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Does such a machine exist?


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Old 09-01-2009, 21:14
sazzle123
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Having sifted through a lot of older posts and reviews, I still haven't found a definitive answer- so please bear with me!

My parents currently have Freesat from Sky but no method of recording anything. The primary aim is to get a DVD recorder that can record digital TV to watch on another TV set- ideally with a dual tuner. Firstly, does this exist?
Beyond that, I think an HDR would be best to use on the main TV- and although we have Sky at the moment, they're happy to buy a Freesat PVR with DVD recorder (but I gather this doesn't yet exist) so have been looking at the Sony RDR-HXD890. We can't get freeview in our house so would we be able to use this to record satellite signal? I assume it just records input and doesn't have dual tuner capability. And is there an extra bit we need to add to the Sky satellite in order to pick up Freesat??

Basically, we're looking for a PVR recorder with DVD recorder that has a dual tuner that can be used with Freesat/Sky. Is there anything on the market that can do this? Or if not, what comes closest?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give- I've been going round in circles and have just got lost!
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Old 09-01-2009, 21:45
germanycalling
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There were rumours that Toshiba were going to produce such a box, but with the current economic climate it might go on the back burner (pun not intended )
To resolve your problem I wonder if this would work as an alternative? Others more knowledgeable may know for sure but what about getting two devices that will record to an external USB drive, and take the drive from the main location to the second, and replay it there? Two of these ...
http://www.fortecstar.com/estore/sto...4&CategoryID=4
Might be less hassle than burning via a computer.

I'm no expert on this but just trying to offer a solution
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Old 09-01-2009, 23:36
chris6
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My parents currently have Freesat from Sky but no method of recording anything.
A single tuner Freesat PVR would be a great leap forward for them, or with twin tuner:
http://www.satonline.co.uk/shop/products.php?p=ca99b3

- but a Sony RDR-HXD890 may really be overkill just to copy things to DVD, especially since you cannot yet get Freeview, when a plain DVD recorder, or even a VCR, and another DVD player/VCR would do for watching things on another TV
We can't get freeview in our house so would we be able to use this (sony RDR) to record satellite signal?
I think so, yes
And is there an extra bit we need to add to the Sky satellite in order to pick up Freesat??
The sky box can get so-called 'Freesat from Sky' only, and this has a slightly different collection of channels compared to Freesat, (and perhaps currently a few more) although I think the BBCs, ITV, and Ch4 and Five programmes are the same on Freesat and 'Freesat from Sky'.

A single tuner Freesat box should work using the existing Sky dish and 'lnb', which is attached to the dish and collects the data, and the existing wiring. If you want to use a twin tuner Freesat PVR you would need a twin LNB and wiring for the extra feed from it to the receiver, or new double wiring, like the Sky+ setup
if not, what comes closest?
I think that would have to be a Freesat PVR and a separate DVD recorder, or separate DVD with Hard Drive, like the Sony you are contemplating.

The hard drive is great for editing recordings before putting them onto DVD, and this might not be such a flexible feature on a combination unit, even when/if it does become available!
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Old 09-01-2009, 23:38
machare
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Thank you in advance for any advice you can give- I've been going round in circles and have just got lost!
It may be that in the future Humax will make it possible for other devices to play programmes stored on the PVR's hard drive, perhaps using
DLNA technology/standards. http://www.dlna.org/home
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Old 10-01-2009, 11:24
swedish cook
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It may be that in the future Humax will make it possible for other devices to play programmes stored on the PVR's hard drive, perhaps using
DLNA technology/standards. http://www.dlna.org/home
Theres a good possibility you'll be able to watch programs from the Humax hard drive over the network from a PC, its cousin the icord already allows the network port to do this.

You'll then just need a convenient front-end to make it convenient for the family. I had my Topfield PVR available on the network (usb connection to a router running special firmware) and was able to watch programs whilst they were transferring using a free media player called vnc - I didn't have to wait for the whole recording to transfer before starting to watch. On the Humax using a proper network connector rather than USB transferring recordings around the house should be quite quick ... once they enable the network port that is !
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Old 10-01-2009, 15:13
srhill
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Having sifted through a lot of older posts and reviews, I still haven't found a definitive answer- so please bear with me!

My parents currently have Freesat from Sky but no method of recording anything. The primary aim is to get a DVD recorder that can record digital TV to watch on another TV set- ideally with a dual tuner. Firstly, does this exist?
Beyond that, I think an HDR would be best to use on the main TV- and although we have Sky at the moment, they're happy to buy a Freesat PVR with DVD recorder (but I gather this doesn't yet exist) so have been looking at the Sony RDR-HXD890. We can't get freeview in our house so would we be able to use this to record satellite signal? I assume it just records input and doesn't have dual tuner capability. And is there an extra bit we need to add to the Sky satellite in order to pick up Freesat??

Basically, we're looking for a PVR recorder with DVD recorder that has a dual tuner that can be used with Freesat/Sky. Is there anything on the market that can do this? Or if not, what comes closest?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give- I've been going round in circles and have just got lost!
dvd recorders with dual tuners already exist - unfortunately only in Japan to my knowledge.

I have said for several years that this is the sort of box I want (to reduce the number of boxes under the tv) - I cannot believe the cost of the extra tuner would be that great so why doesn't a manufacture introduce one in the UK and corner the market.
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Old 10-01-2009, 15:18
son_t
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dvd recorders with dual tuners already exist - unfortunately only in Japan to my knowledge.

I have said for several years that this is the sort of box I want (to reduce the number of boxes under the tv) - I cannot believe the cost of the extra tuner would be that great so why doesn't a manufacture introduce one in the UK and corner the market.
http://www.nigelwhitfield.com/v2/article.php?id=47
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Old 11-01-2009, 11:34
TeeGee
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Wow! You learn something everyday! Thanks for posting that link.
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Old 11-01-2009, 12:30
awo1949
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Whereas that article is true in so far as it goes, and may well be part of the reasons why PVR/DVD recorders don't exist as yet, it does miss one "fact". That is that, although many DVB transmissions streams may not be DVD compliant, most modern DVD players are happy enough to play them anyway.

A lot would depend on the claims made by the manufacturer. If the only claims they make are that it will record to blank DVDs and play back the recordings, there should not be much of an issue. Although not guarentted, by far the majority of recordings would play back on any DVD player - either because they happen to be DVD compliant, or because most DVD players are tolerant of non-compliance.

I would think that the major impedements to the emergence of a twin tuner PVR/DVD recorder are cost, HD and rights issues. A PVR/DVD recorder would be a premium product. As such, it would not sell well if it did not receive and record HD. That would make it an even more premium product as it would have to include a Blueray burner. That's going to be a costly beast. It may also be a somewhat pointless beast. With measures already being taken to make it impossible for computer literate users to archive Freesat HD recordings, it's not very likely that it will be made easy for the ordinary punter to record an HD programme to Blueray. An expensive box that won't record most HD programmes to Blueray would not be very popular. However, as prices come down (give it a year or two) such a box may become attractive even with the rights limitations.
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