sony RDR-HXD870S vs RDR-HX750B

trabpc

Hi I know a little bit about tv's but nothing about DVD recorders.
I am looking at replacing sky plus with a dvd recorder such as-

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/-/264/344/-/3350265/Sony-RDR-HXD870S-DVD-Recorder-160GB-HDD-Black/Product.html?searchtype=genre

I just realised that 90% of my recordings are from RTE1 or RTE2.

I Probably will keep sky but not plus and i have a good signal from RTE ariel

Question 1

but i am bit confused some reviews mention Series Recording(UK reviews) Is this relevant only to their freeview?


Queation 2
how does this work over here( Series Recording)? the talk a lot about it here

http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/review/2007/08/06/Sony-RDR-HXD870-Digital-Video-Recorder/p1

Question 3.
How does recording work with sky box. Can it read the programme guide and set to record similar to sky+

Question 4

How does it work with uhf/vhf ariel ? same as using video plus codes from daily papers etc

Question 5

how does sony RDR-HXD870S differ from RDR-HX750B is one uk and one Irish

http://www.sony.ie/view/ShowProduct.action?product=RDR-HX750B&site=odw_en_IE&pageType=Overview&imageType=Main&category=DVD+Recorder

Would i be at a disadvantage buying the 870 over 750?

hope someone can help. have not got a clue myself!

Thanks,

311

I'm in the same boat as yourself ,the sony's are suppose to be akward to use though.

Finding it hard to pick one ,that has easy menu's:(

John R

I have a HXD-870 so I will try to answer your questions.

trabpc wrote: »

Hi I know a little bit about tv's but nothing about DVD recorders.
I am looking at replacing sky plus with a dvd recorder such as-

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/-/264/344/-/3350265/Sony-RDR-HXD870S-DVD-Recorder-160GB-HDD-Black/Product.html?searchtype=genre

I just realised that 90% of my recordings are from RTE1 or RTE2.

I Probably will keep sky but not plus and i have a good signal from RTE ariel

Question 1

but i am bit confused some reviews mention Series Recording(UK reviews) Is this relevant only to their freeview?



Queation 2
how does this work over here( Series Recording)? the talk a lot about it here

http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/review/2007/08/06/Sony-RDR-HXD870-Digital-Video-Recorder/p1

It is only available if you can get UK digital terrestrial tv (freeview) even then unless you find it very handy with sky then IMO it is not really a major feature.

trabpc wrote: »

Question 3.
How does recording work with sky box. Can it read the programme guide and set to record similar to sky+

It cannot read the sky EPG, nothing except a satellite reciever can.

It does have 2 seperate EPG systems on board (only one can be active though).

The first is the Digital Terestrial one which is only available if you can get a DT service (either UK freeview or the Irish tests in the Dublin/north Leinster area) and that will only give you details for channels that are carried on the DT service itself.

The other one is an EPG service called GuidePlus This is recieved through certain analogue channels, ITV (UTV) on analogue terestrial or Eurosport UK on sky. It downloads the programme date in scheduled chunks (usually 2 hours) several times a day but if you are using the recorder or want to use it half-way through a download it won't get in your way.

You can see screenshots and info on the site. It is not nearly as easy to use as the Sky guide and is a bit of a nightmare to get set-up but it does work and you can add all the channels you like to it. It does make setting timer recordings easy as you can just select the programmes like with Sky+. It is ad-funded so as part of the EPG you get little ads in the corner (of the EPG screen not the programmes)

It does give the facility to control your sky box automatically though as the recorder comes with a little remote controller that you put infront of your sky box.

trabpc wrote: »

Question 4

How does it work with uhf/vhf ariel ? same as using video plus codes from daily papers etc

You can use the EPG as above, video+ codes or set timers manually.

trabpc wrote: »

Question 5

how does sony RDR-HXD870S differ from RDR-HX750B is one uk and one Irish

http://www.sony.ie/view/ShowProduct.action?product=RDR-HX750B&site=odw_en_IE&pageType=Overview&imageType=Main&category=DVD+Recorder

Would i be at a disadvantage buying the 870 over 750?

hope someone can help. have not got a clue myself!

Thanks,

As far as I can tell the only difference is that the 750 is analogue only wheras the 870 has both digital and analogue tuners.

If you don't live within range of UK transmitters or the Irish tests (which may cease transmitting anyway) then there is not much advantage in getting the 870. The situation with permanent Irish DTT is uncertain atm but it is unlikely there will be anything bar tests until 2012 and there is a possibility that the system used may not be compatible with these UK recievers.

John R

_Brian_ wrote: »

I'm in the same boat as yourself ,the sony's are suppose to be akward to use though.

Finding it hard to pick one ,that has easy menu's:(

I wouldn't class them particularly hard to use. The 870 has a huge amount of options, far more than any other recorder I have seen but the menus are generally well laid out and the manual is well written if a bit big.

