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Amir
20th-December-2006, 11:01 AM
anyone 'ave a digital tv recorder they would recommend?

If so, I recommend you recommend it 'ere:

HelenB
20th-December-2006, 11:42 AM
I've got a Humax 9200T PVR - had it since last Christmas

it's been great, there's been a couple of upgrades in the past year which has made it even more user friendly (such as being able to start watching a program that is still recording)

great thing about it is the twin tuner so can record 2 channels and watch another (or something else you've recorded) :cool:

once you've had a pvr though you keep trying to skip adverts whilst watching normal tv - really frustrating :sad:

Chef
20th-December-2006, 11:47 AM
I bought a Topfield 5800 about a year ago and it has turned out to be a really great buy.

It has a 160 Gb hard drive and two digital tuners (so you can record two programmes at once and watch a third one - which does happen sometimes). It has a USB connection so that I can transfer programmes from the recorder to my computer and then, with the aid of a software package, edit the programmes to remove adverts or just make a collection of dance snippets, before burning a DVD. The PVR also has two card slots for accessing subscription TV channels (although I have not used these so I can't comment).

It has a huge user base (see http://www.toppy.org.uk) and any problems seem to get sorted out there. Some of these users also write add on programs for the recorder to add extra features. I like the way that the software can be updated and added to and that if the hard disk ever fails all you have to do is insert another one and it just automatically formats and uses the new hard drive. Some users have 700 Gb hard drives in their recorders (no, I don't know why they would want to store that much).

Dreadful Scathe
20th-December-2006, 01:31 PM
built my own one for £300 - 300gb HD, DVD Dual Layer writer, nice black stealthy box, TV card with nice remote, decent cpu, lots of memory so it runs very fast :) probably cost £700 to buy pre-built.

Alternatively, LiteOn do a few good PVRs - got one of them too - £180 - dont remeber the version number, and its at home and im not :)

Perhaps the important question is what do you need it to do? and maybe what do you want it to look like ?

Amir
20th-December-2006, 01:45 PM
built my own one for £300 - 300gb HD, DVD Dual Layer writer, nice black stealthy box, TV card with nice remote, decent cpu, lots of memory so it runs very fast :) probably cost £700 to buy pre-built.

Alternatively, LiteOn do a few good PVRs - got one of them too - £180 - dont remeber the version number, and its at home and im not :)

Perhaps the important question is what do you need it to do? and maybe what do you want it to look like ?

possible christmas pres for someone who messes around recording many things on tape. Will save her a lot of hassel. Ease of use and reliability are important. I have looked at buying Humax but heard it misses out the beginning or end of things sometimes. I think large storage capacity is also important as weeks can go by before she gets a chance to watch something. Can't get anything that might crash and lose all the recordings or something.

David Franklin
20th-December-2006, 01:59 PM
built my own one for £300 - 300gb HD, DVD Dual Layer writer, nice black stealthy box, TV card with nice remote, decent cpu, lots of memory so it runs very fast :) probably cost £700 to buy pre-built.Sounds interesting - could you give the full spec? How noisy is it?

I'm pondering between "build my own", get a PVR, and get a Mac Mini. My growing feeling is that the "boys toys" are all very well, but for "no fuss, no muss", one might as well buy the "appliance" and be done with it. Also a bit put off on the PC route that whatever "small form factor" you choose, it's still a rather deep box in a place where we don't want a deep box. Mac Mini wins on that count, and the fact that Bryony wasn't bowled over in horror at the looks is a bonus as well...

ducasi
20th-December-2006, 01:59 PM
I have a dead Philips PVR. I had recorded loads of things on it that I will never see. It died once before and I managed to get it repaired under warranty, but it didn't last long before dying again.

I won't buy another Philips one. I keep hoping the NTL will get their "Sky+" rival system sorted out soon, but I figure it'd still be good to get something that allows me to transfer recordings to DVD, or to my computer.

Whatever I get, until NTL get themselves sorted it, it has to be able to control my cable box – something which I think would be difficult in a do-it-yourself solution.

Dreadful Scathe
20th-December-2006, 03:47 PM
Well, basically you need a barebone pc in a pleasant looking box and extra stuff to put inside it.
Here's how someone else did it (http://www.server-guy.com/building-a-dvr/)

Ive kept a lot of this fairly vague e.g. Ive not discussed why i picked the TV card I did. I'll add other comments later.

Heres how I built mine. First, pick the box.

