yeah there are Blu-Ray burners for PC, we're hoping for Set Top stand-alone player/recorder,
Looks as though it will never happen here in North America. What gets me is, manufacturers have pushed "High Definition" on consumers for many years, all the technology to record HDTV is in place, yet there aren't any machines available that will do (at least what I want) on the US market. I want to be able to record, edit & burn to disc for archiving purposes, any content broadcast on my cable line or over-the-air digital HDTV. Oops ! Sorry, can't be done.
Here's my Wish List :
A machine similar to Panasonic EH67 in appearance with....
Digital/analog ATSC/NTSC Dual Tuner
1.5 TB SATA hard drive
e-SATA ports for expansion
Combination Blu-Ray/DVD DL burner with the ability
to read/write every kind of disc ever invented including DivX
Multiple HDMI/Component/Composite/VGA/Firewire Inputs & Outputs
Maybe 10 to 20 years from now ?
Closed Thread
Results 121 to 150 of 165
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Officially this happens here too. What differs, is the so called "unofficial firmwares" that bypass all those limitations. Those unofficial firmware / images, are given away by the manufactures, same way it is happening all those years with the region hacks on the DVD Standalone players.
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Originally Posted by SatStorm
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I wish we got unencrypted near free access to French or Italian wines. Wait, we do when the dollar goes strong. It doesn't seem to work with BMW or Mercedes.
Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
http://www.kiva.org/about
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AFAIK, you can buy a Dreambox (or other alike recievers), load a couple of CCams & plug-in's and use your NDS card with it.
You can even use DVB PC cards with phoenix smartmouses easy, but that needs PC.
The problem is how to buy that equipment there and how informed about those matters are.
Regarding Copyright Laws, whatever the Big Ones wish to call same things, all those are just modern replacements of VCRs.
Big Ones try to make us believe that this is not the case here, but people don't bite it.
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PuzZler I agree. I'm not saying we should eliminate TIVO for those who CHOOSE to shell out unnecessary dough. I just think we ought to be granted the option to take advantage of the technology that we know is already out there but is currently forbidden to us. We ought to have a choice.
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Tivo wouldn't be so bad if it had an integrated "save to DVD" function. Something written in low-brow terms that even a vapid teenage girl would understand.
But oh no, we have to have complicated jargon in DVD devices.
And everybody has to fight over who gets 25 cents in the patents per unit.Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
FAQs: Best Blank Discs • Best TBCs • Best VCRs for capture • Restore VHS
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Originally Posted by nina96
At the moment, support for cable cards is poor. The only consumer electronics I have seen that allow cable card installation are very high-end TVs, $800 MOXI HD DVRs (no subscription needed) and newer TiVos (subscription required).
Originally Posted by nina96
Originally Posted by nina96
Originally Posted by nina96
Let’s talk cableco/satco DVR, the choice of the masses for time shifting TV: The cost of renting them is often reasonable. Last year, an inexpensive HDD DVD recorder cost $250 to $300, and that is a lower price than the more fully-featured models sold a few years ago. A SD cableco DVR would cost me $11/month. That's about 2 years to break even. Will the HDD DVD recorder last longer than that? Often they don't.
If you want to discuss BD HDD recorders, if they existed here I don’t think one could be purchased for less than $1000 and have the features you want. Even at $20/month for a cableco HD DVR, it would take over 4 years to break even.
The people who chose differently than you or I would did are not overwhelmingly stupid, nor were they necessarily duped. They have reasons for what they did. They want to time-shift conveniently, period, They are not interested in archiving, editing, or transferring VHS tapes to DVD, so it does not matter whether or not the device they have can do those things.
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The choice for everyone is not there though. The options are not being made available and TIVO dupes people by letting people think they can't do anything about it. Most people using TIVO that I have spoken to DO prefer more options in one machine, but are not even aware they could have a choice if they just petitioned for it. They just go with what's out there because they don't realize we could do better. TIVO lets them believe they don't need anything else. Their customers buy into it. And gee, it must be nice having all this extra space for unnecessary equipment, and the money in this economy to afford premium channels, and the luxury of TIVO.
Tru 2 way is coming along. Consumers have to be made aware of it and start to ask for it, then it can become widespread and prices will drop. Same with Blu-ray. FIOS is new. Cablecard-like devices CAN be developed for fiber-optic and satellite technologies if we start clamoring for it. Obviously with no competition, TIVO dominates. It is not serving all of the public.
