Sony RDR-HXD710 DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive and Freeview

We were very close to sending this DVD recorder back just the day after we got it. We had no problems with the recorder itself. It is very user friendly and more than suitable for our purposes. However, we had a major issue with picture quality. The images were flickering and there was a continuous vertical line moving from left to right on the screen, known as ghosting. Sometimes we could see text as well, which was clearly visible against a blank background. It turned out to be interference with another channel and we couldn't get rid of it. Even the Sony tech guy didn't have a clue of why this was happenning. I was about to send it back as faulty, when a quick Internet search revealed that this phenomenon is quite common with DVD recorders/digital tuners (not just Sony), and it's caused by the terrestial signal output from the TV interfering with the digital signal of the Freeview tuner and can be easily rectified by cutting out Pin 19 of the Scart connector (at the TV end). It did the trick! The picture is now perfect and everything else seems to be working fine. We have yet to discover the more advanced features of this DVD recorder, but I can honestly say that recording a TV programme onto the Hard Disc couldn't be any easier. I'm so glad that we get to keep this machine!

I personally had to learn to use the machine first, but now I realise it is quite easy to use. It records on dvd and hard drive in varios speeds.it was as described.

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I bought this in April, had to wait a long time for delivery. Works well. Transferred 25 Svhs camcorder tapes very well - quality is so much better than trying to do via PC, and much faster and easier.Is it multi-region? Sony say none of their machines are multi region. Some vendors will offer them upgraded and warranty service will only be from them. A uk website offers a 3rd party remote which will upgrade to multi region but this is not recommended by Sony - may invalidate warranty. I upgraded and got grainy picture on other regions. Found after a while that one of the 2 scarts works for all regions, the just on standard region.Defect: if you leave automatic software upgrade on the EPG will lock up and operations degrade. So turn software update OFF. Also, the DVD unit degraded so it would not dub multiple titles to dvd - got it replaced, lasted 12 months , now 2nd replacement is degrading.There are few if any tips for this product out on the web. Here are some from Sony customer service.1. Set machine to BBC1 and leave in standby for 24 hours. This is sometimes necessary to ensure the software upgrade is downloaded.2. Recordings can be programmed and machine will kick in to record them from standby mode.

We have had our recorder for just a week and wish we'd bought one sooner.Recording is so simple, you can even record a program whilst watching a pre recorded one. The on screen program display is simple to use.We have Sky digital but didnt want to pay the subscription for sky plus, or for the extra channels.This recorder is just as good.I'm now going to put all my old camcorder tapes onto DVD using this.We are absolutely delighted with it, what more can I say?

I already had a SVHS video and DVD player, but with a small child who always wants her TV shows recorded, I ended up with too many videos. I could not keep track of what was what and after a time, programming the recorder became a pain.The solution was this machine. I looked for some time, but nothing had the spec I needed. This has! A large hard drive, DVD recorder multiformat, Freeviews, time slip recording, easy programming.No more tapes. Just bring up the programme guide on screen, select a programmes and press OK, TIMER. Thats it. The 7 day guide means that I can set a weeks recording in a few minutes.To list what you have recorded, just bring up the title list. You can view the recordings alphabetically or by date recorded. New recordings have the word NEW by them, quickly showing titles not yet watched. The large hard drive means that you can keep the recordings for a while before either deleting them or burning them on to a DVD to keep or share.A great feature is being able to watch a previus recording or a DVD whilst recording a new programme.My only slight niggle is that when you switch it on it takes several seconds before you can do anything.This aside, the best piece of kit I have purchased.

We got this at the same time as a Sony Bravia LCD tv. It really is a well thought out device. I have never used a DVD recorder before, never mind a HD recorder, but I found operating it a complete doddle. The software really is user friendly... even my wife, who is a complete technophobe picked it up in a very short time. Setting the timer by EPG is really really easy, but it has a habit of cutting off the start or end of some programmes, and as far as I can see, there is no facility to extend the recording by a minute or two (come on Sony, it can't be that hard surely).At best quality recording, picture and sound are more or less indistinguishable from broadcast quality. I understand you can fit a lot more on the hard drive if you accept a compressed format, but we haven't tried it yet. It is fairly straightforward transferring a programme to DVD using the 'dubbing' facility. It will transfer an hour programme in a few minutes. I have yet to find a freeview tuner that never freezes...this one has frozen probably six times in nine months. You have to disconnect the machine from the mains and then plug it back in to cure this. It can be a worry that something on the hard drive gets corrupted by this but it hasn't happened yet, as far as I can tell.The hard disk holds about fifty programmes at high quality. I understand you can set the box to record over the oldest recordings when full.All in all a really useful, user-friendly machine.