[peterfelgate]

Not sure if I follow what you are saying! What I was trying to say was that if the STB reminder could be set to switch over when the warning triggers rather than the designated programme time, that would at least allow some recordings to not miss the beginning of the programme time if unattended recordings are being done. In my case I set my HDD recorder manually to come on a minute or so before the scheduled time and it would be nice if I could arrange for the STB to do the same, rather than leaving it on the desired channel when I go out - and of course as you say that doesn't help with subsequent programmes being recorded. Contiguous recordings from different channels will always have a problem whether cable or not - if one program doesn't finish before the next one starts then no matter how you do it you'll miss either the end of one or the beginning of the other. Worst offender seems to be Coronation Street in our area which always starts before the previous BBC programme finishes! An ability to set manual timers/reminders, like on the old analogue STBs, as well as using the EPG, would be far, far better IMHO.