Freeview set-top boxes with built-in digital recorders have been around for a while from the likes of Humax and Sagem, but sales have never really taken off.
Maybe that's because we've been loathe to give up on our VCRs, but the group behind Freeview think it's time for a change and have launched the Freeview Playback brand. And first off the blocks is the DVR-FP250, yours for just under £200.
Bench mark
This model from British manufacturer TVonics is the first to find its way onto our test benches, with others expected soon from Sony, Humax, Alba, LG and Sharp.
For a debut performance, at least TVonics has remembered to get the deck suitably suited and booted in the design department. Physically the DVR-FP250 looks very much like a portable hard disk you might buy for archiving files from a PC. Dressed in an aluminium gloss piano black coat, the DVR-FP250 has rounded edges and has a small enough footprint to slip into your AV set-up without too much trouble.
The new branding should help us consumers equate it with other (but essentially identical) technologies, such as Sky and Virgin V Plus, but why this logo isn't called Freeview Plus is anyone's guess.
Essentially it's just a another badge in an AV industry already crammed with logos, but it should help cement these TV tuner and hard disk combos in their rightful position as the 'new VCR'. It's strange that the Freeview Playback logo is nowhere to be found on our box, considering that it's the first of its type. However, we're told that the version for sale does have the logo.
Saying that, the TVonics DVR-FP250 isn't a complete break from the past. The rear of the unit contains a Scart output for connection to - yes, you've guessed it - a VCR. Archiving is never going to go away and the capacity of the DVR-FP250's hard disk is not large enough to eliminate decisions about what to keep and what to delete.
The DVR-FP250 gives access to all Freeview channels. Equipped with an eight-day EPG, you can look at scheduling for over 40 channels including ITV2, E4, Film4, CBeebies and BBC Three, and around twenty digital radio stations.