I've had great luck with Panasonic products. 20 years, same vcr, no repairs. My hdd dvd recorder is the best, easiest, most efficient machine I ever bought. If it was Blu-ray, and had tru two-way technology, I'd have what I want in a single machine and likely wouldn't be needing another machine for years to come. The initial investment is worth it. As it is now, my machine cannot record DIGITAL channels to my hard drive. I can't get over how many people are willing to accept having separate dvrs and players when they don't need to. They ought to be screaming for the technology to come to the U.S. The bugs can't be worked out here if we never get any access to it at all. We deserve to have all the options.
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My 2 cents ... I am converting all my PCs ... 6 of them ... with HDTV Tuner cards ... I do like recording my TV shows ... quite a few of them come on at same time and my Wife and I ... we have to juggle to record them all.
We had Directv turned off for a few months ... but we turned it back on ... they were bugging us to pay the bill with a collection agency. Directv raised the rates a few months ago ... so when we turned it back on ... we changed the package ... we cancelled HBO and Showtime.
We get all the network broadcasts in this area ... thanks to a decent antenna mounted on my chimney. And with Divx Author 1.5 ... I have no problems converting DVR-MS to divx videos.
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Originally Posted by nina96
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What's extra money? I can remember when a VCR seemed like a luxury item. When I bought my own Panasonic DVD recorder four years ago, the $400-and-up HDD DVD recorders I saw seemed like an unnecessary and extravagant purchase to me. I bought a $200 non-HDD DVD recorder. Yes, I still have it and it still works, but I put money into it for repairs after 15 months, and I need to take it apart to clean the spindle every few months so it will continue recording. Most people would have junked it after it broke. The lifespan of HDD DVD recorders is impossible to predict on an individual basis, but they generally don't last as long as TVs or VCRs. I'm sure many have already discarded their HDD DVD recorders from 2005 too.
There's no way I could afford any third-party recorder with some form of cableCARD support. There's a reason why it is only available on high-end electronics. I'm not in favor of pushing for it on recorders. Plus, my provider charges for installation and only provides one free of charge. The others cost $2.00/month each.
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Originally Posted by nina96
Originally Posted by nina96When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form.
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I'm not suggesting that all hdd recorder/players REQUIRE cablecards or any other such devices in all machines. I'm saying we should be offered more options to choose from in the U.S. Everytime I enquire, they cite the American dependence on TIVO as the culprit. That and the cost. But if they had offered the same options for the U.S at the same time they did in Japan, prices would have dropped considerably by now. The word of space-saving and convenience has to be spread. No one can extoll the advantages of something no one has direct access to. They always start out placing new options in the high-end stuff. As consumers start testing them out, the bugs get worked out, changes are made, and we then start seeing it more and more in lower-end products that the average person can afford. Once the competition starts, prices go down. My Panasonic hdd recorder has no digital tuner so it can't record digital channels. I've never minded that because I had only analog. But the switch-over leaves my current machine useless as a recorder. I can now use it only as a player. I've only had it since 2005 and I paid $200 (gotta find the right deal). Not a huge price for a multi-action machine I've never cleaned or had to have repaired. It has years of life left in it but I can't use it to it's full advantage now. If cable tv still offers analog service, I suppose I can subscribe and still record analog, but how long will it be before they phase out analog? I'll need a box and where will I put it? I don't have room for both a dvr and a separate player. And even basic cable is expensive. Panasonic has recorders with digital tuners but none with a hard drive. The least they could do is offer a recorder/player with hard drive.
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nina96
you can actually buy a Panasonic HDD/DVD recorder here in the US, except it's made
for use overseas use, but will work with the common Video/Audio inputs. A friend of
mine wanted to replace his defective Panasonic E80H, so he bought a DMR-EH67.
Only problem is, it has a PAL tuner instead of NTSC, but attached to any source such
as a cable box or satellite receiver with Composite Video outputs, will record Standard
Def digital television just fine, as will your 2005 model Panasonic.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/511644-REG/Panasonic_DMR_EH67_DMR_EH67_Multi_Sys..._Recorder.html
I have several HDD/DVD recorders with analog tuners, since I subscribe to digital
cable, I receive both digital and analog cable signals straight from the wall outlet
without the need for a cable box, in addition to the programming I actually pay for.