This Asus Pundit (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=23883683027&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=114089)(look to the left of that page for other box options) is £100 and comes with 5.1 sound (spdif in / out ), large fan to keep it quiet, onboard gfx card, card slots and all the other ports you need. It also comes with 2 "full" size PCI slots. Just. I got a full size WinTV card in there but I had to remove a plastic cable tidy from the side of the box to do it. That will, no doubt, restrict the air flow and increase the noise of the fan slightly as it compensates during use. However, nearly all boxes nowadays have "intelligent" fans with them. They will get faster and noisier the busier the computer is but, they are generally designed for the livingroom so their "top volume" is not likely to be very high,. In practice, this means that even when playing cpu intensive computer games (not the most common use for a PVR) it won't sound anything like your big box PC you got from PCWorld ;) Usually the spec will give you a decibel rating, if not on the shopping site, then it should on the manufacturers site. The Asus mentioned above is not quite the one I got - slightly different spec - its the CPU / Memory type that differs as well as the general speed of the motherboard.

Once I had the box I needed to "fill it". Heres my shopping list - prices do NOT include VAT , but are over 6 months old.
n.b. number in brackets (12345) is ebuyer.co.uk quick find code.

1 x Intel Celeron D 331 2.667Ghz Skt 775 (93116)
£28.07 (need to get the correct Socket type for your PC)

1 x Hauppauge Win TV PVR 350 PCI Hardware DVD Encoder with TV Tuners-Video Input/Output/Remote Control (45466)
£76.58 (if you want freeview a usb adapter is less than £30 you could get both and have dual recording ability)

1 x Kingston Value Ram 1GB 533MHz DDR2 Non-ECC (64183)
£46.27 (512mb is a minimum, 1gb is better. Memory type depends on PC its going into)

1 x Ebuyer Extra Value IDE cable Rounded UDMA Ultra 133/100 24" Blue (88074)
£1.39 (got cables for hard drive and then discovered they came with the box, still..£1.39 for nice round ones, better for airflow)

1 x Ebuyer Extra Value USB 2.0 5.25 Aluminium Silver Caddy & Uk Power Cable & Power Adapter & Fan (74824)
£10.99 (not needed for PVR, but can be handy,put a hard drive in it and you have portable files and the quickest
way to get your saved programs off the PVR. )

1 x Western Digital Essential Hard Disk Drive 320GB USB2.0 External - Retail (95654)
£74.67 (i put this harddrive in the box, i had another one for Caddy above)

I already had a DVD writer, black to match the box, was £20 from ebuyer. Best type I think are still NEC and may be useful to get DL (dual layer) but certainly it should read and write + and - discs.

Its worth mentioning that although nearly all boxes come with onboard sound, they dont all come with a gfx card. However, you really dont need an expensive gfx card for a PVR BUT you do get gfx card / tv card combinations so you do not need to worry about using 2 slots.

Grand total: £300+


--------Things to think about----------

half size pci slots

A box really should say in its specification that it has room for only half size cards, which then restricts what you can buy to fit into them. It may not though - it depends on the shooping site really, so thoroughly research the box you like the look off to make sure.

Position of ports

Check where they are and if it'll look ugly. For example the ASUS pundit box has SPDIF in/out ports, great, but they're at the front, so the sleek lines are spoiled by the large cables. Shuttles can have their ports front OR back, just check which.

How it looks in my livingroom

There is no real issue with the principle of turning any computer on its side, all DVD players will hold the DVD in so it shouldnt fall out, but, there may be other issues. One issue with the Asus Pundit above is the "click panel", it looks great lying flat but the hinge for the click panel is rounded and recedes back under the machine. This means if you DO lie it flat you have to have it slightly overhanging a shelf so that the door fully opens. This is fine if you are putting it inside a tv unit on a shelf or similar. Be aware of the possible problems with the design of your favourite box. In an ideal world, you would view a box before you buy it, but thats not that realistic. It's best to find what you like the look of then go to the manufacturers site and look there for fuller diagrams, manuals and the like. If you still have questions look for a forum that discusses the merits, or not, of particular makes. Heres the best place to start (http://www.byopvr.com/Topic8.html)

Network Access

All barebone boxes are likely to come with LAN ports. When connected to your network the PVR, and its software, comes into its own. It can access any information it needs from the internet, update itself, and allow you access it from your mobile so you can change the programs you're recording...and suchlike :) A network cable through the livingroom is not ideal for many people, but a 802.11g card can cost about £10, in fact even a 11b card (slower) or usb stick would do as most of the "traffic" will be internet traffic and won't use the extra speed. If you really need to transfer video back and forth to another PC then a wired network solution is the best option.

Good place to source barebones systems apart from ebuyer.co.uk are scan.co.uk , dabs.co.uk and ...google :)

-------WAIT!! I have a box - its built, yet does nothing?!?---------

You need an operating system next. I would recommend you avoid Windows Media Center, too much of the control of what you do with the PVR is taken from you.

Your practical choices are Windows XP or Linux.

