Well, being impatient, I called Sony Customer Services today. I asked about the spec and they couldn't tell me anything that I wanted to know.

However, they told me that it is "on hold" still, due to issues with the EPG, and they don't have a release date.

Mind you, he also mentioned that they don't get much technical information. He didn't tell me anything else of use.

Bearing in mind that apparently the EPG is an issue, and the recent comments about Sony owned tvtv, I would be inclined to bet that they are using their own tvtv EPG rather than 4TV or Freeview

Sounds like a Fusion clone to me!

Seriously, the issue with the epg could still indicate 4TV.. there's been some general uncertainty over what's happening with the 4TV platform since before Christmas - software updates for all the current boxes (Thomson, Fusion, and Inverto) have gone from being daily to six-montly at best, with no real explanation of what the problem is.. it may be there are technical issues holding up various 4TV related projects at the moment.

Well, to be honest, it doesn't bother me whether it's 4TV, Freeview or tvtv, I just want the opportunity to see it, preferably demo it, to at least decide if it's the one for me.

I've only just persuaded the wife that we need a PVR, and having looked at the opposition, which are all either not the best, or a bit aged (apart from the Humax) or in the case of the Topfield, overly complex to get what you want (I want a box which does what it says without resorting to tweaks requiring my involvement, I don't have the time unfortunately)

The Sony seems (at least on the limited info so far) to have all that I need, with hopefully easy to use functionality that the wife can handle, and it looks the part.

Having looked back at this thread, I believe it was Nirm who had a friend who was Beta Testing the Sony. I wonder if he'll come back and give us some more teasing information?

Well, I suppose that as long as somebody makes these things mainstream it doesn't matter much who it is. ATM JP is being frogmarched, blindfold, down the DVDR route.

Agreed... I just got a DVDR for archiving purposes (a Panny model with Freeview) and while it's useful as an additional recorder and obviously good for permanent copies, I'm very glad I don't have to rely on it for the day to day stuff. I'm sure it's probably one of the best on the market, but still the whole experience of using it is cumbersome, clunky, and largely incomparable to the ease with which the Fusion operates.

Did you see this link I posted yesterday?

http://www.kaonmedia.net/eng/product...ure.php?seq=82

I was looking at a Guide+ DVDR so that I could use it as an EPG for $ky that I am watching using one of my sat receivers (legit subscription card in a CAM). In the end it just felt like a backward step: I didn't even need it to record $ky - just to tell me what was on.

I agree. For a while I was almost convinced a single-tuner HDD/DVDR combination would be what I needed, in conjunction with my existing STB.

Once I figured out that 95% of what I want to record will be watched and then erased, and that to have the Wife not throw a wobbly cos' she doesnt' understand why to record you need 3 remotes (TV, STB and HDD/DVD)

That was the crystallising point in my mind. Twin Tuner HDD only, with hopefully card reader/CAM and the ability to archive to a separate DVDR (If I ever buy one)

Very interesting KAON link. Do the the Reelbox people know anything about it?

Daren't ask him. Not really same beast though: no Linux, no hacker interest. Fascinating feature set though. If only it had YUV out or HDMI I might be....
For all those guys that we've told you can't record from an external source to a HDD PVR, well, now you can. Andi it has a DVB-T tuner alongside the satellite tuner. If it had UK MHEG it'd be a beast to beat. Pricey though.

I see there's a 2 x DVB-T tuner version.
Where did you get the price from?

www.hm-sat.de

Listed on Empire Direct not in stock yet (due soon), priced at £210.20 + del.

Yes, it was me and I fleetingly visited my friend just after Easter. Unfortuantely, he had just finished the trial and had already given the unit back and whilst I have not much to report his comments were interesting... he had never used a PVR before so was very impressed by what it could do. Over a period of 3 weeks he had used the EPG daily which did not seem to populate very well. I asked whether all recordings were perfect, to which he replied apart from 2 or 3 which he could not find and assumed that he had not used the EPG properly (let's hope this was the case ) hence they were not recorded! I will not bore you, however, he rattled on about most things we expect in a PVR, however were new to him (he just has SKY not +). Picture quality in lowest quality recording mode was only as good as his 3 year old Sony VHS VCR. An odd comment was overall he felt the unit was not a Sony... it was well finished but the GUI did not reflect other Sony DVB products he has and has tested in the past... he misses the unit and wants one, however, on giving the unit back to Sony UK he was advised it could be another 2 months before the unit was released for general sale... uh oh

Oh well, looks like it really could be 4tv. The speculation continues....

