Need some dvd recorder buying help

[markieuk]

Hi all

Am looking to get a Dvd recorder for my parents as an xmas present to upgrade them from their video player but not really sure what to look for. I have a budget of about £150 - £200.

They have freeview box seperate already but as normal terrestrial tv will be switched off in about 2 years, should I get dvd recoder with a built in freeview aswell so they will be able to record and watch? Or can they simply just buy another freeview box for about £30 and have the 2 stand alone freeview boxes and record and watch that way?

Would a recorder with a built in HDD be the way to go or will accessing and recording be abit more tricky to master for them and maybe just get a normal straight to disk recorder? Would it be better to have a system with both HDD and straight to dvd? I would like to give them the option of having it but if the have a built in HDD, would copying to a dvd be a waste and just focus on a system with freeview and a HDD?

And also what sort of things should I look out for it terms of specifications i.e multi disk recording, timeshift, commercial editing etc etc

Any help would be great

[Capmaster]

I would ask them what they prefer - recording many shows and watching them later, or archiving movies one at a time. For the first option, get one with a HDD. For the second, a straight-to-disc ought to work fine