Current state of Freeview recorders in NZ

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Current state of Freeview recorders in NZ

MikeB4

18133 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#222711 25-Aug-2017 07:39

The Dish 2200 thread was drifting so I thought let's start a general state of the nation thread for Freeview recorders for terrestrial and satellite?What are the current offerings in NZ? What are folks experiences and recommendations? What are the good ones and what are the lemons? And of course what would be your wish list?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

441 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1852288 25-Aug-2017 09:00

Is there much of a need for this sort of thing anymore?

What with IPTV delivery and catch-up services?

Our five year old DVR just has a bunch of kid's programmes on the hard drive as a back up just in case the internet falls over.

We barely use it any more.

I don't think there's been much innovation in this space for the last couple of years.

And not much incentive to bring anything new to market when increasingly most people will just buy a Chromecast/Apple TV or a new Smart TV with catch-up built in.

Sharesies kids

Free kids accounts - trade shares and funds (NZ, US) with Sharesies (affiliate link).

MikeB4

18133 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1852298 25-Aug-2017 09:15

Good point, but sometimes I just don't want to dick around with casting etc I just want to record and watch later as in click click.

trig42

5604 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1852306 25-Aug-2017 09:21

We still watch Linear TV on weeknights (mostly).

It is just easier than hunting through lists of shows on one of 4 seperate OD/Streaming Apps.

If there is nothing that grabs us on broadcast TV, we watch something we have recorded, or if we have nothing recorded that we want to see, we go to NF or LB.

The 'killer' app/box is one that aggregates all the IPTV offerings with Netflix/Lightbox/Neon as well as Broadcast TV.

old3eyes

8996 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1852325 25-Aug-2017 09:31

Anything on FTA TV I record and fast forward thru the ads etc. Can't do that with OnDemand so a recorder for me is a must. When TiVo dies I have an old Dish box that I won here back in 2012 but have never used but have run up and tested recently.

Regards,

Old3eyes

flynkiwi

152 posts

Master Geek

#1852326 25-Aug-2017 09:33

Thanks for this topic as its great timing as talking to my wife its time to finally ditch Sky. We have been holding off because my daughter likes the kids channels such as Disney, but now she has started school she is watching TV less and we have been able to get her watching Netflix shows.

Essentially for $70 a month our Sky box is an expensive recorder as most things we record to watch when my daughter is in bed are on freeview.

Looking back on the older threads Panasonic seems to be highly recommended. is that still the case? Looking forward to hearing what people are liking in the way of freeview recorders.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1852405 25-Aug-2017 11:02

I've used a Panasonic Blu Ray Recorder for several years now and find it excellent. However these days with the proliferation of online sources the only Live TV (Freeview) we watch is the daily news. I do still record an odd program or so each week but only if I can't find them online and so we can watch while skipping the ads. The rest of our watching is done via online streaming or download. NZ Freeview programming is still way behind the rest of the world as it has been since TV was introduced in 1961. For instance, Prime Suspect 1973 started airing on TVNZ the other night so I decided to record it. Next day having transferred it to my PC and edited out the ads I did a quick search online and was able to download all six episodes in HD with 6 channel sound so we now get to binge watch with no ads and promos. Not really much point in having a recorder any more. Anything that I do record on the Panasonic that I wish to archive I just transfer to my PC and edit out the ads and promos. I dumped Sky last year and have not missed it. The final straw was the increasing number of endless promos, ads and repeats. Most of their content including major Sport events can be found online for free except the quality of the Sporting events is pretty bad and barely watchable. Android TV boxes with their associated apps are now becoming increasingly popular. I have one which has inbuilt Sat and UHF tuners which record to SD card and external HDD and it cost me less than NZ$100 from China. Kodi with some of it's apps is quite an eye opener into the world of online availability. As for Smart TVs. Don't even go there. IMO they either end up very dumb or and/or their apps just plain don't work. An Android TV box runs rings around them and a HTPC is even more versatile..

Rikkitic

Awrrr
17251 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1852412 25-Aug-2017 11:11

evilengineer:

Is there much of a need for this sort of thing anymore?

What with IPTV delivery and catch-up services?

Our five year old DVR just has a bunch of kid's programmes on the hard drive as a back up just in case the internet falls over.

We barely use it any more.

