*grumble* We never had problems like this with the vcr... *grumble*

[nancyann]

in fact, the biggest problem with it was adjusting the stupid clock. Sigh...

Hello I'm Nancy. (waving from sunny Florida)

Before I go any further, I need to explain that I am a 51 yo happily married SAH mom and grandmother who is Not technologically inclined. At all.

Having said that, I'm finding that I need to come into the 21st century whether I like it or not.

All because I can't buy some tv shows I want.

According to the PTB at Comcast you can supposedly record off of a reg cable box to your own dvr. I have yet to be able to find out from anyone which brands are compatible or what type of usb or hdmi cords to use. Of course it probably doesn't help that the only dvr we have is an ancient sv2000 from Funai.

But what I really want is to download what I record to my own files on my laptop. Seriously, I'm not looking to do anything with them but pull them up and watch them at my leisure just like the shows I bought from ITunes and my dvd's.

So off to Google I go and I found two options that my husband and I both like. One is the Tivo Roamio which would be a bit pricey especially since we would definitely want the lifetime subscription but it would do the job.

But I also like the Hauppauge WinTV hvr 850. It's a lot les complicated and you don't have to pay for any subscriptions.

My question is then which one would be best for what I want to do. Which is simply to record from my Comcast cable box to my laptop.

any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Cornucopia]

The reason you COULD do that (timeshift, make portable) your old tape recordings is both technological and legal:

1-Tech
VCRs were analog. You could only record one thing at a time and it would have to be pre-tuned to the correct channel for it to work. Plus, the analog signal was a Standard definition signal (aka not as good resolution as HD). Since Feb 2009, the US has stopped OTA broadcasts of analog signals, and now most cable providers are abandoning them as well, so there's no real way to get an original analog signal anymore.
You could maybe do "[receive digital channel]->[analog out]->[analog recorder]" if an analog recorder were still around, but there aren't any (whether tape or otherwise), and trying "[receive digital channel]->[analog out]->[a/d converter]->[digital recorder]" * usually runs smack into the wall of copy protection (macrovision, analog sunset, scms, cprm, watermarks, etc). Which brings us to the next part...
2-Legal
Big producers never liked the betamax decision and vowed to undo it. Well, they did - by splitting "timeshift" and "portable" in the digital world into 2 separate camps (for 2 very different "applications"). Once analog went away, they have gained (near) total control over how & when their product can be viewed. This could have been avoided, and I have been warning about this for years now, but WE ** ALL voted in the congressmen that allowed it, so we have to live with it for now.

* The 2 "recorders" you have mentioned are both devices which take OTA digital (poss. also OTA analog) in. They don't take analog baseband in (aka composite), nor do they work with encrypted/copy-protected signals. Your "comcast cable box" might still be of the (rare) variety that still hasn't transitioned away from analog, or from unencrypted basic channels, but it is a dying breed. Now that the analog sunset is nearly complete, there is nothing stopping cable providers from making ALL channels digital AND encrypted. When the comcast provider in your area gets around to implementing this, you won't be able to record anything with those devices. You can't even be assured of using Std. Def composite in analog->digital recording devices (such as older capture cards), because those producers are now basically free to TURN OFF the analog output ports of their devices.

** I should say "YOU ALL" because I have made a strong attempt at NOT voting for those that don't represent my own consumerist interests in this matter, but even (most of) those guys got bought out by lobbyists. We're all in the same boat.

So the answer is: you likely cannot do what you want. You can record some PERSONAL files on your laptop, but stuff from Comcast (specifically HD, & encrypted stuff - most) you can only record onto one of their approved DVR/PVRs - and then leave them on there.
No, you didn't have problems like this with your VCR, but you also didn't have the (near) infinite capacity, MUCH better quality, Netflix/Hulu/streaming services, Youtube/Vimeo/P2P streaming, etc. of modern devices.

I guess this is about taking the bad with the good.

Scott

[usually_quiet]

in fact, the biggest problem with it was adjusting the stupid clock. Sigh...

