To think my pensioner mother shouldn't have to pay for Freeview if...

[TheOutside]

She wants to record it and has it already built into her TV!?

My Mum and Dad are getting rid of Sky in favour of Freeview and Netflix. My mum wants to be able to series link and record from freeview. I can't find any recorders that do this without a)selling freeview as part of their system and b)don't require an additional bulky sub storage drive to be added on.

Can anyone recommend a freeview recorder with built in storage that does series link AND is a reasonable price?!!

The cheapest way to get one could be to take out a cheap subscription for one year then cancel the paid channels. (I got a freeview box with a hard drive from BT that way.)

When I did it, what I paid in subscriptions was less than the price of the box if bought separately.

This was a long time ago so I don't know if there are similar deals now.

I recently bought one for my mums and dad for exactly the same reason. Their tv has freeview but they wanted to be able to record and pause live TV. I found one on Amazon for under £40 (needs a separate usb stick). Works perfectly.

www.argos.co.uk/product/2579333

Humax HDR-1800T 320GB Freeview+ HD Smart Digital TV Recorder

I have this. If you are used to a Virgin or Sky box, it's very similar in operation, apart from only having freeview channels of course.

Series link, on screen guide, search for shows by keyword.
Radio stations.
No built-in WiFi but you can connect it by cable to Internet services. Not sure if USB or Ethernet as I only have a PAYG mobile WiFi spot with not enough data allowance for tv so have never connected it up.

They have Cheesecakes in refurbed form on Amazon for £90 as well.

I also use a Humax one, more storage though (but for Freesat)

Used to use a bush one which was cheaper but less reliable.

We bought a BT Youview box from Amazon when we ditched Sky.
You don't need a BT subscription to use it btw.

It's really good, it records and has series link and also has the function where you can step back through the on screen TV guide and watch things on catch up which have been shown in the last 7 days rather than having to open an app to watch iPlayer or whatever.

You say the TV has free view built-in?

Does it have the ability to record free view as well?

If it does, you only need to buy an external hard drive which will be connected to the TV with a USB cable.
Which is how we do it.

@tanstaafl now that I'm unsure of, I will have to find out!

Some great workaround ideas there, thankyou!

We have one of the Humax Freeview boxes. For years we didn't even bother tuning the TV into any channels - we just watched everything through the Humax box. It does everything you asked - decent storage, recording, series link. They are good boxes and the ones we have had have all lasted several years.

You just need a hard drive but you’ve got to make sure the remote control has a recording function. The instruction on TV should have advice on how you can use a recorder if the TV can actually do that.