Freeview HD recorders

Posted by: Dungassin on 06 September 2010

SWMBO's SVHS recorder has gone a bit iffy - plays back OK, but the tuner is now unreliable.

So off I went to the local Comet last week and bought her a Philips HDT8520 50GB Freeview HD recorder. Why Freeview HD? Well, I've almost convinced her to change her TV for a new HD one, and Freeview HD seemed to be logical.

What a disaster the machine has been. I just plugged it in for her, and left her with the instruction book - part of my new policy of making her find out how to work her own bits of gear herself.

Finished up having to set it up for her, and it took me a while to find out how to make it work with a SD TV (buried deep within the manual), then had to reconfigure her TV because she wasn't getting any sound.

All seemed to be well, but after 3 days it is now obvious that :

1. It seems to start recordings 1-2 minutes after the program starts.
2. Sometimes doesn't record at all
3. No way of manually setting a timer or adjusting a timing set from the EPG (at least as far as I can see)
3. Keeps locking up and needing a hard reset.

It's going back to the shop tomorrow for a refund. Might get the SAGEMCOM RT190-320 to replace it, and have downloaded the manual for it. Seems to do most of the things that the Philips doesn't, but smaller hard disc.

Since then, I've looked in various places, and it would seem that my comments about the Philips are the same as others have found. That'll teach me to do research before buying, but in my defence, SWMBO was jumping up and down (not literally) and demanding a replacement for the SVHS recorder straight away.

SAGEMCOM machine not without its problems, according to various reviews, but I'll give it a whirl to see how it goes.

... sigh ....
Posted on: 06 September 2010 by tonym
OK John, I know it might be an additional cost, and you might not like Mr Murdoch (who does?) but there's really nothing that comes close either quality-wise or for ease of use (the interface is a work of genius) than Sky HD.
Posted on: 06 September 2010 by Dungassin
quote:
OK John, I know it might be an additional cost, and you might not like Mr Murdoch (who does?) but there's really nothing that comes close either quality-wise or for ease of use (the interface is a work of genius) than Sky HD.

SWMBO wants nothing to do with Sky, and as it's her TV ... she DEFINITELY (her word) doesn't want a satellite dish stuck on the house. Winker
Posted on: 06 September 2010 by count.d
This is the model I bought in May. I've never had a problem with it, never missed a minute of a programme and it's never locked up. There's a promised firmware update from Philips, which is due around now (ish).

The picture quality is excellent.
Posted on: 07 September 2010 by Jono 13
Buy any of the Panasonic recorders, some have DVD and other Blu-ray recorders as well.

My two have been very reliable and my 80 year old aunt uses hers without any problems.

Jono
Posted on: 07 September 2010 by Dungassin
Just changed the Philips for a SagemCom 190-320.
Seems to be working OK, but a bit sluggish to respond to the remote. According to the chappy on their customer support line, it needs a software update, but as we're not in an area that has Freeview HD yet I'll have to update the software manually. So, I've downloaded the latest software update from their website, and when SWMBO leaves the living room, I'll install it. Hope it doesn't bugger it up.

As regards the Panasonic recorders - have they fixed that glitch that stopped them changing aspect ration during a recording? IIRC there was a problem in that if you started off in one aspect ratio and the transmitted program ratio changed during the recording, then the recording didn't change.

She already has a Sony DVD recorder (with hard disc), and I have 2. They work fine, but the software has become more (needlessly) complicated and unfriendly with every new machine. She also needs dual freeview tuners in her PVR, as the TV she currently uses doesn't have Freeview built in. That rules out most DVD/HD recorders. Just bear in mind that the idea was to get her a recorder which will do HD as well as SD.

Hopefully her problems are now solved.
Posted on: 07 September 2010 by Dungassin
quote:
Originally posted by count.d:
This is the model I bought in May. I've never had a problem with it, never missed a minute of a programme and it's never locked up. There's a promised firmware update from Philips, which is due around now (ish).

The picture quality is excellent.

Perhaps you've been lucky. Me? I think and that any recorder which doesn't let you extend beginning and end of timer settings, or set the timer manually is basically not fit for purpose. The printed manual is crap, IMO.

What intrigues me, is that when I look up any PVR and check user reviews, they ALL seem to have problesm with "locking up" etc. Perhaps there is a certain amount of luck in whether your particular example works OK. Glad yours works OK for you, but we found it unacceptable.
Posted on: 08 September 2010 by TomK
quote:
Originally posted by Dungassin:

I think that any recorder which doesn't let you extend beginning and end of timer settings, or set the timer manually is basically not fit for purpose.


Agree 100%.

quote:
Originally posted by Dungassin:

The printed manual is crap, IMO.


It's the way things are going I'm afraid. Minimal amount of paper with a PDF on disk, or full documentation online.
Posted on: 09 September 2010 by gone
I've never had any problems with Humax Freeview or Freesat PVRs. Highly recommended.
I'm another one who will strive to avoid lining Murdoch's pockets