TVonics environmentally friendly DVR-250 offers up Freeview tuning

It wasn't too long ago that the Aussies got special treatment with the Australia-centric Beyonwiz DP-S1, and now the Brits in attendance can stop pouting and perk up a bit thanks to the sleek TVonics DVR-250. The UK-friendly digital video recorder sports a stylish black enclosure, a 250GB hard drive, built-in Freeview tuner, one-touch recording, an additional tuner for watching one program whilst recording another, eight-day EPG, and a universal remote to control your AV setup from the comforts of your sofa. Additionally, this device boasts "reduced power consumption" in comparison to its competitors, and claims to be "environmentally friendly" due to the carefully selected components used in construction. Nevertheless, the DVR-250 can be snapped up now for £189.99 ($376) by those looking for OTA recording abilities across the pond.

[Via TechDigest]

[OlivierB @ Jun 5th 2007 11:48AM]

That price may look high to the americans but it's actually a steal here in teh UK where Classic Slingboxes go for $300 retail..
Anyway, I would have gladly paid £50 more for this device had it had an ethernet port and a built-in FTP or SMB server for me to access the files. It wouldn't hurt if it could encode these to Mpeg4 for me while it's sitting there being super green and all.

Oh well, another "almost-perfect-but-absolutely-useless-in -its-current-form" type of thing.

[Ismael @ Jun 5th 2007 11:49AM]

Hmm price doesnt look too bad!

[Julian Bond @ Jun 5th 2007 2:59PM]

Here's the catch. Can it record from a scart socket or only from the internal tuners? My guess is no. So no recording from a cable or satellite box then.

There are numerous similar boxes, probably all using the PCB. They all have this problem.

[Andy Merrett @ Jun 5th 2007 4:40PM]

Unfortunately you're correct, Julian. The product page [ http://tvonics.com/dvr250.html ] states:

Please note:

This product is designed to record Freeview channels received via a terrestrial aerial.

This product will not record Satellite, Cable or any other external video sources.