<p>Australia's free-to-air commercial TV networks go out of their way to make it hard for us to catch our favourite shows each week. In theory a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) frees you from the shackles of the broadcast schedule but, as I explained recently, most PVRs tend to leave you in the lurch.</p><p>Two key contenders in the Australian PVR market are the Humax HDR-7500T and the Strong SRT 6500. These flagship models offer insight into how the two PVR vendors are heading down different paths.</p><p>The Humax is compatible with IceTV.com.au, an Australian online Electronic Program Guide which replaces the EPG embedded in the broadcast signal. An IceTV subscription is $99 per year, although you'll probably find a voucher in the box offering a few months for free. You'll also get good deals on some PVRs if you buy them directly from the IceTV.com.au website.</p><p>IceTV makes it easy to create Season Passes to automatically record your favourite shows each week, managing everything remotely from your computer or mobile device. You can also create Season Passes based on keywords and other variables. The beauty of IceTV is that it checks the EPG for schedule changes rather than blindly recording the same timeslot each week.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/9/16/technology/pvr-smackdown-humax-7500t-vs-strong-srt-6500">Keep reading...</a></p>