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louv68
Member
Joined: 10 Feb 2004
Location: Minneapolis, USA
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masochrist
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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I got one of these on eBay for $156 shipped. It works well as a DVR however editing functions are somewhat limited to chapter marking and deletion. Menus are a little wierd and take getting used to. Title naming is very easy. It seems like the only discs that can be recorded to the hard drive are discs that are created on this machine. Recording from hard drive to disc is real time only and I believe you are forced to watch it although there is a PIP function I haven't figured out yet.
NOW, Upgradeability..... I just replaced the 80GB WD800BB with a 160GB WD1600. Just open the case and remove 4 verticle screws holding the HD side brackets to the circuit board. Pull out the drive and remove IDE and power cables. Set the new drives jumper to SLAVE, swap on the brackets and carefully reinstall. It's a tight fit so watch how th cables run.
Put the cover back on, plug it in and turn it on. A screen will popup that says somthing is wrong with the HD with choices to reboot or reformat. Choose reformat. In a few seconds it will shut off. Turn it back on and your in business. Recording times increased as follows. #1 from 22 t0 46 hrs, #2 from 33 to 70 hrs, #3 from 48 to 102 hrs, #4 from 66 to140 hrs. #5 from 98 to 207 hrs, #6 from 131 to 278 hrs. I have been unable to get DVD+RW's recorded on this machine recognized by my computer, but +R and -R work fine with dvd decrypter and dvd shrink. [/b]
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next
Member
Joined: 08 Jun 2001
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Does it reformat even if the HDD has been installed before?
By this I mean if you have installed a HDD and recorded to it and then decided to install a different one - when you install the first will it reformat?
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masochrist
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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Didn't try that NEXT. I would assume it would probably either format or just work as is. The drive I used was new in the box. I also tried reading the old drive with the computer but it was not recognized. I'm using XP w/NTFS.
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joelko
Member
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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On the 8030N, I was wonder if this con be used in conjuction with Directv.
Can it replace the current DVR?
Can it be setup after the Directv receiver if it cannot replace the Directv DVR?
thanks
joel
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Webster
Member
Joined: 01 Oct 2001
Location: United States
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| masochrist wrote: |
| I also tried reading the old drive with the computer but it was not recognized. I'm using XP w/NTFS. |
Was the 80G drive still working before you removed it from the recorder?
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masochrist
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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The old 80GB was working fine. I used it for a few days before I upgraded to make sure every thing was working right so I could tell if I screwed anything up. I'm sure it will work on the computer once I format it. As far as using it with Directv you have to feed the receiver output to the RCA. I do the same with Dish Network. I don't know about your receiver but Dish has a record to VCR function that turns on the recorder instead of recording to the Dish DVR. One neat thing the RCA does is label the recording with the Dish channel, like say TVLAND or ComedyCentral unless you want to change it.
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backwardbullet
Member
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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I cant get my dish network receiver to turn on the RCA unit what remote code did you use? If you dont mind me asking.
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masochrist
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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I haven't tried it yet with the RCA as I just got it last week. Thought it would be a good solution if it could be made to work. I usually record things manually.
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Webster
Member
Joined: 01 Oct 2001
Location: United States
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| masochrist wrote: |
| The old 80GB was working fine. I used it for a few days before I upgraded to make sure every thing was working right so I could tell if I screwed anything up. I'm sure it will work on the computer once I format it |
Hmmm, I wonder if RCA is formatting the drive using some kind of Linux based system.....  It would be interesting to find out. If it is, you can access the recorded files and edit them 
Thanks for the info. I may get one of this recorder and playing around with it once I have enough cash in my pocket.
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handyguy
Member
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
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I pretty much gave up buying anything RCA years ago.
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lordsmurf
Video Restorer
Joined: 10 Jun 2003
Location: Want my advice? PM me.
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Last RCA I saw was really lacking in image quality. The MPEG encodes were fairly noisy at all settings, and there were few settings.
_________________
digitalFAQ.com -- Help with VHS to DVD, DVD recorders, other video/photo issues.
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GTLifter
Member
Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Location: United States
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masochrist
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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No hard drive on the one at Newegg.
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dkll3032
Member
Joined: 08 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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hey i just got a rca 80gb dvd recorder and after setting it up with my brighthouse digital box. i can't seem to get all the channels listed on the rca except for channel 3.
does anyone use their rca with a satellite box and figured out if they can get more channels.
thanks
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masochrist
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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I would imagine your box only outputs channel 3. Just change channels the way you did before.
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dkll3032
Member
Joined: 08 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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masochrist thanks...i did but without a channel search on the dvr player which is hooked up the way it is recommended. tv to dvr to digital box to wall, basiclly. i won't be able to watch one channel and a different one thru the digital box. end result being what ever channel i am watching on the dvr the same channel is playing on the digital box. i guess my next question should be, when connecting as recommended did i miss something when it says you can connect tv n cable box about watching one channel "click input on the remote "so you can record one thing and watch another
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kking
Member
Joined: 08 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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I'm looking at this item, but want to be sure I can use it to burn a DVD from my digital camcorder. Does this model have the ilink connection? This is a IEEE 1394 (Firewire) cable with a very small connector.
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backwardbullet
Member
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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Nope this model does not have firewire.
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iMick
Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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Does anyone else hear a fain "heartbeat" sound when viewing recorded shows and dvd's? When I burn one of my shows to a dvd, I hear this. It's very annoying. I've tried the dvd on other tv's and have the same problem.
