JJ Lighting & Electrical - Home Electrical Centre

In stock – £279.99 – Delivered AND Installed locally

Compact and sleek to match the Viera range of Televisions

Recording stuff off the television has come a long way in recent years. The good old VCR did the job for decades until it was replaced with the DVD recorder, promising better pictures, clearer sound and greater durability for recordings. It did this very well, but fell down in most peoples’ opinion because they were tricky to use, slow at operating and could only offer two hours on a disc at the normal quality you’d want to use. Many users were frustrated at the hassle of having to format discs, put off that they didn’t always work on other machines, and left wondering why they’d given up on their simple old video. When Sky+ was launched in 2001 people flocked to it, as here was a recording device that offered a digital-quality picture, yet was as easy to use as a video…

Fast-forward a few years to today and the technology behind Sky+ is no longer exclusive to the satellite broadcasters. There is now a wide choice of digital recorders which can operate off of your ordinary TV aerial, no dish or monthly subscription required, and they even include digital Freeview. One such range is Panasonic’s highly regarded “DIGA” series of hard disk recorders. They come in a number of options but the entry-level machine, the DMR-EX769, is more than adequate for those of us who “just want to record telly”. The principle behind this new recorder is that you have one box containing both an ordinary DVD disc system, and something else called a “hard disk”. Essentially this is similar to the disk found inside a computer, and allows you to record your programmes direct to the machine. Simply pick a programme you want, press a button and the hard disk will record it for you. No tapes, no discs, no faffing about, no fuss!

So how does it work? Well, it looks much the same as any DVD recorder, and doesn’t require any extra connections than your old video did. The hard disk – which on this model allows you to record approximately 73 hours of programmes – is completely hidden away and never needs to be removed or replaced in normal use.

Plenty of connections for modern, or CRT sets

There’s a pair of traditional scart sockets on the back if you have an older CRT (“tube”) television, as well as component and HDMI outputs if you have a modern HD-ready set and would like to make the most of it. As with most modern equipment it tunes itself in, although a few settings need to be adjusted to get the best from it. This is simple to do, and of course we’ll do it all for you anyway if we’ve supplied the machine. The clock is set automatically, and then you’re ready to go.

As with all Panasonic remotes, simple and well laid out buttons

In terms of use, it amazes many people just how easy it is to get on with one of these machines. The Panasonic system is particularly well thought out and user-friendly, and if it sounds daunting you might be pleasantly surprised! Switching on the recorder selects the hard disk automatically, and after a few seconds to start up it’s ready to go. If you wish, you can record straight away simply by choosing a channel and pressing the RECORD button – much like your old video – and it will simply run until you stop it. Most people prefer to set it with the on-screen TV guide though. This is the replacement for the old VideoPlus system (remember having to get the long number out of the newspaper to set your old video?), and if anything is even easier to use. As the name implies, a button on the remote control brings up a chart on the TV screen, showing you a list of channels and what programmes are on them. Remember, that’s not just BBC1 to Channel 5, you’ve got all the Freeview channels too. All you need to do is find the programme you want on the chart – it’ll be listed under its’ channel and the time it’s on – press another button on the remote control, and that’s it! The machine starts itself up on time, records your programme, and keeps it for you until you’re ready to watch it. If it runs late, it’ll catch it. If it starts early, it’ll still sort it out for you. It really is that simple, and anyone can do it. Honest!

So you’ve recorded your programme and now you want to watch it? No problem. No rewinding either! Again, one button is all you need. Press it and another chart appears on the TV screen, showing you each and every programme you’ve recorded individually. It’s rather like a set of files on a computer, but much easier to work with. Find your programme on the chart and press PLAY. And that’s it. Really. Sound surprisingly easy? See, I told you so!

Having mastered it then – or near enough – how does it perform next to the competition? The answer is very well indeed. Both this machine and its’ bigger brother are very well regarded by the likes of “Which?” and “What HiFi?” magazine and it’s easy to see why. Pictures from the hard disk are a revelation compared to an old video, crystal clear and deeply coloured. For the first time you can record for hours in the same quality as the original broadcast, and with a modern digital TV that’s very important indeed. If you have an HD-ready set, with the right connection you can even take advantage of the upscaling feature, which provides a further improvement in quality. As you’d expect, sound is recorded in stereo, and you also have the option to record subtitles if you wish. If you have one of this year’s matching Panasonic TV sets you can even set it to pause live TV at the touch of a button, a boon if the phone rings during your favourite show.

Of course, with all the excitement of using the new hard disk system it’s very easy to forget that this machine also includes a top-notch DVD recorder as well. This provides a superb picture from DVDs and incorporates the same upscaling system as the hard disk, so all your films can be rewatched in semi high-definition! The DVD player itself is quiet, slick and easy to use, and includes a memory to allow you to switch the DVD off without it returning to the beginning of the film, great if you want to carry on watching after dinner. You can even record onto DVD discs as well, and it’s not fussy like some, taking pretty much any make and type of disc you can throw at it. It’s much easier to simply transfer a recording from the hard disk to a DVD though, that way you can watch it and – if you like it – make a “proper” copy to keep…

To sum up then, this new recorder is all about simplicity. It mixes the best of both worlds – it’s as easy to use as a video, yet offers the same quality and flexibility as a DVD recorder. Best of all, it does the job with aplomb, providing some of the best features and ability on the market and making it so simple that you’d never go back to any other method. That’s what I like about it, and if that sounds like a ringing endorsement…well, it is, because I bought one!