0301WHC25 Thomson DVD

26/11/02

12:23 PM

Page 89

Thomson DTH-7000

Sick of using clunky old VHS to capture your TV favourites? Thomsons DTH-7000 DVD player/hard-disk recorder may be just what you need
ombining a DVD player and VCR is a great idea, but it has its limitations. Sure, you can watch your discs and tapes all from the same unit, but when it comes to recording, VHS just seems archaic. So whats the answer? Simple throw a hard disk in there instead, and do away with tape altogether. Its an approach that Thomson has taken with the DTH-7000, a one-box solution that combines a DVD player and 40GB hard-disk drive (HDD). It allows you to record up to 36 hours of your favourite programmes onto the hard disk, and also lets you watch DVDs. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Gone is the need to accommodate chunky VHS tapes, so slimline looks are the order of the day. And never one to skimp on aesthetics, Thomson has gone to town with the DTH-7000s styling. The drool-worthy mirrored fascia creates one dashing unit youll never look at a VCR in the same way again. Like Jennifer Lopez, the DTH-7000 is well-endowed at the rear. It boasts two Scart sockets, intended for connection to a TV and set-top box. Since both of these are RGB-capable, you can record digital TV in the best possible quality your recordings of The Simpsons will never look so crisp or colourful. Also provided are optical and coaxial digital outputs to pipe audio to a home cinema amplifier. The 40GB HDD doesnt just store video. MP3 files and JPEG images can be transferred onto the unit via the USB port on the front panel. This turns the DTH-7000 into an advanced jukebox and electronic photo album a very nice touch. You will, however, need to get yourself a Thomson USB card reader. If youve only just mastered the VCR, fear not it wont take you very long to get used to this new technology.

TV Moments

The DTH-7000 boasts an excellent user interface, guiding you through every part of the setup process. There are three recording modes to trade off picture quality for recording time basic (36 hours), normal (20 hours) and high (10 hours). You can also pause live TV using the hard disks 45-minute buffer. On the down side, theres no navigation screen to fiddle with hard-disk recordings, unlike other DVD or hard-disk recorders, and editing features are limited. Some aspects of operation are clumsy, particularly the timer it doesnt even provide VideoPlus.

The Simpsons

Record Homer and co in the high setting and marvel at the vibrant, noise-free colours

Im Alan Partridge

The DTH-7000 captures every one of Alans wrinkles, which is testament to superb fine-detail reproduction

High and mighty

There are no gripes with picture quality, though. The high setting is unbelievable, providing a impressive amount of detail, rich colour and dynamic contrast. In fact, its only restriction is the source being recorded, so analogue TV wont bring the best out of it. Move down to the normal setting and youre in for more treats. The amazing image clarity ensures that TV recordings look almost as good as the original broadcast. Some MPEG artefacts are visible over backgrounds, but this never becomes a nuisance. The basic mode is similar to VHS in terms of quality, but images remain watchable. Its the perfect option for long, disposable recordings, where picture quality isnt important. In many ways its better than VHS, as theres far less colour noise and pictures remain stable. DVD playback is also of a high standard in terms of video and audio, while your CDs and CD-R/RWs sound great. There are a few niggles, but overall, the DTH-7000 is a stroke of genius and reasonably priced to boot. It doesnt let you archive like a DVD recorder, but as a VCR replacement this is a terrific, Further Info 21st-century Call or visit www.thomson-europe.com proposition.

