Are Sony the only company do that a Freeview DVD recorder?
There was a guy selling the new Panasonic DMRE500 on eBay. He says it has a digital tuner, but I have read the manual and I don't thin it does. It also costs about a grand. If it doesn't then the answer to your questions is, yes.
That second link is interesting.
Has this actually materialised?
The reason I ask is I received the following email from Philips customer services regarding an enquiry I made just two weeks ago.
Dear Mr xxxxxx,
Thank you for your recent e-mail.
With regards to your query we can advise that Philips do not have a
DVD recorder with a digital tuner and we have no plans to introduce
one in the near future.
We trust that the information provided will be of assistance.
Should you require any further information please contact our Customer
Care Centre (details below) quoting customer reference number
xx-xxxxxxxx
Kind regards,
Philips Customer Care
I personally thought they were missing an opportunity, but maybe they know something we don't.
Panasonic have one (maybe two) DVD recorders with freeview tuners due in Sept! Sony have 3 new models with HDD due around the sametime. If you want a reliable DVD recorder leave Philips well alone :rolleyes:
And Philips have been promising interesting dvd recorders with Freeview tuners and 5.1 recording for ages and they usually get cancelled at the last minute.
And the words reliability and Philips rarely appear in the same sentence unless accompanied by the word "poor".
Panasonic have one (maybe two) DVD recorders with freeview tuners due in Sept! Sony have 3 new models with HDD due around the sametime. If you want a reliable DVD recorder leave Philips well alone :rolleyes:
Panasonic DMR-ES20D is apparently available this month though no-one appears to have stock yet. At least one retailer is quoting 14days delivery. This machine already seems to have been subject to some delay.
I had heard of the new Sony units, but in my case I couldn't be bothered to wait and ordered a Sony RDR-GXD500. It'll probably prove adequate for my needs.
As for Philips, I only emailed them because I was curious to know why a company that has invested quite a lot in releasing DVD recorders hadn't produced one with a DTT tuner and when they intended to do so.
- Samsung DVD-SR420 - DVD-RAM/-RW/-R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan and EPG (June)
- Sony RDR-RHXD910 - HDD/DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/+R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan and EPG (Sept)
- Sony RDR-RHXD1010 - HDD/DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/+R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan, HDMI and EPG (Sept)
- Panasonic DMR-ES20 - DVD-RAM/-RW/-R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan and EPG (July)
- Panasonic DMR-EH60 - HDD/DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/+R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan and EPG (July)
- Philips DVDR7200 - DVD+RW/+R recorder with HDMI, 5.1 recording and EPG (June)
Panasonic DMR-ES20D is apparently available this month though no-one appears to have stock yet. At least one retailer is quoting 14days delivery. This machine already seems to have been subject to some delay.
14 days is probably about right. I rang Panasonic and they say it will be available 3rd week of July.
Two Freeview ones would have been more useful. Why bother with analogue?[/QUOTE]
Personally, I have a dual tuner DVR so don't need another 2 tuners. Also the analogue tuner is useful to converts old videos. My only issue is that the price is high.
I guess a single tuner DVDR is a useful addition to a single tuner DVR. Also most people won't worry about single tuner - they're just out to replace their VCR.
They don't have any competition, now the Sony's discontinued (though it is still available) until the next lot come out. That is of course assuming they can deliver in a reasonable timescale!
There's always the option of getting one with an analogue tuner but controlling a separate freeview box via the satellite controller attachment.
OK, it's not "one box"; if you've got kids or dogs in the house you'd probably want to nail everything down so that nothing could be fiddled with, but it's a solution.
I think you miss the point.
Analogue is turned off in stages starting 2008 and is totally dead by 2012.
If I can access digital terrestrial TV. Why do I want an analogue tuner?
If your VCR has a SCART you don't need an analogue tuner to back-up videos.
The bottom line is I'm either gonna buy a DVD recorder with a digital tuner or I'm gonna buy a (really inexpensive) DVD recorder with no tuner at all and get a PVR.
