Want to watch and record Freeview in crystal clear HD (high definition) ? Then why not have a look at the Sony SVRHDT500B – it’s massive 500Gb hard drive will let you record up to 300 hours of your favourite TV programs in normal definition, or up to 125 hours if you want to record in HD. Combined with a twin tuner that lets you watch one channel while up to 2 others are being recorded make this a very versatile Freview PVR.

Besides having all the features of Freeview+, it’s monolithic (you’ve seen 2001 a space oddity right ?) styling concept features luxurious materials with a cool, minimalist finish (if that floats your boat) to make it a perfect match with the BRAVIA TV.

So what do you get for you money ?

Freeview+ benefits of this PVR :

• An eight-day electronic programme guide (EPG)
• Series link – this lets you record an entire series with just the touch of a button
• The ability to record split programmes as one programme – eg if a film has a break in the middle to show the news, both parts will be recorded
• Offer to record related programme
• Can scan for alternative showing times if there is a time conflict between what you want to record and something else in your planner
• Schedule changes updated in standby – if the recorder is in standby mode it can still tell if the scheduled recording time is changed and make allowance for this
• Accurate recording because programmes are recorded based on signals from the broadcaster rather than scheduled time. As long as the broadcaster sends the correct signal !

On top of this the Sony SVRHDT500B Freeview+ HD Recorder can :

• Use its twin tuners to record one progamme while watching another. Or record two programs at the same time
• Pause, rewind and playback live TV
• Record up to 300 hours of SD quality TV, or 125 hours of HD quality on its 500Gb hard drive
• It’s got two USB ports that you can use to connect an external hard drive or USB stick to view photos or access JPEG images, MPEG movies or MP3 music. You can even use an external hard drive to back up your recorded programmes in the unlikely event that you start to fill up the internal hard drive

If you want to buy this recorder you can get it on sale on Amazon through this link.

Make sure your TV is switched off, then take the aerial lead out of the back of the TV and plug it into the aerial socket on the digital box. Plug the Scart lead into the ‘TV’ socket on the digibox, and then the other end into the first Scart socket on your TV. Switch the TV onto standby then switch on with the TV remote.

Next plug the digital box in and switch it on. Most TVs will automatically detect the box, if not then select AV1 on the TV remote. Most digital boxes will then tune automatically. Once it has tuned you use the Freeview remote control to change channels and volume.

When you press the red button a menu is displayed. You can see in the menu different categories of information – these are like ‘extra’ channels some of which have live TV of anything from major music festivals to sports events. So you could choose which court you wanted to watch at Wimbledon or which band to see at Glastonbury. Ever wanted to watch live F1 practice ? You can find it here !

Use the arrow keys and find weather for example. You can then go through the menus and find up to date weather information for your area.

To go back use the yellow button, and you can see other useful categories such as travel information, children’s games and puzzles, lottery results, business news and loads more. Use the red button to get the information you need when you want it – no need to wait for a news button or weather forecast – just press the Red Button.

Every freeview recordeer has a seven day program guide so you can set it to record well in advance of the program being broadcast. Twin tuner freeview recorders will allow you to watch a different program to the one you are recording.

How about recording an entire series ? This is almost as simple. Just go to the TV guide and use the arrow key to find the program you want to record. If it’s a series you’ll automatically be given an option to record the entire series. Select and that’s it ! Most machines have enough storage space to record up to 100 hours of programs.

To pause live TV just press the ‘Pause’ button on the Freeview remote control, then to resume watching press ‘Play’ on the remote control. If you miss something first time round, just press ‘Rewind’ to watch it again !

That’s the beauty of Freeview+ – pause, record and rewind TV with no monthly bills !

Shortly after midnight, analogue BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five were turned off permanently enabling extra digital channels to be broadcast from 61 local relay transmitters serving thousands of homes.

Viewers will need to retune Freeview equipment to receive all channels.

Analogue BBC One, S4C, ITV1 and Five were turned off permanently at the
Wenvoe transmitter group shortly after midnight, allowing extra channels to be broadcast from 75 local relay transmitters serving thousands of homes, and making Cardiff the UK’s first digital capital city.

Existing Freeview viewers were also affected by the changes who may find some of their channels missing this morning. The services have moved to new frequencies and can be restored by retuning Freeview TVs and Freeview boxes.

Analogue signals will be switched off in two stages at each transmitter group – Stage one when analogue BBC2 is switched off followed by Stage 2 when the rest of the analogue channels are turned off.

