£99 Twin Tuner Digital Video Recorder from Aldi

[corskey]

anyone got any idea what this is like - it looks like the dogs dingly-danglies

(Thursdays offers)


http://www.aldi.co.uk/

[Simate]

Looks good to me, the 3 year warranty would be peace of mind alone. If there was anything worth recording off tv I'd get one. Good find that.

[Shambles]

It's not bad at all, with twin tuner and all.

If the drive could be upgraded it would be more than splendid. I changed my 40Gb Sagem drive to a 250Gb drive, and can record upto 104 hours so if this 80Gb drive could be upgraded....

[supacook2k]

could i use this to record normal tv i.e not digital. reason being i dont get freeview til september but this seems like a good offer

[Simate]

could i use this to record normal tv i.e not digital. reason being i dont get freeview til september but this seems like a good offer

No idea, but grab it while you can anyway

[harryb]

could i use this to record normal tv i.e not digital. reason being i dont get freeview til september but this seems like a good offer

what do you mean you don't get freeview till september? the mast in your area isn't transmitting freeview or you don't have a box?

the thing comes with a freeview tuner... but to record off normal tv you can probably plug your aerial in or you could use a video player to output the tv signal to composite or scart and then plug it into the recorder box.

[barakuda]

I don't think you can just plug in an input and record that can you? I think you can only record off the inbuilt tuners - unless someone knows otherwise.

[supacook2k]

what do you mean you don't get freeview till september? the mast in your area isn't transmitting freeview or you don't have a box?

my area will not be transmitting freeview until september and i dont have a freeview box either

[harryb]

almost all dvd recorders let you record from an input source, wouldnt be much use if you could only record tv not old vhs tapes etc?

[brumbino]

I bet there's Macrovision on it so I think I feel a challenge coming on...

[sniper]

its not a dvd recorder , and at that price I doubt very much it will have any other inputs than the coax

[Simate]

its not a dvd recorder , and at that price I doubt very much it will have any other inputs than the coax

Twin tuner 80GB Personal Video Recorder with FREEVIEW
The latest development in digital viewing and recording technology
Each unit has a digital receiver and recorder
Twin tuners allowing you to watch one channel whilst recording another - beware of single tuner products
The hard disk drive lets you record without the need for tapes or DVDs
Receives all FREEVIEW digital TV channels
80GB hard disk drive
Remote control
Works with your existing TV
Digital RED BUTTON interactive Teletext (MHEG 5)
Easy set up and installation with automatic channel search
Twin SCART sockets (SCART lead included)
Now and next information
Electronic Program Guide (EPG)
Slim line design
Plus over 20 free digital radio stations
Now with 3 year manufacturer's warranty for complete peace of mind

[harryb]

bah just my thinking like, if you're buying always best to check it out completely.

[barakuda]

its not a dvd recorder , and at that price I doubt very much it will have any other inputs than the coax

Exactly. I know someone who bought a decent Topfield twin tuner PVR. That will let you export to PC but it won't let you import or record from an external source.

I reckon that the SCART sockets on this are output only. Generally you can only record stuff by selecting it in the inbuilt EPG - and your scart sockets don't show up in there. Of course, I don't own one (I'm thinking of buying this one today) so I don't know for sure. The fact is that this is still a very good price even if it can't let you record an external source. The only thing that worries me is the low quality of past Tevion/Medion stuff that I have bought - buying this may be false economy.

[Simate]

Exactly. I know someone who bought a decent Topfield twin tuner PVR. That will let you export to PC but it won't let you import or record from an external source.

I reckon that the SCART sockets on this are output only. Generally you can only record stuff by selecting it in the inbuilt EPG - and your scart sockets don't show up in there. Of course, I don't own one (I'm thinking of buying this one today) so I don't know for sure. The fact is that this is still a very good price even if it can't let you record an external source. The only thing that worries me is the low quality of past Tevion/Medion stuff that I have bought - buying this may be false economy.

Why would 2 scarts be output only? Just curious

[Simate]

or get this which according to people on Digital Spy Forums can record 2 channels at once and have the hard drive upgraded with ease.
Was £149 but now £99 at Argos
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/5320840.htm

[The Nail]

Just got back from Aldi and opened the box. I don't think you can record anything but from the inbuilt tuners and only one channel at a time, but one of the scarts is input so you can connect your DVD or video through it. There's a digi audio out on both RCA phono and coax leads as well.

[supacook2k]

thinks i'll just wait til i can actually get freeview but a great offer

[brumbino]

This seems a great little box - just opened mine (bought it on the wayt o work and have just opened it having got in from the game at 10.44pm) and no fecking remote control in the box.

Arse.

I tell you what, I looked at twin Freeview recorders in Curry's at the weekend and their cheapest was £149. This is far superior so far...now to get it working on the LAN

[tam9]

I got mine when I woke up today - sent the oldies lol. Well, first reaction was it looks smart and tidy.

Set the thing up, was very easy to install and the channels where very easy to find automagically.

Another thing to note is that the EPG can't detect when a certain program is on, it only gives you the options of either record the program once, or record it at the same time everyweek (that is if its on at the same time everyweek).

Other than that I'd give this little puppy (so far) 8/10.

Tam