit in operation i.e. hard drive / fan noise when your TV is on and when the TV and other noises are off?
2. Whats it like playing pre-recoded DVDs ?
3. DTS 5.1 sound output available from DVD menu?
4. Can you record a pre-recoded DVD to the hard drive?
Last edited by Schizoid Mike : 26-09-2005 at 18:06

There is to be a Sony RDR-HXD1010.
All I know at the moment is that it will have a 400gb hard drive.

Ah cheers Mike, let me know if you find out more - I need twin tuners for things like Champs league Tuesday - damned simultaneous kick-offs!

Il y a un site Web ici. Ce n'est pas la version numérique cependant.

No, the manual explicitly states that you can't.

Got the 710 on Saturday after months of monitoring this forum. Really pleased with it - build quality, ease of operation etc. etc. Even Mrs Sandcat (technophobe) loves the EPG timer and the chasing playback, simoultaneous recording of one programme whilst playing back another. All in all brilliant (don't need twin tuner so no problem to me).


I can't hear the fan at all unless I go and lay down with my ear to the back of the unit. Even then it only a whisper so you should have no probs with it in bedroom.

Price comparison for the HXD-710 is now available on Pricerunner for both standard and multi-region versions.

I was wondering if any you 710 owners would have time to test archiving to DVD, where I understand it loses the chapters/thumbnails that you have manually set on the HHD.

I understand it only retains the chapters/thumbnails if you
- produce DVD-R VR mode or
- if you leave the DVD-R Video Mode DVD unfinalised.

So I posted once before, that maybe a way around this would be to produce a DVD-R VR mode, then use a Desktop PC's authoring software e.g Ulead's DVD Movie Factory4 or tmpEnc DVD Authoring to import the DVD VR, then just burn a Video Mode Disc. Hopefully the import will see all the chapters / thumbnails ?

I know DVD Movie Factory4 has VR support specifically for this kind of stuff.

Alternatively it might also work importing the unfinalised Video Mode disc into the authoring tool.

I'm interested in this as I would really like the quality of the Sony's but need to be able to archive with Chapters. (note: I believe the 710 will retain the auto chapters at regular intervals)

Standard and multi-region??

D'oh!

Seems my impatience has not only cost me £100, but I thought that multi-region was a standard feature! I've just checked what mine is and guess what...

I have a far more basic question.

I have tried this twice. The manual says that, using -RW it should take 5 minutes to dub a one-hour programme in "fast" mode. However, it takes way longer than that - I have given up after about half an hour.

Could this have anything to do with the DVDs that I am using? Should it say "8x" or "16x" or something?

1. I agree with sandcat - it is whisper quiet.
2. The question's a bit vague, but I have had no problems - quality excellent, easy to use, quiet transport, etc.
3. I don't fully understand the question - perhaps another, more techie poster can answer this one? In the meantime I'll check both the menu and the manual.
4. As Paul21 has said, no you can't.

Wouldn't there be a handset hack for this?

Hello porridge,

Whilst browsing the web I came across these people. Perhaps they could help you. They list model No. RDRHX710 but not RDRHXD710. It might be worth contacting them to see if they can help.

Thanks! That is good news. I have seen threads in the past on DSF where people have reported noticeably noisy fans.

Thanks berno, I've emailed them.

OK. Let us know how you get on.

I have been reading this thread with great interest over the past few weeks as I have pre-ordered a 910 from cheapelectricals. The "widescreen recording bugs" discussion has left me a little concerned to say the least!

I phoned Sony customer services and they comfirmed that DVD +R/+RW 16:9 recordings would revert to a 4:3 letterboxed format, but that -R/-RW should be OK.

Have any of you 710 owners managed to successfully burn a 16:9 freeview programme onto a -R/-RW disc, maintaining the correct aspect ratio?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated before I blow getting on for £600 on a box of limited value to me! I can at this stage cancel the order as the pre-order price went up and thus I am no longer obliged to buy it.

Cheers
Tinpot Radio.

Thanks for the response porridge #316.
As Sony UK is somewhat slow in publishing details on their web site, then we will keep pestering you with silly questions.
I am quite sure you’re more than happy to share your knowledge with us.


Does not make any rattling noises during the playback of programmes recorded onto the Hard Drive then?


Well it was more to do with what’s the picture quality like on pre-recoded DVD’s which I think you have answered


On a few region2 DVD’s we are sometimes lucky enough to get the DTS 5.1 sound track as well as the standard Dolby Digital 5.1.
This is usually selectable via the DVD's own on screen menu, but the player must be able to decode and output the DTS signal via phono or digital optical link to a surround sound amp.
The question was really can it decode and output DTS.


Does it say in the manual that this is down to copyright as I was hoping to copy a DVD that has no copyright i.e. home video of a cactus exhibition?
Could I record straight to DVD from another DVD player via the scart connection?
Last edited by Schizoid Mike : 27-09-2005 at 19:11

There are two separate options:

1) When you record a programme daily/weekly etc you get an "Update On" option. I'm guessing that this will affect only subsequent recordings if the time changes as it's not an option on one-off recordings.

2) If you press the 'tools' button when in the timer list, you get a *global* "Rec Mode Adjust" (on/off) option. Anyone know what this does?

cheers!

murkle

ps fredjm31: are you sure the DVB stream is a constant rate? I remember STTNG being very poor quality on ONDigital Sky One.

pps dabs have them at 392ukp (5 in stock - quicklinx 3THJWS )

Difficult to say at the moment as I haven't filled the disk yet! I assume it operates in a similar fashion to PC's whereby if there is enough room it will just write to disc "sequentially" i.e. very little head movement reuired so no noise at all. When you have used the disc for a while and deleted items then space is freed up but often in small sections scattered around the disc. When you then record a long file/program the read/write heads have to keep moving between all these spaces to do the recording, leading to the noises you often hear on PC - the disc heads "thrashing" around. The only time I have heard the disc is when I had to unplug the unit and to move it between rooms and when I plugged it in again it did a "recovery". This was only just heard in a completely silent room whilst I was standing by the unit. I probably only noticed it as I was looking and listening pretty hard just to check the room move hadn't caused a problem. In normal use I don't think I would have detected it, even in a bedroom at night (but that depends on the snoring!! ).

Hope this helps