I don't think there's been much innovation in this space for the last couple of years.

And not much incentive to bring anything new to market when increasingly most people will just buy a Chromecast/Apple TV or a new Smart TV with catch-up built in.

I live with someone who is welded to the last century. This is a person who refuses to learn anything new or 'complicated'. It was a major chore just getting the Harmony remote accepted so I could chuck the five other ones into a drawer. Even so, the Panasonic DVR one still gets pulled out for making DVDs (yes, DVDs are still the only accepted means of transferring videos), even though I have programmed all of the functions into the Harmony.

I am also something of a Luddite but this goes beyond even my limits. I went to considerable trouble to set up a streaming pc and to integrate it with our system, including control by air mouse, Harmony, and notebook for maximum flexibility. But the Neanderthal is only prepared to press buttons on the Harmony that directly correspond to buttons on the Sky remote. Anything else is too difficult. Recordings go onto the old Panasonic DVR and are played back from that. Easy, just click click. Quality is not important.

When I want to watch something, I stream it in the computer room where I have another big screen TV set up as a monitor. Or if the stream is crap, which happens more than it should, I download it with one of the handy tools I have acquired for the purpose.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

turb

863 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1852431 25-Aug-2017 11:33

The 'killer' app/box is one that aggregates all the IPTV offerings with Netflix/Lightbox/Neon as well as Broadcast TV.

So that would be an HTPC then?

Watch live tv
Record live tv
Record series
Skip adverts
Stream anything off the internet
Download anything off the internet
Change your DNS settings easily
No firmware updates or (lack of) manufacturer support to stress about
Burn and play any optical disc
Store and play any media file
Upgrade/replace components whenever you like
Completely future proof
Recycle/repurpose all or parts of the system if your needs change

Have I missed anything?

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

MikeB4

18133 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1852550 25-Aug-2017 13:51

It would seem the simplest solutions are the Dish T2200 HD and S8200 for Sat or a limited range of Panasonic offerings. I had experience with a Panasonic unit that insisted on black screening and lagging. I am very weary of the Dish offerings I know that one only hears of the things that go wrong but the impression is these are not highly reliable units however I maybe completely wrong and would love the be proven so.

MikeB4

18133 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1852675 25-Aug-2017 15:20

I have noticed the Warehouse have the Dish T2200 for $199 which is a good price. Dish advertise it at $449

http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/dishtv-dual-tuner-uhf-myfreeviewplus-recorder-t2200/R1995897.html#start=1

Bananabob

487 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1852680 25-Aug-2017 15:28

MikeB4:

I have noticed the Warehouse have the Dish T2200 for $199 which is a good price. Dish advertise it at $449

http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/dishtv-dual-tuner-uhf-myfreeviewplus-recorder-t2200/R1995897.html#start=1

I saw this myself and thought it was a good price, but with a price so low does it indicate that a new model is on the horizon?

MikeB4

18133 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1852684 25-Aug-2017 15:30

Or its the power of the Red Sheds bulk buying. At $199 I am tempted to buy one if just for testing purposes.

Bananabob

487 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1852687 25-Aug-2017 15:33

MikeB4:

Or its the power of the Red Sheds bulk buying. At $199 I am tempted to buy one if just for testing purposes.

I would have thought that Noel Leeming would have had a price reduction as well if it is a bulk buy as they are part of the same organisation

muppet

2389 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1852692 25-Aug-2017 15:41

We bought a Panasonic DMR-HTW260 a year ago or so. For what we use it for, it works well, but what we've found is that we mostly use it's FreeView+ ability to watch shows "On Demand", its built in NetFlix and it's ability to stream stuff via DLNA, than we ever do to record stuff that's being broadcast.

However it's a great little unit, still with the same quirks and bugs though listed in my original review. It's had 1 firmware update in the last year and that did nothing of any noticeable difference.

Don't know how much they are these days, we paid $450 or so which was fine because that was about 5 months of Sky and it paid for itself.

If we were to do it again, I'd just buy a new TV probably, most of them support Freeview+ now and also support recording TV shows if you plug a USB into the back of them. Would have been a better solution and one less box to feed and water.

MikeB4

18133 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1852694 25-Aug-2017 15:47

Harvey Norman have the DMR-HT260GN for $381.00 currently.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4