In article , Lobster
wrote:
My VCR is definitely on its last legs, and needs replacing
very soon. We already have a DVD playback machine; the need
here is for something to enable us to time-shift TV (ie
record programmes and watch them at a convenient time, then
delete them). Not interested in preserving for posterity
here.

One of my best ever purchases a year ago was my Pace Twin
Freeview hard disk recorder which I use for time shifting. The
real joy of it is the repeating timer: for a programme you
watch week on week you enter the details once, selecting
'weekly', 'daily' or 'weekdays' and it will be recorded each
time until you delete the entry. When it comes to playing back
you have a nice menu of recordings with each given the
programme's name, select what you want and play (skipping the
ads at x32 playback). A further plus is that Freeview also
carries BBC Radio, so you have a nice easy way of recording
radio progs too.

The only caveat is that the software is not 100% and
occasionally you do get the endless loop (only cure to switch
off at mains) or picture freeze bugs (press stop, then play)
but these are more than compensated for by the fact that it
does exactly what I want. There are some more recent PVR's
around but some only have one tuner so you cannot watch one
Freeview prog whilst recording another and some AIUI do not
have the repeating timer. And of course you need to be in a
Freeview reception area.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
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