Sony SVRHDT1000B

usability, size, image quality, design

reliability, price

68% of the reviews on Amazon.co.uk give this product a positive rating.

Stunning HD picture ; clear set-up menus ; massive 1TB of storage

Disappointing BBC iPlayer picture ; EPG’s look and standard-def pics could be better

The SVR-HDT1000 is good – but you can’t help feeling that it should be better

Huge HDD; quiet operation; archiving to external HDD; music and photo jukebox functionality

No smart portal or video playback on USB; no on-box display

Freeview HD+ DVR with HDD archiving

It has every key functionality

Updates at 1am in the morning, so dont keep it in your room if you are a light sleeper

Hard to use, won't allow you to copy anything on the HDD externally and watch on another device!

Set up of folders is excellent, operates as if a laptop.

The remote scroll arrows and ok button are failing after 2 years. No cropping which is annoying.

Reasonably compact. Fairly intuitive controls and remote key layout.

Takes an unacceptably long time to respond from the time of switching it out of standby. This is VERY frustrating. Occasionally freezes altogether on switch-on, necessitating the need to unplug the unit for a brief period, then wait even longer while...

Good picture and sound quality

Slow to warm up and respond Cannot use for my camcorder video or camera stills in the way that I could use my previous DVD recorder Instructions difficult to follow

Firmware works much better than that used in some previous models.

Can be complicated to get used to, but then it does has more complex features than previous models.

Easy to use, integrated tuner, EPG, excellent video quality.

Could be a bit faster to start.