Freesat PVR, DTR, HDR:
Many DTR and DVD recorder models are labelled as either Freeview or Freesat+. There is a difference between the Freeview digital television service and Freesat Digital satellite television service. Freeview uses a digital television receiver through an aerial and Freesat is a digital satellite television received through a satellite dish. Freeview has quite a range of choice when it comes to recording, pausing and allowing you to record episodes of your favourite show at the touch of a button. However because Freesat is a relatively new service it only has a few options when it comes to recording. A freesat PVR will give you the same functionality of any previous television recorders or your existing Sky Plus digital recorder, but it will only receive "Freesat" channels. However there is plenty of choice with Freesat with over 200 channels to choose from. A definitive list of Freesat Channels can be viewed here. The choices for recording and pausing live TV are the Humax Foxsat HDR which was released last November, the Panasonic DVD recorder, the Panasonic Blue Ray DVD recorder (either 250gb or 500gb). Sagem are releasing their version from September which will come in either a 250gb or a 500gb version and Goodmans which is due for release at the moment can recorde up to 200 hours of high definition television. You can also buy television sets with a digital Freesat receiver encorporated within it. Your options are LG's LF7700 Freesat HD Series (32, 37, 42 inches), the Panasonic Full HD 1080p Digital LCD TV's (32, 37, 42 inches) and Panasonic Viera series. The functionality of these Freesat PVR boxes come with no subscription charges, which gives you great digital flexibility with no on-going costs. There is the initial cost of buying the Freesat PVR and the installation of the Satellite dish but this is a one off fee. Your existing Sky Satellite dish will work too, so you could save even more money by switching to a Freesat PVR. If you still think the option is too expensive perhaps you could consider one of the Argos buy now pay later options.
