Advice needed to buy DVD Recorder with HDD & HDMI.

[Gekko]

I've realised how quickly the Sky + box runs out of space!!! There are still some programmes saved for the last 3 months! So I've decided maybe I need one of these perhaps:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=370091828310

I think this model should be fine and it's a decent price considering it's new with warranty.

My only question is whether you can actually record saved programmes from the Sky + box onto its hard drive or not?

Any advice much appreciated!

[rwniel]

Whatever you playback on the Sky+ box (- something that's been stored for example) should be recordable on either dvd or the hard drive. You would use the copy function on the Sky+ box, with the recording sent over scart to an input on the dvd/hdd recorder. Things will be recorded in realtime - the Sky recording can't simply be copied across to the hard disk as they're re-encoded to a different format. Bear in mind that some content is copy protected (Box office, for example). Plus I think there was an issue with certain recorded content in the past (due to a firmware glitch (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/04/television-sky-programme-backups)), which could affect some stuff that's already been stored.

The other option depending on the make/model of the Sky+ box would be to consider upgrading the hard drive - have a look here (http://www.xtendedplay.co.uk/sky-plus-skyhd-drive-upgrade-faq.html).

Robert