recording digital TV

[MaryA]

But if you find you have adequate choice of programmes from your digibox, a monthly outlay for Sky+ seems rather exhorbitant just for the facility of Series Link, when a comparatively cheaper one-off outlay for a hard drive will do what you need.

[Nick29]

Once you've had series link, you wouldn't want to live without it.  At the moment my Sky+ box has a fault, and the series link doesn't work, and I miss it terribly !   I know how to fix it, but I will lose about 30 hours of recorded stuff, so I've got some copying to do before I sort it 

[mshrmh]

Nick29 - the Humax that we have allows you to record the whole series, following the times listed on the programme guide - I think that's the equivalent to Sky's series link from what you say (and it is freeview and doesn't need a dish or subscription).

As Sylviaann has a VCR - she can still use it to record as long as she has an analogue signal - limited to the 5 standard channels. The VCR may well be able to use the PDC system which adjusts recording time for overruns etc (in theory - depends on a broadcast signal). There is no current digital equivalent to PDC on freeview, but if you set recording via the programme guide and the guide times change your recording times should change to match.

[c-side]

Series link, Nick?  Yep, certainly can    with two presses on a button

8 day guide with one off recording at the press of one button.

All for less than £100 at the supermarket and if it doesn't last too long well, at that price...  Plus it's not too wasteful when I decide to upgrade to something new.

As for easy to do in old age, Sylviaann, it is - I'm over 60 and can vouch for that 

Christine

[cathaldus]

Don't forget you can still play your VCR tapes thro' your digital TV on one of the SCART channels!
Well I can anyway!!

Bill

[c-side]

I can too, Bill.  In fact I can still record terrestrial channels if I really need three recordings at once!

Christine

[falcybe]

hello, a little question if I may.

I am in Belgium (I'm not sure if that is relevant but...) and the publicity I have seen so far (for boxes through cable supply) states that we cannot record one programme and look at another one with digital.
We have the old fashioned tv and can watch one programme, record a second on the vhs tape and a third on the dvd hard disk so you can understand I am very loth to going digital.
Now I see on this thread that possibilities are becoming greater so I would like to know just what one can do in this day and age. I appreciate that most answers applicable to me would come from Britain but I also know that tv sets sold here have tuners for the whole of Europe (under the old system whatever it is called, analog?)
Thanks for any pointers in the right direction,
falcybe

[c-side]

I'm not sure what you have in Belgium but in UK we can turn an analogue TV into the equivalent of a digital one by using a digibox - which is a digital receiver.  You can now buy recording devices with a built in digital receiver which allows the recording of digital channels.    A hard drive recorder is like a computer - no discs needed and you can buy these with twin tuners which allows access to two channels at the same time.  One to watch and one to record or, if you also have a digital TV, record on two channels simultaneously while you watch a third through the TV receiver.

Sorry if I've made that sound complicated, it's not.

Christine

[mshrmh]

falcybe, I've no knowledge of Belgian TV either.

Here the digital content is either via a conventional aerial ("Freeview") or cable (Virgin) or satellite (either "Freesat" or with a subscription & more choices Sky).

I think most of the replies are tailored to the Freeview system, but I assume cable works in a similar way from your description. Here some of the earlier recorders for freeview had only one tuner or had two - one of which was analogue. This meant that if you were using an analogue set you were restricted in the way you mention.

Personally we have an old analogue set and a Humax PVR. At the moment this means we can record two programmes (digital) simultaneously and watch either a live analogue programme or a recorded programme or a limited range of digital programmes at the same time. (Digital signals are grouped together and it depends on what is being recorded as to what third programme can be watched - one recording doesn't limit the live viewing). In this area the analogue signal will be turned off later in the year, so then we will be reliant on the PVR for all TV (unless the old TV dies in the meantime).

If Belgium is at an earlier stage of transferring to digital than the UK it may pay to hang on as more products go on the market, givin you more choice.