Recording Shows

Vega$

Vega$

CAGiversary!
For the past 100 years :lol: i have been recording tv shows to VHS tapes using my VCR. However ever since buying 4 DTV converter boxes to my 4 TV's, this is not possible to do. So i was curious what are people using now to record tv shows to something?

Are people using TV PCI tuners? Visiontek TV wonder 's? Can you record using a DVD player to a blank DVD?

I am stuck behind the times, please help :cry:
 
satellite and cable companies all offer DVRs (digital video recorders). Basically it's a cable box or satellite box with a hard drive and it can record shows to a hard drive and pause or rewind live TV. They usually charge $10 or so a month for the service. Or you can use a Tivo, which is the same thing basically, just a little more expensive as you have to buy the hardware instead of just renting it like you can with the DVR from your cable provider.
 
[quote name='Vega$'] So i was curious what are people using now to record tv shows to something?

Are people using TV PCI tuners? Visiontek TV wonder 's? Can you record using a DVD player to a blank DVD?

I am stuck behind the times, please help :cry:[/quote]

TV PCI turners can be used for people who have a media center pc or some ghetto setup w/ a OTA(over the air) attn or cable and hooked up to their desktop pc. you will a TV output on the pc if you want to display what you record w/ a TV tuner card on anything otherthan your lcd/crt. note: tuner cards typically don't decode scrambled QAM channels.

DVD players play dvds. There are dvd recorders which can record onto the dvd just like your old vhs recorder. the only difference is it records onto a disk(obviously) and if the disk is just a DVD+R or -R it is a 1 time use. Can't record over it. You gotta get the dvd-rw disk to use them like a old vhs tape.

a majority of people who record HDTV now uses a dvr or "tivo" like device. it is like a media center pc but a stand alone box. Cheapest way to get into the game is renting a box but purchasing could be something you might want. It can record and store sdtv or hdtv on harddrive in the device.

dunno if thats the answer you are looking for. anything else just ask.
 
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I don't download tv shows, or movies. I watch everything on tv or just buy the dvd or VHS tape. Thanks anyway.

[quote name='scsg75']satellite and cable companies all offer DVRs (digital video recorders). Basically it's a cable box or satellite box with a hard drive and it can record shows to a hard drive and pause or rewind live TV. They usually charge $10 or so a month for the service. Or you can use a Tivo, which is the same thing basically, just a little more expensive as you have to buy the hardware instead of just renting it like you can with the DVR from your cable provider.[/quote]

Well i have a big screen tv in the living room, and i have comcast Cable already, i think i did see something that says you can order DVDR to record shows. My Remote has a record button on it hahahaah. I guess i will called them soon and get started. Thanks!

[quote name='naiku']DVD players play dvds.[/quote]

:lol: yes i know, i have 2 of them.

[quote name='naiku']There are dvd recorders which can record onto the dvd just like your old vhs recorder. the only difference is it records onto a disk(obviously) and if the disk is just a DVD+R or -R it is a 1 time use. Can't record over it. You gotta get the dvd-rw disk to use them like a old vhs tape.[/quote]

Cool, i will always look into this. :)
 
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I personally have a Humax brand Tivo. It has a built in DVD recorder, so not only can you record programs to the HDD and get all the Tivo features, but you can also burn shows to blank DVDs right there on the unit.
 
I have used a DVD Recorder before. It was decent. The only drawback I can remember is that much like VHS, you have to trade off quality of picture for length of recording, similar to SP or EP on a VCR. The only thing is that the quality difference is a lot more noticable on a DVD recorder than a VHS because of the digital nature of DVDs.
 
[quote name='klwillis45']If you have Comcast cable why are you using the converter boxes?[/QUOTE]

This. If you have cable, the DTV transition does not apply to you.
 
DVD players doesn't allow for recording. DVD recorders do, though most of them are nothing more than what your VCR does. Some do have VCR-like functions with recording on a timer, and some of them also have internal hard drives, for DVR-like functions.

Cable companies and satellite companies offer their own DVR's, which normally allow for dual-tuner recording, so you can record two shows at once. Plus, they're HDTV-ready, so you could use it to get HDTV channels if you have HDTV's. It would replace your existing DTV's, on a 1-to-1 swap. There's a monthly fee for each DVR you have with the cable company.

You could purchase a Tivo, which is a DVR, though not tied to a specific cable company. The one I'd recommend would be the Tivo HD, which allows for dual-tuner HD recording, though you'd need to get a CableCard from your cable provider, so you could record encrypted and HD channels. It allows the Tivo to access all of the cable channels and you wouldn't need the DTR anymore, with the CableCard installed. The Tivo allows you to do more than just DVR functions, as you can copy shows from one Tivo to another via a home network, you can rent/purchase TV shows and movies from Amazon Unbox, watch Youtube videos on it, pull music and photos from your PC, and a number of other options. Plus, you can pull shows from a Tivo to your PC and burn them to DVD. There are older Tivo's that don't so HD recording that have built-in DVD recorders, so you could dump the shows to DVD directly on the Tivo. Toshiba, Humax and Pioneer made all those types of units, though they're no longer being made. Plus, there's a dual-tuner Tivo that only records SD content, though you'd need a cable box to get any digital or encrypted channels, and it would control the cable box via serial or IR connections.

Info about Tivo is here:
http://www.tivo.com/whatistivo/tivois/index.html

You can go with TV tuner cards in your PC, and if you have Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, you already have the DVR-like functions built into the OS. Windows XP Media Center Edition also works as well for that. TV tuner cards also usually come with their own DVR-like software, though how good they are can depend on the TV tuner card.

Plus, you can get the Tivo experience on your PC with the LiquidTV TV tuner that just came out. Product page: http://www.nero.com/enu/liquidtv-introduction.html

Review of it here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2331277,00.asp

[quote name='Immortal fWd']This. If you have cable, the DTV transition does not apply to you.[/quote]Actually, it does, just not until 2012, when the cable companies have to go all-digital or provide converter boxes.

Here:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...e-you-must-support-analog-tvs-until-2012.html
 
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