Sony: RDR-HXD710

Peter Sorrell, York, on July 26th, 2009
I have had an RDR-HXD710 for over three years now and when it is working correctly I would rate it as excellent. However, like most of the contributors to this forum, it has the most annoying habit of freezing up for no particular reason. I was all set to give it rating of 1, but then I spotted the comment regarding disabling automatic software updates. Touch wood, it has been working fine for the last three weeks, so let's hope this has fixed the freezing problem. It's no hardship not having automatic updates as I don't think it's received one since I've had it. So yes, it's essentially a decent piece of kit, but Sony, please admit it's got a bug and supply an upgrade!

Big John, Belfast , on July 6th, 2009
Have had this piece of kit for a couple of years now. i really must put it in the bin before i go mad. Now needs a reeboot every time it's used, wise up Sony you can do better!

Joe, London, on June 17th, 2009
had mine 5 years or so, very annoyed that i didnt take out the extended warranty as i too suffer freezes on a regular basis, 7 just today, drives my missus insane! and then obviously me... Im going to try this 'turning off the auto-update' trick and if that doesn't work, some poor sod on ebay is going to buy a duffer!

Brian Hammond, Kent, on February 1st, 2009
Always freezing at just the wrong time

Richard, West Yorkshire, on January 11th, 2009
Intermittant Failure, required reboot. became daily or more. Just completely failed. Says welcome then dies. sounds like HDD spins up then dies. Utter disappointment. Sony Quality where art though? Worked well for a while then Big trouble. Dont buy

Barry, Hampshire, on November 10th, 2008
I also had the freeze problem, which started to get worse and worse, and I do seem to have cured it by switching off the "digital software upgrade" feature and by freeing up some space on the disk (we were down to 12% free) - so many thanks to many of you in the above who suggested this!

Brian, Cheshire, on June 21st, 2008
Thanks to Bernard (Oct 9 07) & Cyd (Dec 31 07). I turned off "auto update" (called Digital Software Update in Manual) and has not frozen since.

John, Liverpool, on May 5th, 2008
Same problem. Freezing is a regular ocurance on my Sony 710. I will seriously look in another direction next time I choose to but a piece of kit.

Jeff Gill, Derby, on May 1st, 2008
Sony Hxd710 don't buy it. It freezes all the time only way to cure is reboot. You would think that a company like Sony would update the software. Will not buy Sony again

Bas, Isle of Wight, on April 16th, 2008
I was initially very pleased with the unit because it performed very well indeed. However, after 14 months it suddenly started freezing and had to be switched off completely to effect the cure (switching on again initiates the "wecome" and then the "recovery" actions). this is irritating and time consuming not to mention missed recordings due to this problem. Sony help line - well let me just say that they were not exactly helpful when I (eventually) managed to contact them. I also have a VAIO laptop the screen of which suddenly packed up after 13 months. Sony helpline were no help at all because I never ever managed to get through to them. Sony are off my buy list now.

John, Oxford, on April 14th, 2008
Awful - keeps freezing, and goes into "snail-pace" mode. Just switching it off can take several minutes. Sometimes you just have to pull the plug. Sony after-sales is no good at all. I also had a duff Sony laptop, and will not be buying Sony again.

Scott, Sussex, on March 30th, 2008
Recently stopped playing any type/format of any DVD or formatting from HDD to Disc simply saying " CANNOT READ DISC," after 18mths. All other functions fine.

Cyd, Cheshire, on December 31st, 2007
my 710 froze every day recently. TURNED OFF THE AUTO UPDATE. Haven't had a freeze since

Mozza D, on November 29th, 2007
Sony RDR HXD710. Steer clear, do not buy. Mine is 17 months old and freezes often. I have formatted HDD to no avail. Sony help-desk is worse than useless & exsists only to obtain marketing info for their use. DO NOT BUY>

Bernard, West Sussex, on October 9th, 2007
I have had one of these for just over 2 years now. Absolutely fantastic with high picture quality - both Freeview and other DVDs. It very occasionally crashes but it easily fixed by pressing the ON/OFF button for 15 seconds or so to make it reset. I have since learned that turning off auto-updates cures this problem. I have also imported digital camcorder footage via firewire and it's very straightforward with great picture quality. It is also good to be able to edit unwanted material out of the video once on the hard drive.

Allan, Dartford , on April 16th, 2007
Auto tune only tuning in 6 TV channels and no radio. All channels are BBC. Signal strength and quality both very good. Thomson STB on same aerial connection is ok. Only 18 months old - trip to repair shop?

Peter, Bromley, on February 15th, 2007
We have had a RDR-HXD710 for 15 months and found it pretty good in our configuration. However, it has just failed completely (display shows "Welcome", flashing intermittently, and will not respond to any controls). It is going to cost us either £140 or £80 to fix it - terrible on a machnine only 15 mmonths old. Don't think I shall be buying any more Sony kit!

at home, on October 23rd, 2006
Used box to record films on DTT and write to DVD, easy to remove adverts and pick size to fit DVD. Doesn't seem to crash, external inputs good for other analogue recording/copying - won't let you make a backup of pre-recorded tapes - says protected. facilities for recording/watching day to day programmes not as good as other box I have - Pace twin - no + minutes before/after, no skip a minute on play back - great for adverts. Written about 60 DVDs no failures (cheap DVD-R). As long as you know what its capable of, it works fine (bit noiser than Pace box).

Paul, North Wales, on October 6th, 2006
When it's good, it's very, very good... ... but when it's bad, it's very naughty