87% of Existing Video Recorders Will Have to be Replaced

There's no way of making this simple truth any more palatable - almost all video recorders currently in use will have to be replaced.

Only if you are already using a digital recorder such as Sky+ will you be safe. 

The good news is that the average life of a video recorder is only 2 to 3 years anyway.  The chances that you will change your existing video recorder 2 or 3 times before the digital switch over hits you are high.

However, we know of video recorders that are 8 years old or more and still going strong.  It is certainly possible that your video recorder will still be perfectly serviceable by the time the digital switchover reaches you.

So What Can Be Done About It?

Set Top Box

You could simply plug your video recorder into the set top box you have procured so you can still keep your analogue TV going.  That should work but you will be constrained to recording whatever the set top box is tuned to.  If you want to watch television at the same time you can only watch the same channel that you are recording.  Hardly what we have become used to.

Alternatively, you could buy a second set top box just for use with your video recorder.  That would certainly work.  I just cringe thinking of the number of remote control units required.

New Video Recorder

I'm sure that 99% of people will do the sensible thing and buy a new video recorder. 

But what to buy?

DVD Recorders

It seems that the age of tape is coming to an end.  Recordable DVD's are now becoming affordable in exactly the same way that video recorder prices plummeted all those years ago.  Recordable DVD's bring a host of new features and vastly improved picture quality. 

Not all DVD recorders currently contain digital receivers.  You can expect to see more and more that do hitting the market over the coming months.  As that happens the prices are sure to drop still further while feature sets continue to blossom.

In Japan, blue laser DVD recorders were recently released.  For the consumer this simply means you will be able to record much more (up to 8 times)onto each disc.  At the moment the major manufacturers each have differing standards for blue DVD recording.  It's a rapidly developing technology.  Don't rush in just yet.

If you are in the market now for a replacement video recorder there is little point in not considering a DVD recorder.  the prices are reasonable and the features are brilliant.  If you don't have to change just yet though you will be better served to wait a while and watch the progress of DVD recorders.

Hard Disc Recorders - Personal Video Recorders (PVR)

Growing in popularity are the new wave of hard disc recorders.  Made popular by Sky with their Sky+ machines video recorders that make use of hard discs have certain, huge advantages.

Like for instance, if someone comes to your door while you are watching your favorite programme, you can click record and go answer the door.  Nothing remarkable in that you might say.  But when you get back to the television you can click play, the hard disc recorder starts to play from the point you clicked record while it continues recording the rest of the programme.

There are too many features of hard disc recorders to go into here.  Suffice to say, for many people this is the only way to go.