topic USB HDD recording is it worth the hassle in Android TV

USB HDD recording is it worth the hassle

steve1666 — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:06:48 GMT

I am thinking of buying a WD my passport Av-tv external hard drive for recording programs from my kdl 50w755c the hard drive has good reviews and sounds like it would do the job but reading on hear about juddery pictures and hassle trying to get this way of recording to work is it worth trying

Re: USB HDD recording is it worth the hassle

LightFoot — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:37:32 GMT

@steve1666 wrote:
Hi
I am thinking of buying a WD my passport Av-tv external hard drive for recording programs from my kdl 50w755c the hard drive has good reviews and sounds like it would do the job but reading on hear about juddery pictures and hassle trying to get this way of recording to work is it worth trying

Hi @steve1666. Only my personal opinion of course but I would put the money towards a box that has a primary function of recording like a Freeview PVR.

Re: USB HDD recording is it worth the hassle

steve1666 — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 15:31:11 GMT

Thanks I’ve just taken back a YouView box after it wouldn’t work with the tv massive pixelation all the time made it unwatchable took it back ironically the YouView that’s in the tv works brilliantly but need a way to record don’t fancy linking up another box so thought the hard drive way looked good but seems a lot of hassle as well

Re: USB HDD recording is it worth the hassle

Mooly01 — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 19:16:38 GMT

My thoughts for what its worth...

Its a very useful option to have available to use, however (and various models may vary considerably) it is a basic functionality feature that while good in parts, is severely lacking in other departments. I had issues with jerky playback and in the end found the solutions myself, Sony were pretty clueless and just repeated the same script that only 'officially recommended' HDD's would work. That part of the story is here:

https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/android-tv/usb-recordings-are-jerky-when-played-back/td-p/2271707

In a nutshell...

1/ I use a 64Gb flash drive. Tiny, unobtrusive and energy efficient.

2/ Using the EPG to select programmes to record seems to mostly operate at the set times rather than waiting for the start/end flags that are broadcast. In other words a 7:30 to 8:00 pm programme will actually record from those times rather than say 7:28 or 7:35 or whenever it starts... so you can miss the end unless you manually set the event.

3/ Restrictive navigation of recorded material.

4/ Totally (100% totally) useless reporting of used and free space on the drive.

For day to day use (and it gets hammered because 90% of our viewing is recorded material) I use an old Sony HXD870 which in terms of flexibility/editing and so on is simply light years ahead.

Re: USB HDD recording is it worth the hassle

steve1666 — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 19:22:17 GMT

Ok thanks that’s very useful

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