If your VCR has a SCART you don't need an analogue tuner to back-up videos.
The bottom line is I'm either gonna buy a DVD recorder with a digital tuner or I'm gonna buy a (really inexpensive) DVD recorder with no tuner at all and get a PVR.
With SCART isn't the signal is still analogue ? So won't you need a analogue tuner and an A/D converter ?
The fact is that VHS is pretty crap to start off with (unless it's SVHS) so it never gets any better than CVBS anyway but the last thing you want to do is take it down the RF modulated route if it can be avoided.
Bottom line is that if a VHS player has SCART output then use it!
As such the suggestion that a DVD recorder needs an analogue tuner to receive an RF modulated VHS signal to record just seems a bit odd to me. That'd only be true if the VHS player was particularly old and pre-dates SCART (CVBS) output and if that's the case it's probably worth spending £39 at Argos and getting a more up to date VHS player to use for archiving to disk anyway!
The fact is that VHS is pretty crap to start off with (unless it's SVHS) so it never gets any better than CVBS anyway but the last thing you want to do is take it down the RF modulated route if it can be avoided.
Bottom line is that if a VHS player has SCART output then use it!
As such the suggestion that a DVD recorder needs an analogue tuner to receive an RF modulated VHS signal to record just seems a bit odd to me. That'd only be true if the VHS player was particularly old and pre-dates SCART (CVBS) output and if that's the case it's probably worth spending £39 at Argos and getting a more up to date VHS player to use for archiving to disk anyway!
Cliff
Thanks - so to be clear - I think you're saying it needs a A/D converter but not an actual tuner ?
Couple more queries ...
Would recording using a DVDR with Freeview tuner be better than recording to a PVR and then playing back over RGB to a DVDR ? (This would mean Digital Signal recorded Digitally, converted to Analogue, sent over Scart, converted back to Digital and put onto DVD)
Would manufacturers no bother with a A/D convertor if it had no analogue tuner ?
The very act of recording something onto a DVD means that the Data has to be converted to a digital format as this is the way it is stored on the DVD.
As VHS is analogue to start with the quality is quite poor and you won't gain much converting it to digital.
As any conversion of the data from digital to analogue and back again is going to degrade the sgnal to some extent. The best solution is to have no conversion at any stage of the process, however this isn't possible AFAIK with the equipment currently available with the possible exception of Media Centre PC's, or PVR's equiped with USB or ethenet capablities.
So in theory yes, direct from digital tuner to DVD is best (one box). Unless you can find a integrated HDD/DVD recorder with integrated freeview tuner.
The EPG on MUX2 is so flakey at the moment that you can't rely on it anyway. Schedule changes always mess it up anyway, so I never rely on it, I sometimes use it and hope.
jam2000
Posts: 3,361
Comments
http://www.dvd-recordable.org/Article1921-mode=thread-order0-threshold0.phtml
Has this actually materialised?
The reason I ask is I received the following email from Philips customer services regarding an enquiry I made just two weeks ago.
I personally thought they were missing an opportunity, but maybe they know something we don't.
And the words reliability and Philips rarely appear in the same sentence unless accompanied by the word "poor".
Panasonic DMR-ES20D is apparently available this month though no-one appears to have stock yet. At least one retailer is quoting 14days delivery. This machine already seems to have been subject to some delay.
I had heard of the new Sony units, but in my case I couldn't be bothered to wait and ordered a Sony RDR-GXD500. It'll probably prove adequate for my needs.
As for Philips, I only emailed them because I was curious to know why a company that has invested quite a lot in releasing DVD recorders hadn't produced one with a DTT tuner and when they intended to do so.
It doesn't look like they are going to.
