A bit disappointed in this so far. When you pause live TV, it really pauses! If you press play after waiting less than 1min40 seconds, it just says 'cannot cancel TV pause at this time Please wait'. Apparently you can never catch up with real-time by skipping ads etc. If you put a DVD+RW. in it takes about a minute to read it. Then after recording it 'info-writes' for about 30 seconds, but that's not the end of it - If you want to eject the disc it 'info-writes' for another minute and a half before ejecting!.
My Humax 8000T freeview HDD is basically a two-year-old design, but far more user-friendly with immediate pause/play, a really clear program guide, compared with the blurry Sony version which only displays the word or two of the title. Even my old Philips DVD-R75 spends less time reading and 'info-writing' discs than the Sony.

It seems to refuse to record from the hard disk to DVD at the quality setting you tell it to, and while doing this none of the settings record in 'LSP' (2.5 hour mode) which was my favourite setting on the Philips. I don't have any DVD-RWs to see if they work differently.

However, the most annoying thing, and the reason it will probably go back to the retailer is the fact that when you set a timer recording from the program guide, you then get an option to 'modify' and a new page opens up which looks like you get an option to alter any of the settings. The thing is all you can seem to change is the quality setting, and whether it's to HDD, or DVD. You can't seem to be able to adjust the time to add say a couple of minutes to programmes shown on channels like BBC1 in the late evening which seem to constantly run three minutes late.
I haven't yet rung Sony about this, it may just be my machine which is faulty. Can anyone confirm this?

Of course it's nice to have the three things you need in the same box but surely someone can do a better job than this?

i Used to have a hxd710 but returned it for the new hxd860, but one thing i miss is the tools button,which was on the 710,the 860 does not have it this new 860 does not seem as well made as the 710 it replaces it feels cheaper made,than the 710 just my personal opinion,anyone else got any thoughts on this new 860

use chasing playback instead. I wouldn't bother with +-RWs either.


I don't have this issue on mine. Mind you I use DVD-R.


As I mentioned elsewhere, you can extend the timer recordings via EPG. In System Menu > SETUP in one of the sub menus there is a Extend recording setting (but I can't remember the exact name ATM) where you can extend the recording by 1,2,5,10 mins.

I have had numerous problems when recording from the Sky+ directly to DVD. It often indicates that it is recording in Sp and then it is only when i go into the title menu that i found out it hasnt...Only SP and LSP are effected and seem to downgrade to the next level LSP and ESP respectivley.

The only way i have found around this is to record to the HDD and then Dub to DVD, although this in itself isnt always successfull.

Tobias,

I know you mentioned these issues on the other thread. Was it just recording Sky broadcasts to DVD or does it happen when you try recording Freeview broadcasts to DVD as well?

I have been unable to 'Sync Rec' from Sky+ to my DVD Recorder. I have followed the instructions in the Manual on Page 57, but have not yet been successful. The problem appears to be on Point 6 of the instructions 'Set the timer on the connected equipment to the time of the programme you want to record, and turn it off'.

Could anyone please clarify the 'Syn Rec' process from SKY+ to the RDR-HXD860S.

Cheers

Rather than open a new thread i thought i'd post this one here.

Can anyone help with the following:
SKY+ to HXD860 - audio output with phono to standard amp.
Audio is great when HXD860 is in standby but cannot hear a thing when powered off, settings seem fine.
Why does the audio not pass through
Anyone sil vous plait!

Perhaps i meant:
when powered on audio passes fine.
when in standby nothing.

hopefully now i've described the problem someone can help.

To be honest, I wouldn't expect it to. It'll presumably pass through the SCART OK, but I wouldn't ever expect it to pass through to the phonos. What happens if you leave it on but use the TV/DVD button on the remote to do the switching?

Steve

It switches fine.
RF Phono should work irrespective as audio signal is going through the same circuit, why should the recorder have to be powered on as the SKY+ audio signal is there?
TV audio works with other DVD recorders in standby mode fine.

so every time i want to watch TV i have to swap phono leads to my digibox to hear the audio through my amp?
not something you should need to do surely?
Last edited by Lump Head : 30-09-2006 at 13:26

Not sure what you mean by "RF phono", I think you're confusing two things. I assumed you were talking about the red and white phono audio outputs?

These will be powered via an active amplifier which will be muted when the recorder is in Standby.

Why don't you just use the TV/DVD switch on the remote if it works? That is, after all, what it is there for!

Failing that, how about one of these?

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSea...sp?SKU=AV09065

It sits in-line between your DVD player and TV and breaks out the audio signal from the SCART cable onto two phono sockets. So basically any audio that your TV can hear via SCART will be available to your amp too. The one above has all 21 pins connected in the SCART, so will pass RGB and control signals etc - beware cheaper ones that aren't!

Steve

Thanks very much Steve,
This is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Apologies for me not explaining myself properly

I only have an ordinary Sky box, but I can get it to work by the following

1.) From the Sky box, put your chosen programmes in your planner, and makes sure they're set to AUTOVIEW
2.) Afterwards, hit the Power put on the Sky remote, to put the Skybox into Standby

When the programme starts, the Skybox will power on, and this sends a signal to the Sony DVD Recorder, which will also power on and start recording.


P.S. This function is also dependant on how you've connected your equipment up. If you're bypassing through a VHS recorder for example or not connecting to Line 3 vis a Scart lead, then it won't work (see page 24 of manual).

