Looking to record Freeview

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b0untypure1

1426 posts

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#105544 6-Jul-2012 11:46

Hey guys,
my parents live in Taranaki (new plymouth) and have a freeview set top box (without a recorder) and they are still using an old school VHS player to record onto VCR tapes. The problem is the tape player cannot go up to channel 10 and only works on channels 1-3. Moreover it only has mono sound and is barely audible.

I have recommended to move to DVD/hard drive recorder.
Personally i think a hard drive recorder would be more easy to use and they won't have to worry about buying millions of DVD's. So im looking for recommendations as to which dvd or hard drive recorder for freeview would be good to buy?

thanks for all help, and additional details : tv is a sony http://www.sony.co.in/product/klv-32cx420
some people say u can record out of the USB drive port, but i have tried and it does not work unfortunately.

thanks team

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8043 posts

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#651795 6-Jul-2012 11:49

What flavour of freeview are they receiving? Sat or terrestrial?

BlueShift

1692 posts

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#651805 6-Jul-2012 12:01

I got my Mum a Tivo for pretty much the same reasons. She's not hugely tech-literate, but isn't a luddite. She loves the Tivo.
If you can find one around in Noel Leeming or Bond & Bond, they are a bargain right now.

Skolink

1081 posts

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#651815 6-Jul-2012 12:18

TiVo!!

oxnsox

1923 posts

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#651831 6-Jul-2012 12:41

Doesn't mater what channel the VHS goes upto as it'll only have an analogue tuner.

Jaxson

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#651837 6-Jul-2012 12:51

As above also, TIVO won't work if you can't receive the terrestrial signal, or don't have an internet connection.
What type of freeview set top box (the one that can't record) do you have at the moment, sat or terrestrial/UHF aerial?

b0untypure1

1426 posts

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#651840 6-Jul-2012 13:01

Hey guys we have a terrestrial connection for free view hd (sorry should have said) I do realize TiVo is a good alternative but my parents took long enough to get used to free view and our bandwidth is not the greatest at home

BlueShift

1692 posts

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#651847 6-Jul-2012 13:16

b0untypure1: Hey guys we have a terrestrial connection for free view hd (sorry should have said) I do realize TiVo is a good alternative but my parents took long enough to get used to free view and our bandwidth is not the greatest at home

You only need to worry about bandwidth with Tivo if you are planning on downloading movies through it (their selection is improving, but ain't great). You need an internet connection for Tivo to get the EPG, but it doesn't eat a lot of bytes, and usually does it in the middle of the night.

The Tivo remote is mentioned on another thread in the Tivo forum, basically, if you're looking for an option for them to be able to record stuff, they're going to need to learn to drive a new system, and Tivo is one of the most user-friendly ones available. As long as they can read the buttons on the remote, and the prompts on the screen, they should be sweet. Its not a huge learning curve.

I haven't tried any of the myfreeview recorders, so can't comment on how easy to use, or otherwise, they might be.

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Jaxson

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#651864 6-Jul-2012 13:44

b0untypure1: Hey guys we have a terrestrial connection for free view hd (sorry should have said) I do realize TiVo is a good alternative but my parents took long enough to get used to free view and our bandwidth is not the greatest at home

Ok then, as above, TIVO, but be quick.

You don't get anything via the internet (unless you specifically try and download a movie etc) except for a tiny amount of data to populate the EPG. Please read some of the other forum postings here on TIVO to help you learn about. Namely you can be on any ISP and apart from the EPG data you don't have to get anything via the broadband connection, as it functions as a normal PVR, getting it's signal via the UHF aerial.

You get a web interface for booking season pass and one off recordings remotely, which might assist you to support them from a far.

Skolink

1081 posts

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#651897 6-Jul-2012 14:31

And they only need to use the one remote with TiVo, as the TiVo remote controls TV power, TV volume and mute (and TV input, in case it reverts back to tuner when switched off). No need to use the TV remote whatsoever. Definitely a plus for keeping things simple.

They just need to be trained to get out of the habit of watching live TV.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

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#651932 6-Jul-2012 15:33

b0untypure1: Hey guys,
my parents live in Taranaki (new plymouth) and have a freeview set top box (without a recorder) and they are still using an old school VHS player to record onto VCR tapes. The problem is the tape player cannot go up to channel 10 and only works on channels 1-3. Moreover it only has mono sound and is barely audible.

What's only going to channel 10 got to do with things.
You can record to a VCR from the Freeview STB via A/V connections. Same with a DVD recorder. WSill only be in SD though.
If you do go the PVR way then there are plenty of devices will do the job and in HD.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

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#651943 6-Jul-2012 15:48

OK
Just re-read your original post and maybe I've misunderstood.
Seems maybe they are already recording to the VCR from the STB but results are far from satisfactory?
That would be understandable.
Their TV is full HD but Sonys will not output Freeview to a recording device, USB or other.
I bought a Panasonic BW880 BluRay Recorder last year and I'm rapt with it.
Got the advantage of recording HD to HDD or Disc plus the ability to save HD recordings to Blu Ray blank discs (or to DVD in SD) though I've rarely used that function.
IMHO it seems to have a lot fewer problems than TIVO and many others from what I've seen on these forums. In fact I've never had any problem with it. Always records what is set fromthe Freeview EPG (or manually from Sky) and never fails to record unlike many others I've read about lately.
If I'd waited just another month I could have got the 3D version.

RXV

124 posts

Master Geek

#652314 7-Jul-2012 18:36

Only one contender imo - TiVo - easy to use - got one for my folks and they got the hang of it in 5 minutes. Brilliant devices for the money!!

gregmcc

2147 posts

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#652331 7-Jul-2012 20:00

Skolink: TiVo!!

+1

even for those who are technically retarted you cant go wrong with a tivo

bfginger

1269 posts

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#652501 8-Jul-2012 14:12

thanks for all help, and additional details : tv is a sony http://www.sony.co.in/product/klv-32cx420

Turn overscan off to improve the image quality
http://hd.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
Did their TV really come from India?

I have recommended to move to DVD/hard drive recorder.
Personally i think a hard drive recorder would be more easy to use and they won't have to worry about buying millions of DVD's. So im looking for recommendations as to which dvd or hard drive recorder for freeview would be good to buy?

Most people just call anything that records that doesn't use tapes a "DVD Recorder" which isn't correct terminology. There aren't any Freeview devices that record to only DVD. All MyFreeview recorders have two tuners and a hard drive inside them.

Panasonic does make a MyFreeview "DVD Recorder" which also had a hard drive but I don't see any point in getting a HDD/DVD combo recorder in 2012. You could buy standalone HDD recorders like the Tivo or DishTV T1050PVR or a Panasonic HDD/DVD/Blu-ray unit, Blu-ray being much better quality than DVD.

farns

97 posts

Master Geek

#652530 8-Jul-2012 15:56

I got a TiVO for my senile old luddite parents and its brilliant , easy to use as it gets , simple universal remote, only small minus is that stuff is recorded in a proprietary tivo format but thats maybe the same for other HDD recorders.
CASPA for downloading movies at $4.95 ea is a bonus , they have a reasonable variety but not a massive selection.

Best option for a DVB-T box IMO

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