Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony RDR-HXD710 DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive and Freeview

This is a brilliant machine. We've had it since November, and I use it every day. I can't believe I was thinking about getting one without Freeview: the EPG and PVR functions are what make this recorder so special, way beyond what a 'normal' DVD recorder does.

Setup was incredibly easy, picture quality is stunning. I only had a set-top aerial with an amplifier and expected to be ordering a new roof aerial, but it found 70 stations. Picture quality appears to be better than our NTL cable connection.

I haven't used any of the editing functions yet, but dubbing onto DVD from hard disc is pretty easy, and works fine. I've only used SP quality (there are two higher levels) which looks as good as broadcast to me. You can dub an hour at SP in 5 mins, though you need to allow a couple of minutes each for formatting and finalising the disc - the latter if you are going to play in another machine.

In conclusion, this machine exceeded our expectations and has in a small way changed our lives. It is so easy to capture the programmes we like that the only challenge is finding enough time to watch them.

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 purchased this unit back in October. It's absolutely brilliant and I would purchase another tomorrow if it were stolen tonight. At a stroke it enabled us to replace our video recorder, freeview box and DVD player with this single unit (out with 3 remotes and in with just 1). Also because most of the programmes we watch are just time shifted (rather than saved long term) the hard drive effectively replaced the need for numerous video tapes too.

The menu system is childs play and the list of programmes recorded are listed chronologically each with the name of the programme, the date and time it was recorded, how much space it takes on the disc and a thumbnail picture as well.

Sony provide a number of differnet recoding qualities with the best ones undetectable from the original broadcasts. The 8 day electronic programme guide makes set-up so simple even my better half can do it (and find the recordings to watch again too). Simply scroll through the programme listings over the next 8 days and click enter when you find the programme you want to record - job done.

Pause TV and chase playback are brillinat too. Recorded programmes can easily be dubbed to DVD if required. The DVD uses exactly the same menu system as the HDD.

If I had to suggest any improvemnets then an bigger hard drive would be great (but then there's the 910) and a second digital tuner so that you could watch one channel and record another (but our old freeview box lets us do that).

All in all an excellent unit that we now wonder how we previously manged without before.

Got this just 5 days ago and have been very impressed - just a few glitches where it crashed a couple of times on the second day and needed power disconnecting both times let's hope that was just a software/firmware glitch.
The picture quality is excellent and it does everything it claims. Sometimes response from pre-recorded DVDs (bought films)can seem slow when selecting to play the main film and a slight annoyance of it displaying the track number and DVD play icon otherwise when it does start playing the picture quality is fantastic.
People are right that the TV broadcasters can sometimes annoy with over running which can either cause you to lose part of the wanted program or cause the auto programming to pick up later programs i.e. Set to record Doctor Who and as Strictly Dance Fever is overrunning that is the title given to the recorded program (easily rectified I know) - So yes come on TV companies get your act together and work with the Sony System properly and not hap hazard. However it is still possible to change program times set using the EPG just go in via Timer List and change details I have done it as I record Lunar Jim for my little one and CBeebies is never on time so I adjusted the finish time by 5 minutes and just left it as re-occurring everyday now we get all of Lunar Jim!
As everyone has said the picture quality on all media is brilliant even on 'lower quality' recording settings and of course leaves Video for dust. Also no real need for Disks or Tapes with the Hard Drive available though I suspect dubbing onto them maybe needed if the HDD gets full.

Another easily used feature is cheaper edit and A-B edit great for taking out adverts and any stuff before or after the main programme you have recorded. This along with the ability to erase a complete program at the touch of a button makes things very easy to keep things tidy on the HDD. Also the watching one programme whilst recording another is very handy and versatile.

Everything is just so easy to use and I look forward to exploring all the features available to me over the next few weeks.

I would say buy now - if you want HDMI output then pay the extra 80 or so pounds and get the 910 otherwise take What HIFIs advice and buy one now as it is the best DVD recorder around in this price bracket and you can save almost £100 by ordering on Amazon at the moment along with many other suppliers. I would obviously remind people to ensure it is UK stock the HXD model and has the DVB freeview decoder and they will be very happy.

The unit itself is well built and the versatility of the remote control cuts done the amount of remotes now needed in our living room! Also as has been mentioned the unit is very quiet indeed whether using DVD or HDD which is a good feature for home use - our old Toshiba DVD player used to be quite noisy and that was just a DVD player. Technology moves on I know but it seems from other reviews this is one of the quietist boxes on the market.

Overall my advice is buy one now and wonder how you managed without one after a short while it really is that good.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK SONY.

It may have cost me more than a Panasonic or whatever, but this is a great machine. Talk about user friendly. The on screen functions take you effortlessly through everything from initial set up to the content library. The EPG guide (TV listings) means viewing or recording a program is only two or three clicks. Quality is excellant too. Just make sure you buy the UK version (HXD) and not the European (HX), which doesn't have the freeview decoder, EPG, etc. I very nearly fell into that trap when comparing prices.

If I were to have a nit pick, it would be about the layout of the remote control.