Since posting the idea the Manhattan T4•R may well be my last ever PVR, I’ve been thinking further — do I actually need one at all? Do I need to spend the money (assuming I can afford it)? My attempt at a cost / value analysis follows.
What are my options?
My initial position was get a new 1TB PVR — my T3-R has disc problems, and I’ve had PVRs for over ten years. It’s force of habit. Is it actually a requirement?
Originally the value was building a library of content to watch when I want, to archive some favourites, and be able to pause / rewind live TV. An added benefit has been a better EPG experience than those integrated into various TVs — minor perhaps but still true. The new boxes also have Freeview Play integration.
Going through my existing machine, it’s only around 30% full after five years, so I don’t believe I need a 1TB drive. It feels strange as typically every new generation of technology has more memory / disc / CPU and not less! In terms of money (and I’m looking at Argos prices, due to Amazon quoting a delivery charge [I suspect other options will emerge]) and the costs are £199 for the 1TB Model vs £169 for the 500 GB. That already takes the investment down by £30.
My choices boil down to:
- Spend £169 and get what I think I want — ie carry on as I am
- Spend £69 and just get a T4 giving me the EPG (with Freeview Play) only
- Spend £0 and keep the money for something else.
How valuable is the PVR to me? How often do I actually pause / rewind TV? Can’t I mostly do the same with (eg) iPlayer and longer term Freely?
What else could I spend the money on?
The reality is I spend much more time (news and sport aside) streaming. A month of full 4K Netflix costs £17.99 (at present). A year of Amazon Prime costs £95 a year, Apple TV+ costs £89 a year, Disney+ £109.90 a year (4K version). Not spending the money on a PVR covers a large chunk of streaming.
What am I likely to do?
I was conflating the hardware failures on my existing machine and the launch of the new T4 range. The segue from one to another seemed natural, but is it? Manhattan has had a lot of trouble bringing the machine to market and their website doesn’t get updated often (they also seem to ignore questions on social media).
My decision is carry on with my existing box until it fails completely, then try without a box at all. In considering what to do I realise I’ve a lot of TV recorded in case I want to watch it, many three years old shows I’ve now deleted, and a large amount of old TV backed up to a NAS and never rewatched. I will also plug a drive into my TV and test it’s ability to pause live TV and record to a timer. It might even be exactly what I want!
Is now the time to move on? It might be. Do you agree? Let me know in the comments.
Symmetry Junction 