The dates for switchover in the central belt are:

The analogue BBC Two was turned off permanently shortly after midnight and engineers started switching on digital signals at 61 local relay transmitters serving many thousands of homes. This is the first time that viewers in these areas will be able to receive Freeview digital channels.
The changes also affect existing Freeview viewers who may find their BBC TV channels are missing. The services have moved to new frequencies and can be restored by retuning Freeview TVs and Freeview boxes. After retuning, some viewers may find they can recieve services from both England and Wales. Advice on choosing preferred channels is available from Digital UK.

The second and final stage of switchover in the West TV region takes place on 7th April when the remaining analogue channels will be switched off permanently for Bristol, parts of Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. Further Freeview channels from ITV, Channel 4 and Five will also become available on this date from relay transmitters for the first time.

With just a one off payment for a digibox or digital TV or digital TV recorder you can enjoy over 48 television channels together with well over 20 digital radio stations.

Combine this with improved picture and sound quality plus a host of interactive red button features and you’ll wonder why you never switched to Freeview sooner !

No subscription needed, so buy your Freeview+ recorder box with its Freeview+ logo, plug it in, kick off your shoes and sit back and enjoy free digital TV. The digital TV recorder and the digital TV tuner are combined in one box so say goodbye to trailing cables cluttering up your living room or bedroom.

A Freeview+ recorder will also let you pause, record and rewind live TV. You can even record a whole series with one touch of a button. You control your own TV viewing experience !

The final stage of digital TV switchover in north east Wales completed on 25th November, extending digital terrestrial television (Freeview) coverage to all households served by the Moel y Parc transmitter group. All terrestrial TV signals were turned off shortly after midnight and a team of engineers worked through the night on the switch to all-digital TV services. Analogue services will remain switched off permanently, allowing new Freeview channels to be broadcast from 22 local relay transmitters serving areas such as Penmaen Rhos and Llangollen for the first time.

The Granada TV region switchover started on 4th November when BBC2 was switched off.
The rest of the analogue channels – BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five – will be permanently switched off on 2nd December. At the same time the Freeview signals will be boosted allowing around 500,000 more viewers access to the Freeview platform.

Seller: Amazon

The Wharfedale LP160DTRHDMI is a pretty impressive piece of kit for the money – not many freeview recorders give you twin tuners and a 160Gb hard disk for less than £100 ! Because it has twin tuners you can watch one digital channel while recording another, or record two channels simultaneously whilst watching a previous recording. Freeview+ features include the usual Pause and Rewind live TV, series record and an 8d ay EPG. Overall it’s fairly easy to use and value for money (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The Panasonic DMREX98 is a great multi-function freeview recorder with easy recording and playback from the VIERA link giving direct TV Rec Pause Live TV pauses a TV program with the same ease as pausing a DVD disc and you also get series record (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The DMR-EX89EB-K Freeview+ Recorder is easy to install and use, and is packed with features. It comes with a comprehensive 98 page manual that is clear enough so you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand it. The 400Gb HDD gives you plenty of room for recording (712 hours – if you record everything in the lowest-quality EP mode, SP mode gives 178 hours and in top-quality XP mode you’ll get 89 hours)
This all-singing, all-dancing has all the Freeview+ functions – series record, timeshifting etc. However, it only has a single tuner so you’ll either need a freeview box or TV that has a built in freeview tuner to be able to record one TV program while watching another (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The Humax PVR9300T Freeview Recorder is great twin tuner Freeview+ Recorder with a massive 320GB HDD which is good for 200 hours of recording.

It has all the Freeview+ features you would expect – including split-program (good when recording ITV, which often drops news bulletins halfway through movies), alternative showing recommendations if there’s a timer ‘overlap’ and automatic complete series recording.

Don’t miss your favourite programmes ever again. Equipped with the latest technology and a slimline design, the Humax PVR9300T freeview recorder provides digital terrestrial broadcast reception, and offers up to 200 hours worth of recording with its integrated 320GB hard disk drive. It enables you to record one channel while watching another and to record two channels simultaneously while playing back a previous recording. There’s also a Picture-in-Picture function so you can enjoy two of your f (more…)

The Digital Stream DHR8203U Freeview Recorder comes with Friewview+, HD, twin tuners and a 320GB HDD. On top of that and all its other features the price has been dropped by £130 making this a great bargain buy.

Besides the ususal Freeview+ features you’ll find stunning picture quality on the HD channels while the SD channels still offer an excellent picture.

The twin tuner means that you can record two programs at once – you can even watch a third channel while your doing this provided that it’s on the same multiplex as one of the recorded channels.

You’ll find the DHR8203U has plenty of connection options – it’s got HDMI, two Scarts, composite video, stereo audio, optical audio and a Common Interface slot for adding Top Up TV viewing cards.