The above post is correct. However, I'm advised that the Sony is even smarter and can pick up a signal on pin 8 of the scart lead when the Sky box switches channel using autoview, meaning that the Sky box doesn't need to be left in standby. As soon as autoview changes channel this will trigger the Sony to start recording.

Sounds good, although I haven't tested this myself yet! I just wondered whether anyone else has?

You cannot use the “Syn Rec” (Synchronous Recording) function on the RDR HXD860 with a Sky+ Box.
The Record function on the Sky+ EPG is different to the equivalent Autoview function on a standard Sky Digi box’s EPG.

As correctly stated by Fireball XL5 above, when using the EPG Autoview function on a standard Sky box to timer record to externally connected recording equipment, a trigger signal is sent from the Sky box’s VCR Scart to the L3 input on the 860.
If the 860 has been set to “Syn Rec” then it will start recording when this signal is received.
(That’s provide the Sky box doesn’t play up on a regular basis by changing the channel switching itself back to Stand-By and not sending the signal.)

The Sky + boxes do not have this.
If you set Record in the EPG it just records a programme to its internal hard drive.
It has no need to send a trigger signal as its not recording to externally connected equipment.
Last edited by Schizoid Mike : 23-05-2007 at 15:43

My latest annoyance with this box is the way it handles
on screen digital text (mheg,red buttons).

I recorded radio 1s big weekend from channel 302 last week only to find that press red was burned into the recording in the top right hand corner.

Surely if the HD recorder in this box was properly digititally connected to the built in DVB tuner,it would be just recording the Digital Transport stream (TS) info,not with burned in Mheg graphics.Its like it recording the analogue output from a stand alone Digibox

I may be wrong but as I understand it this is how all current DVD recorders behave, with or without hard drives.

The only devices that record the raw transport stream are Sky+ and Freeview hard disc PVRs (no DVD recording) machines like the Topfield and Humax.

If there is a Freeview DVD recorder which loses the 'press red' and other annoying on screen graffiti before recording I'd love to know!

If I'd known this before I bought it I probably wouldnt have bothered buying one.My Thomson PVR is much easier to use & you can turn the Mheg off.This Sony is a massive backwards step for me with its awkard slow menus & slow operating system.

I agree it's irritating but it's part of the current design for DVD recorders because they need to decode the raw data stream and then re-encode it in DVD compliant mpeg2 ready for writing to DVD. It's simpler to encode the entire picture, including the mheg data.

I'm surprised to hear you say that the menu and operating system is slow. My mother has the HXD560 and my brother has the 860 and I haven't noticed anything particularly slow in their operation. Perhaps you have a fault?

I think the technology has a way to go yet and in general it's probably a better bet (and probably cheaper) to buy a twin tuner Freeview PVR along with a separate DVD recorder for archiving and DVD playback. Of course then you lose the faster than real time dubbing facility but overall you have more flexibility.

Anyway, I'm very happy with my Tivo PVR but I'm looking for a decent DVD recorder with hard drive and Freeview to use as a secondary recorder and archive machine, as well as a DVD player.

I like the Sony, in particular because it can play back Divx, so if you were thinking of offloading yours I might be interested! That's assuming that there are no faults of course and that the perceived slow menus etc are purely in comparison to your Thomson.

PM me if you want to discuss further.

I think I'll be keeping despite its faults its still got a few good features.The freeview series link,which seems to work most of the time & the HDMI upscaling (but not on component) .I Agree & understand the compromise in the way it works in record mode but there should be a simple menu option to turn the Mheg off.

As for the divx playback my first test disc DVD-R with 2 divx files on it has failed to read.Dont tell me it will only read divx off CDs.Think I'll have to go back & re-read the manual.

Do you mean *.divx files?
I always refer to *.avi as "divx" (maybe wrongly) and use these file types regulary on my 860. There is no "Menu" facility with this type of file, I just press "play" and "tab" through the files if there are a number of them.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/tbuehler...xtensions.html might be useful.

DivX is a way of encoding video, it is based on MPEG-4.
AVI just identifies the file as containing Audio and Video Interleaved data.

You can have AVI files where the video is not encoded with DivX, and you can put DivX video into other kinds of file than AVIs.

I've played Xvid and DivX files on mine. But there are 2 issues:

1. the res of the file can't be greater than 720*576. Lower res's are fine

2. When you're ouputting via HDMI, the divx file is not played full screen, it's played in a small window equivalent to it's resolution. You have to use the TV zoom functions to get it to fill the screen

I've started using my laptop hooked to my LCD with a VGA lead to play HD and SD Xvid videos instead.

I was going to have another go with Divx but the fact that it doesnt fill the screen makes it very pointless.

Back to playing them back from either of my PCs by VGA & HDMI methinks.

Bet you cant store a Divx on the HD either.

For some reason my box would not copy the apprentice on wednesday. Yes you could select the prog on the epg but I did not notice that it did not put the red line across the prog duration. I also tried to record the minnie driver movie on bbc 1on the same night but again no joy. When I discovered the problem I did a few tests and sure enough the machine did the same thing it confirmed my selection but did not put it in the timer section. I reset the unit by holding the power on for 10 seconds. the only thing I can think of was i pressed instant record from my line 3 (sky) input before I had the problem. ?

Also recording from sky I dont try to get the boxes talking i set the pvr up with a manual timer and then set sky for autoview and thats it