Hello I'm Nancy. (waving from sunny Florida)

Before I go any further, I need to explain that I am a 51 yo happily married SAH mom and grandmother who is Not technologically inclined. At all.

Having said that, I'm finding that I need to come into the 21st century whether I like it or not.

All because I can't buy some tv shows I want.

According to the PTB at Comcast you can supposedly record off of a reg cable box to your own dvr. I have yet to be able to find out from anyone which brands are compatible or what type of usb or hdmi cords to use. Of course it probably doesn't help that the only dvr we have is an ancient sv2000 from Funai.

But what I really want is to download what I record to my own files on my laptop. Seriously, I'm not looking to do anything with them but pull them up and watch them at my leisure just like the shows I bought from ITunes and my dvd's.

So off to Google I go and I found two options that my husband and I both like. One is the Tivo Roamio which would be a bit pricey especially since we would definitely want the lifetime subscription but it would do the job.

But I also like the Hauppauge WinTV hvr 850. It's a lot les complicated and you don't have to pay for any subscriptions.

My question is then which one would be best for what I want to do. Which is simply to record from my Comcast cable box to my laptop.

any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

I have Comcast service as well. You can't use USB to record shows from your cable box.

A TiVo makes a great DVR. If you intend to use the TiVo for Comcast, the TiVo replaces your Comcast cable box. If your spouse is also not technologically inclined, have a Comcast tech come out to install the CableCARD in your TiVo. (The CableCARD is needed to decrypt Comcast's digital channels.) Hopefully the tech will bring a few CableCARDs with him, because frequently the first CableCARD tried doesn't work. If your spouse is technologically inclined, he can get a CableCARD from your local Comcast service center. (I don't have a TiVo but use a CableCARD tuner with my PC. I did a self-install.) It is possible to transfer recordings from a TiVo in some cases, but not in every case.

The WinTV HVR 850 is apparently no longer made. The current similar models are the Hauppauge WinTV HVR 950Q or WinTV HVR 955Q. Comcast has no clear QAM or analog channels left, so you must record the output from your cable box. While recording the output from the cable box using a PC as your DVR is possible, it requires some technical know-how. ...and since there is only one tuner in a cable box, you cannot record one channel and watch a different one at the same time. Getting the PC to change channels for timed recordings requires even more computer expertise and additional hardware. Yes, I have done this myself.

[nancyann]

LOL I was only grumbling about the vcr to show my age and lack of technical knowledge.

So Comcast was lying (big surprise) about being able to dvr off of a regular cable box. Of course they were.

I still wouldn't mind a Tivo though With an HD antenna would we still need the cable box?

[Cornucopia]

No, they weren't lying. They were saying "sure, you can use one of OUR dvrs" (built into their higher-priced cable boxes - I own 2). And I think "off" was a point of confusion for you (and possibly them - remember they're not ALL techies there).

If you like only OTA broadcasts, a TiVo with an HD antenna would be fine. But do you watch other channels (besides OTA)?

Scott

(OTA = "Over the Air")

[smrpix]

So Comcast was lying (big surprise) about being able to dvr off of a regular cable box. Of course they were.

In a very limited sense they were probably technically telling the truth.

With an HD antenna would we still need the cable box?

If all you wanted were over-the-air signals (usually local "free" stations) and they are available in your area that's all you would need. Realistically that eliminates about 90% of TV.

edit: um, what Scott said.

[usually_quiet]

LOL I was only grumbling about the vcr to show my age and lack of technical knowledge.

So Comcast was lying (big surprise) about being able to dvr off of a regular cable box. Of course they were.

Comcast wasn't lying, but DVRing "off the cable box" is difficult enough and inconvenient enough and problematic enough that it makes far better sense for most people to buy a TiVo or rent a DVR from their cable service provider.

I still wouldn't mind a Tivo though With an HD antenna would we still need the cable box?

TiVo has more than one Roamio model. The "Roamio OTA" is for over-the-air only. The regular "Roamio" model can apparently either record OTA or digital cable (with a CableCARD installed) but probably can't do both over-the-air and digital cable at once. The remaining two Roamio models. the "Roamio Plus" and "Roamio Pro" record only digital cable, and need a CableCARD to work.

