Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony RDR-HXD890 Freeview+ 160GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder - Black

I bought this to replace a Samsung which cost nearly the same but was very disappointing. The Samsung dvd/hdd suffered from a lot of picture freeze and interference, and the programme menu was so frustratingly slow to respond you don't think the instruction has registered. This Sony couldn't be more different; it feels high quality as soon as you take it out the box, the instructions are relatively straightforward if you persevere, and operation is easy when you get the hang of it. What doesn't come across in the specification is the great editing function for your dv or hdd camcorder, and as I have a Sony model this is a huge bonus. Using an I-link connection the dvd/hdd remote operates the camcorder whilst playing and editing, and you can edit frame by frame. I can't believe I am doing this within a few days! The tuner gives a much better picture on my new Samsung tv than the built-in tuner, it is virtually free of interference and the screen display responds as soon as you press the key. Brilliant.

Got the recorder yesterday and I have to say, i have made the right choice. I only had 1 problem and that was me putting the arial cables in the analogue section and not the digital, 1 quick change over and voilla. Anyway, onto the important stuff. Recording and putting it onto the dvd is so simple. just choose where you want to record to the recording quality and you're away. I've also connected the VCR and recorded 1 of my dad's videos and put it to DVD, no problems what-so-ever. And because it has so many recording modes, it can manage to fit it to a disk at a good quality. All of the features are good on this are good; the pause Tv records to the hard drive so you can go back to it at any time and skip the adverts in seconds. The only criticism of this is the remote which seems a little OTT, but you can get used to it in a short amount of time. Overall, I would recommend it to anyone, it is nearly perfect. Just 1 question to people who own it though. If the program over-runs, does the recording extend to account for this.

Sony RDR-HXD890 160GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder with freeview - Black

As a complete novice to the digital age, I found this machine to be incredibly straightforward and easy to use! The instruction book is clear and well written, and I am amazed at the number of actions which can be carried out simultaneously - e.g. recording one programme whilst watching another pre-recorded one, and being able to programme a future programme at the same time. I was so delighted that I persuaded a friend to buy one as well.

After one day with a little patience and practice I was able to do most of what I wanted to do :eg transfer from Sky hard drive to Sony hhd edit and record to dvd so the insructions are not as bad as have been made out, it is a complex machine so the manual cannot be simple.
The machine I have is not noisy at all must have a fault on the other one reviewed.
Almost the same as the RDR HXD870 so for more reviews you could check out that one.
If I could give it ten stars I would.

I can now appreciate the comments from the person who found the instruction manual confusing and not easy to follow. I am sorry to say that after approx 5hrs I gave up and asked for advice from a relative who is a computer expert! and owns the same machine. He had it running in approx 30mins, but what he did was not in the manual in the same form at all. Despite this problem the unit is great and is so easy to use with excellent quality on HDD copying and DVD playing.The fact that you cant record one Freeview channel and watch another is a pain but this is because there is only one Freeview Tuner.In this case you need a TV with Freeview and then simply change the input from HDMI to ARIEL and watch whatever you like until you want to use the HDD/DVD recorder again in which case you change the input back to HDMI.