Sony RDR-HXD890

its to complicated 150 pages, still dont no how to record espn sports.was linked to a sony box 32. now linked to a very poor wharfedale flatscreen.cant link to my sony 5.1 system which is 7years old..frustrating..tuned in sony digital but dont no how to record off virgin box ie sports channel.espn. IVE HAD THIS 9MONTHS AND IM PUT OFF READING THAT MANUAL...DONT UNDERSTAND IF I HAVE TO USE THAT DEVICE THATS STILL IN BOX. HELP.

The picture quality on this Sony RDR-HXD890 is superb!... Must have the device setup in 1080i HDMI output for the best results, HQ+ is great, although I've set mine to HQ, when played back from DVD or HDD the picture is just as good as the original, lol ignore what the earlier post said, just needs setting up properly. Remember this recorder uses double layer DVD discs too (DVD+R DL) remember to use them if you're planning on backing up onto DVD and set quality to HQ (1 hour 48 minutes) or HSP (2 hours 42 minutes) both of these resolutions are better than your average DVD quality and upscaled to full HD of course (as long as the machine is set up properly).

The Sony RDR-HXD890 must be considered a DVD recorder with an added hard disc. Unlike a Humax PVR9200T, it is NOT a digital PVR as it does not record the original digital data. Just like a DVD recorder, the picture is converted from digital to analogue and then back from analogue to digital. The built-in digital encoder is no match for those used by TV stations. This has severe consequences:

- Recorded picture quality is never quite as good as live picture quality (even at HQ+).

- The best recorded picture quality takes up huge amounts of disc space compared to a digital PVR.

- When recorded at about the same bandwidth as the original broadcast, the picture quality seems poor.

Minor problems with its DVD-recorder approach include:

- an apparent loss of selectable subtitles

- an apparent loss of program information

On the positive side, it does a lot quite well:

- Freeview receiver and DVD player with HDMI upscaling

- music juke box

- photo album

- G-Link recorder from set-top-boxes (Sky or Virgin)

Would not recommend, I specifically asked the shop assistant for guidance on this matter and he assured me that I could record one channel and watch another, this simply is not correct as I have just found out on the Sony website.

This product is being returned.

All in all the Sony RDR-HXD890 is a good machine that performs well, hopefully will last longer than the 2 years my Panasonic did. I would have marked higher than an 8 but for the the display size and the bright indicator lights.