are PVR'S (personal video recorders)any good?

Question

Are freeview pvr's any good, i dont have sky, just freeview and was gonna buy an 80gb hard drive, but are they any good, cheers, Max

Answer 1

they are good, as long as you know what you want.

It's best to get a name that you know, twin tuner ( so that you can recorded freeview, whilst watching another freeview channel ). 7 day electronic programme guide ( epg )

Humax have been getting some great review at the mo.

Hope this helps wg

Answer 2

Yes they can be but there are some rogues out there so you need to choose carefully.

Using a personal video recorder (PVR) is the easiest way to record a digital TV programme and you can record radio programmes too. You don’t need tapes or DVD discs as they have large internal hard-disks where they store all their recordings. This gives them massive recording capacity – and, unlike a VCR, the picture and sound quality of the recorded programme is just as good as the original. A PVR with two tuners lets you watch one programme while you record another.

There are PVRs for Freeview, Sky satellite and Virgin cable users. Both Sky HD and Virgin subscribers can record high definition (HD) programmes on their PVRs too but at the expense of recording time.

PVRs are simple to program and use. They all have an on-screen Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) which lists all the TV shows playing on every channel over the coming week – some will give you two weeks’ worth of listings too. You simply scroll through the on-screen guide highlighting those programmes you want to record and the PVR does the rest. You can set the timer manually, like a VCR, too if you prefer.

Once you’ve filled up the hard disc you’ll need to delete some recordings before you can add any more. But you can always download them to a VCR or DVD recorder if there are particular ones that you want to keep longer term and it’s simple to do.

Answer 3

Have hard drive built into Humax TV. Works great and no more spaghetti of wires everywhere. Easy to set up and programme. Only problem will be if the TV packs up before the hard drive or visa versa. Was cheaper to buy TV/hardrive Combo than separate, and they did have good reviews.

Answer 4

i have not tried one yet but like the idea of hard drive recording.
i read in a which magazine that they were not reliable.
the best make they say is sagem.
i intend to get one later in year.