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I am looking to buy a Freesat box, but I already have a dvd recorder with a hard drive. Is it worth me buying a Freesat box with a record function / capacity,  or will a player suffice?  Basically,  should I be able to connect my dvd recorder to the Freesat box and Tv?

Yes you should be able to connect the recorder up, there are two problems I can see

  1. I'm not 100% sure on "copy protection", if you connect it up over HDMI to the recorder it MAY be that you can't record some things. I guess this was really your question anyway so I've failed to
answer that.

http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=55378.0;topicseen

 2. You'll be missing out on an integrated EPG. For me what makes recording so great is simplicity.


So erm, dodged your question there

No, you have helped me decide Batch. I'm going to get a Freesat recorder. Thanks  :)

Actually,  can you get a tv with Freesat 'built in'?

yes

If you go for a freesat recorder the Humax is the best value for money/quality.

We have had 3 different makes in 5 years and the Humax is the most reliable by a long way not failed to record once in 3 years whereas the others regularly failed (Goodmans & Panasonic).

The ability to watch one channel and record another at the same time is also a plus point for a dedicated unit with twin tuners.

I have a foxsat HDR that was my Mum's had if you want a 2nd hand one

Human Foxsat is really good. HE picture is spot on.

Take him up on that. Great box, got mine from Gumtree for £45. Series record on a 500gb drive, ideal

Another humax endorsement here. My daughter has one of their boxes in her bedroom and it has been faultless so far.

You'll have to let me know how you get on with freesat 4D. Currently considering ditching sky, I could always 'acquire' the few shows I normally watch by other means I suppose..

And me. We had one of their freeview boxes and it was superb. Now have the YouView HD box and again brilliant. Humax are the mutts nutts for Freeview PVRs

Will do,  got a dish and connections already.

But the interface really is terrible, as is the remote control.

For instance, when you delete a program, it's not like deleting a file on a PC... you have to watch the delete icon scroll up and down until it is finished deleting - and it can take a minute or two to delete! And then if you decide to delete a 2nd program, you have to wait until the first is deleted until you can delete the second one! Crap! The general interface is poor, too.

As for the remote control, it's like pressing a sponge...nothing registers so you keep pressing, and then suddenly you've scrolled down a few lines! I've had 2 Humax remote controls, and they're both the same, terrible experience.

Finally, if a program starts late or early, or finishes later (e.g. a game goes into extra-time), in my experience it doesn't automatically adjust for this. Very frustrating...

Honestly, if Humax is the best, there is room for someone to corner the market...
It DOES record things, though.

Yes the remote is poor so I use/used a "one for all" which works brilliantly with the Humax.

The interface looks fine to me, all freesat boxes take ages to delete files you have to wait for all of them unlike Sky which deletes quickly.

Yes there is a need for a better Freesat but currently there is none so the Humax is by miles the best available at the moment.

As for starting and finishing....that is a standard feature of any freesat recorder they all do that except for Sky which is tied into start and finish indicators in the program....something that only Sky do.