Sony DHG-HDD250 price and reviews

scale 1-10 a 10+ on recored hd program can't tell it from a live feed all of tivo feactures just shop around got mine for $599 +13 shipping???? yes you will love it + easy as pie to set up

After yesterday when the TV Guide system finally started working, it was the best thing I have ever seen. The TV Guide takes some time to set up. I waited the 24 hours like sony said, but nothing happened. I was ready to return the unit, but it just started working magically. It was a modern day miracle. I think that it takes more like 2-3 days to get setup correctly. Despite all this it is an excellent DVR. No more VCR's for me anymore. This will truely make your life easier, and best of all the TV guide is free, not like Tivo.

I took a chance and ordered one on the internet without actually seeing and touching one.

I saw lots of negative comments about the EPG (TV Guide) so I wasn't expecting much. I thought I would be satisfied with manually scheduling my recording like I have always done on my VCR and that's why I was impatient when I had to wait 12 hours for the time to get set from the EPG. The when the EPG finally got sync'd up, to my surprise it works great. I am impressed. Although it did take a little getting used to the menus. Now I am easily finding so many shows that I was missing I'm not sure I'll have time to watch them all. I've found the program guide's keyword search most useful. I've set up multiple searches for my favorites. It is also easy to just display all the movies in the schedule and just click to record them. I've got many friends paying for Tivo that has some more nice features but then again they are paying a monthly fee. If you go to www.tvgos.com they had info in their FAQ that helped with navigating the EPG. It really does have a learning curve.

It doesn't have two tuners so you can't watch one program while you're recording another, but you can watch something that has been previously recorded while you are recording something new. In my setup I have my VCR hooked up in front of it, which is connected to another input on my TV and when I need to watch something else I just switch the input on my TV to the VCR.

The feature that I am most happy with is something that I had always wished for and I had no hope that any company would actually design into their product. That is that there are two antenna inputs, one for cable and one for an over the air antenna. When I hooked up both my cable and antenna I expected that I would have to press a button each time I wanted to switch antenna sources. Not so with this DVR. It searches both inputs and merges all the channels in a seemless stream and program guide. Why would I want this? My cable company for some reason doesn't want to carry all of the broadcast stations in my area, especially missing is the digital HD broadcasts and a WB station - I just can't miss "Smallville".

On another note the tuner does receive QAM over cable. That wasn't clear on any of the Sony literature but I read the manual online from their website before I bought it and it does work.

One of the other reviews mentioned something about lacking inputs and at 1st I thought it should have them too, but seeings how it doesn't have a DVD writer in it, what would you use them for for?

I owned Tivo since it first hit the market and fell in love with it from day one. The only drawback was when I began to invest in HDTV's and not having the resources to enjoy my favorite recordings in HD. Sony has solved this problem plus more.
Fast forward, rewind, or pause HD with the push of a button. The remote is simple and not overwhelming, with very intuiative button placement for seamless intergration of thumb and machine. The cablecard interface allows for the convience of cable programming without the monthly fees of a set top box. There is a minimal charge for the cablecard though, contact your local cable company for availibity and pricing.
The only drawback in the beginning is the set up process, as it does take a while to get all your Tv listings broadcast over and analog channel. It requires the unit to be turned off for several hours to download data, leaving us electronic geeks salavating with anticipation to start recording our first HD recording.
You can't miss buying this unit now as it also records analog programming as well. So if you can find one get it, the holidays are coming soon and believe me when I say Santa will be busy delivering these high end units all winter long.

Picked up the Sony from Best Buy on clearance after taking back the TIVO 80 hour recorder(dont get me started w/TIVO). I liked the tuner in the XBR and I thought I would take a chance...WOW... Used it for the Olympics and for 24 and it does an amazing job. The TV Guide system takes some time to get used to but overall it get's a 9 out of 10 from me. UNCELSONY