You won’t miss your favourite programs thanks to its 8 day Electronic Program guide, and you’ll soon be wondering how you lived without its other features such as Split Recordings, Picture and Text, High Definition for superior picture quality and Dolby Digital Plus for excellent sound quality, Auto re-tune, Power Saving Mode, and Picture in Picture which enables you to watch one channel while previewing another.(more…)

Seller: Amazon

DMR-EZ28EB-K DVD Freeview Recorder an easy to use freeview DVD recorder with giving excellent picture quality thanks to its selection of quality settings : the highest quality setting will allow a maximum of one hour recorded onto a standard single layer DVD, the ‘Standard play’ setting allow 2 hours of recording, ‘Long Play’ allows 4 hours and ‘Extended Play’ allows 6 hours of recording.
It’s a very simple machine to set up and you can easily change from wide screen to oridinary screen. The Freeview Recorder can display the full FreeView program guide for all channels and (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The Toshiba DVR19DTKB2 Freeview+ DVD/VCR Recorder Combi is the ideal machine for you if you have a large collection of recorded VHS tapes as it comes complete with a VHS video recorder for short term recording and playback.

As well as the VHS recorder, the Toshiba DVR19DTKB2 Freeview+ DVD/VCR Recorder Combi also comes with a DVD recorder and built in Freeview tuner giving you a large choice of TV channels and radio stations through your existing television aerial. The digital tuner means it’s ideal for the digital switchover with no need for a separate digital set top box. If you’re worried about your VHS tapes ‘going off’ then it’s a simple matter to copy them to blank DVDs.

It’s also a great looking (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The Topfield TF5810 is easy to set up and use (the operating instructions are easy to follow and written in plain English) and the twin digital tuner means you’re able to record 2 programs whilst watching a third on TV. If you have a reasonable digital signal the picture quality is perfect.
This Freeview recorder also features HDMI with HD upscaling of Freeview to 1080i, a huge 500gb hard disc (up to 250 hours of recording), two digital tuners for simultaneous recording and viewing of multiple channels and file transfer to/from a PC via USB.
The eight-day electronic programme guide enables you to (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The Toshiba RD-XV59DT (RDXV59DTKB) is a great VHS, all-in-one DVD and Hard Disk recorder with Freeview. It does it all, is easy to use (once you’ve mastered the slightly over complicated user manual) and comes at a great price making it perfect for the digital switchover. If you’ve got a lot of prerecorded VHS tapes it’s the ideal machine for copying them to DVD.
It’s got an amazing feature list – HDMI connectivity with full 1080p HD upscaling, component video and Scart connections, playback from and recording to DVD, VHS cassette and its built-in large 250gb hard disk. This freeview recorder (thanks to Freeview+) even has ‘Chase Play’ and ‘Pause Live TV’ options.
It has an easy to use EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) to show you the coming week’s programs (more…)

Seller: Amazon

This excellent digital recorder combines a hard drive recorder, dvd recorder and freeview+ to create a freeview recorder which is one of the most versatile on the market today.
It has a 250GB capacity hard disk which gives a maximum recording of 710 hours or 36 hours if you use the HQ+ recording mode, and BRAVIA Sync automatically controls TV and Home Cinema. The main downside is that is only has a single digital tuner (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The DMr-EX769EB-K gives you a complete solution to your recording requirements. Record to its 160Gb hard disk or onto the multiformat DVD recorder. You can fit from 35 hours (top quality XP recording mode) up to 279 hours (lowest quality EP mode) onto the hard disk. It has only one Freeview tuner so you’ll still probably need a Freeview set top box or TV equipped with a built in digital tuner, but the good news is it’s Freeview+ so you get the full range of features including series recording, pause live TV and split recording.
The instruction manual is a little complicated at first glance but once you know what you’re doing it’s easy to use (more…)

Seller: Amazon

The Humax PVR9150T 160GB is great twin tuner Freeview Recorder for a great price. It lets you to record one channel whilst watching another, watch two channels simultaneously by using the Picture in Picture (PiP) modes or record two channels simultaneously whilst watching a previously made recording.
The PVR9150T also has loads of easy to use playback features. You can pause and rewind live TV, watch in slow motion, skip commercials in recordings and easily browse the channel listings. Timer recordings be set using the simple Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) which shows you what’s on for the coming week.
There’s plenty of room for recording too – the PVR9150′s 160GB hard drive will give you up to 100 hours of recording!
With superb (more…)

Seller: Amazon

Cheap and cheerful bargain basement price freeview recorder AND it comes with twin tuners.
It’s got a 250gb hard disk which gives you a maximum recording time of about 120 hours, and Freeview+ features such as series record and pause live TV (more…)