Ah shame about that Doc.  Think I'm gonna go the STB route for the time being anyway.

ninehours-
Thats unfortunate, that would have been good for £190.

I think I've narrowed it down to either of these:

Topfield TF5800PVR

Comet
Seems to get good Reviews. 
Has a 250GB drive.  Can transfer recordings to a PC via USB.  It has 2 tuners for recording 2 things at once.  I also like the sound of TAPS (downloaded from the 'Toppy' site) that add extra features and improvements (like a new EPG).

PANASONIC DMR-EX77EB-K

Comet
Review
This only has a 160GB HDD but is also a DVD recorder so should I run out of space I can copy to disc.  It also has 1080p upscaling and a HDMI output - will I see a big improvment with freeview??  I think this is whats going to be the deciding factor.  On the downside it only sports a single digital tuner.

Both of these are £230 from my local comet.

Edit:  Arrgh!  Just noticed the Topfield one is web only (ideally wanted to pick 1 up tomorrow) so looks like I'll have to get that online, although prices should be around the £200 mark online.

The DVD recording is not all that important to me as anything I put on dvd will then be put on the PC.  The only real requirement is that I have some way of getting something off the unit should I wish to keep  it.
As for the timeslip, the Topfield has it but I dont think the Panny has.

So it all boils down to wether the 1080 upscaling/HDMI out will be much of an improvemnent.

I've also seen the new model from Topfield (the TF5810PVR) which has the best of both as it has all the features of the 5800 but with the benefit (?) of the upscaling.  Its expensive (seen it for around £320 somewhere) but I'd be willing to pay it for a big improvement.[i][/i]

MarEll

Please, please PLEASE don't buy a single-tuner PVR - next to useless!

I own a Topfield 5800, latest firmware (NOT Freeview Playback - not good enough yet) patched and TAPed to the point where it beats Sky+ into a cocked hat.
There is a free 'software bundle' available to allow transfer, demux and remux to DVD standard for burning (via a PC) and it works superbly.

I wouldn't recommend a 5810, because:
1. Yes, it's got a 500GB hard drive but you can fit a bigger drive to a 5800 quite easily.
2. It's far too damned expensive for what it offers.
3. The Freeview Playback firmware that comes with it is not bug-free yet.
4. Not all TAPs are compatible.

Any further info, try toppy.org.uk or PM me.

Giga-
Thanks for the link, although the opinions in the comments are varied to say the least. Some say they have seen the results side by side and swear theres an improvement and others say its a load of bo**ocks.  At any rate I dont think I'll bother with the Panny.  Or the 5810.

Iken-
I'm not sure I understand this sentence:
"I own a Topfield 5800, latest firmware (NOT Freeview Playback - not good enough yet)"

Good to know that the HDD can be upgraded on a Toppy, in fact I found a guys who's done it.
In practice what transfer rates are you getting between Toppy and PC?
Also, what are you using to connect to your TV?  RGB scart?

Doc-
"Too many good shows are on at the same time."
You've obviously never watched freeview!    But yeah having 2 tuners will be handy.
__________________

Ok so I'm set on the 5800.  Now I just need to decide wether I'm gonna pay £200 online and wait a week or £230 local and get it tomorrow morning   

Thanks to everyone who posted, your help is much appreciated 

MarEll

Sorry, should have elaborated!  The firmware I have is 5.13.65 which is the recommended version; the latest is 5.14.08 which incorporates Freeview Playback functionality.  Unfortunately, 5.14.08 did not work well for me (I did try it) and, as I use TAPs to give near-SeriesLink functions I had no real need for it either.

Transfer rates between Toppy & PC are hindered by the CPU-based USB functions.  However, patching the firmware (5.13.65) can improve matters considerably.  There is a 'Turbo' option to dramatically improve speed but it COMPLETELY LOCKS the Toppy so that recordings wil not start and no remote control functions are available until the transfer completes.  To avoid problems I just do transfers when no recordings are scheduled.

I do indeed use RGB SCART to my Sony WEGA CRT as I have no Component option available (Component is available from the Toppy via a SCART-to-component cable available seperately - any improvement on RGB is really down to the TV).  The picture is, I find, excellent (for Freeview...!).

The thing about having two tuners is, you can record two programmes at once WHILST WATCHING A THIRD (either a previous recording or another 'live' channel on the same mux as a current recording).  There are times that is very useful, even on Freeview!

I paid £250 for my 160GB version over 2 years ago so either price is good value!  Oh, and they come with a 2-year warranty now.

Glad to be of service!

DVR's tend to come preset to record at low quality so they can say that they can record more hours.  Play with the settings and find the recording quality and set it to max.

MareEll

Glad you like the Toppy!  Indispensible, ain't it?

The latest firmware has not been released for over-the-air updating (this is optional, not forced, by the way) and an new version is due soon anyway.  If memory serves it is only currently available for download from Toppy.org.uk after (free) registration.  In my case with 5.14.08, recordings set via MyStuff (an EPG repacement and much, much more) for 1 hour had to be stopped manually or would have run for 4 hours in each case!  That was enough for me to downgrade...  Also, the Toppy does not fully standby when the button is pressed and remains 'on' (HDD still spins down) to update programme info automatically (so-called 'soft-off').  Series Link doesn't seem to work very well either and I read iffy reports about Accurate Recording (another part of Freeview Playback) too. You must also set timers by native EPG or TAP, not both, otherwise problems ensue.
You are, of course, quite entitled to try it out but I personally wouldn't recommend it.  I do, however, recommend 5.13.65 - very stable especially when patched (full details on Toppy.org.uk).

Regarding the aerial inputs, I strongly recommend seperate connections to each of the tuners (i.e. ANT1 IN and ANT2 IN).  The supplied patch cable is pretty naff quality by all accounts and can degrade the signal.
I am lucky enough to only require a set-top aerial so I bought a 4-way signal amplifier with variable gain setting and decent quality aerial leads.  I therefore use seperate connections and don't use the RF/'out' connections at all so cannot comment, though your connections sound OK.
What is your aerial setup?  Can you easily get a dual-output for the Toppy and third for the TV without reducing signal gain?
Is the AV output set to PAL and RGB in the menu and the SCART connected to the RGB-enabled socket on your TV? That is vital.  I also ditched the supplied SCART and bought a quality shielded cable - it did make a difference!

@ Dr. Killpatient (great alias, btw!)
This particular machine is purely a hard-disk recorder for the UK Freeview DTV system (MPEG2 stream), and the bit rate is set by the broadcaster/allocated capacity; it varies a lot!  There is no facility on the Topfield to record external sources, and the recording bit-rate is 'fixed' in hardware.

Quoting Dr. Killpatient:

Quote:
I built my own DVR using SnapStream's Beyond TV so if you have some funds available to build a PC for it, it's the way to go.

No advertisements, no DRM, and my DVR can currently record up to 8 shows at the same time (4 via two HDHomeRun boxes and 4 via two nVidia DualTV cards).

I also have a HTPC hooked up in my bedroom running BeyondTV Link and I can watch any of the shows recorded on the BTV server over the network.

I agree with the Doc.  I've built my on Home Theater PC (HTPC)/PVR using Beyond TV and I have much more flexibility than buying some off-the-shelf PVR. I can upgrade the size of my hard drives to add capacity as i see fit. i can also record OTA HD shows and burn them off with a blu-ray burner if i wanted too.  It's also a PC so I can surf the web and do all the PC stuff I want. It houses my 6000 song mp3 library as well so it sounds great connected to my system.  Build the PVR your self.  Look at my post on General Home Theater discussion for my components that I have in my HTPC.