hi guys,

I have recently purchased a new Full HD Philips 42inch LCD TV. And now my room mate wants to get something to record racing as well as anythign else on tv. now he only wants to really spend $200 to $300.

I assume a recorders plug from Antenna to Recorder to TV.

Now my problem is if he gets a cheap recorder will this effect my LCD tv reception? or shouldn't it matter, can anyone think of any other problems it might face.
Personally i dont need a recorder and i have no problem with him getting a cheap one and using it as long as it doesn't effect the tv.

Also if cheap is alright what are some good cheap ones to look at

thanks

If the racing is being broadcast only on HD your maximum spending limit probably isn't enough.

If SD you won't have any problems getting something in that price range.

A recorder won't generally affect your LCD reception but,

You can either split your antenna at the wall (simple $1.00 T plug) one to TV and one to the recorder. Or you can use the 'pass through' function on the recorder or TV and have the aerial out plug go onto the next box (each one grabbing some signal). Either way its possible you'll get a drop in signal strength and that this is enough to take you over the 'digital cliff' to no reception. Its much more likely though that you'll continue to get perfect reception in both (digital being generally an all or nothing affair). Unfortunately there's no way to tell until you hook up the equipment.

You can always plug in a $50 booster/splitter (Kingray from Dick Smith with 14 day money back guarantee) which will almost certainly fix any reception issue if you do have a problem.

Note that I think this issue is unlikely but its good to be aware of the possibility.

For recorders you have 2 options:

1) Get a cheap DVDR which will record the analogue (same as your everyday VCR) signal. If your splitting the signal then analogue will likely decline as it tends to get worse step by step (unlike digital which is all at once)

2) More recommended is a cheap PVR. Simplest most basic option is something like the Digicrystal from Strathfields for $150(?) . If you want to kick in a few more $ then Something like a Topfield 4000 ($300) or 5000 ($400) are much more powerful machines (eg can record 2 shows at once).

As mentioned if the racing is only on the HD channels then you're likely to be out of luck (unless you get a cheap DVDR and use it to record the output from your TVs digital tuner (assuming it has an output plug - composite) the drawback of this option is that the TV has to be on the channel you want to record while recording.

Regards

Peter Gillespie