The bonus here is that, Broadcast HDTV signals are also re-transmitted over the line,
so I can record stations like CBS, NBC & FOX HD downconverted to 480i.
You do have options such as buying an inexpensive DTV converter box, many of them
will work with an indoor antenna depending on where you live. You can also buy something
like a used LG LST-3510A HD tuner on EBay, which will tune either digital cable or over the
air digital broadcast signals. I have one for about 3 years now, it works very well pulling in
free QAM digital cable and OTA digital broadcasts.
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Japan uses a different OTA digital system than N. America. We can't benefit by being similar to them anymore as we did when both countries used NTSC analog.
If you are an antenna user, there are coupon-eleigible converter boxes that could extend the life of your current recorder. There is one model of converter box with timers that will work quite well. The Zinwell ZAT-970A or the newer ZAT-950A. If your machine included a G-link cable to change channels and control STBs, there are other digital converter boxes that will work with it. One is the Channel Master CM-7000. If it uses analog TVGOS, the DTVPal Plus can provide it, as well as tune the channels IF your local CBS station is transmitting the digital TVGOS and keeps correct time. These devices are small, book-sized mostly. If you can't find a place for one of them heaven help you.
With a few exceptions, cable companies are more or less required to provide local primary sub-channels in analog until February 2012, but the major players are already beginning the process moving their extended basic analog customers to a similar digital tier.
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They don't have Cablecard-type devices in Japan or anywhere else, it would be strictly a USA-specific feature, and they've learned the hard way that USA-specific features do not sell. Nobody here is clamoring for Cablecard-compatible TVs, even though they're available. And the horrifically bungled ATSC-QAM transition has completely discouraged them from bothering further with cable features: they know the American cable monopolies do whatever the hell they want in blatant defiance of FCC regulations or consumer desires. The transition to the toothless, easily negated QAM standard has given mfrs final proof the USA recorder market is a complete waste of their time and that we are locked to renting proprietary hardware from the cable vendors. As far as the digital tuner for OTA, do what everyone else here is doing for our legacy DVD/HDD recorders: use your government coupon to buy a couple of ATSC converter boxes for $20 each and plug one or both into your Panasonic. These actually work WAY the hell better than the complete crap ATSC tuners built into 90% of the newer DVD recorders. In other words, if they DID market Panasonic DVD/HDD recorders with ATSC, everyone here would be bitching to the skies about how they don't work right. You're actually better off using your old analog version with an adapter (have you read the complaint threads all over the net regarding the new ATSC dvd recorders? None of their tuner/timers work! And the ATSC Panasonics just freeze up solid, even worse!).
What you say about trickle-down evolution and pricing of high-end electronics is usually true, but it didn't happen with DVD/HDD recorders. This pattern only occurs when sales increase year after year and economies of scale kick in. DVD/HDD recorders did not increase their sales, instead they stalled on USA launch in 2003 and sales regressed every year until the mfrs said "screw this" and dropped the USA in 2007. Europe, Asia and Australia still have a wide selection of DVD/HDD recorders because cable is not a factor at all, nearly everyone gets their signal OTA, and those countries/regions moved quickly to settle on a DTV standard and implemented it intelligently. We've been screwing around developing an incompatible, asinine DTV standard since the Clinton presidency, botched its launch, botched forcing it down mfrs throats prematurely, botched ensuring cable would play along, and wasted the entire opportunity. We voluntarily allow cable monopolies to choke us to death with no hardware access. This makes the very concept of an independent recorder untenable, never mind unsellable. We all agree with you that we'd buy an updated DVD/HDD recorder. But we're a drop in the bucket, we don't even register on mfr radar. They need a mass market regularly buying these at a price commensurate with their cost to make. That didn't happen in 2003. It got worse in 2005. Today its a sick joke. They cannot offer us something if 99.7% of consumers have no interest in buying it. The fact that you (or I) want one so desperately is not enough to change the status quo.
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If I don't have space for a cable box/dvr, I don't have space for a converter box. I didn't have room for both a vcr and a dvd recorder so I only use the dvd recorder and gave my 20 year old vcr to a family member who now uses the still working machine. I have room for a tv and the recorder/player. The cable company in my area says if I subscribe to basic, I don't need a box (basic is still expensive), but they say if I want digital cable, I need a box. I don't want the box.