- Sony RDR-RHXD910 - HDD/DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/+R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan and EPG (Sept)
- Sony RDR-RHXD1010 - HDD/DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/+R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan, HDMI and EPG (Sept)
- Panasonic DMR-ES20 - DVD-RAM/-RW/-R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan and EPG (July)
- Panasonic DMR-EH60 - HDD/DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/+R recorder with PAL Progressive Scan and EPG (July)
- Philips DVDR7200 - DVD+RW/+R recorder with HDMI, 5.1 recording and EPG (June)
It's July and Philips say no.
And where is the Samsung offering?
14 days is probably about right. I rang Panasonic and they say it will be available 3rd week of July.
Snail
;-)
As usual Panasonic were optimistic about dates. The DMR-ES20D is now on the Panasonic website - and listed as out of stock of course.
One web sites says 2 weeks (again) for delivery and one says 3 weeks.
Will see when they actually get it in stock...
**I think** it has both Freeview and analogue tuners !?!?!
Mike
Two Freeview ones would have been more useful. Why bother with analogue?
Personally, I have a dual tuner DVR so don't need another 2 tuners. Also the analogue tuner is useful to converts old videos. My only issue is that the price is high.
I guess a single tuner DVDR is a useful addition to a single tuner DVR. Also most people won't worry about single tuner - they're just out to replace their VCR.
A fair point.
Pre-order for £250 + delivery doesn't sound that bad when you take into account the price of the Sony GXD-500.
http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/html/PAN-DMRES20D.htm
They don't have any competition, now the Sony's discontinued (though it is still available) until the next lot come out. That is of course assuming they can deliver in a reasonable timescale!
OK, it's not "one box"; if you've got kids or dogs in the house you'd probably want to nail everything down so that nothing could be fiddled with, but it's a solution.
Analogue is turned off in stages starting 2008 and is totally dead by 2012.
If I can access digital terrestrial TV. Why do I want an analogue tuner?
If your VCR has a SCART you don't need an analogue tuner to back-up videos.
The bottom line is I'm either gonna buy a DVD recorder with a digital tuner or I'm gonna buy a (really inexpensive) DVD recorder with no tuner at all and get a PVR.
Thanks - hadn't seen it at that price - the best I had was £270.
With SCART isn't the signal is still analogue ? So won't you need a analogue tuner and an A/D converter ?
RF modulated signal
CVBS (aka Composite) connected SCART
S-video connected SCART (or S-vid connector)
RGB connected SCART
The fact is that VHS is pretty crap to start off with (unless it's SVHS) so it never gets any better than CVBS anyway but the last thing you want to do is take it down the RF modulated route if it can be avoided.
Bottom line is that if a VHS player has SCART output then use it!
As such the suggestion that a DVD recorder needs an analogue tuner to receive an RF modulated VHS signal to record just seems a bit odd to me. That'd only be true if the VHS player was particularly old and pre-dates SCART (CVBS) output and if that's the case it's probably worth spending £39 at Argos and getting a more up to date VHS player to use for archiving to disk anyway!
Cliff
Thanks - so to be clear - I think you're saying it needs a A/D converter but not an actual tuner ?
Couple more queries ...
Would recording using a DVDR with Freeview tuner be better than recording to a PVR and then playing back over RGB to a DVDR ? (This would mean Digital Signal recorded Digitally, converted to Analogue, sent over Scart, converted back to Digital and put onto DVD)
Would manufacturers no bother with a A/D convertor if it had no analogue tuner ?
As VHS is analogue to start with the quality is quite poor and you won't gain much converting it to digital.
As any conversion of the data from digital to analogue and back again is going to degrade the sgnal to some extent. The best solution is to have no conversion at any stage of the process, however this isn't possible AFAIK with the equipment currently available with the possible exception of Media Centre PC's, or PVR's equiped with USB or ethenet capablities.
So in theory yes, direct from digital tuner to DVD is best (one box). Unless you can find a integrated HDD/DVD recorder with integrated freeview tuner.
Looks like the Panasonic's here then.
http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_26093.html
The only disadvantage for me is the lack of EPG - the reason I bought a DVR was to avoid the problems of getting the wrong date, time, tape, etc.
Anyone ?