EDIT: Thanks for the post by the way

It does, except for the comment about the epg not populating - that's an odd thing, since with the 4TV system it should be fully populated all the time.. unless he perhaps meant that it wasn't populated at all sometimes, which could suggest it's having problems with the overnight download (something common to early versions of the Fusion, Thomson, and Inverto)...

The poor quality of the lowest quality mode (or EP as we know it in the Fusion) certainly ties in with the 4TV theory.

Ahem, not sure if YOU have done any research, but ALL the current PVRs are flawed, to the extent, they are either noisey, slow, or simply unreliable............

if Sony CAN make one, that works flawlessly, then they have achieved something that NONE of the others have to date........

I would say, thats immediately a class leading product............

cant see how anyone can criticise a class leading product................80gb is plenty

much better than 300gb that wont record properly !

Ive returned the dreadfull Panasonic PVR, due to noise, and slowness, and other major flaws

and now my new THomson 4000, also doesnt record without corrupt patches showing up at random................

I will not buy any PVR again, unless its from a major brand, and has been known to perform correctly.............

we the public are not to be used as guniea pigs at our expense.......

Paragraph 1: Your opinion; that of others may be very different.
Paragraph 2: They haven't yet though.
Paragraph 3: Leads on from your speculation in paragraph 2, so untrue.
Paragraph 4: It's not a class leading product, yet. 80GB planty: YOUR opinion.
Paragraph 5: Argument whose basic premise is flawed.
Paragraph 6: Irrelavent.
Paragraph 7: Irrelevant.
Paragraph 8: Then go away and leave the rest of us who quite like PVRs in peace.

Either my research was pretty effective or I have been very lucky in buying PVRs which are none of the above

I would have bet on Sony producing a quality, well built machine in the past. But sadly no longer. Just look at the two-digit channel number fiasco for a comparatively recent example of their corner-cutting.

Well, id be interested to know, WHICH current PVRs work flawlessly ?

from what Ive owned, and read about other units, EVERY ONE has serious flaws.....not just minor bugs, but things like complete data wipeout, unreliable EPGS, etc etc

So what is this mystery unit you own ?

that is flawless ?

sounds interesting...................

and yes, if Sony do make a 80gb pvr that works flawlessly, then it will BE a class leader.........

you only have to visit the forum here on all the other brands currently available, to see that each one has serious flaws...........

Erm, was it something I said ?!

as stated, if ANYONE can make a PVR that actually works correctly, and is reliable, then they will have achieved something no one has, to date.......

unless of couse, you know otherwise ? if so, please let me know which PVR currently works fine, as Id like to buy it............

and yea, 80gb is plently............thats at least 40 hours of recordings...........8 hours a day, for 5 days........

PVRs arent designed for mass storage, if u want to keep your recordings, you need to save to DVD-R etc..........

heres a recent post from the latest and greatests HUMAX ( forum );

>>>>>>> Lost ALL my recordings ( 1 2 3 4 ... Last )

need I say any more ?

mfmf

They key word in that is serious. I have owned both a Humax 8000T and currently a Topfield 5800T. I have not experienced any serious flaws with either using the current latest firmware. I have certainly not had any data wipeouts, unreliable EPG info (other than down to the broadcasters' ineptitude) etc etc

IF IF IF IF IF IF It's all IF.

Those of use who use Topfield TF5800 have had no major issues for months. Any problems that were caused by the BBC MHEG changes will not happen again as the BBC now have one in their shed..

I have NEVER lost a recording with my Toppy. If it fails to record anything it's always down to there having been a power cut.

I have a 250GB HDD in mine, and I now feel relaxed about the HDD size. 80GB is woefully pathetic and smacks of a cost cutting, profit taking venture.

I don't particularly agree with boog's estimation of the situation, but think we'd all agree that there's a niche for a machine which is not only reliable, but also neat, stylish, user-friendly, and all the other nice things you could say about the very best Sony kit - and if such a machine was produced, the fact it only had an 80gb drive wouldn't necessarily be a factor for many people.

I do honestly think that 4TV have it in them to deliver such a beast - they've come close to it before, and with Sony's help they might just manage it this time. Time will most definitely tell tho, and it's too soon to judge (and too soon to buy, until that price comes down).

80GB might not be a deciding factor in the purchase of a person's first PVR, but it I'd bet it would be for their second.

I do agree though that there is a niche for a machine which is not only reliable, but also neat, stylish and user-friendly but only at a price point around that of the Fusion 200, not at the Toppy end where they seem to be pitching it.

Being a Sony, they may well even achieve market leadership at the Toppy end of the price scale.

I'd like to see Sony or anyone make a flawless PVR. I dont think most people here are actually expecting one but a decent one from the off would be a nice change

Actually, Sony already make PVRs. Does anyone know if they are flawless ?