Sky+ or DVD Recorder

hawthorn

Hi all.
My first post..! Hope its not slightly off-topic..
I saw Sky+ in a friends house and liked it. My dilemma is whether to get Sky+ and a reasonably cheap DVD recorder (to permanently keep recordings) or to simply get a more expensive DVD recorder with Hard Disk 80-90Gig. I dont like the idea of €15 pm just to use Sky+. But is there a DVD recorder that will have the same features as Sky+ ie pause live, rewind, and info screen telling you how much memory, what programmes viewed etc etc

I saw a review of a VERY expensive Sony which got a bad review as it didnt have good facilities for, I think, editing on to DVD(something about chapters....)

So to some up:

Sky+ and cheap DVD recorder

or DVD recorder with Hard Disk

and if so what DVD recorder..!!??

Sorry for jumbled post, and many thanks.

H

DMC

I think I'm reading the same reviews as you...

For me, I'm looking out for a DVD recorder at the mo, and my sis got the Philips DVD+R/RW recorder they had in Tesco for €199. Its not bad. But she doesnt have any digital TV, just good analogue TV.

I have Sky+ myself, and I cant recommend it enough. If you get Movies and/or Sports, then you dont have to pay the €15. Its a bit of a craw if you dont. But I would like to transfer to DVD.

Ideally, I want a DVD recorder/VCR combi, as I have a lot of videos over 25 years just itching to be digitized, but the ones made so far are atrocious. Dont go near them.

Anyone see any bargains in the sales??

RobertFoster

DMC wrote:

For me, I'm looking out for a DVD recorder at the mo

If you're looking for just a DVD recorder, no HDD, then SVP/Blank Disc Shop have one for £79.99 / €117.05. It's got good reviews. (I did read another site with a lot more reviews on it, but I can't find it now...)

I was going to get one, but decided to wait until the HDD ones came down in price

**Timbuk2**

I say go with a DVD Recorder. There is a good one in Aldi (not at the moment though and I don't know when it will be, but it will be some time in the next year). It had great reviews and a good price (not sure what the price is though, just remember that it was good)

byte

DMC wrote:

Ideally, I want a DVD recorder/VCR combi, as I have a lot of videos over 25 years just itching to be digitized, but the ones made so far are atrocious. Dont go near them.

Hmm, as VCR's are getting increasingly rarer, I doubt if the combi's will get much better. I personally am not a big fan of combi units, but for some, they save space etc.

I have only used 2 combi's to date, a Sanyo (+RW only) and a Sony (+/-RW). Cant' think of model names now but the Sony one for me won hands down. Better menu system, though it is much more expensive like all Sony gear.

I would be interested to trial a Panasonic one but they're fond of their RAM discs (which despite compatibility issues are quite versatile) and I think most Panny RAM recorders also record -R/-RW also. But, as I say, I've not used one.

watty

Combis are a bad idea.

If you are only interested in free satellite channels then there are boxes like Sky+ but with DVD write/play as well as the HHD and twin sat tuners, both of which can support diseqc or motor.

watty

The RAM disk was a good idea once but with a 200G HDD costing 99 Euro RETAIL an HDD/DVD combined unit is better. Some let you edit out the adverts prior to DVD writing. The DVD-R I find the most compatible, but my old IOMEGA PC writer did all DVD single layer formats except DVD RAM. MY new LG dual layer DVD drive alleges to do DVD RAM as well as dual layer and all the single layer DVD writing formats.

No doubt newer HDD / DVD PVRs will be the same.

watty

Buy a separate JVC S-VHS. It may be the last VHS you buy.

hawthorn

Thanks all for replies. I to have a lot of VHS tapes to transfer, but heres another dilemma, would it be better/easier to do the video transferring/editing on PC?

Anyway i still cant make up my mind whether to go for SKY+ and basic DVD recorder or a good DVD recorder with HD. I do like the SKY+ features of pause live tv, good info/menus etc and still wonder if any DVD HD recorder can come near some of those features.

Was in Dixons in Limerick today, and got talking to one of the older salesmen. He certainly knew his stuff, and seemed to be a bit of a TV/Satellite nut!

He told me he has 4 (I think ) Sky boxes himself, including SKY+, and one box dedicated to the Uk EPG. Clever! So he has it all, with relatives in UK, so probably has a few cards as well. He was really helpful and nice. Told me he tapes radio shows directly onto HD and then PC and makes Cds from them!!!! Editing out the spoken bits.

Anyway they had a Toshiba for €379 (was 529) and a LG for €319, both with good HD. But he advised me to look them up online and read more about the features. So here I am! He was very helpful.

He said also that at the moment SKY have dropped their requirement for phone line to be connected.

butts

You'll get alot more info about DVD recorders at http://www.avforums.com

We got the LG 7800H. Good set of features and the quality of the mpeg recordings at the HQ setting is very good. A few niggles include having to put the machine into standy for timed recordings and not been able to do anything else such as play a DVD when a timed recording is taking place. Overall I'm happy with it and Powercitys price of €480 is pretty good considering this is the version with HDMI, although there is no upscaling.

Capt'n Midnight

watty wrote:

Combis are a bad idea.

Only consider if you don't have the space or if they are substantially cheaper than buying both units separately.

Many combis economise by using the same circitury / connectors which means some can't do both things at once. Also there are a lot more things to go wrong with them.

IMHO the video/tv combos are about the worst, only of any use to someone who needs something portable for doing demos, and nowadays you can get portable DVD players /RANT

Re transferring from VHS to DVD ALDI did a USB converter that cost €40 so if you already have a decent PC it's worth a try.