Sony RDR-HXD 910

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Excellent
Sound Level	Excellent
Ease of Use	Simple
Range of Features	Excellent
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	All in one DVD, hardrive, freeview digital tuner, recorder, HDMI port
Disadvantages:	expensive, 1 digital tuner only,

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

So what do you get for around £590? Please note this model is hot property I had to wait about three weeks from ordering to get mine.

So anyway what do you get for your money?

You get a multitude of connections of which there are:

hdmi - 1
Digital out - 1 coaxial, 1 toslink
scarts -2 one of which is RGB
Composite in L,R,Video
Composite out L,R,Video
Component video out - 1
S-video in and out

Now I was impressed with that, but because we people tend not to read the manuals it was a week until I discovered there were connections on the front, for your Sony Play station or cameras plus a dedicated Sony i-link dv in socket for compatible equipment.

Very impressed indeed.

So what's it like to use?

I originally bought this machine for play back of DVD's through the hdmi connection for image quality on my lcd screen, I thought the recorder was nice to have, however I would be lost without it now as I record something every day because it is soooo easy. I threw my VCR away because it just could not compete with this.

The picture quality is awesome in HQ+ mode and uses a higher bit rate then they currently broadcast now. Other recording modes are just as good; however I wouldn't use the lowest setting unless you really have to.

I use mine through the hdmi and have used it through s-video for a week or so and you can tell the difference, so I would recommend you only use this with the hdmi connection if you can or the RGB Scart.

The machine has a digital tuner and an analogue tuner which is a bit of a scrimp from Sony. Why not 2 digital tuners? So I use another freeview tuner to watch while I am recordering. However both tuners are of superb quality given the right signal.
You do really need to give this machine respect and provide it with quality cables as it will show the flaws in nasty cables. Just to point out you are not provided with an hdmi cable which I also think is a bit tight from Sony.

One important thing I forgot to add is, you can watch a DVD and record at the same time.

What's the sound like?

I have this hooked to my AV Amplifier with surround Sound and watched Batman Begins. I was blown away by the sound. So hook this up to a decent sound system and it will not disappoint.

Another reason I chose the Sony range was they are compatible with dual layer DVD's. As well as the following DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-R.

Have used the dub to DVD once only, as it just so easy to record the hard drive but I had no problems with the dubbing although the quality was not as good as the original as it was compressed to fit onto 4 gig disc, but that's the price you pay for compression.

If I was to nitpick it would be about the epg as it doesn't tell you what the program is about like my Sony freeview box. You have to click onto the program to get a synopsis.

Oh and its also progressive scan but only through component or hdmi which is the norm anyway. S-video and scart don't have the bandwidth for the signal.

The manual is surprisingly good and not what I am used to my LCD came with a 1000 page manual in 32000 thousand languages. The Sony must be a UK model as the manual was in English only and very comprehensive.

The remote control is very good, however is a bit plastic. One gripe I have not against Sony but just a personal gripe is that a have a 4 in 1 remote but with remotes getting more complicated I cant use it anymore; well only for the basics.

I would recommend this Sony range, I would be lost without. I now get to see the programs I didn't see before.

Hope I have covered the basics for you to make an informed buying choice.