Posted by Dave Farrance on 01/12/77 11:38

John <brit@nnia.com> wrote:

>... or he just got confused and
>asked for a DVD-R with the salesperson thinking he wanted a player
>compatible with recordable formats? Either way he actually wanted a
>DVD that can record.

Dunno. It's good enough for a small telly, if that's what he's happy
with. And it gives him the chance to wait for Freeview DVD recorders to
come down to a sensible price before the analogue switch-off.

But if he really did want a DVD recorder and you're not putting words in
his mouth, ask him to be careful what terms he uses when he goes back to
the shop. He might have asked for a "DVD player that can record" which
might confuse some shop assistants - so make sure that he knows to ask
for a "DVD recorder"

>...
>For a DVD Recorder with built in Hard Drive (useful if you are on
>holiday for a long time) you would be looking at a price of about £220
>minimum.

If he doesn't know anything about DVD recorders, I'd guess that the
above would be confusing.

Speak to him on the phone first. Try to keep it simple and bear in mind
that you don't have to explain about everything available. When you're
talking to the technically disinclined, don't spout a monologue, but as
you give each piece of information, say it in a way that requires a
response so that you can surreptitiously test how well it was
understood.

Maybe the first thing that you need to mention is that there are various
types of blank DVD disk (+/-, re-recordable, write-once, etc). He
doesn't have to remember it all, so long as he knows that he must get
the type of blank that matches his recorder.

As for hard drive, explain that HD is the buzzword to look for if he
wants an expensive recorder that can store tens of hours of television
inside it without having to use blank DVDs. If he's interested, he needs
to check how many hours a given unit will record (and don't mention
gigabytes).

*Then* tell him that you'll follow up with an email about the things
that he said he was interested in so that he's got it as a reminder.

>There's not really much point in getting a combination VHS/DVD unit as
>VHS became pretty much redundant 3 years ago in 2003, and the more
>parts you have inside a machine the more things are likely to go wrong
>with it. It is usually always best to get a stand-alone product. If
>you did want to get a combination VHS/DVD Recorder the cheapest price
>it would cost you would be about £150.

He can buy a pack of blank tapes which should last for the life of the
recorder, and he'd got the DVD player for rented films. Dunno. I've seen
some fairly cheap ones, and you only expect that sort of product to last
a few years anyway.

>DVD though is a widescreen format and to get the best use out of a DVD
>Player or Recorder you really need to have the best quality Widescreen
>Television you can afford.

Is that in his interest or yours when you're visiting him? ;-)
DVD-recorders record the telly in 4:3, and that might be the main thing
he's interested in. (Unless it's one of those expensive Freeview
recorders, which he needn't worry about unless he's in the Border region
where the switch-off is scheduled for 2008).

--
Dave Farrance

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