digital recorder

[irban]

My analogue TV signal will be switched off on Sept 21st. I n eed a Digital Recorder. Do they enable you to programme 5 mins before and after so that U do not miss any of the prog. \any suggestions as to make and/model would be welcomed. (around £125)

[gingejbee]

Yes, you can extend the recording duration easily. My choice is always Panasonic, but they don't come at £125. At that price, best bets are Sony RDR-GX380 (£126) or LG DRT389H (£102). The main drawback with cheaper ones is that they are not as easy to use as pricier ones - although picture quality is still very good. (These recommendations from Which? by the way).

[irban]

I am grateful to you for taking time to replying to my query. Perhaps I will be looking at Panasonic (my existing VCR)

[Postdog]

Yes, though I'd say Humax was the most popular, and I have one of them. you RARELY miss the beginining or end as it is done by transmitted signal rather than time, though you may miss a bit of opening titles.

You can set extra times on the Humax, but if you do you lose the ability to record by series link and I should imagine that's the same for most or all makes.

[burbie]

i have a Humax digtal recorder. it was sold to me as one of the best you can buy.
it cost me about £100, but it was on offer at Tesco.
It is the best thing ive bought. I can record 2 different programmes at the same time, and I can be watching any other channel whilst its recording
You can choose to record a few minutes before, and after, or on time.
i do it on time. and dont miss anything.
Everyone said it is very easy to use, and it is, once I figured it out, and that took me weeks. as im not very technical.
Now ive got the hang of it, its brilliant.

[gingejbee]

Had irban asked about PVRs, I would have suggested both Humax and TVonics. I have found that having both a hard-drive and a DVD-drive offers more flexibility and permits easy archiving of recorded material.