How To Choose A Personal Video Recorder
A guide to personal video recorders - digital TV receivers that can record your favourite programmes to an in-built hard drive. Follow these guidelines on how to choose a personal video recorder.
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Step 1:
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What is a PVR?
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PVRs are devices which allow you to record Digital television to a hard drive. These systems have been popularised by systems such as Sky + and Tivo, but are now available for Freeview and Cable users. PVR's have inbuilt digital TV decoders, so you won't need a set-top box to watch digital TV.
A PVR can allow you to do all number of things, from pausing live TV, to saving shows you don't want to miss. Why watch TV on the broadcaster's schedule when you can watch it on your own schedule.
The advantage of PVR is that you no longer need to store vhs tapes or DVDs as all your recorded programming is in one place. However, if this malfunctions, everything can be lost.
PVR is ideal for people who don't have time to watch their favourite shows when broadcast.
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Step 2:
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Hard Drive Size
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The amount of TV you can have recorded depends on the size of the hard drive. A hard drives memory is measure in bytes. A gigabyte is a billion bytes. Memory sizes can range from 20 gigabytes to over 200. Each gigabyte can record half an hour of standard digital television. However, HDTV can take over 4 times as much room on the hard drive, so take this into account when selecting your PVR
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Step 3:
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Twin Tuners
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It is a good idea to purchase a model with a twin tuner if you do not have a digital set-top box for receiving digital TV. Twin tuners allow you to watch one digital channel while recording another.
If you already own a set-top box, you don't necessarily need a Twin tuner, unless you want to be able to record 2 channels simultaneously while watching a third.
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Step 4:
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Electronic Program Guide
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The electronic program guide, or EPG as it is also known, is the on screen menu which allows you to select programs from the tv listings for automatic recording.
As this is the principle tool for getting your PVR to do what you want it to do it is essential that you check it out before you buy. Ideally you want a simple system that clearly displays info about:
what is being recorded,
how much space remains on the hard drive,
which stored programmes have already been viewed.
It is also useful to have a lock available to prevent hapless family members from deleting something you haven't seen yet.
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Step 5:
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Series Link
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If it sounds like too much work to remember to keep setting your PVR machine to record your favourite programme, why not buy one with "Series Link". This "set-and-forget" option can mark your favourite show to record all future episodes in sequence.
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Step 6:
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Combi Machines
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If you already have DVD recorder, the odds are you will be able to connect it to a PVR to make DVD copies of programmes stored on the hard drive.
However, if you don't own one, you could consider buying a combination PVR - DVD recorder. This will make the whole process simpler, and also means there will be one less device cluttering up your front room!
