My trusty video recorder just packed in. I don’t watch that much TV, but the few things I like tend to be on at inconvenient times so I like to record them. That is what VCRs were for.
They don’t make them any more, and as far as I can make out the popular replacement item is a DVD recorder. However I have heard these are not that user friendly. Also as far as I can tell most of them don’t have a digital tuner, so in the new world of digital television they will be about as useful as a housebrick for recording TV. I have a Freeview box but long ago gave up on trying to record from it. Switch it on, tune to the right channel, set the VCR to the right channel and hope that no-one comes along and switches channels in the meantime. It doesn’t work.
But there is an answer. The PVR. These have a couple of digital tuners (so you can watch one channel while recording another) and record on a hard disk. Basically Sky+ but for free digital TV.
But Currys doesn’t even have a PVR category on their web site. They stock about four models. Most other retailers are the same.
So here we are:
1. The digital conversion program completes in 2012 – just six years away
2. While some Televisions being sold now have a digital tuner almost no recording devices do.
Madness.
Bob Browning's blog 
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