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Sony Bravia USB Record to HDD and Flash? |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 124
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Sony Bravia USB Record to HDD and Flash?
Anyone have experience using the USB record function on a Sony Bravia? Friend has a Bravia (not sure of model, KDL...46?) which allows USB to HDD recording. The on screen iManual gives basic instructions which specify using a HDD but I'm wondering if recording is possible with a flash memory stick as well? I've been trawling around but get conflicting info, some say recording is only possible with a HDD and it must be via the “HDD REC” usb port. Others say that a +32gig memory stick will work (possibly but in a different usb port).
Basically I'm trying to find the cheapest, easiest way for her to record TV programmes and flash memory is a lot cheaper! Someone out there must have tried both. Unfortunately said friend doesn't live round the corner so can't just pop round to test options but I will be going to visit in a week and wanted to arrive with a solution. If the answer is HDD only does anyone have a cheap suggestion as I'm also confused by the format type required for the blank device |
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#2 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Redditch Worcs
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The TV will format the drive for you. At a guess it needs to be a proper hardrive as the device needs to accept the broadcast stream seamlessly.
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#3 |
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Reading
Posts: 27,894
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And I would not be in the least bit surprised to discover that the telly can only record the channel you are watching. Most TVs are restricted in some degree as to what they can do with USB recording.
It is quite possible that the TV does not allow you to record a programme on one channel while you watch a different channel at the same time. It might let you record a TV programme and watch a DVD at the same time. But it is unlikely to be a full substitute for a "proper" PVR. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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You can't record one channel and watch another, as the set only has one tuner - an HDD is best, but USB FLASH drives will work as long as they are large enough (there's a minimum size requirement) and fast enough.
In either case it needs to go in the USB HDD Rec socket. I did have a play with an HDD a couple of years ago, so I could provide support for any customer questions about it - for a non-PVR recording system it works fairly well, and will happily do timed recordings with the set on standby (if I remember correctly they display an orange LED to show it's waiting to start recording). But like all these kinds of sets, a PVR it's not
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 124
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Quote:
USB FLASH drives will work as long as they are large enough (there's a minimum size requirement) and fast enough.
And to chrisjr, yep I already know it can only record the channel it's showing as the TV only has one tuner. This will not be a problem, the functionality is wanted to record programmes when the TV is not being watched |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,782
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Quote:
Are you basing this on specific knowledge of Sony Bravia TVs? I'm grateful for your reply but after hearing loads of 'Yes it will', 'No it won't', I don't want info about TV PVR functionality in general, just first hand experience from Bravia users.
And while I have done it, I haven't actually 'used' it, just recorded a half hour program and played it back, to prove it worked. I also had to download a formatting program for my PC afterwards, as Windows wouldn't reformat the FLASH drive from the Sony system. As for 'format types', when you plug the HDD or USD Flash drive in, it prompts you that it's going to format and totally wipe the drive, so it doesn't matter what format it was. You should also be aware that the recordings are encrypted, and specific to that exact single TV - you can't play them back on anything else, including an identical model. |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,060
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I've got a hard drive connected to my Bravia, 40 gig and taken from an old PC and enclosed in a caddy. Its handy for chase play so you can skip adverts and recording the occasional film while TV is not in use, but to be honest I'd prefer a PVR because it has more functionality.
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#8 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,782
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Quote:
I've got a hard drive connected to my Bravia, 40 gig and taken from an old PC and enclosed in a caddy. Its handy for chase play so you can skip adverts and recording the occasional film while TV is not in use, but to be honest I'd prefer a PVR because it has more functionality.
) it's a handy extra little feature.
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#9 |
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,039
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Just as a test I have tried a spare 32 GB USB key (Kingston DataTraveler 100 G3), a genuine one.... not a Fleabay Fake.
The Sony Bravia model is from 2011. 1 USB socket. I only normally use that for Firmware updates. You can Register the USB Key drive but the performance test won't run, that's no surprise. It appears to work OK. There are messages to the effect there may not be enough spare space on the drive, that maybe because of the non-running of the performance test. You can then De-Register the USB key take it out. However then it cannot be used in a PC it has to be re-formatted, I used the HP USB key format utility for that. Windows 8.1 would not format it back to FAT32. So the answer is a yes, but.... Sony do not specify that you can, they only specify an HDD drive greater than 32 GB up to 2 TB, and a performance test. |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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Quote:
Windows 8.1 would not format it back to FAT32.
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