"Mike" wrote in
:


Format doesn't really matter but buy one with a hard disc and then it
really doesn't matter.

Absolutely - the convenience of a hard disc is amazing; just press a
button to record, no finding a disc, etc.

I've got a 250Mb; I do a lot of timeshifting, but that's turned out to be
an overkill, figure 1 hour to 5 Mb at standard (excellent) quality, 4
times that at better than VHS quality.

You can start watching something before you've finished recording it, or
watch something while you're recording something else.

They will all also record to DVD disc, so you can archive, or use re -
recordable (RW) discs for further storage if your hard drive is filling
up.

A CD(R) is recordable on; A CD(RW) can also be erased and used again and
again like a VHS

As for +R(W) and -R(W): -RW is later and better, but +RW will do fine for
home recording, and will play on just about every sort of DVD.

If you can get one that handles analogue and
digital transmissions so that you don't need to buy it it's own STB
when the analogue turn-off happens.


I personally wouldn't get a digital ready one yet, IMO digital TV isn't
ready for prime time yet, and for most of us the box will need replacing
anyhow before the switchoff. In the meantime a 40 quid STB will do the
job

HTH

mike