Some Advice Please? Need To Get A Dvr/hdd/dvd Recorder For My Mother.

[AiMsHiT]

Hi! My mothers old VCR player is stuffed, so it's long due for an upgrade. What would you recommend for under $400? Something good, with a HDD. Oh and she owns a Samsung 26" LCD TV (LA26R71BDX) if that helps.

Thanks for any help, would really appreciate it.

Edited February 25, 2008 by AiMsHiT

[diesel]

For around that price she could look at the 80GB HDD/SD DVB/DVDR from LG. It'll record/play DVDs as well as having a SD DVB tuner.

Otherwise, if you can stretch the budget up to $500-550, you can get the Pioneer/Sony/Panasonic 160GB HDD models with SD Tuner

[pgdownload]

Does she need a removable medium to keep stuff permanently or does she just tape over stuff once she has watched it? If the latter then a SD PVR might be a better option.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[Tassie Devil]

The menu system will be one of the most important items to consider. I cannot comment on the LG mentioned above but can recommend the Humax Smart PVR as being very user friendly. It is dead simple to program the timer, has good FF and RR and the 160 GB of HDD allows for heaps of recordings from the twin tuners. The tuner sensitivity is above average and the remote easy to use. PQ is fine, but there is really not much difference in this regard between the PVRs on offer.

It only has one serious (to some) drawback, and that is no chaseplay. But this was never a possibility with a VCR so your mother would not see that as a disadvantage.

Prices for it vary and some are still asking over $600 but it is for sale on e-bay for $498 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HUMAX--TWIN-DIGITAL...4QQcmdZViewItem This is over budget, but worth it IMHO.

But one word of warning. There are two models available, one has RGB ex SCART output and the other has component. From the e-bay ad I suspect it is the RGB/SCART model which could entail using the s-video output fed into the Samsung. Not a real problem - I use the s-video output feed to a DVDR and the resultant recordings are fine.

Humax make a single tuner model but I would not recommend it. We have one which is fine for time shifting but not in a regularly used system as recording ties the whole machine up and it cannot be used until the recording is finished. The Wintal PVR is an inexpensive single tuner unit with a lot to recommend it except for the messy multi use buttons on the piddly remote. I guess you could get used to it but it sure ain't user friendly and the timer is restricted to 12 settings. Otherwise it is a good buy and can be purchased very cheaply as it has just been replaced by a twin tuner model. This is within your budget at $360 odd on e-bay http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WINTAL-TRUE-TWIN-TU...1QQcmdZViewItem However I have no personal experience on that one so research what owners have said on this forum. The single tuner one I had never had any reliabilty problems.

You mention DVDR in your header. This is really only a good option if your mother would like to archive programs or record them on media to share. At the $400 price level I would be wary of a DVDR as they are much more complex than PVRs and thus more prone to problems as well as being more complex to operate. At that price level they only have analog tuners.

If you could give us feedback on what precisely your mother is looking for and how technically proficient she is, we might be able to give a more specific answer.

John

[Peter D]

And all of the above suggestions are SD. With HD material that is not on SD being broadcast, you may really want an HD box. However, you do not get a DVD recorder on an HD box.

[AiMsHiT]

Thanks for the info everyone, appreciate it. SD is fine, HD isn't needed.

Anyway, I thought theres no high-definition PVRs, DVRs, HDD & DVD Recorders on the market yet?

Edited February 27, 2008 by AiMsHiT

[Peter D]

Thanks for the info everyone, appreciate it. SD is fine, HD isn't needed.

Anyway, I thought theres no high-definition PVRs, DVRs, HDD & DVD Recorders on the market yet?

There are lots of HD PVRs.

It does not make sense to have a DVD Recorder in an HD PVR as you can only record half an hour of HD on one DVD.

[diesel]

Unless you can recode it in a format like AVCHD which will as I understand it, maintain HD PQ but able to reduce file size

[pgdownload]

Well it does now, as HD channels have different content to SD ones. Same as PVRs send an analogue signal to the TV there should be no reason why that same output couldn't be compressed same as SD DVDRs can be these days. But Aim you haven't answered the main question: Do you need a removable media (ie DVDR) or just a watch and delete box (ie PVR?)

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[Peter D]

I know the content is different - but compressing HD down to SD quality so you can put it on a DVD sounds like sacrilege.

Having said that, I kind of do that now. I always watch HD (when it is the same content as SD). But when I want to record something, I use the tuner on my computer, but only record the SD version for two reasons - takes up less space on my computer disk and I currently need to put it on a DVD to watch in my lounge room.