This recorder stores up to 30 hours on HDTV programs without need to store tapes or disks. Also, no need to keep a list of your recordings since they appear on your screen with the push of a button. It doesn't take much more effort to set up a recording with the easy-to-use remote control, which also has a nice feel.
Another nice feature of this recorder is that the recorder shows the first words in the title of the program you are viewing,
The manual is very thin and I suggest you read it to fully enjoy all of its capabilities.
This recorder is the best available product for recording HDTV programs from both antenna and cable. Moreover, if you only have cable to improve reception, this recorder may eliminate that need. I originally got cable for that reason, and was amazed by the quality and quantity of signals it gets.
It takes at least overnight for the guide to appear, and it is updated every night, Power must be off for this to occur.
If you receive signals from both cable and antenna, you will want to disable one of them to simply guide listing. Also, the guide had the wrong HDTV channel numbers for cable, and I had to find the correct ones manually, and then edit the settings.
During the inital setup, you are asked to enter your zip code and select cable service, if you have one. A list of cable providers is shown and you are asked to select yours. Mine wasn't on that list so I had to choose one and hope that it had the same program lineup. After a few tries, I found one that worked.
Only other problem I have with the guide, is with the Channel 4 news at 11 pm. I tried to record this program nightly but can't because the guide changes the name of the program from day to day - everything but news at 11.
The recorder can be set to record a program daily or weekly but only if the program name remains the same.
I probably can use the manual record option to avoid the above problem, but in general I would advise against using this option since the program name and detailed information is unknown and you can't enter a title manually. Programming with the guide is not only much easier, it avoids losing the end of programs that are scheduled to start or end beyond the normal time, and eliminates recordings of unwanted shows due to schedule change.
Only important feature missing from this recorder is an HDTV input for my Comcast HDTV box.

After completing intial setup (wiring) and turning the unit on, a simple menu will guide you through the software (TV Guide) setup. This took about 5 or 10 minutes. After 24 hours your ready to search and record to your hearts' content.

The TV Guide menus and tool bar do involve a learning curve. This is not your typical dummy-proof DVR or Tivo. However, the Sony is a lot more configurable than the typical DVR.

The remote control does not have a mute button and it feels very flimsy. It would not control my wife's Norcent TV. Looking at the available codes in the manual, it appears the remote is not very universal.

The $799 street price will go down by next year (just like all new electronic toys). But considering the typical decent HD tuner is around $250-$500 this Sony is really a great deal for HD ready TVs (without tuners).

For a side note. My wife hates this unit. Again she wants a dummy proof Tivo box (Without HD recording-unless Dish network) paying $$$ a month or Cable DVR paying $$$ for digital plus DVR service. So I moved the box to another room to compliment my Sony TV and I love it.

After a month or so of use, I was all set to come and rate this product a 9/10. The picture quality is absolutely terrific (FAR better than the Motorola HD box I had been using previously), and a recorded HD program has no noticeable difference from a live broadcast HD program. The only drawback I could see at the time was that the remote control has no "Last" button (i.e., one cannot easily return to the last viewed channel... in fact it take 3 buttons to do this) and also that channel changing is extremely slow. Beyond that, the TV Guide system is easy to set up and FREE!!! What's better than free, right?

After several months of ownership, however, I have had an inordinate amount of difficulty with the TV Guide listings. After a couple of months, the unit simply "forgets" to retrieve TV Guide listings and then not only is Guide information not available, but also scheduled shows do not record because the unit believes they are not being aired. Talk about frustrating.

Also, the TV Guide feature is *extremely* difficult to customize. For instance, if you wish to simply view the channels in your lineup from lowest to highest, you have to go through and order EVERY. CHANNEL. INDIVIDUALLY. This takes upwards of an hour if you have 200+ channels to sort and a mathematical mind.

Finally, although it isn't Sony's fault, my cable company (Comcast) had no idea whatsoever how to get their cable card to work with their cable service. I had to have not one, not two, but three technicians out to my house before they finally fixed the problem in their headend and I was able to receive the channels I was paying for.

All in all, this is a fantastic-looking unit that excels in most categories. However, those categories that fall short fall VERY short, and at times make this unit unusable. Channel flipping should be made MUCH easier. For $499 it felt like a great deal, and I would only do it again if I knew that Sony could update the firmware on this machine to fix some of its major bugs. The TV Guide system is fantastic when it works and maddening when it doesn't.

Bottom line: if you buy this unit, be prepared to "maintain" it (by power cycling and waiting for Guide data to repopulate) every couple of months. When it's working, you'll absolutely love it.

This is the best dvr I ever owned.I had replaytv and tivo but at least this is totally free of paying a monthly fee.I have never missed a program and has never had a problem in th 2 years I have owned it.Great job again Sony!

These units are well built and do what they are supposed to do. The tuner does a much better job than the Samsung sir-t451. Analog tv has been poor in the Pleasanton area, so when digital came along, I tried a quality rooftop antenna setup and discovered I get everything being broadcast
from SF.The Sony was really the only free ota dvr to choose from (the LG model was poor). Now Sony has discontinued these units for some unknown reason,(new model coming??)and unless someone comes out with a new one, their will be no free ota dvr's.
So anyway, when Bestbuy dropped their price to $499 + $25 gift card, I bought 2 and I cancelled my over $80 a month (and going up)
cable sub. I can live without CNN and the garden channel.