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Compubooth
Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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Ref iMick's posting of Jan 13, 2007 as follows: "Does anyone else hear a fain "heartbeat" sound when viewing recorded shows and dvd's? When I burn one of my shows to a dvd, I hear this. It's very annoying. I've tried the dvd on other tv's and have the same problem."
The sole reason I am now a member of this forum is due to my research looking for a review of the RCA DRC8030N 80 GB Recorder which I had purchased at Wal-Mart.
I too immediately noticed the "heartbeat" sound when viewing recorded shows both on the HD and the DVD medium. I did try everything I could think of related to my old 30" Toshiba CRT TV but to no avail. I thought about trying it on the TV in the bedroom but after reasoning it out, I just didn't believe it would help. I exchanged the first recorder I purchased for another just like it but the same "heartbeat" sound could be heard.
I liked the subject recorder exceptionally well especially the libraries. I had tried several types of DVD recorders mostly DVD/VCR combos but this was the only unit I liked enough to keep. However, since I could not resolve the "heartbeat" sound problem, I gave up, returned it to Wal-Mart and got my money back.
If anyone has an idea what causes this sound problem, please advise.
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theewizard
Member
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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I bought my unit early last week and connected it Thursday night, i have not noticed this sound in my recordings, and i have not had any problems with the tuner.
my only real problem was when transferring a 2hr recording ( made in #1 quality , 1hr per DVD ) from the Hd to DVD, the automatic quality reduction ( too fit it on the DVD ) was a washed out ,too bright picture with NO contrast
recordings made in lower settings , copied to DVD with no change and are quite good, even the 1hr recording in #1 quality copied to DVD with NO problems
I would like to see a ' tivo' style hack, where the HD can be accessed by a PC.
specs #6 8hrs on DVD, #5 6hrs, #4 4hrs, #3 3hrs, #2 2hrs, #1 quality BEST mode 1hr per DVD
Last edited by theewizard on Jan 30, 2007 02:30, edited 1 time in total
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xxiangg
Member
Joined: 09 Nov 2002
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FulciLives
UNDEAD OVERLORD
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA in the USA
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Well damn ... that's a new price point. First stand alone DVD recorder with a built-in HDD for $100 that I have seen on the market.
Of course it's probably shit LOL
- John "FulciLives" Coleman
_________________
"The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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theewizard
Member
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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well my first 'major' disapointnet, this thing refused to transfer 'any DVD' I made on my PC to the DVR HD
nothing has any CP, these were the wifes 'Olympic' videos I made last yr from TV captures
so far the only thing, i have been able to transfer to the DVR-HD is from the RW disc made on the machine
I did have some I hoped to store on the HD, for watching at anytime.
i am not likeing the idea of REALTIME transfer via S-video connection from another DVD player
although that maybe what i have too do
will any other DVD-DVR do a NO cables transfer from internal player to internal HD
and tonight while playing a movie I heard the 'heartbeat' for the first time, this from a DVD burned on PC, not on the RCA
maybe i need to shop for the Polaroid 2001G or the accurian from radio shack
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FulciLives
UNDEAD OVERLORD
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA in the USA
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Just buy a "real" DVD recorder ala the Pioneer DVR-640H-s or the Toshiba RD-XS35
Also the Pioneer does what you want ... copy a DVD-R to the HDD then back to a fresh DVD-R ... as long as there is no copy protection.
My guess is the RCA only works that way when it is a VR mode DVD disc.
- John "FulciLives" Coleman
_________________
"The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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theewizard
Member
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
Location: United States
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im guessing by real you mean much more expensive , if I had that money I would, I only want to go one way, from the the burned DVD that plays to the HD for archive and easy play, mainly the wifes stuff.
the 'APRECIATION' points are enormous are worth all the effort
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FulciLives
UNDEAD OVERLORD
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA in the USA
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| theewizard wrote: |
im guessing by real you mean much more expensive , if I had that money I would, I only want to go one way, from the the burned DVD that plays to the HD for archive and easy play, mainly the wifes stuff.
the 'APRECIATION' points are enormous are worth all the effort |
So your wife is too lazy to put in a DVD when she wants to watch something?
Is this what you are saying?
- John "FulciLives" Coleman
_________________
"The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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trhouse
Member
Joined: 28 Aug 2003
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| FulciLives wrote: |
| Also the Pioneer does what you want ... copy a DVD-R to the HDD then back to a fresh DVD-R ... as long as there is no copy protection. |
It can but if it is a video mode disk it does it in realtime which means it is re-encoding the disk much like if you just play the video back into it from another player.
The Pioneer can only copy back to the hard drive in high speed mode a VR mode -r/-rw disk without re-encoding.
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FulciLives
UNDEAD OVERLORD
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA in the USA
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| trhouse wrote: |
| FulciLives wrote: |
| Also the Pioneer does what you want ... copy a DVD-R to the HDD then back to a fresh DVD-R ... as long as there is no copy protection. |
It can but if it is a video mode disk it does it in realtime which means it is re-encoding the disk much like if you just play the video back into it from another player.
The Pioneer can only copy back to the hard drive in high speed mode a VR mode -r/-rw disk without re-encoding. |
You can copy a Video mode DVD-R to the Pioneer and then copy it back to a fresh DVD-R ... like burning an ISO IMAGE to the HDD and then using it to burn one or more DVD-R discs. No re-encoding is done BUT you can not use the HDD copy for anything but to make a new DVD-R copy. It can't be "played back normally".
I thought this is what was being talked about at first. I guess it wasn't.
- John "FulciLives" Coleman
_________________
"The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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