DVD recording

[Gunny]

Hi Gang

I am with Directv, with a Sony T60 series 1 Tivo unit. I am going to get a DVD recorder, and I have researched the Panasonic E80H unit, and I think this will do what I want.

Here is what I want to do, use this unit to simply record things from my HD on the Tivo to a DVD disk. I am not going to use it to play any thing, or record any thing straight from the TV. One small question will this be ok to do being I am not having the recorder run through the TV. Also any opinions if this a little overkill on the Panasonic unit. I understand it is good to get a unit with a HD, for storage and to make the recording to a disk faster. I hear that Liteon unit that records on + and - is a good unit also. Any and all opinions and answers appreciated. I want a unit that makes good recordings, and I don't want to break the bank.

Thanks and take care..........Gunny

[samijubal]

I don't see why get a hard drive to record from Tivo, you are just paying for something you don't need. If you are just going to transfer to DVD-R you can do it straight to the disc, the HD is just an extra step that you don't need.

[Gunny]

Hi sam

I understand what you are suggesting, I have thought of this too. But I understand that if you have the HD on the recording unit, you can do the recording faster, and if you do it the other way with out the HD it will be in actual time. I know it will be actual time to go from the HD on the Tivo unit to the HD on the recorder too, but then it will be stored there, and you can record it when you want to quicker. This is my understanding about how these units work. I might be mistaken here, because I am fairly new to this recording thing. do you have any opinions on a unit that has the HD, and without one?

Thanks and take care..........Gunny

[Captain Satellite]

Hi Gang

I am with Directv, with a Sony T60 series 1 Tivo unit. I am going to get a DVD recorder, and I have researched the Panasonic E80H unit, and I think this will do what I want.

Here is what I want to do, use this unit to simply record things from my HD on the Tivo to a DVD disk. I am not going to use it to play any thing, or record any thing straight from the TV. One small question will this be ok to do being I am not having the recorder run through the TV. Also any opinions if this a little overkill on the Panasonic unit. I understand it is good to get a unit with a HD, for storage and to make the recording to a disk faster. I hear that Liteon unit that records on + and - is a good unit also. Any and all opinions and answers appreciated. I want a unit that makes good recordings, and I don't want to break the bank.

Thanks and take care..........Gunny

That's exactly what I do. It works out really well. If there's a difference between the source and the original, I sure can't see it and that's good enough for me. Satellite won't wok with the DVD recorder's tuner from what I understand although I've never tried it. In addition to that, I want an additional copy of the program on my DVR in case of a flub and there have been many.

[samijubal]

The HD is just an extra unneeded step. Why not just record straight to DVD-R and skip the HD? That will save money on the recorder too.

[Gunny]

Hi capt.

I don't know about the satellite thing either. Can you give me an idea, of the time it takes to gp from the HD on the recorder to the DVD disk? And what about this issue of the + and - disks? I think the Panasonic only does -R's, or is it the +'s. Have the flubs been your doing or the machines doing?

Thanks and take care.........Gunny

[Captain Satellite]

Hi capt.

I don't know about the satellite thing either. Can you give me an idea, of the time it takes to gp from the HD on the recorder to the DVD disk? And what about this issue of the + and - disks? I think the Panasonic only does -R's, or is it the +'s. Have the flubs been your doing or the machines doing?

Thanks and take care.........Gunny

Flubs have been all my fault - never the machine's. It takes one hour to dub a full disc recorded at XP or SP speed. RAM discs dub at twice the speed. You wouldn't want to go straight to the disc because you couldn't do any editing that way.

[Gunny]

Hi capt

Say you record a 1 hour program, transfer it to the recorder Hd, how long would it take to run it to a DVD disk? I don't know if I would do much editing. Maybe the commercials. I have a few movies on my Tivo too, that I would like to transfer to a disk.

Thanks and take care...........Gunny

[Captain Satellite]

One hour to record the program, one hour to transfer it to the hard drive, one hour to dub it to DVD-R.

[Gunny]

Hi capt

Boy that surprises me I thought once you had it on the recorders HD it took way less time to record it. I must be thinking of doing the burning with a PC setup. So then the only advantage of one with a HD is the fact that you can store it, until you are ready to burn it. Plus maybe a little better recording. Do you happen to know of what quality there is if you used a straight recorder with out the HD and recorded some thing.

Thanks and take care...........Gunny

[Captain Satellite]

Same quality because you will be dubbing the disc.

[Gunny]

Hi capt

So why go to the extra expense of getting a unit with a HD then? Just get a good DVD recorder. Being every thing equal. Like the Liteon that does the + and - disks. or a Panasonic straight DVD recorder. I guess you are answering what I really started this out asking about. I was going to go the networking way, and that has some good advantages, but along with the advantages it takes a lot more time and knowledge of different things. I am still trying to decide which way to go. Go the simple recorder way or the more expensive way or the more complicated way.