The more advanced features require some reading and fiddling to get the best out of it but the basics are easy enough. The remote is a bit fiddly with some buttons on the small side but (unlike bloody philips rubbish) at least the unit is responsive.

It all depends on how well you get on with home electronics in general I suppose, if you generally find VCRs, etc a struggle then maybe it is not the best choice. It would depend on what you will be using it for as well, if it is mainly for just timeshifting programmes then a cheaper model with less features might suit you more but if you want it for editing and creating DVDs then a high-end model such as these or the Panasonic Ex-77 would be better.

JimiMac

John R wrote: »

As far as I can tell the only difference is that the 750 is analogue only wheras the 870 has both digital and analogue tuners.

If you don't live within range of UK transmitters or the Irish tests (which may cease transmitting anyway) then there is not much advantage in getting the 870. The situation with permanent Irish DTT is uncertain atm but it is unlikely there will be anything bar tests until 2012 and there is a possibility that the system used may not be compatible with these UK recievers.

What if you plan on recording from NTL digital - do you need a digital tuner for this?

John R

JimiMac wrote: »

What if you plan on recording from NTL digital - do you need a digital tuner for this?

No. You don't need any tuner as the NTL digital (or sky) box is the tuner.

trabpc

trabpc wrote: »

The other one is an EPG service called GuidePlus This is recieved through certain analogue channels, ITV (UTV) on analogue terestrial or Eurosport UK on sky. It downloads the programme date in scheduled chunks (usually 2 hours) several times a day but if you are using the recorder or want to use it half-way through a download it won't get in your way.

You can see screenshots and info on the site. It is not nearly as easy to use as the Sky guide and is a bit of a nightmare to get set-up but it does work and you can add all the channels you like to it. It does make setting timer recordings easy as you can just select the programmes like with Sky+. It is ad-funded so as part of the EPG you get little ads in the corner (of the EPG screen not the programmes)

It does give the facility to control your sky box automatically though as the recorder comes with a little remote controller that you put infront of your sky box.


You can use the EPG as above, video+ codes or set timers manually.

Thanks for the reply

just on the above, if i get a new ariel how many channnels can i get on it other than the 4 irish ones.

You also say the sony does not work with the sky EPG so how exactly does it work then. Does it get the channel signal from sky but the EPG from Guideplus?
Sorry still a little confused.

John R

trabpc wrote: »

Thanks for the reply

just on the above, if i get a new ariel how many channnels can i get on it other than the 4 irish ones.

That would entirely depend on where you live. Unless you are relatively close to NI or on the east coast with an unobstructed line to the sea then the answer is probably none.

The quickest way to tell if you can possibly recieve UK terestrial TV is to look at the houses in your town, if some have aerials on their roofs pointing in the general direction of NI or Wales then you might be able to. Even then though the cost of having large high gain aerials installed is high and the reception will probably be poor. As all the UK terestrial channels bar C4 and Five are available free on satellite now it is probably not worth the cost and trouble of putting up aerials anyway.

trabpc wrote: »

You also say the sony does not work with the sky EPG so how exactly does it work then. Does it get the channel signal from sky but the EPG from Guideplus?
Sorry still a little confused.

Yes, the DVDR will record the picture from the sky box but to set recordings on the DVDR you will have to use GuidePlus or set them manually. You can still access the SKY epg as normal but you cannot use it to set recordings on the DVDR as you do with sky+

trabpc

Thanks Guys. Just bought the RDR-HX750B In Powercity in Liffey Valley had €349 price tag,asked him any deals? He gave it to me for €329. It looks nice even if it never works. Anyway here goes. I have a sony 32" 100hz Trinitron(plasma hopefully next year) and a Sky box. What is the best or only way of connecting it bear in mind i only have scart for now. and once connected can anyone go more specifically into setting up guideplus.
Thanks again John R and JimiMacfor the help

big_moe

scart from sky box to TV

scart from DVD recorder to TV

scart from sky box to DVD recorder.

and if you have NTL then connect the cable into the recorder as well.

moe

trabpc

big_moe wrote: »

scart from sky box to TV

scart from DVD recorder to TV

scart from sky box to DVD recorder.

and if you have NTL then connect the cable into the recorder as well.

moe

I thought it would be Scart from STB to Recorder then from recorder to tv.
Ill try your method. thanks

big_moe

you can do it that way but its better to have each item individually connected to the tv.

my method requires you to have two scart sockets though

trabpc

Finally got it sorted had to leave it on Eurosport for 48 hours
Seems quite ok. Good alternative to SKY Plus.

have a few more questions on this but there already seems to be a thread set up on the hx750 working with sky so ill keep these questions there from now on .

Regards,