Would anyone be able to tell me when/if Sony are ever going to release a Twin Digital Terrestrial Tuner PVR or why they have'nt as yet; would they be waiting a while till problems are completely ironed out as to release a complete product unlike the numerous problems there seem to be out there as stated on numerous 'Freeview PVR' Forums.

Or when they'll release a follow-up to the Sony 910 but incorporate a twin hdd?

Thanks in advance.

Was in a local electrical shop today I was told Sony are bringing out Twin tuner 80gig PVR next month, also Panasonic are withdrawing there's.

Nice one, can't wait for that, bet it's pricey though....but you get what you pay for.

anyone know what the model number is of the sony twin tuner PVR that is supposed to be in shops next month?

Just spoke to Sony. They said that for their first release they are going to keep things basic to test out the waters first mainly to see how it performs in the UK market - presumably they mean in terms of sales?

Anyway, its called the svrs500 and said it will have an 80GB hard disk just like StarDelta said with an 8 day Freeview EPG.

TribalUK have it listed on their web site for £215 inc VAT and delivery. Bennetts online have it for £250 andsays its due in in May.

I have a sony centre in town so I may just pop in next time to see what it looks like out of interest.

Managed to extract this extra information from my Sony friend who is actually testing the SVRS500 at home (and is not supposed to give out this information before the end of this month when final testing is completed!)... yes, it is an 80GB hard disc, however with the capability of storing up to 106 hours in SLP mode - apparently, in this mode the quality is as good (if not better than) SP on a conventional SONY VCR! Instant Rewind, Pause Live TV and Chase Play are all featured - all apparently in a sleek slim case with a bottom 2/3 black and top 1/3 silver fascia with just 3 buttons; availability is now May 2006.

At long last for us camcorder owners 2 new DVD recorders now have a DV In Terminal (i.LINK), the replacement for the Freeview RDR-GXD310 is the DVD-RAM compatible RDR-GXD360 (due in August 2006) and the replacement for the RDR-HX510 is the analogue RDR-HX525 (due in May 2006). Neither, unfortunately, have HDMI connectors!

And, disappointingly, there is no twin tuner PVR with DVDR in the pipeline for the foreseable future (i.e. at least 6 months), however Sony are toying with a BlueRay version in Japan as I write... so you never know :sleep:

When I went to my local Sony centre I saw a picture of it in their catalogue. Its quite good looking and would go well with the style of a lot of LSC/Plasma TVs. Looks like its got some compression tricks aswell to get more out of the hard disk space for recordings. Are there any other little details about this twin tuner that aren't top secret?

1: Would the SVR-S500 be a Twin Tuner (record two channels at the same time) or Twin Tuner (as in record one channel only while view/pause another)?

2: Could someone tell me does the Sony HDD's either 710 or 910 models have a Record one while watching another or Record two channels at once type thing, the Argos catalogue does'nt make things that clear they just say Twin tuners?

Thanks

1. Has 2 digital tuners, so can record 2 channels at once and play a previously recorded programme (or chase play) at the same time if desired!

2. Both have only 1 digital tuner, so can record only 1 channel and play a previously recorded programme (or chase play) at the same time if desired!

N

A twin-tuner PVR with only an 80GB HDD is not going to do very well against the opposition. I can see only the hard-core Sonyistii even giving it a second look. Have they *done* any market reaearch at all?

It should do OK assuming they can iron out bugs before its launch or at least make sure there arnt any critical ones left by May. In 2005 and 2006 people seem happy with 80GB. So maybe they thought that for the price they want to aim this at it will be OK. Triabal are taking orders for £215 inc vat and delivery.

80Gb would be plenty for me, and after the disappointment of the Pnasonic PVR, it'd be nice to see a major player do it right... assuming they do, of course!

That very much depends on the quality of the software and the pricing. If they release a box that actually works, and does everything you'd expect from a twin tuner well, and has a bit of style (and hopefully a good looking Sony UI) to boot, I don't think the size of the hard drive is even going to come into it.

The twin tuner market has had a lot of dissapointments in the last year, with much-hyped products looking good on paper, but generally turning out to be poorly designed at best, or at worst just plain bug-ridden. If Sony can deliver a true Sony quality product at this price point, 40 hour recording or not, they're in a position to clean up (and of course most of us will have put bigger disks in it anyway as soon as it's out of the box).

I dont know if its just the perception in my head (although dented somewhat by the Panasonic product delivered) but I have a very high estimate of the quality control levels Sony will tollerate. From what they told me, this venture is to test the market and the technology. So this first stab at a twin tuner freeview PVR may not necesserily be designed to be aimed at market leading or innovative features or particularly high spec/clever equipment levels.

Exactly - so no gargantuan HDD, or USB transfer etc - but if it does the core job well, to a high standard of reliability, and in a way that is pleasant and consumer friendly to use - that could still be a very formidable product in the current market. And of course then they can follow that up with the 160gb version etc and take customers along with them as they go.

Ooh good, a new speculation thread. Will it be "blood and guts" or "just good fun but plagued by the OT police", I wonder.

For the moment, just plain optimistic I think. I know Sony are far from perfect these days, but when they get stuff like this right they really do nail it. I think this'll be the one to watch for now..

Hmm, I do like Sony gear, generally, though it can be a tad overpriced for what you get, and some of the stuff that's just badged Sony isn't any better than stuff badged LG or Samsung, etc.

If they can open up the marketplace for JP it'll do us here all a lot of good.

There is a picture of the US only SVR-2000 on the US Amazon site. There are also specifications and a product manual. This model has only a 30GB drive.

Could the SVR-S500 look similar?

Stig its not looking like the Sony Twin I'm affraid. If I can see anything like it I'll post back. I cant seem to find anything on the net. If there are some really news/picture hungry people out there I could always take a picture of it in the brochure with my camera phone!

Yes please mate, let's take a look at Sony's baby!

Still no pictures?

I went from a Liteon 160GB to a Sony 80GB, and must say this size downgrade has never been an issue for me.

80GB is a starting point and probably keeps the price competative.

PC

I havent been to town this week but will make a point of going this weekend sometime and grab a picture. I'll post back here if no one else gets to it before me

I managed to get a picture of the unit in the brochure though it ddnt come out that well. If anyone is interested then by all means PM me.

The not so good news is that the chap I was speaking to didnt think this unit would be turning up in May. He said maybe end of summer maybe.

He was at some sort of exibition recently for Sony employees which featured new products they would be releasing over the next 6 months months. He said that this machine was conspicuous due to its absense and if it was anything like ready for release in the next few months it would have been there in some shape or form. I hope he is mistaken/in the dark about this one!