Questions about HDD Recording

[Whatsausername]

Hello. My Bravia TV has a HDD Recording feature, which I am considering to use. I just have some things to ask first:

1. Does a USB flash drive work or is it necessary to have a proper hard drive?

2. Do both SATA and IDE drives work?

3. Is it necessary to have power from the mains for the hard drive to function on the TV?

4. Is it possible, in addition to record and pause, to rewind live TV?

5. Can you record a program while watching another?

6. Can you record two programs at once?

I have a spare 3.5" 40 GB IDE internal hard drive. Can I purchase an enclosure for it and connect it to the TV by USB? Will I need to have additional power from the mains or are the power through the USB cable enough? Also how many hours approximately can I record on 40 GB?

Also,

7. After using the HDD Recording feature using the hard drive, can I format the drive and re-use it in a computer? I've heard that the TV does some dodgy stuff to it that won't let you re-use it, is that true?

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Ill do my best at answering your questions, but firstly what model TV do you have?

Cheers

[Whatsausername]

I am currently away from my TV, but I am 100% certain it has HDD Recording. Also what I can tell you now is that it's a 2011 model bought in 2012.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi there

The info about 2011 model tells me alot - even without the exact model number.

1. Does a USB flash drive work or is it necessary to have a proper hard drive?
   
   A USB Flash drive will work just fine.  Needs to be 32GB or more.  At current prices, I would go for 64GB minimum to be honest.
   
   
2. Do both SATA and IDE drives work?
   
   YES - As long as its in a USB Enclosure.  It is also preferred that the HDD is a WD (Western Digital), as it seems to be compatible more often than not.  See below for more info.
   
   
3. Is it necessary to have power from the mains for the hard drive to function on the TV?
   
   It is preferred that the USB HDD has a mains power connection.  However rule of thumb is:
   
   • 3.5" HDD = Mains powered (NOT USB Powered)
   • 2.5" HDD = Can be either and should work.
4. Is it possible, in addition to record and pause, to rewind live TV?
   
   NO - A 2011 model TV does not support those features.
   
   
5. Can you record a program while watching another?
   
   NO - TV only has a single tuner.
   
   
6. Can you record two programs at once?
   
   NO - TV only has a single tuner.
   
   
7. I have a spare 3.5" 40 GB IDE internal hard drive. Can I purchase an enclosure for it and connect it to the TV by USB? Will I need to have additional power from the mains or are the power through the USB cable enough? Also how many hours approximately can I record on 40 GB?
   
   A 40GB IDE HDD in an external USB enclosure that is MAINS powered should work.  32GB HDD is the minimum requirements.  Unknown how many hours it will record, as well as HD channels consume more space.
   
   
8. After using the HDD Recording feature using the hard drive, can I format the drive and re-use it in a computer? I've heard that the TV does some dodgy stuff to it that won't let you re-use it, is that true?
   
   Yes you can reformat the drive, It can be a little tricky with 2011 TVs.  There are some instructions somewhere, but cannot find them at the moment.  But deleting the full partition and re-creating it, should work. 
   
   

For more information, see : HERE (which is for a 2011 NX723 TV)

On a personal note, an enclosure for the 40GB HDD might just cost roughly the same as a brand new WD HDD, but with more storage.

Cheers

[Whatsausername]

Thank you so much, that was detailed and helpful.

So a IDE 40 GB will work. That's great. Also you said that Western Digital hard drives have better compatibility, well guess what, mines is a WD!

Ok, so what I'm gonna have to do now is buy a enclosure to put the drive in, power it by mains (as it's 3.5"), connect to the TV and hopefully it should be good to go.

So basically I record what I'm watching at the time, as you said I can't record two at a time. For questions 4 and 5 I actually meant recording two different 'channels' on the same tuner, for example recording something on BBC One and ITV at the same time, on the same tuner (DVB-T, Freeview). Either way, it should be a no, unfortunately.

Once again, thank you!

[Anonymous]

Your welcome.

*Should* work - slight little disclaimer   However I cannot see why it wouldnt.

Needs to be formatted to FAT32 before hand though

Have Fun.

[Nielsen]

The "de-Bravia" of a HDD cookbook is here (reformatting):

http://kb.sony-europe.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?St=251,E=0000000000098449016,Key=677,SXI=1,Case=ob...

A 1 hour of 720p (HD) recording occupies 4 GB of space on my WD, so I will recommend a larger HDD.

[Whatsausername]

Good reminder, it needs FAT32 formatting.

1 hr at 720p HD is 4 GB? So I'll have about 10 hours of 720p recordings on my drive. But I'll record standard definition channels so I'll have plenty more space than that.