Thanks and take care...........Gunny

[Frobozz]

Captain Satellite, are you saying that the Panasonic doesn't have a high-speed copy mode from the hard drive to DVD? The Pioneer units do. The DVR-520H can burn a DVD-R from content on the hard drive at 8X speed presuming the media supports that speed and the content doesn't need re-encoding. I frequently copy first to the hard drive so I can do some trimming and place specific chapter marks before burning to a DVD, even if that takes a little more time than copying straight to the DVD.

[Gunny]

Hi Frobozz

What Pioneer unit are you referring to?

Take care........Gunny

[ann coates]

that surprises me I thought once you had it on the recorders HD it took way less time to record it.

It depends on the model, Gunny. The Panasonic E80 is an older model and it take much longer to dub from hard drive to DVDr. The Panasonic E85 only takes about 10 minutes to high speed dub from the hard drive to a DVDr. The Pioneer 520 as well.

[Gunny]

Hi Ann

Sounds like I need to get up to speed, spending too much time doing the research on older units. Thanks for the up date. How is the quality of the newer faster units? Oh what about the units with out the HD, have they been able to speed up as well? Probably not.

Take care..........Gunny

[Frobozz]

Gunny,
The recorder has to have a hard drive for high-speed copying. There is no loss of quality from high-speed copying because it is copying the video as data. There is no conversion taking place. Another advantage of the Pioneer hard drive units (DVR-510H and DVR-520H) is you can copy your recorded DVD back to the hard drive at high speed to make more copies. You also can copy non-finalized DVDs back to the hard drive at high speed for additional editing. This makes it easy to use DVD-RW discs as an extension of the hard drive for storing video that you're not ready to burn to a finalized DVD-R (such as video from your camcorder).

[Gunny]

Hi Frobozz

Hey thanks for the info there. I just about had my mind made up, now you are making me rethink this. This is good really. I know there are so many times where we buy too quickly, and have those I wish I would have bought the other one, and spend the few extra bucks and get what you really want. I know we have all made these mistakes.

Well I said I would not be into editing, but sure enough I know if I at the very least take out the commercials, there would be instances where I would like to remove more. So now I guess the next information I will need is if any one has a good site that is reliable and has good prices on these machines.

Thanks and take care...........Gunny

[Gunny]

Hi

I was just thinking, I am using a good Sony DVD player now, being this new Pioneer recorder is a player too, would it be a good idea of putting the new recorder I am going to get in place of it, or leave the recorder separate? My thinking is I should use the recorder as my player too. Less connections, etc. Do away with the Sony unit.

Thanks and take care.......Gunny

[samijubal]

I never used my recorder as a player. Players are alot cheaper. Why put the wear on the recorder when you can use a much cheaper player? One of my recorders only lasted a little over 2 1/2 years even using it to record only.

[Gunny]

Hi sam

Good point. But you know looking at things the way they are today and advancing like they are, after 2 1/2 years of use, I would think normally a person would be ready to take the next step, and get a more advanced machine. And with the price of things like this today, getting them repaired is almost out of the question, cost of labor and parts as compared to the price of a new one and the warranty's and all. They don't call this a throw away society for nothing. I don't agree with throwing away every thing but what can you do.

So you are saying there is no need to have the recorder connected to the TV, just strictly to the Tivo unit. That brings up another question, is there any thing saying to take advantage of the features of the recorder do you need to have it running through the TV? Or just connected to the Tivo unit good enough. Would all the features be workable this way?

Thanks and take care...........Gunny

[sync]

The recorder has to be hooked up to the tv so you can see the menus.

I also have a satellite and a S1 Tivo. I got a second satellite receiver and now I do most of my DVD capturing direct to my Pioneer recorder and bypass the Tivo.

[Gunny]

Hi Sync

I would imagine that would be a remote, and wiring headache..... I got to thinking after I last posted, hey dummy how are you going to see what the recorder is doing if it is not run through the TV. Put mind in gear then open mouth. You are right. This is the price of being a newbie at this, but I am learning. That is encouraging.

You will have to tell me how you wired this up one rainy day you have the time.....

Thanks and take care.........Gunny

[sync]

I have a MX500 remote that controls everything. It has macros that turn on and switch all the devices for a given activity - listen to CD, watch Tivo, watch DVD.

Here's the wiring diagram. You would need a TV with a lot of inputs if you don't have an A/V receiver.

[samijubal]

You can use a video switcher instead of a receiver.

[Frobozz]

I use my DVD Recorder as the player. I have enough other components connected as it is. One thing I did was split the cable so I can send separate video to the Comcast PVR and to the Pioneer DVD recorder so I can use the Pioneer's tuner independently of the PVR. I also connect the PVR to the Pioneer via line inputs so I can copy from the PVR to the Pioneer or record the digital channels live on the Pioneer. My Sony TV has six sets of inputs so there is no problem connecting the Pioneer to the TV separately from the Comcast box. I also have a Laserdisc Player, S-VHS deck and AV receiver connected in ways that I control with my Harmony remote.

The Pioneer has three sets of inputs (plus DV) as well as two sets of outputs. It's a jungle back there but given all these options you can make work in just about any setup.

[Gunny]

Hi All

That mx500 remote sounds like a neat remote, I see that you can get one for $99 on Amazon now. I am thinking about it.

Thanks and take care..........Gunny