Page 1 of freeview recorders

we have been looking at getting a freeview recorder for a few months, since our video broke. we only used the video occasionally so dont want to spend too much.

i have seen one, hitachi i think at argos for £69. i thought at that price it was worth it, to see what they are like. i thought i would post here first to see if anyone can offer advice. cheers

I used to have a Pace Twin which has just died on me and it`s not until you`re without one that you realise what fantastic bits of kit they are.

I`m about to buy the Hitachi myself. At £69 for 80gb it`s an unbeatable deal for a "branded" model. I say "branded" because it`s manufactured by a set top box manufacturer called Vestel. They make boxes for the likes of Asda (Onn/Durabrand), Argos (Digihome), Evesham, Tesco (Techwood) and also for Sharp and Hitachi.

The advantage with this particular model is that it`s a T825 model as opposed to T810 and T816 versions which are still available in the likes of Tesco and Asda. The T825 has the ability to record two channels at the same time whilst watching a previously recorded programme. It also has the ability to series record as well. The T810 has a single tuner so can only record the channel you are currently watching whilst the T816 can be upgraded to record two channels but it`s something that not everyone is going to be prepared to do.

Drawbacks with Vestel boxes are that they can sometimes be a little slow to respond, sometimes lock up and the software can be buggy. The upsides are a fantastic spec, value for money compared to the likes of Humax and Topfield and a very good user interface (reckoned by many people to be better than the interface on the Humax).

Let me know what you end up going for.

I was going to say that my Dad now has the Digihome 80GB recorder that`s at the top of page 376 in the new Argos book (£84.99). I can highly recommend it. Having read jakeh`s post above, it sounds like it is exactly the same as the one you are looking at!

The twin tuner works very well, and the machine has a lot of nice features including reversible picture in picture and a 7 day EPG to set your timer with.

If it is the same, as has been suggested, then I would say yes, it is a good machine. :)

This item was edited on Friday, 15th February 2008, 10:31

I think Sue`s dad will have the Digihome DTR80 which is supposed to be a T825. This is the one I was looking at as well but the Hitachi at £15 cheaper is a fantastic deal provided you get a T825 version having just read on another forum that Argos are selling the older HDR081 (T816) under the same sku code as the HDR082.

Does anyone know offhand whether the HDR081 has series record?

This item was edited on Friday, 15th February 2008, 12:05

thanks for the advice.

is there anyway to find out wether the ones they have are T825, or is it just a case of buying one? if it is the older one are they still ok? to be honest we probably wont use it that often so as long as its reliable and ok for my parents to use thats all i need. i just thought at that price it was worth trying. i will have a word with my parents and see what they think. cheers.

I think the key difference is the ability to record 2 channels.

If they are unlikely to need to do this, then it would be irrelevant to them. I certainly recommend the machine based on the EPG and ease of use.

Hope thta helps. :)

thanks for the reply.

to be honest as long as they can record and watch something else, that should be fine. they never really used the video much, i suppose they didnt have much interest in how it worked so they only watched when i set it up for them, im hoping they will be able to use this ok. they are pretty good with a dvd player, menus etc and use their freeview box and all that entails so hopefully they can pick this up quite easily. just one question, i only thought about this earlier when i was talking to my parents about how it works. i assume the recorder is a freeview box as well, or will they need to keep using their current box? i guess its a silly question but i havent had any experience of them. cheers

Sue I would agree with u re: twin record. Can`t see the point in only being able to record channel you are watching unless you`re out. Twin tuner with twin record is without a doubt the way to go - you can even record 2 and watch something you recorded earlier (or timeshift one which you`re currently recording). Got the newer Digihome myself - think it was £85 :) - a bargain.

Sp00ky

i think i will try and get one, to see what they are like. a friend of mine was asking me about them too and he had a question that i couldnt answer so i thought id ask here. he has a crt with built in freeview, how will this recorder, or a similar one work with it, will there be any problems? cheers

ive had the hitachi for a week, and i need a little help please.

on the whole the box is very good, especially for the money. it was easy to setup and it works and feels like our old standalone freeview box, which was a help for my parents. the record/guide are very good. i think i have taped/watched more in this past week than i did when our video was working.

but from day one its had a little problem. every so often it freezes for a second then carries on or it can pause/freeze then skip on a second or two. i wouldnt mind if this was once or twice a day but it happens two or three times whilst watching something. it does it on freeview and on playback. and today it has started to be very jerky and stop start. our freeview box occasionally used to go pixelated but that was down to ariel/weather etc. this seems to be a problem with the box. i have tried unplugging the box, resetting the box, changed the scart leads and other cables over. but i dont know what else i can do. the only option in the menus is format the drive, but would that do anything? i know it is a problem as my parents mentioned it today, they are the ones who are using it the most, they dont normally notice little glitches with theses things but for them to pick up on it means its bothering them.

if it is a problem with this box then i might try and swap it. the next one i guess is the digihome. i know it was mentioned above, i take it it doesnt have this problem of a jumping/freezing picture?

cheers