TVOnics DTR HD500 Freeview HD Recorder

 Brand TVOnics | Model: HD500

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TVOnics DTR HD500 Freeview HD Recorder

Feature

• Freeview+ HD Digital TV Recorder
• 500GB HDD
• BBC iPlayer Available
• Series Record
• Hard Drive recording: Y

Product Overview

The DTR-HD500s Slim and stylish design makes a statement in any room. This Freeview+ HD Digital TV recorder allows you to watch, record and pause digital SD and HD TV plus much more. With its 500GB Hard drive you can record hundreds of hours of your favorite programs, as well as catch up on missed BBC programs with BBC iPlayer via the red button.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful

excellent picture etc so so remote!, 20 Jan 2011

By 

Pampie - See all my reviews

Bought this after much procrastination and I am very happy with it, the setup is the easiest of any box I have yet to find. The picture quality is superb and the upscaling on some Sd channels with a good signal is very close to HD (samsung LED 40" tv)so good in fact that I now use this box instead of the inbuilt tuner in the samsung. Audio is good too digitally linked to my hifi though there is some delay from switching from channel to channel as the memory buffering catches up, you can also use it as a digital switch with other HDMI cabled boxes if your tv is short of them and even program the remote to control your tv etc so no constant switching of remotes. The only downside is the ergonomics of the remote as the most used keys are either in the middle or at the bottom requiring a change in hand position or using both hands, my samsung remote beats this hands down for ease of use and my sony blu ray remote is better also, but back to good bits it is really quiet, medium sized room , just me and the cat and no sound even when it records two channels at a time after waking up from standby. recording a programme is a one button job and the library function is so easy too. I would of given it 5 stars if the remote was as good as the samsung but that is it's only niggly bit.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

A capable machine., 8 Mar 2011

By 

RosieP (Midlands) - See all my reviews

I chose the DTR-HD500 hoping that it would reproduce the very good images on the high definition channels on Freeview and I haven't been disappointed. Images recorded on the hard drive are every bit as good as those our television receives off air. For example, the deep shadows and cheesy decor of the house that features in series three of Being Human are rendered intact.

There is much else to praise. It handles pausing live TV as well or better than Sky plus, it's very easy to set up programmes on the machine for recording and to access its library of recorded programmes. It also has handy sort functions, and, thanks to a new firmware upgrade, a search facility accessed by pressing the "Right" arrow on the EPG. Firmware upgrades have also solved the problem with the garish green EPG referred to in other review, as a variety of colour schemes are now available.

(For those who aren't yet familiar with the term, firmware is a machine's built-in software program. The firmware in today's gadgets can often be upgraded to add new functions, and the DTR-HD500 is no exception. It can be manually upgraded via a small download from the internet placed on a USB stick, through a LAN cable connected to a router, or upgrade itself automatically "off the air".)

As you may gather I'm generally very satisfied with the machine, but I do have a few niggles. The original styling doesn't sit well with the usual rectangular boxes in gadget stacks, and the curving face can make it difficult to read the front panel display unless you're viewing it from just the right angle. Further, in those paranoid moments when you're unsure whether a programme is recording it's difficult to tell without turning it on and checking on the EPG, as the standby LED tends to obcure the already miniscule red icon on the front panel.

Similar problems with size are carried over to the remote, where the small buttons carry tiny lettering that will cause much squinting amongst users who lack perfect sight. The easy to read Sky plus remote provides a model Skyonics could follow in this respect, as, incidentally, does the Sky plus EPG, which displays a clear icon against programmes to be recorded where this machine renders the lettering of the programme in red - not so easy to pick out when you're rapidly scanning through. I'll add that the machine can take a while to start up from cold, though the latest firmware seems to have reduced the time somewhat, and once it's "awake" it's suitably speedy.

Niggles aside, I won't deny the DTR-HD500 its five stars as it does everything else so well. It's a very efficient Personal Video Recorder, and, from what I've observed, would also make a very good Freeview tuner for households retaining older televisions.

EDIT: Since writing the above review the DTR-HD500 has locked up and failed to responsd to the remote a couple of times, entailing unplugging and replugging to "wake it up" again. It's very irregular and scheduled programmes have still recorded during lock-ups, but irritating enough that I thought I should mention it here.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

does what it says on the tin!, 25 Feb 2012

By 

Ellie - See all my reviews

Really easy to set up - done in a matter of minutes, managed to do it on my own without male help! Would never go back to normal TV, use it all the time.

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TVOnics DTR HD500 Freeview HD Recorder