[darktrader]

I have a perfectly good TV - only one SCART socket though. Freeview Aerial - tested - but no freeview box.

I want to replace the "dead" VCR with a device that:-

Will provide Freeview
Will record both Analogue and Digital TV.
Will record both Analogue and Digital TV without any of this "can't watch that while you record this..." nonsense.
Will play DVD movies.
Is only one device and is "silver" to match the TV.

I don't actually watch that much TV - hence no Freeview yet. The above list is my minimum requirements.

Suggestions/recommendations please.

[gomezz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darktrader

Will record both Analogue and Digital TV.

Why would you want to do that? If you ignore that restriction than any dual-tuner Freeview PVR will do the job you want.

[darktrader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezz

Why would you want to do that? If you ignore that restriction than any dual-tuner Freeview PVR will do the job you want.

Mmm. OK, drop that requirement. But when I search on "dual-tuner, Freeview, PVR" there is no mention that the device(s) play DVDs' I only want one "box."

[chrisjr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darktrader

Mmm. OK, drop that requirement. But when I search on "dual-tuner, Freeview, PVR" there is no mention that the device(s) play DVDs' I only want one "box."

PVRs by and large are just hard disk recorders. No DVD capability.

You can get DVD recorders with hard drives and Freeview tuners. Most of the well known names make them. However I'm not entirely sure if any do a recorder with twin digital tuners. This would be a must if you wanted to be able to watch and record two different digital channels.

I have a feeling that you will not be able to achieve a one box solution but have to bite the bullet and buy a freeview PVR and DVD player. The fact your TV only has one SCART is not a problem. Many PVRs will have two SCARTs. One you wire to the TV and the other to the DVD.

When you want to watch a DVD then just play it and the PVR will pass through the DVD signal to the TV. And you can get ones (such as the TVonics I got from Tesco) that pass through RGB for the best picture quality.

And of course a Freeview PVR will not record analogue TV or anything connected via SCART. But bearing in mind all five analogue channels have Freeview equivalents the analogue TV restriction doesn't really apply.

[Chris Simon]

There are no Freeview PVRs (DTRs) that contain DVDs. I think some of the Linux boxes such as the Dreambox might be able to have one installed, as they are literally PCs running Linux, and they might have interchangeable tuners so you can install analogue and/or digital tuners. Otuside the realm of the Linux boxes, which may or may not do as you want, you are limited to the following:

Freeview DTRs: Dual digital tuner, record only from internal tuner, hard disk only.

DVRs (DVD/HDD recorders): Analogue and/or digital tuners - only one can be in use at any one time, record from internal tuner or from external sources, record onto DVD or hard disk.

[Harry, it sucks]

hmmm, i've had a bit of a look. There is a Sony floating around but it doesn't get very good reviews, and can only play Analogue if recording Digital. However, this implies it can play Digital whilst recording.
Edit: see previous posts regarding dual tuners.

[Chris Simon]

Simultaneous playback and recording means you can play a previous recording while watching something else (most if not all DVD/HDD recorders can do this), but you can't watch something live while recording something else.

[Harry, it sucks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Simon

Simultaneous playback and recording means you can play a previous recording while watching something else (most if not all DVD/HDD recorders can do this), but you can't watch something live while recording something else.

Aaah, I see. So it's essentially the 'chasing' thing, but playing a different programme than you're recording...
I would think a dual-tuner HDD with DVD must be coming soon?

[Chris Simon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry, it sucks

Aaah, I see. So it's essentially the 'chasing' thing, but playing a different programme than you're recording...

Yes - although I made a slight mistake in what I said. What I meant was "...means you can play a previous recording while *recording* something else...".

But yes, you've got the concept. You can play back a recording at the same time as making a recording, but it can actually be the recording that's being made or a previous recording. The effect is the same, you can pause and rewind etc while the current recording carries on.

Quote:

I would think a dual-tuner HDD with DVD must be coming soon?

We've all been wondering for some time when it's going to happen!

[David (2)]

For the ease of use, go for a twin tuner freeview pvr. It wont have a dvd recorder inbuilt, but you can add an external dvd recorder (also with inbuilt freeview decoder chip if you prefer).

The dual tuner pvr will allow you to adapt your current analogue tv as well (view one digital channel while recording a different digital channel to hard drive).

To my knowledge there are no dual-tuner hard drive/dvd recorder combis - only single tuner-hard drive/dvd recorder combis. This would be ok provided you had a new tv with its own freeview chip inside.

Until the last few months, many of the Panasonic dvd recoders and single tuner/hard drive/dvd recorders had hybrid analogue/digital tuners, so you use them for normal analogue reception as well, although I have never seen the results (analogue-digital conversion, quality?). But they have since moved to digital only tuners - except their tv's which reamain hybrid. Pioneer do a single tuner/hard drive/dvd recoder with hybrid tuner, but still no dual tuner.



Dave

[darktrader]

Thanks for the replies

I'll look into a freeview/PVR device and a separate DVD player.