Sony RDR-HXD870 - DVD Recorder With 160GB Hard Drive - With Freeview - Black

THE SONY RDR-HXD870 is a fantasic piece of kit.Once set up it is very easy to use.The guideplus tv guide system is just like the tv guide on any sky digibox but this can list both analogue and digital tv listings (using the built in digital and analogue tuners).Also when connected to a sky digi box or set top will also list their tv guides.The unit is very quite in operation and will record directly to the hard drive instantly.You can connect your video and sky box via the scart lead to record from these devices to either a dvd or the built in hard drive.It also has a magic eye which will change the channel on your sky digi box so when the timer is set on the dvd recorder it will change channels on the sky box automatically.I recorded a full length film to the hard drive you can edit the film or program before transfering it to dvd (handy to remove the adverts) and it only takes a few minutes amazing !!.It also has a firewire socket for connecting any digital camera or video camera you can then transfer the films or pictures direct to the hdd or dvd.It is a very very good sony machine and has on screen information to guide you threw every step from editing to even setting the timer.When you have recorded a programme to the hard disc drive and press the title list button you don't just get a list of programmes you have recorded, But you get a video of each programme you have recorded with sound brillant idea.Also when setting the timer for recording a programme you even get a small picture of the channel you are watching in the corner so you don't miss a thing.There is just two many good things to list really.Buy today and with the brilliant amazon price and their fast after sales back up from the customer service department you cannot go wrong.

This review is based after 48 hours of usage. Good build quality, smart case and lights can be turned off. Good quality digital freeview recorder (although oddly possibly not quite as good as the Sony TV). Quality of HDD recording and transfer/dubbing to DVD is very good. Integrated with digital EPG and has series record feature so even if programmes are moved it will still record them. No problem transferring HQ 16:9 from Hard disk to DVD-RW despite reports otherwise, but the manual indicates there are issues with lower quality recordings and DVD+RW. USB copying and reading is okay but bit of a gimic, will only transfer jpegs and mp3 so no copying of divx or mpeg (and no rename function I can find, so no copy and rename)however will play Divx from Data DVD or USB (haven't tried so can't comment on quality) but not mpg. Great features like the ability to edit and crop films on the hard disk. Even defrag and format functionality, the later suggesting you can replace the hard drive. HDMI connection (but no cable supplied) Up scaling to 720p is superb, noticeably better than a Toshiba SD-360.However, after all these good things there is the user interface which is poor to dreadful, I'm a tech-head and it took me a good hour to get it to show 4:3 DVDs in letterbox mode. The EPG guide is very poorly rendered on screen and frustratingly awkward to navigate, setting a recording is as bad as old fashion video recorders, there is no consistency with the interface and functions are hidden away, Vistas media centre or Apple TV are miles better. The English manual has 172 pages which says it all. I hope its a Linux kernel underneath which can be upgraded (there is an upgrade function) so hopefully we will see a dramatically improved interface. it seems odd that a company that can produce the smart interface on the PSP could make such a mess of this.So great product, great features, if you like fiddling with technology go ahead and buy one but if you want a simple to use box, think carefully.Since writing this review its become obvious that there is a software issue with the RDR-HXD ranges freeview EPG, it has a nasty habit of not recording EPG linked programs and actually wiping EPG timers not yet recorded. This can be easily rectified by seting the times manually which can be automatically set in the EPG. However that does mean that series recording won't work reliably neither will the sustem reliably adjust times for early or late programmes. At the moment Sony are publicly refusing to acknowledge this is a software error and there help desk suggest this is a hard disk fault and machines should be returned. Sorry sony but this is just silly everyones hard disk are only failing in the exact physical location where the epg info (which is probably randomly located anyway) is stored, but all other data written to the hard disk is fine. This is clearly a software fault but as the system can be upgraded over the air it shouldn't be a problem to fix it.

I really dont know why some people are having a moan about this machine,it's really nice and the picture quality is amazing both on playback and recordings.Although it has a seperate analogue and digital tuner,you can only record one program at a time,but I dont have a problem with that.The unit is extremely well made and also looks good too.It has a built in fan at the rear of the machine,which is quiet enough,and this helps to keep the unit cool when it's running,and only comes on when the unit is being used.(Standby it turns off)I agree that the instructions could have been written a bit better,but with a bit of patience it's perfectly understandable and getting the most out of your machine will soon be easy enough.There are no problems with the software,and mine from Amazon came with the latest 1.65 firmware,and even if yours dont have this firmware,it can be downloaded from the sony website,and put on a disk to update it.This is truly one amazing machine,and I highly recommend it.............So go on,get yourself one of these and be a part of the digital age.

Great item, excellent condition, prompt delivery.

Far 2 complicated for a 66 year old.instructIon manual was well over 120 pages & loose leaf, it wasn't the original. The recorder was t a new one, I hadn't under stood that when I purchased it. I'm not sure if I've been reimbursed £16 for the postage?