Good Points

No tapes or discs needed just record straight to hard disk. Its a breeze to use and recordings look amazing

Bad Points

Misses some important features found on other digital recorders

Overall

A superb tape-free VCR replacement that also spins your DVDs with just a few niggles

Ratings

Style 5555555556 Ease of use 5555555566 Features 5555555666 Sound 5555555556 Picture 5555555556 Value 5555555566 Overall 5555555566
What Home Cinema January 2003

DVD/Hard-Disk Recorder

0304WHC49 Panny/Thompson group

24/2/03

Page 109

Thomson DTH7000

homsons DTH7000 raised a few eyebrows when it first arrived at What Home Cinema towers. At first, we assumed it was a HDD and DVD recorder, like the Panasonic also featured on this page. And its fair to say we were a little disappointed when we realised it only boasted DVD playback. However, on reflection, its a very clever idea. If youre the sort of person who uses VHS video merely as a time-shift function in order to watch programmes at a later date rather than storing onto DVD or videotape or if you want to build a home cinema around a separate, dedicated DVD player, this could be exactly what youre looking for. With its 40GB hard disk, you can record up to 60 hours of programming, although to squeeze this much out of the Thomson results in poor pictures. The other two recording modes (30 and 45 hours) provide near-perfect picture reproduction. Built-in is a 99-channel Nicam tuner, which, as with the Panasonic, is analogue-only. To get the best out of recordings, youll want to hook this baby up to Sky, cable or Freeview terrestrial digital broadcasts.

Now and then

Simultaneous recording and playback allows you to pause and rewind live TV as with every system in this group test, bar the Pace. Connections include RGB Scarts, for the best pictures, analogue stereo, and S-video terminals. Thomsons event timer only allows for eight programmes, a real shame when you consider just how much recording capacity this machine offers. And although PDC is included, as with the Panasonic, it lacks VideoPlus. Instead, Thomson has included its own Naviclick timer programming system. The DTH7000 is a decent enough DVD player not the last word in picture quality, but on a par with most 200 players. Overall, the Thomson is a clever option for those who arent bothered about archiving TV programmes, and who want a separate DVD player. Well worth considering if it fits the digital bill for you.

Ratings

Recording Playback Sound Features Ease of use Value Overall

Further Info

Call 920 or visit www.thomson-europe.com

Panasonic DMR-HS2

anasonics super-unit is the first to combine hard-drive recording with recordable DVD. Combining arguably the best of both worlds, it is a truly desirable slice of home entertainment kit. If youre considering buying a DVD recorder, we seriously suggest you consider this combi-option before shelling out your hard-earned greenbacks. A substantial 40GB hard disk allows you to record up to 20 hours of programmes, of reasonable quality, directly from the units built-in TV tuner. You can then edit the footage down to your favourite shows, minus the adverts if you prefer, to be stored on a blank DVD-RAM disc. The HDD portion of the machine can be programmed to record TV in a similar way to a VHS VCR, with its PDC timer facility. But unlike with a regular video recorder, you can nip back to watch the beginning of a programme while the DMR-HS2 is still recording neat, eh? Panasonic has christened this facility Time Slip, and it can also be used to pause live TV.

Getting acquainted

It does take a while to get familiarised with the DMR-HS2s operating system, despite Panasonics brave efforts to make things simple. Two buttons, labelled HDD and DVD, separate
the functions for each portion of the DMR-HS2, while a helpful set of onscreen menu pages make the process of editing, setting the timer and choosing preferences relatively painless. Relatively being the operative word. There is little to choose between the image quality of DVD or HDD, with both making near-perfect copies of the original broadcasts. The built-in tuner is only analogue, though, so we recommend hooking up the Panasonic to a digital source, such as Sky digital or Freeview. Whichever recording option you decide to use day-to-day, you wont be disappointed, and will never want to watch VHS recordings again thats a promise! Of course, this deck also plays pre-recorded DVD-Videos, and would also make a superb hub for a home cinema system. All you would need to do is connect it to a DVD upgrade setup, like the Klegg M6 501R on p100 of this issue, or build a dedicated separates system around it. Overall, this system makes a mockery of recordable DVD-only machines. It fuses the ease and flexibility of HDD with the storage wizardry of DVD-RAM. If you are set upon buying a DVD recorder, this combi must be considered.

########## ########## ########$$ ########## ######$$$$ #######$$$ ########$$
Call or visit www.panasonic.co.uk
What Home Cinema April 2003
Group Test: Hard-disk Recorders
########## ########## ########$$ ########## ######$$$$ ######$$$$ ########$$