If you want to record over-the-air TV (via antenna) using a Roamio, Roamio OTA, or a Hauppauge TV stick and a PC, that would be simpler than "DVRing off the cable box". You will need a cable box to watch any channel that is only available on Comcast, or a second TiVo that can take a CableCARD. The Hauppauge TV stick will still be far more trouble to set up and use than a TiVo.

There are other DVRs for over-the-air. There are a few really cheap ones like this that don't have a program guide, and at least one fairly expensive OTA DVR that includes lifetime guide service. http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-DVR-Bundle-subscription/dp/B00JGZQ17Q

[Cornucopia]

Those are possibilities, but seeing that the OP wasn't technically savvy, I wasn't going to steer her into the CableCard + drivers + supporting apps jungle. Plus, that still doesn't allow one to have those recorded files be PORTABLE. In fact, it specifically forbids it and is built to make sure that cannot happen. So, if you can't have it be portable anyway, why not leave it at the source (cable box)?

Scott

[nancyann]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Usually Quiet I checked out the dvr's you recommended and they both look like they would work but I was hopeing to at least be able to watch my recordings on my laptop.

As far as my not being technologically inclined, I may not be but Himself (the husband) is. Whatever I decide to go with is fine by him and we will figure out how to set things up I'm sure.

[usually_quiet]

Those are possibilities, but seeing that the OP wasn't technically savvy, I wasn't going to steer her into the CableCard + drivers + supporting apps jungle. Plus, that still doesn't allow one to have those recorded files be PORTABLE. In fact, it specifically forbids it and is built to make sure that cannot happen. So, if you can't have it be portable anyway, why not leave it at the source (cable box)?

Scott

If someone has Comcast Xfinity or Verizon FIOS, there is a good chance that currently a TiVo's recordings will be portable for most channels. Premium services (for example HBO, and Starz) and On-Demand would be the main exceptions to that rule. Admittedly Comcast is legally entitled to change everything other than local over-the-air network channels to be "copy once" making them watchable only on the box that made them, so I am only stating what is true right now. There are no drivers to install for a TiVo. TiVo has its own paid software to allow at least some recordings to be enjoyed on other devices and there is also kmttg (free) for the slightly more tech savvy.

All my Comcast Digital Starter channels have so far been copy freely and the CableCARD tuner's recordings are portable. That could change any time Comcast wants to change it, but so far I'm very happy as a SiliconDust HDHomerun Prime user.

[usually_quiet]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Usually Quiet I checked out the dvr's you recommended and they both look like they would work but I was hopeing to at least be able to watch my recordings on my laptop.

As far as my not being technologically inclined, I may not be but Himself (the husband) is. Whatever I decide to go with is fine by him and we will figure out how to set things up I'm sure.

The inexpensive DVR's recordings can definitely be copied from the USB hard drive to a laptop for portability. I'm not sure if that is true for the ChannelMaster DVR. Get a USB hard drive (1TB is probably enough, over 2 TB probably won't work) that has its own power supply, like this example www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822204106. Large hard drives powered by USB may not be able to draw enough power from the DVR.

[Edit]A small USB-powered hard drive may work OK with the cheap DVR. If you already have one you can always try it.

[nancyann]

I have a Toshiba Canvio 1 TB external hard drive to back up my files video and pictures. Will that work?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-canvio-connect-1tb-external-usb-3-0-2-0-portable-h...=1218955984519

[usually_quiet]

I have a Toshiba Canvio 1 TB external hard drive to back up my files video and pictures. Will that work?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-canvio-connect-1tb-external-usb-3-0-2-0-portable-h...=1218955984519

I don't know.

[usually_quiet]

This video demonstrates how to watch recordings stored on the ChannelMaster DVR+ hard drive using a PC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xao32hk4XaA

You can use a NTFS formatted external USB hard drive with the MediaSonic HW-180STB, which means that Windows can read the drive without difficulty. Note that the files won't be named in a way that makes it easy to figure out what TV show was recorded.