Last night I recorded 'The F Word' and 'Big Brother' which is on directly afterwards, using the EPG.

However when I playedback the F word, the last couple of minutes were cut off, but they appeared at the begining of the Big Brother title.

This seems to happen a lot to me. It's quite annoying, especially if you happen to watch the second title first, then delete it straight after.


Yet if I had just recorded 'The F word', I know I would have got the full programme on one title.

Anyone else have this problem ?

Don't think it's "just" you. I have had this problem when recording some motorsport coverage on C5.
Page 56 of the manual does say thet there will be a "loss" when one program start time is the same as another's end time. This is because the machine has to "finalise" the first program (which takes about a minute) to get ready to start the second program on time.

The reason there was a bit of Prog A at the beginning of Prog B could be because Prog A was overrunning or C4 changed the "Now & Next" details early.

If I have 2 Programs "Back to Back", I change them to be one manual recording for the 2 housr and "divide" them later.

I can't imagine that this is a problem with the 860 alone, as other Recorders must do something similar.

Hi there.

This is a bit of a mixed bag in my view. There are some benefits and some disadvantages with this box over other PVRs on the market.

** Advantages

All in one Tidy box - Much less clutter

Series record - Thanks to Freeview Playback

Burning recordings onto DVD for archiving etc

Can record from Scart socket. I have set mine to record from a video sender, even a daily timer setup

Fast populating EPG

Remote control will also control SOME televisions.

HDMI output

Onboard video editing


** Disadvantages

Only one Freeview Tuner

No warning the recorder is going to switch over to start recording, just does it. No chance to cancel the recording.

No program information (info button) on recorded programmes both in the title list or whilst playing a recordings. Unless you recognise the thumbnail, you wont know what the programme you recorded is about, except for the title.

Slow remote control respose when scrolling through recordings and menus.

Can only pause Live TV for a MINIMUM of 2 minutes!?!?

No rewinding live TV.

Took me ages to find out how to finalise a DVD to allow it to play on other DVD equipment - Poor menu structure.

Small and confusing VF Display. When I play a recording on my box the display says "T6 hh:mm", what does the T number stand for????

-----------------------------------

The only reason I am staying with this box is because there isnt another HDD recorder that has Freeview playback AND external/ SCART record. Im not to fussed about the DVD recording as I only copy stuff off the recorder once in a blue moon.

I ask myself as Sony have got a bit of a specialised market with Freeview Playback and a box that you can record and set timers for SCART recording. Are they being complacent? I have had this box for a few months now and there hasn't been any sign on a firmware update to make it more user friendly. I have tried phoning Sony but got "told what I wanted to hear" so sorry Sony when an alternative comes out I'll be jumping ship.

I tend to agree that this problem is down to poor time keeping.

I had the same problem with recording consecutive programmes on More 4 such as Grand Designs followed by Grand Designs Trade Secrets. The recording would stop before the end of the first programme but would be included at the start of the following recording.
This poor time keeping may be creating a conflict with any instructions being issued from the Freeview programme guide, assuming that the recordings were set using this.

As with all the channels related to CH 4, CH 5 or ITV, they have commercials at the end of their programmes and it’s not unreasonable to expect the finalizing minute required by the RDR HXD860 to be done during the last minute of the five or so minutes of commercials. Thus not missing the end of one programme or missing the start of the next.

Not sure what the above posting from Amtrakuk has to do with recording consecutive programmes on the RDR HXD860.
Last edited by Schizoid Mike : 29-06-2007 at 18:14

Well it's not strictly a PVR as in a hard drive based twin tuner recorder, it's a DVDR with some PVR capabilities due to the fact that it also has a hard drive.

Your analysis is interesting but I feel you’re being a bit unjust picking on the Sony, where most of the 'faults' you describe are common to all DVDRs at this stage of their development.


Agree with all that.


Same as all the rest.


Why is that a problem? Just cancel the recording after it starts, or don't programme recordings that you don't want.


I agree that some programme info would be nice but I don't see this as a big deal unless you tend to make masses of recordings. Do other DVDRs offer info on the recorded programmes list?


Agreed. I also find the Sony remote has a very tight IR beam which makes the problem worse. I might experiment with a generic 'one for all' remote and see if that helps.


You can actually pause live TV for up to three hours, but you cannot start to play back your paused buffer until two minutes has elapsed from when you first paused it. Therefore the system is no good for pausing for thirty seconds or so. Again, I really don't see this as a problem.


The Sony does not have an automatic PVR-style buffer, but neither do any of the other DVDRs. Live TV can be rewound by selecting the channel you want and pressing pause. This then manually activates the buffer and as I stated above you can buffer for up to three hours, rewinding or fast fowarding through the adverts if you want.


Not really - just take some time to read the manual - it's all clearly expressed there.


Nothing wrong with the display IMO. ‘T’ means 'title' - all DVD recordings are split into titles every fifteen minutes or so. Titles make it easier to jump search through recordings - rather than having to fast wind you can simply jump from one title to the next. All pre-recorded DVD films have them too. The manual will explain how to do a title search.


I think Sony have been anything but complacent because even after a year of this device being out it's still the only one that offers Freeview Playback functionality. It’s also one of the few main brand DVDRs that can play back Divx.

They've now updated the 860 with the new 870, which is pretty much the same machine with some added refinements.