Advice about a recorder for Samsung smart TV

[#1]

Have now got a Samsung TV that has freestat built in so am finishing with Sky.  thought would miss being able to record but it can record to a recorder attached to usb connection.  has anyone used anything to this with this type of television?  Have looked at WD My Passport AV-TV Hard Drive and wondered what folk thought about that or if there was anything more suitable?

[#2]

I use a 64GB USB memory stick with my Samsung TV.
I have a couple of USB hard drives which I could use, but I find the memory stick holds sufficient hours of recordings for my needs.
IIRC you need to format the usb hard drive / memory stick while plugged in to the TV. This format is not supported by windows which, once formatted, makes the device only suitable for use with the tv.

[#3]

I use a transcend usb3 external hard drive that I bought on amazon a couple of years ago http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=transcend+storejet I got the one with the rubber cover cos kids like to drop things frequently /
anyhow it worked great with my old Samsung TV and still works fine with my newer Toshiba one, the 1TB versions aren't much more than most of the thumb drives with the bonus they wont stop working after 12>18 months

[#4]

obviously you'll be stuck to recording what you are watching though, as the TV won't have 2 tuners?

[#5]

that would depend on how many tuners the particular model of TV has in it, Samsung have been doing dual tuner TV's for quite a long time, anything that supports picture in picture has at least 2 tuners

[#6]

no necessarily
my samsung has picture in picture, but it doesn't allow viewing 2 different channels.
it's for using one source and having the tv source in the smaller view.

[#7]

Excuse my ignorance lack of knowledge, but are you saying you have a Samsung TV into which you can insert a USB Stick that the TV will then record to? If this is the case what is the model number(s) of this / these TVs please.

[#8]

there are many TV's out there that have basic recording functions where you connect your own USB device.
there are not to be compared with the likes of Sky+ or Tivo though, they are basic recorders.

[#9]

Quote from: Mook

Excuse my ignorance lack of knowledge, but are you saying you have a Samsung TV into which you can insert a USB Stick that the TV will then record to? If this is the case what is the model number(s) of this / these TVs please.

I had a couple, one was the sm22"" monito/tv and one was a ce 37" tv, the latter being one of the early "smart" devices both were purchased back in 2010 and I got rid of them some time ago so I cant actually tell you the actual model numbers

[#10]

Thanks for that, is there an obvious way to tell if the TV is capable of recording?

[#11]

yeah, read the spec of the TV.

[#12]

Well, yeah! But that's to obvious. 

[#13]

The TV I have bought is the Samsung ue40JU6740, it is 40" with a curved screen and is UHD.  Brilliant picture, and it has wifi, is recordable, and has freestat built in.  There is only one tuner so can only record one channel but can do so whilst TV in standby so can still record something while out.  Had it a week and am very please with it.
Lovely just to have one remote control (though two come with TV but cannot quite work out why for ordinary viewing but am informed that the other remote is ideal if you want to play games on it!) and am going to save money by not having Sky!
Thank you for suggestions about the hard drive, have decided to order the WD Passport one so hoping it is good.

[#14]

My 42" Panasonic Plasma bought 2010 has the option to record to a USB drive but, again, has to be reformatted so can only play back on the TV.
Never tried using it, though/

[#15]

Got the WD Passport today and plugged it in and it formatted itself!  Very straightforward.  Am going to record something just to see how it works!