Wanting to record TV programs with new Sony Bravia 55A8 in UK

[AlioOlio]

Hi

I’d like to record a TV programme on one channel whilst watching another channel and to be able to program future scheduling in case I’m not home & want to watch the whole series without missing an episode. Do I need an HD PVR machine?  Please advise on best option – thank you.

[Peter_S.]

Hi,

Your TV can record one channel on a connected HDD and you can watch another (unencrypted) channel in parallel.

You can also program a series that records a broadcast on the same day/time.

However, please note that the HDD will be encrypted and you cannot play back the recordings elsewhere - they're tied to your TV.

Cheers

Peter

[AlioOlio]

Thank you Peter. Forgive my ignorance but could you tell me what I search
for in order to buy a recording device and do you know of a best quality
product? Thank you.

[AlioOlio]

Thank you Peter. Forgive my ignorance but could you tell me what I search
for in order to buy a recording device that’s appropriate for the Sony Bravia 55A8? Is it a PVR for example? Also do you know of a good quality make / product that is robust and maintains the high spec of the TV when playing the program recording back please? Thank you.

[Mooly01]

What Peter is saying is that you can use a normal external 2.5 inch Hard Drive to record on the TV. The TV has basic record and playback facilities, timer setting and so on. If you use this method then you can not use 'You View' and this has to be turned off in the settings. Your recordings are also tied to the TV and can not be copied or transferred in any way. It is a useful option though. 

The drive does not have to be highly specified, even older USB2 types work very well.

A dedicated Freeview recorder is (imo) the better choice and the Panasonic DMR-EX97 should still be available from various outlets:

https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/home-entertainment/hdd/dmr-ex97eb.html 

Sony no longer make such recorders unfortunately.

[royabrown2]

@AlioOlio @Mooly01 

That Panasonic is extremely expensive, and Curry’s have a model from the same maker without the DVD drive that will do everything required for £100 less, shown amongst other boxes perhaps worth considering:-

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertainment/digital-and-smart-tv/set-top-boxes/304_3021_...

But I would get a YouView box, one of the BT DTR-T21x0 models, or even better a T4000. You can find them on eBay, and on Amazon, some new, some secondhand, at a wide range of prices. All my PVRs are YouView boxes; I look at the new pretenders to the crown as they come along, but none have yet knocked YouView off its perch.

[Mooly01]

I still like the old Sony RDR-HXD870 which has really comprehensive disc handing facilities for editing and dubbing but it is not capable of receiving HD transmissions. 

The Panasonic has superb picture quality as it records the data stream rather than converting before recording and it can record two programmes at once. It's good.