Okay, now I’m really puzzled. I had (well, I still have) a Panasonic DVR that we loved to use. It made recording programs off-the-air so much easier to use than the old VHS recorder it replaced. But with the end of analog broadcasts, it’s now just a somewhat complicated DVD player. And aside from TiVo, [...]
[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/columns/2009/08/hdtv_almanac_is_that_a_hard_drive_in_your_hdtv.php]Read Column[/url]
HDTV Almanac - Is That a Hard Drive in Your HDTV?
-
alfredpoor
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 1805
- Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 9:27 am
-
alfredpoor
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 1805
- Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 9:27 am
Panasonic DVRs
Thanks for the suggestion. The Panasonic models that I know of are only DVD recorders; they don't have an internal hard drive as far as I know, and they don't record in HD, which is a prerequisite for me when recording over the air ATSC. I'm currently using a Hauppauge card in a Vista Media Center system, and while it's better than nothing, I find that I'm using it less and less.
Alfred
Alfred
-
jjkilleen
- Member
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:31 am
I have the Panasonic DMR-EZ48V. It also has a VCR drive. It "records" HD downgraded to DVD resolution. Playback, on a 720P set, from about eight feet away is in 16:9 format and looks very good. It also does a good job of upconverting DVDs.
What I like most about it is that it works with DVD RAM. It's just like using a VCR, except much better quality, and the disk lasts for 100,000 cycles.
I have a cable HDDVR, and I use the DVDR when I want to record more than two shows at the same time. The model I have was also available as stated, but without the VCR-I have one of those also.
I also use it to make DVDs from programs recorded on my DVR.
Panasonic may have newer models out by now.
Unfortunately, there's not much choice if you want to archive HD. You're stuck with some device or other using a hard drive.
BTW, I also have a media center computer with two QAM tuners.
What I like most about it is that it works with DVD RAM. It's just like using a VCR, except much better quality, and the disk lasts for 100,000 cycles.
I have a cable HDDVR, and I use the DVDR when I want to record more than two shows at the same time. The model I have was also available as stated, but without the VCR-I have one of those also.
I also use it to make DVDs from programs recorded on my DVR.
Panasonic may have newer models out by now.
Unfortunately, there's not much choice if you want to archive HD. You're stuck with some device or other using a hard drive.
BTW, I also have a media center computer with two QAM tuners.
-
eliwhitney
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 484
- Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:14 am
- Location: Oklahoma
alfredpoor . . .
For apparently unknown reasons, Japan managed to have their 'HD' without any of those grievous Digital Rights rules of the U.S..
As a direct result, they have always had / offered for the buying public quite a wide variety of (external or stand alone) HD hard drive units.
Here, with the signing into law that "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" of '98, there was no hope of having a similar variety of units from which to select.
By-the-way . . . . other than their on-going $13 / monthly 'fee' [ their lifetime pay-once option ended long ago] ... might I please inquire what you have found to be unsatisfactory w/ the (2) units from TIVO which DO record & play back legitimate HD?
{ ref: at $100 off, one might get the external eSATA 1 TB Western Hard drive & have vast storage, no need to "pick 'n choose!"} . . . . https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxes.do?type=renewed
everett
For apparently unknown reasons, Japan managed to have their 'HD' without any of those grievous Digital Rights rules of the U.S..
As a direct result, they have always had / offered for the buying public quite a wide variety of (external or stand alone) HD hard drive units.
Here, with the signing into law that "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" of '98, there was no hope of having a similar variety of units from which to select.
By-the-way . . . . other than their on-going $13 / monthly 'fee' [ their lifetime pay-once option ended long ago] ... might I please inquire what you have found to be unsatisfactory w/ the (2) units from TIVO which DO record & play back legitimate HD?
