On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 14:14:33 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

Thanks, sounds interesting. Just been looking into this one at
http://www.pacefreetoview.co.uk/02d.asp.

Looks like the Pace Twin, which I believe has been discontinued. I
have one and it has performed well for me BUT the software is not
bomb-proof and can give problems. However, it is one of the few that
currently have twin tuners so you can watch one channel and record
another. Recording quality is excellent - indistinguishable from
broadcast quality. Again note that archiving is real time only to
VCR. The hard drive is also notebook size 2.5in as opposed to the
far more common 3.5in.

I see it has a 10 hrs viewing time/ 20Gb HDD which sounds a bit on the
low side - are they upgradeable with standard PC kit? (does anyone know
if this can be done with other models?)

The drive it is supplied with is 20GB which gives qo hours recording
time. The drive can be changed to a larger one but an 80GB 2.5 in
costs nigh on £100 (as opposed to £30 for the 3.5)

Other models (Humax, Fusion) have standard 3.5 in drives and these can
be upgraded but there is IIRC no twin tuner model yet.

I also note it's subscription-free - good! - does it still get programme
details/transmission times etc over the ether, or do you have to enter
all that yourself?

Thre was only a 24 hour programme guide but IIRC parts of the country
no get up to 7 days EPG.

I would wait at least six months until newer models hit the market or
the dual mode - HDD/DVD writers come down in price, then you can
record to HDD, edit and burn to DVD.

Regards