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Digital Video Recorders (DVR)

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Clark Hampton

Clark Hampton

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I know this is not a camera subject but figued someone out there might know about these things,

I got a 100GB hard drive recorder about a year ago. It is acting strange and being erratic on when it wants to record.

So I started looking around for a new one. TO my surprise they don't seem to be around much anymore. I can find Toshiba or Panasonic list them on their web site but when I go to Amazon or other electronic web stores like J&R they seem to be non existent or there are very few around. Also it seems the technology has just stalled.

Has Dish and Tivo killed seperate DVR's that anyone can just buy off the shelf?

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Have products like Sky+ killed the market? I have a Panasonic DVD/HDD recorder that cost me $NZ1000 a couple of years ago, and which I thought was a great piece of kit... until I also bought a MySky box (I'm in New Zealand) for $NZ600 which makes the other recorder obsolete.

It is a much better machine for half the cost, so I guess that's the way folks will go.

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Trevor
 
Depending on the service you are trying to record from, you could build your own using a PC. There are lots of articles scattered across the web that tell you how to do this.

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The greatest of mankind's criminals are those who delude themselves into thinking they have done 'the right thing.'
  • Rayna Butler
 
In the U.S. they are kind of not allowed the sell the old HDRs because they must be converted to include an ATSC tuner. Some have suggested that the mfgs were caught of guard by this mandate, they were expecting it to be delayed. So after the engineers and mfg lines get going you will see more.
This page has more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_recorder

avs forum might be your best bet to discuss this: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=106

A page that contains info about the ATSC tuner mandate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atsc_tuner
 
interesting responses. I go to the stores here in the US and there is nothing there. Only Tivos.

I guess I will wait to see what comes out.

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Hi. Yes...I found the very same thing had happened. I had an original Panasonic Replay from a few years back. Loved it...paid a lot for it as I recall .....but one day the tuner crashed, so I went out to see whats new. NOTHING on the shelves. I found a couple of TIVOs for $39.
What happened??

Not finding anything anywhere I didn't know what to do. (Well, correction, there was a few HD models for $800 or so!!)

As it turns out, my local cable company offers a Scientific Atlantic model for $6/month. Its not nearly as good as my old Pansasonic. In fact, they disabled the outputs on the back! Unless you can figure a way around that, all you can do is watch a program later...then erase it. Geesh!

So...for now, I'm renting this model until I can find something else. Which isn't easy! This was a great technology and for some reason, it died!

Kerry D
 
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The greatest of mankind's criminals are those who delude themselves into thinking they have done 'the right thing.'
  • Rayna Butler
 
An example.

PLUS is a chain of shops, mostly food and hosuehold articles in my country (H) and others too (A), (D) I suppose.

Well, in the leaflet about the prices between the 16 and 22 this month there is (among much food and detergents etc.) a DVD recorder and player. You would not forcibly expect this kind of product being sold in a food store chain.
 
Clark Hampton said:
Has Dish and Tivo killed seperate DVR's that anyone can just buy
off the shelf?
Click to expand...
It looks it is a possibility in the USA market. None of the big name manufacturers have announced any new models in 2007 in the USA (except for one from Philips). However, new models have been announced in Japan and Europe. There are a number of factors at play, the popularity of TiVo and DVRs rentals by satellite and cable companies, the average consumer getting too confused by them causing a high percentage of returns, concerns over DRM, the conversions from analog to digital broadcasts, the uncertainty of which high definition format will prevail, the july 1st regulation requiring cable/satellite companies to allow 3rd party DVRs via a separate security method, etc, etc.

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A blog of sorts: http://photographyetc.livejournal.com
New blog: http://1001noisycameras.blogspot.com
 
Does anyone know if the Apple TV can be used as a DVR, whether supported or hacked? I'd also be interested if one can be used with Windows, again, supported or hacked.

Peter
 
Only problem is their HD unit isn't out yet but should be very soon.

I've used Tivo for several years and recently tried the DVR offered by Comcast in my summer house. Can't believe how inferior it is to the Tivo software/interface. The day Comcast offers Tivo (soon I'm told) I'll be signing up.

I have an HD Direct TV Tivo and 2 of the new non-Tivo DVR's Direct TV now uses. Same story. I'll dump Direct TV after many happy years as soon as I can get HD Tivo units compatible with cable. Hopefully there will be a Tivo unit that can be used with Direct TV soon and I can have the best of both worlds.
 
for what my DVR does for free. It downloads TV Guide and works well.

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Don't knock it until you've tried it. Worth every penny and more as far as I'm concerned. I consider it more then a simple DVR.
 
Clark Hampton said:
for what my DVR does for free. It downloads TV Guide and works well.

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Click to expand...
Are you sat, cable, or terrestrial antenna? Is your TV HD? Are you against paying a monthly fee in principal or to save money? Keep in mind units that download a simple "TV Guide" over the analog air waves, such as the Gemstar system, will stop working in 2 years when they turn analog TV transmissions off.
 
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