{ ref: at $100 off, one might get the external eSATA 1 TB Western Hard drive & have vast storage, no need to "pick 'n choose!"} . . . . https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxes.do?type=renewed
everett
-
alfredpoor
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 1805
- Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 9:27 am
Alfred and TiVo
Everett asked:
I guess that at this point, the pendulum has already swung for me, and I'm not certain that I'd buy an HD DVR today even if I had the option. There's much less on broadcast TV that I want to watch these days. The signal-to-noise ratio is not much better on satellite or cable. And I can watch most of the shows that I do like using Hulu or some other site. Yes, Hulu has commercials, but they take less time than it used to take to skip the minutes of commercials on the DVR.
So there's nothing really wrong with the TiVo offerings; it's just that at this point our viewing habits have changed and a DVR doesn't match our needs as well as some of the alternatives.
Alfred
Ah, good question. I can only plead irrational skinflintery. Maybe it's my Scots heritage, I don't know, but I have a hard time paying monthly for entertainment. We don't have cable and we don't have satellite. I do have FiOS for broadband and phone, but not the TV service. Now, I admit to irrational behaviour because we do pay monthly for a DVD rental subscription, and the fact that we watch a fair amount of Internet streaming content means that some of the monthy broadband fee is going for entertainment.what you have found to be unsatisfactory w/ the (2) units from TIVO which DO record & play back legitimate HD?
I guess that at this point, the pendulum has already swung for me, and I'm not certain that I'd buy an HD DVR today even if I had the option. There's much less on broadcast TV that I want to watch these days. The signal-to-noise ratio is not much better on satellite or cable. And I can watch most of the shows that I do like using Hulu or some other site. Yes, Hulu has commercials, but they take less time than it used to take to skip the minutes of commercials on the DVR.
So there's nothing really wrong with the TiVo offerings; it's just that at this point our viewing habits have changed and a DVR doesn't match our needs as well as some of the alternatives.
Alfred
-
Rodolfo
- Author
- Posts: 755
- Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 8:46 pm
- Location: Lansdowne VA
DVR into DTVs
Alfred,
The idea of a DVR into DTV was actually implemented in the US back in 2005. 4 years ago I designed a HT for someone based on a 50
The idea of a DVR into DTV was actually implemented in the US back in 2005. 4 years ago I designed a HT for someone based on a 50
-
alfredpoor
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 1805
- Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 9:27 am
DVRs in HDTVs
Rodolfo, thanks for the post. You're absolutely right that other HDTVs have had hard drives before; there's little new under the sun, I guess. I know that HP, LG, and Mitsubishi have all had HDTVs with hard drives over the years: LCD, plasma, and rear projection models. I haven't noticed that these have ever developed much traction in this country, however.
As for the Moxi, it's a great system and appealing, but as I understand it, it requires a cable subscription as its signal source. That's not much use to a Luddite like me, but there's a lot to like about it.
Alfred
As for the Moxi, it's a great system and appealing, but as I understand it, it requires a cable subscription as its signal source. That's not much use to a Luddite like me, but there's a lot to like about it.
Alfred
-
eliwhitney
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 484
- Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:14 am
- Location: Oklahoma
alfredpoor . . .
NOT a hard drive system - BUT - a possibility, particularly in view of your O.T.A. preferences ? { it DOES have an internal ATSC tuner ! }
Here is "link" @ SAMsClub . . . . http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/naviga ... tem=427444
Their liberal C.S. return policies and / or the added optional (3) years extended warranty / $24 make this not an expensive project at all !
eli
p.s. - - - from my "surfing 'n reading" / Much better chances than w/ many of those varieties of converters ? Some are quite short-lived and NO customer service whatever.
NOT a hard drive system - BUT - a possibility, particularly in view of your O.T.A. preferences ? { it DOES have an internal ATSC tuner ! }
Here is "link" @ SAMsClub . . . . http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/naviga ... tem=427444
Their liberal C.S. return policies and / or the added optional (3) years extended warranty / $24 make this not an expensive project at all !
eli
p.s. - - - from my "surfing 'n reading" / Much better chances than w/ many of those varieties of converters ? Some are quite short-lived and NO customer service whatever.