Sony DHG-HDD250 30-Hour High-Definition Digital Video Recorder (250 GB)
Does what it's supposed to do, but with room for improvement
[This review is based on experiences with the DHG-HDD250; the DHG-HDD500 is identical, except that it is $150-$200 more expensive and has two 250GB hard disks instead of just one.] <br /> <br />If you're anything like me, you're likely looking at this Sony unit because TiVo doesn't make DVR that can receive high-definition (HD) broadcasts. (And the fact that TiVo has been dragging its feet on HD is one of many reasons that the company is not long for this world.)  I bought the Sony DHG-HDD250 to replace my old TiVo box, and although there a few small things I gave up in the process, I'm mostly happy with my new Sony. <br /> <br />First and foremost: QUALITY. Watching live TV on the Sony unit is *almost* as good as watching TV with my TV's built-in ATSC tuner. The colors are slightly less-vibrant and there are a few more compression artifacts, but this is to be expected, and not terribly noticeable. Recordings are first-rate, and infinitely better than any low-def DVR, VCR, or even DVD recorder. And with the HDMI output, you can have a pure digital connection from the DVR to your TV. Probably the only quality issue is the confusing \\"Format\\" button on the remote, which allows you to stretch or shrink the video to display correctly on a 16:9 widescreen TV.  It works, but it responds very slowly, is inconsistent, incomplete, and hard to figure out. Why they didn't include a simple \\"zoom\\" feature (like every TV on the planet) is beyond me. <br /> <br />THE INTERFACE.  The menu system is not complicated, although not as friendly and cheerful as TiVo (it's faster and sharper-looking than TiVo, though). The Sony unit is much, much more configurable than any TiVo, and that configurability comes at a bit of a cost. Be prepared to read the manual to figure out how to record programs and set up the channel list, for instance. Thereafter, many things (like recording shows) are actually easier to accomplish (albeit more difficult to learn) than on a TiVo. Example: in the Guide, press and hold the Record button for one second to record a show.  Press Record again to record it repeatedly (same time, same channel).  That's it - no wading through multiple screens, like on TiVo, to set up a simple recording. <br /> <br />THE GUIDE.  The Sony uses the free TV Guide on-screen system (what used to be called GemStar, I believe) to get program data (off the air!) and display TV listings on the screen. This means you don't have to extend a phone cord or network cable to your DVR; just plug it in to your wall outlet, attach your antenna or plug in your cable card, and leave the unit powered off overnight. Each night, the DVR gets program data for the current day and the same day next week, which means it'll take six days after you take it out of the box before the listings will be fully populated. (Tip: listings come from an analog station in your area, so make sure not to exclude your analog stations from the listings until you find out which one is broadcasting!) <br /> <br />The guide not bad, but not great, either. It's pretty easy to use, but suffers from a few really idiotic design decisions. For instance, there's no direct way (on-screen) to show the listings for a different day (e.g., Tomorrow, next Wednesday, etc.), except for holding the \\"right\\" arrow button on the remote to cycle slowly through each hour of listings until you eventually end up on the correct day.  The only shortcut is to press some numbers on the remote (e.g., 2 and then 4) and then select \\"hours ahead\\" from the menu that appears to jump 24 hours into the future.  In other words, there's no \\"Tomorrow\\" or \\"Yesterday\\" buttons on the remote or on the screen.  And there are many little annoyances like this, although it works okay once you get used to it. <br /> <br />But the DHG's guide also has some really nice features, such as the grid (which TiVo never could manage to include on their units), and even a keyword search; you can even save your searches!  You can also get alphabetical listings to find the show(s) you want, and you can even filter the list to show only HD content, only movies, only comedies, etc. Also, recordings can be grouped by show, so you don't have to wade through a long list of recordings to find the recorded show you want to watch. <br /> <br />SEASON PASS.  One of TiVo's best (and simplest) features was the Season Pass; I could tell it to record West Wing, and no matter what time and on what channel it appeared, TiVo would record it.  Alas, the Sony unit DOES NOT HAVE A SEASON PASS feature; I don't know why the folks at TV Guide couldn't get this simple feature to work. You can have the DHG record multiple episodes of a show, but ONLY if they're broadcast at exactly the same time and on the same channel.  If West Wing is an hour later one week, or if it's syndicated on another station, the DHG will miss it unless you manually ask it to record those episodes, too. <br /> <br />There are some other TiVo features absent from the DHG that I don't miss at all, such as \\"Recommendations\\" (a feature that fills up your hard disk with junk you don't want), and the \\"Thumbs Up\\" and \\"Thumbs Down\\" buttons that are supposed to influence the aforementioned recommendations (almost as effectively as TiVo's marketing partners). <br /> <br />OVERALL.  The DHG-HDDxxx is the only DVR on the market that doesn't require an expensive digital cable subscription or satellite dish; since I get all my HD broadcasts for free with a $20 rooftop antenna, this was a must.  It's also quite a nice unit; well made, attractive, and it works well.  If you want an HD DVR, you'll probably be very happy with the Sony DHG-HDDxxx once you get used to it's quirks.