If you don't have XP it will cost about £60 if you buy it with some equipment above.
You can then use the excellent, and free "Media Portal" as I did.

Or , go the free Linux route and use MythTV.

see here for info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_center)

---------------Other options--------------------

Liteon products

Theres plenty other makes, feel free to mention on this thread, but I like LiteON :) Ill mention some later if no one else wants to do it. I do work too you know :)

Use a computer you already have.

Uglier and noisier, but if you buy PowerCinema from ebay and install it on your windows machine, you can put the infra red receiver somewhere visible and hide the rest of the box (Of course, if you are using a DVD writer you'll need some access for that to change them over :) ). Make the PC boot straight into PowerCinema. Sorted. £30 for powercinema with receiver and remote and £10 or so for a cheap compatible TV card.

Chef
20th-December-2006, 04:16 PM
possible christmas pres for someone who messes around recording many things on tape. Will save her a lot of hassel. Ease of use and reliability are important. I have looked at buying Humax but heard it misses out the beginning or end of things sometimes. I think large storage capacity is also important as weeks can go by before she gets a chance to watch something. Can't get anything that might crash and lose all the recordings or something.

It looks like you are leaving it a bit late for getting something from an internet supplier. I have found a shop that sells them at

http://www.pvrrus.com/acatalog/250GB_Hard_Disk.html#a5

that used to be called Heathrow systems (so might be near you should you want to collect one before Xmas). The web page gives a useful amount of information for the Topfield (250Gb version £280).

The problem of missing off bits of the end or beginning of programmes is largely due to the broadcasters not being accurate with their transmission times. Almost all of the PVRs that are out an about can allow you to start recordings early and/or let them run on longer than the advertised transmission times and this can stop the ends being chopped off programmes that finish late. I also haven't had any problems with my one crashing. Even when we have had a power failure at home it restarts in standby mode and then gets on with recording the next thing on its list (all the recordings and timers are held on the hard disk and are not lost in the event of power failure).

They are definately more useful than recording stuff on tape. Most programmes are watched and then discarded and only a few of them are things you would like to keep. The gems you want to keep end up buried in the middle of a tape and you often end up recording over things you wantto keep.

Something else that you might like to consider is the Sky+ box (if getting more than the FreeView channels is important to you). A few of my collegues have them and like them very much (being able to record whole series in particular) although they need a paid subscription.

David Franklin
20th-December-2006, 04:47 PM
~stuff~Thanks for that! :respect:

So you're happy with the noise from the Pundit? I've seen quite a few people on the forums complaining about the fan noise. And how much of a hassle do you find having to boot the machine before playing CDs/DVDs?

Mary
20th-December-2006, 10:16 PM
Try checking out a recent Which? report. Good for reporting on general high street stuff - does not really deal with really specialist stuff.

M

Mary
20th-December-2006, 10:58 PM
Have just had a quick look. Which? tested PVR'S in their September 2006 issue. Mine's still buried in a box somewhere, but the library will have a copy.

In December's issue they recommend a Panasonic DVD/PVR combo. It has tuner, flexible recording, memory card slot, HDMI, amongst other things.

I'm afraid I'm not really geeky enough to go into real techie stuff - I'll leave that to DS & DF.

M

Dreadful Scathe
21st-December-2006, 09:16 AM
possible christmas press for someone who messes around recording many things on tape. Will save her a lot of hassel. Ease of use and reliability are important. I have looked at buying Humax but heard it misses out the beginning or end of things sometimes. I think large storage capacity is also important as weeks can go by before she gets a chance to watch something. Can't get anything that might crash and lose all the recordings or something.

Well you never mentioned time shifting or any fancy capabilities - so I think THIS (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/99535) might do for you.
Its only a DVD disc recorder at £75, but DVD discs are a mere (snigger) £8.22 for 50 discs here (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111241/rb/23901070243). 6 hours of TV per DVD !! and you could get 10 re-writable ones for £5 for the programmes she doesnt need to keep from here (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123035) .

The DVD recorder also plays divx, very handy for those downloaded-via-bittorrent tv programs.

BUT....Less then double your money for a DVD Hard Drive Recorder (£125) from here (http://audiovisual.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/sbs/100304323/15630944.html#) - record to Hard Drive! more like Sky + .....and handier, no discs to worry about unless you want to save whats on the hard drive of course :)

Amir
29th-December-2006, 09:12 AM
Thanks for the tips guys. Just so you know ended up getting the Humax 9200T PVR. I forgot to say that I also wanted to the gift to include the freeview option, which the Humax does.

So far it works brilliantly - very easy to use. Only issue is some channels come out of reception. I think the extention cord is poor quality, so will try find a better one.

Seeyas!