SONY HD500 TWIN HARD DRIVE, SONY HDT 500 TWIN DRIVE RECORDER• Watch subscription free, High Definition TV with Freeview HD built in• Record one channel while watching another thanks to twin Freeview HD Tuner• Integrated 500GB Hard Drive for up to 300 hours recording• Enables you to back up recorded programmes to an external storage hard drive• Enjoy BBC iPlayer catch-up TVHigh quality, fantastic pictureThis is Sony's first high definition Freeview hard disk recorder, making Sony among the first major electronics brands to launch a Freeview+ HD player in the UK. Freeview HD (high definition) is gradually being rolled out across the UK and new players are being launched as the market grows. Standard definition (SD) Freeview uses the DVB-T standard, whereas Freeview HD uses DVB-T2, meaning that in order to get Freeview in high definition, you'll need to buy a new box with a DVB-T2 tuner inside.Sony's SVR HDT-500 Freeview+ HD box contains the necessary DVB-T2 tuner for receiving Freeview in high definition, and also contains a 500GB hard disk drive for recording TV programmes. In fact, the SVR HDT-500 contains two DVB-T2 tuners, meaning you're able to record two programmes simultaneously. If you've ever used a Sky+ HD box, this works along the same principle. You can pause live TV, rewind, skip forward (though no further than the point at which the live broadcast has got to) and record up to 300 hours of SD programmes and 125 hours of HD programmes, which should be enough for most people - if you plan on recording more than this you can always opt for the 1TB version, which has twice the capacity of this one.The box itself is very sleek and fits in with the recent Sony product branding, with a glossy face and matted top and sides, and a minimalist approach to buttons. It's relatively light, but heavier than a normal Freeview box due to the presence of the hard disk drive inside. The power supply is actually an external unit, so you have a little black box (just a bit bigger than a deck of cards) that plugs in between your wall socket and the player itself. Although this can be a little unsightly, it does help to keep the player cool internally, thus keeping the internal fans running at a slower (and quieter) pace.The remote control is what you'd expect from most Sony devices these days, it's slick and well laid out. It's slightly wider than a standard Sony TV remote due to the extra buttons it needs, but if your TV supports Bravia Sync you won't need to use your TV remote at all. Bravia Sync is Sony's branding for HDMI-CEC, the ability of connected HDMI devices to be controlled with a single remote. If you own a Sony TV from the last five years, chances are that it will feature Bravia Sync. £110.00, Cheltenham,.
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