Digital Video Recorders 101 (and DVD recorders)
Can some of you DVR owners bring me up to speed on DVRs, TiVO and DVD Recorders? An older relative is interested in recording television shows, only gets broadcast television and doesn't want cable. I'm trying to see determine the best solution to help him.
At first he said he wanted a TiVO box.
Here are my TiVO questions:
Here are my DVD recorder questions:
Thanks to all with the time to help!
Additional comments and suggestions are appreciated!!
At first he said he wanted a TiVO box.
Here are my TiVO questions:
- Does TiVO work with broadcast only or must you have cable?
- Am I correct in thinking a large capacity TiVO box and lifetime service is going to put him in the neighborhood of $600?
- Can you hook up a VCR to the back of your TiVO box to record saved programs?
- What are the best quality TiVO boxes our there?
Here are my DVD recorder questions:
- Am I totally on the mark in saying that next Christmas will see these devices dropping to a better price point? Sha!
- What's the best place to get the media for these?
- What's the best brand....TDK?
- Are these discs re-recordable?
- What are the best quality DVD recorder boxes our there?
Thanks to all with the time to help!
Additional comments and suggestions are appreciated!!
Comments
Originally posted by drewprops
Can some of you DVR owners bring me up to speed on DVRs, TiVO and DVD Recorders? An older relative is interested in recording television shows, only gets broadcast television and doesn't want cable. I'm trying to see determine the best solution to help him.
At first he said he wanted a TiVO box.
Here are my TiVO questions:Does TiVO work with broadcast only or must you have cable?
TiVO works with both, and satellite too. The TiVo isn't as useful with only broadcast though, because there are less shows to simply record. The nice thing about TiVo is I now watch ALOT of my cable alot more often because it searches all the channels for words like "Oscar" and "Woody Allen" and records them for me.
Am I correct in thinking a large capacity TiVO box and lifetime service is going to put him in the neighborhood of $600?
With the lifetime service, yea... you can get it a bit cheaper if you look on ebay. The nice thing about a tivo is you can hack it yourself to add more hours. See for more info
Can you hook up a VCR to the back of your TiVO box to record saved programs?
Yup, there's even a "Save to VCR option" on the TiVo for shows.
What are the best quality TiVO boxes our there?
They're all pretty much the same (except for the pioneer one with dvd-r). Get the cheapest one.
After I floated that potential $600 price tag to him he decided he might want a DVD recorder. I did some pricing and see that an average price for those devices are easily above $400.
Here are my DVD recorder questions:Am I totally on the mark in saying that next Christmas will see these devices dropping to a better price point?
Likely. The devices are already getting cheaper, but the Media is the real problem. It's still rather expensive.
What's the best place to get the media for these?
Any retailer store that sells these devices should also sell the media.
What's the best brand....TDK?
Depends on where it's made. Japanese produced DVD-Rs are highest quality. Plextor has a good reference site.
Are these discs re-recordable?
DVD-Rs aren't. DVD-RWs are. DVD-RAMs are too (and they're dual capacity so they hold more time and are usually editable on the unit. Panasonic has a good DVD-R just out) The problem with DVD-Ram is they're in cartridges so they won't work on other DVD units.
What are the best quality DVD recorder boxes our there?
This Panasonic is supposed to be good. Once again, if price isn't an issue (it sounds like it is though), the pioneer is the one to get.
Finally, are there standalone hard drive recorders out there that do not require a service like TiVO?
Thanks to all with the time to help!
Additional comments and suggestions are appreciated!!
Originally posted by stupider...likeafox
I can't really see the appeal of DVD burners. The TiVO is an Apple-like reinvention of the way you watch TV. DVD recorders are just a slightly upgraded VCR and if you already have one of those then what exactly are you getting for the extra cash?
One thing I was thinking: to get stuff digitized and on your computer easily, reliably and fairly cheaply.
Am I right in guessing that you can just pop in the DVD recorded by one of these devices in a regular iBook and play the stuff on there, and even copy it, and edit it to your heart's content?
Originally posted by der Kopf
Am I right in guessing that you can just pop in the DVD recorded by one of these devices in a regular iBook and play the stuff on there, and even copy it, and edit it to your heart's content?
i would think playing is just as easy as any dvd. pulling it off the dvd[-r/-rw/-ram/+r/+rw] into something useful on the computer may be a bit more difficult. i presume not as hairy as pulling stuff off a commercial dvd. i dont have a dvr/pvr/[..] so i dont know first hand. i've been thinking a lot about getting one though.
In regard to why someone might want to use a DVD-burniner DVR in lieu of a VCR is the saved space, the reduced moving parts and the future potential to use it in other digital devices.
Originally posted by der Kopf
One thing I was thinking: to get stuff digitized and on your computer easily, reliably and fairly cheaply.
Am I right in guessing that you can just pop in the DVD recorded by one of these devices in a regular iBook and play the stuff on there, and even copy it, and edit it to your heart's content?
I've heard that you can relatively easily add a TiVO to a home network and download to a Mac or PC. This seems cheaper and easier than going via burning to a physical medium, and if you did want it on a disc you'd be best going via the PC/Mac to increase your options (e.g. digital editing, format conversion etc.) So I'm still unconvinced by the lure of DVD burners.
They remind me of the CD burners you could get for hi-fi systems. For the same money as they cost you could get a computer with a CD burner and do a thousand more things. They both seem aimed at someone who isn't familiar with computers but doesn't mind spending big bucks on home audio/video equipment. Which may apply to the buyer in the original post but I can't see it applying to anyone reading AI.
Check out these articles:
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/e...cks/index.html
and
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/e...x1.html?page=1
Originally posted by The Former Lurker
First of all, I have a TiVo and LOVE it to death. So this may be a bit a biased
OK, I splurged and bought this Pioneer unit, and it is amaaazzzzing. Lets run down the features, and why products that are Mac friendly are way cool.
btw.. If you haven't used a a Tivo, you don't know what you are missing. It will totally change how you watch media. See other posts of what makes Tivo in general cool. Now for the Pioneer model
- Disc drive is a DVD -r and -rw and can read audio and mp3 CDs. The output quality from the DVD is noticably better than my previous Sony DVD/VHS combo.
- Burned DVDs are not encrypted, you can pull the media files right off of them in the finder
- Burned DVDs have TIVO like menus
- Home Media option allows you to see all your iPhoto pics and listen to your iTunes library. One caveat, no AACs from the iTMS. Oh, and this works flawlessly on the Mac under 10.3 no less.
More cool stuff, but you get the idea. This is hands down the coolest gadget I've gotten in years, and I buy way too much stuff. If you can do it, you won't regret it.
http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_el...r.asp#feature1