Sony RDR-HXD710

We bought two RDRHXD710 HDD Freeview recorders when they hit the shelves in 2005ish.... even @£500 a piece they were a good investment. Nowadays (2016) they can be had for £39 on eBay. If you can live without HDMI (as they are scart only) I would still recommend. Excellent picture quality, easy setup and setting the timer is a breeze. Yes! We have been pausing LIVE TV for over a decade. There is nothing I do not like about this machine

I bought this for my mother in December 2005, and she was delighted. Learned really fast how to use it, and still today, 4 years after, she sees advantages with this model compared to many new ones, especially in terms of functionality and handling. There has not been a single problem in the 4 years since she got it, and she is a daily user. Last night we watched a film on its DVD while she was recording something on the telly to the HD.

Only thing I would like to do now is maybe to upgrade the HD to 500GB or so, but it is probably too much work if even possible. 160 is ok if you justb do some housekeeping and burn whatever you want to save...

Bought the box two years ago and have never been satisfied. It is getting worse. The unreliability of this model makes viewing television a chore.

Of all my DVD recorders the Sony 710 was the easiest to use for recording and editing. I also have Toshiba XS30 XV48, JVC MV1 and MX1, Pioneer, 5100 Yamaha, Hitachi etc recorders

Sadly the second Sony RDR-HXD710 suffered from the same poor quality as my JVC MX1 and failed in its second year - neither machines had seen a lot of use. I was foolish enough to try and repair the JVC spending £100 at official repairer - only to find they had NOT repair it - so I will not be throwing good money after bad trying to repair the 710

This will be the the last Sony product I ever buy. Whatever you buy, get extended warranty. Bought mine 21 months ago. (I paid £408) DVD Writer can't format disks any more - apparently not enough power being supplied to laser. £170 for a dealer to fix it, £135 + p&p to buy a drive and fit it yourself. £220 to buy a new HXD870.

The Sony RDR Hxd710 hard drive recorder worked well of a year but now is so unreliable that it has become unusable.

A web search shows my problems occur with other users but Sony say all is OK

Fails to record the second program if programs overlap

hangs

With its integrated Freeview tuner, hard disk and DVD recorder, the Sony RDR-HXD710 promises to offer all the benefits of a PVR and DVD recorder in one box. And boy does it deliver! I've had my HXD710 for just over four months, and I'm can honestly say that I am completely delighted with it.

I bought it after considering a twin-tuner PVR to replace my existing Humax single-tuner PVR, but I decided on the Sony primarily because it offered the chance to archive digital recordings from the hard drive directly to DVD. Which it does with ease. It can also record digital video directly from your camcorder using I-Link, and it will accept analogue sources through the scart input.

But what the Sony does most often is record digital TV onto the 160Gb hard disk. The electronic programme guide makes it easy to view and record from the TV schedule with its clear layout and category search facility. The choice of recording qualities and the large capacity of the disk mean that you should never have to worry about finding space for a recording.

Existing recordings can be accessed easily through a title list, which includes the name of the program and a thumbnail of the content to help you remember which is which.

The editing options allow you to trim and split recordings, which is great if you want to delete adverts from a film before archiving to DVD, or take the boring bits out of your home video clips!

The video output is first class, especially from the component video connections. I have mine connected to a top-notch AV amp in order to get the benefit of the digital audio output.

The only bad point worth talking about is the speed of operation. It can take quite a few seconds to start-up, and DVD operations can be slow too.

On the negative side, there are some features missing on the Sony which are included on other digital recorders costing half the price: Two tuners and automatic buffering of live TV for example. However, I've kept my Humax PVR (which is now connected to my TV through the Sony), so this doesn't bother me because I've now got the best of both worlds.

The only negative which does affect me is the speed of operation. It's pretty slow to start up, and it seems to take an age to eject DVD's, but these are minor quibbles.

Overall, I think the Sony is excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone for recording Freeview, especially those who are upgrading from an existing digital recorder.

Yep! I was going digital at last! I opted for a top make DVD recorder (as was my VCR) to get the best results. Sony certainly have done well with the RDR-HXD710. However, it takes some getting used to as it has a lot of functions, and some are not immediately obvious to the average user. To make life easier I suggest recording onto the HDD first and editing before making a DVD copy; especially programmes on commercial channels. I also found that transferring a taped program wasn't always possible (but not that important anyway). The EPG works if the broadcasts go out on time! Manual setting of the timer is better, but it takes longer.

It is an excellent product overall, and it will be very useful when I get a digital TV to go with it (twin freeview).

The Sony RDR-HXD710 DVD recorder is a superb piece of kit. I spent ages deciding which DVD/HDD recorder to buy, and I am certain I couldn't do better. It is SO easy to use - even my wife can use it! Having the integral Freeview box makes it extra-easy. As well as watching something that's still recording, you can watch something you've recorded already while you're recording something else. Dubbing to DVD is easy. Quality is A1. No more arguments about which tape is free, or frantically trying to find where the last recording ended.

I am trying not to over-enthuse, but it's very difficult! This has been a life changing purchase!