Samsung BD-D8900 3D Blu-ray player PVR review
1TB hard disk recorder with Freeview HD and 3D Blu-ray
Review date: 29 September, 2011. Review by: Jamie Carter
There's not much Samsung's latest Blu-ray equipped, PVR hard disk recording 'media hub' can't make a stab at, but it's not quite the all-round home entertainment solution it thinks it is.
Let's start with the good stuff. Apps and games from Samsung's 'Smart Hub' interface, an IPTV-based platform that brings BBC iPlayer, among others. WiFi networking of media files - with hard disk support is also here, as is 3D Blu-ray playback - and even 2D-to-3D conversion.
It's heady stuff, and it's not over yet: two DVB-T2 tuners enable the BD-D8900 to fetch digital terrestrial channels from both standards Freeview, and Freeview HD platforms.
Not all areas of the UK can get the latter's addition of BBC One HD, BBC HD, ITV 1 HD and either Channel 4 HD (England), S4C Clirlan (Wales) or STV HD (Scotland), so it's worth checking your area's status here before diving into the BD-D8900.
What you get
The BD-D8900 is what's commonly known as a personal video recorder (PVR), or hard disk recorder. Put simply, it's a Sky+ box for Freeview, with added hi-def goodness.
The addition of the latter requires it to be a lot bigger than previous incarnations of PVRs: inside the BD-D8900 is a hard disk with a whopping 1TB capacity, which is essential for those with a HD habit.
This machine can record 240 hours of hi-def programmes, or 480 hours from regular standard definition channels, while music CDs can also be ripped to the HDD (complete with tracklisting and cover art automatically downloading), and hence can even be transferred to a USB stick as MP3s.
Flexibility & recording
The BD-D8900 can pause live TV, and even rewind it, though it's not quite as flexible as you might think.
It's only possible to record one channel at a time, which immediately ranks it below a Sky box - and it pales in comparison to a Virgin Media TiVo box, which possesses three tuners, all of which can record at once.
Still, there's plenty of flexibility elsewhere; a great-looking, albeit occasionally slow, electronic programme guide (EPG) stuffed with the 100+ channels we tuned in is easy to navigate.
It's then possible to make one-touch instant recordings, set a series link, and even get information on transmissions of programmes in the future.
Sadly, despite its Blu-ray optical drive, the BD-D8900 can't export Freeview HD recordings to a BD-R disc, as Panasonic's (higher-priced, though with smaller HDDs) DMR-BWT700 and DMR-BWT800 machines can.
The BD-D8900 also fails to perform recordings when it's indulging in another of its hobbies - WiFi streaming.
Company: Samsung
Website: http://www.samsung.com/uk
Contact: Samsung on 0845 67267864
