Video Recorders, PVRs, Catch Up TV

[Lightwave]

Any recommendations what to buy?
We need to a new Hard Disk telly recorder.
Current one has lost its marbles and won't talk to the remote.

I'm tempted to get a box that does recording of Freeview, iPlayer etc.
Seems to be a short step from that to wanting internet browsing, youtube etc?
Or should I get a Chromecast for that? Or one of those old skool wires?

Or should I just get a PC with a tuner card? I tried that a couple of years back, it never seemed reliable.
SWMBO missed a few episodes of something. Not Good...
That does have the attraction of storing music in the same box

Slight hitch, there is wifi in the room but getting an Ethernet cable in would be a faff.

I never used to watch telly, but we've recently moved to the sticks and I've read most of the books in the public library here!

[eek]

Slight hitch, there is wifi in the room but getting an Ethernet cable in would be a faff.

That's what home plugs are for. Plug one near the router, one near the TV and jobs a good un...

[vetran]

I have a Humax hdr-1800 was £100 320GB

two tuners, DLNA server built in so you can record and watch on PC / tablet.

Has Iplayer built in, more expensive or hacked models can do more.

uses a couple of watts in standby.

mine is hard wired but there is a wireless option.

[cojak]

I have a Humax hdr-1800 was £100 320GB

two tuners, DLNA server built in so you can record and watch on PC / tablet.

Has Iplayer built in, more expensive or hacked models can do more.

uses a couple of watts in standby.

mine is hard wired but there is a wireless option.

I have a new Hummy but have been bitterly disappointed with the downgraded functionality from my old 9200T.

No screen to show the channel or whether it's recording. 64x fast forward dropped, less intuitive to use.
And the only plus is the web connection (which took an age to get the 'right' dongle) which only gives me iPlayer (which does work) and Youtube (which doesn't).

You'd be better off with a Raspberry Pi and a hard drive...

[original PM]

I have a smart TV I can just stick a memory stick in and record...

although I cannot watch something else so may not be that useful....


also does Iplayer and pretty much most of the other catch up tv sites.

[Lightwave]

I have a new Hummy but have been bitterly disappointed with the downgraded functionality from my old 9200T.

No screen to show the channel or whether it's recording. 64x fast forward dropped, less intuitive to use.
And the only plus is the web connection (which took an age to get the 'right' dongle) which only gives me iPlayer (which does work) and Youtube (which doesn't).

You'd be better off with a Raspberry Pi and a hard drive...

When you say 'only iplayer', does that really mean it won't do other channels of catch up TV, e.g. ITV?
It's hard to tell when the product is limited, from when the description on Curry's website is written by a muppet.

Are you connecting to the interweb via a USB dongle?
Our current box is a Sagem, it did good service for some years, but I think it was never the same after its firmware auto-updated....

Should I look again at the PC solution? I have a spare quad core machine, could upgrade to win8.1 quite cheaply...
I'm not a software person, I understand analogue telly better.

[BrilloPad]

I never used to watch telly, but we've recently moved to the sticks and I've read most of the books in the public library here!

Are you bored of having sex with the farm animals?

[Lightwave]

Are you bored of having sex with the farm animals?

It's arable around here...

[original PM]

Are you sure you are a wave?

I reckon you are a particle sometimes....

[TheFaQQer]

That's what home plugs are for. Plug one near the router, one near the TV and jobs a good un...

Assuming that both plugs are on the same ring main. Doesn't work at my parents house, for example, because the lounge and the study are on different mains (or something like that, I really wasn't that interested when my dad was explaining it to me).