I hear you. They're not gonna bother bringing to the U.S. what they believe won't sell. I just think that they could sell if we were not locked in to our current system, and I believe we are locked in because Americans have been duped into thinking there's no other way and that bugs can't be worked out.
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There is no room for even a H: 1.3” x W: 5.9” x D: 4.2” converter box like the DTVPal Plus, which will still work standing upright on one end like a book? It includes event timers too, by the way. I use an earlier version of the same product.
The only major difficulty is the internal clock. The entire DISH DTVPal product line lacks one. They all depend on the time sent in the DTV signal. If that is wrong, then scheduled events will not begin or end at the right time. Some TV stations are not maintaining accurate time in their signal, although that is a violation of FCC regulations, but hopefully that situation will improve.
I can give you one other solution. It doesn't seem like you archive TV shows to DVD. If recording over-the-air TV is more important to you than watching DVDs, there's the non-subscription based DVR, costing $250 at the moment. It 's the DTVPal DVR. Here is a description at http://www.digitalstar.com/product/DTVPal-DVR.aspx It is the only OTA HD DVR option available in N.America other than TiVo. It won't work exacly the same as your Panasonic, but neither would a new HDD DVD recorder.
It is only for use with an antenna. It has a program guide, VCR-like timers and records in HD, but there is no DVD drive. It's relatively new, and they are still working out some bugs via firmware updates, but the worst ones appear to be fixed. A new DTVPal DVR should have the latest firmware, but if at some point in the future a firmware update is needed, it can be downloaded to a computer, copied on a USB stick and installed.
The DTVPal DVR is smaller than the HDD DVD recorder you already have, so a compact DVD player might fit next to it. If not, the TV you have will someday fail and you will need to replace it. At that point, get a TV with an integrated DVD player, or the ability to play whatever distribution format movies use at that point.
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Originally Posted by usually_quietWhen in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form.
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Originally Posted by Seeker47
I only have the DTVPal converter boxes at present, which have composite-out and coax-out only. I researched the DTVPal DVR as a possible recording solution in the event that my parents decide to dump cable and become antenna-only viewers again. The DTVPal DVR has coax out, composite out, component out and HDMI out. There's no S-Video out, which I would miss as well, but then its not for me.
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You can't get a DVD recorder with HDD as TIVO sued the manufacturers for using their patented PVR technology and won over 200 million dollars, see link:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06042009/business/tivo_wins_echostar_lawsuit_172435.htm
Anyway, back to the topic. You can still get a DVD recorder with a hard drive. But you have to buy a imported model, one of those region free dvd players/recorders. I did extensive research as we needed 12pcs for the US base in Annapolis, Maryland. We ended up buying 12 of the Panasonic DMR-EH67 from world-import.com.
Here is the link of the model we bought: http://www.world-import.com/dvr-550h.htm
When I bought them last month I had a hard time finding them as most manufacturers stoped production of this type of recorder. Good LuckMy stomach is not a graveyard for dead animals!
- Albert Einstein
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Originally Posted by nina96
The difficulty is that TiVo out-competes them at the price point needed to make a reasonable profit on a third-party recording device with an HDD.
If you truly want an HDD DVD recorder with an ATSC tuner, Walmart's website has Magnavox 160GB models back in stock, though for how long I cant say. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10104532
Further complaining here does nothing to change the situation.
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Oh I think the squeaky wheel often gets the grease. Yeah I read the article and I'm fully aware of the details. Since it was indeed an old article I too obviously had to seek more info. I thought that was a given. TIVO was within their legal rights. Their actions still contribute to the "we NEED to rent a box" indoctrination. With no other options no one seeks out other plans. They get get comfortable where they are and accept status quo. Mostly applies to satellite which I would never use anyway, but I'm trying to avoid being forced to use an additional box altogether, STB, DVR, converter box etc. I do know that a blu-ray hdd recorder from panasonic is not a forbidden impossibility, which is why I will still voice my opinion and fight for more choices. TIVO is still ruining my chance for multiple options.
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So let me get this straight, instead of making use of what may be your final opportunity to obtain the very last HDD DVD recorder with an ATSC tuner that is likely to be made, you have decided to "fight" for a device that doesn't yet exist, may never exist, and would always be too expensive for you to purchase if it did exist?
Buying a HDD DVD recorder or the DISH DTVPal DVR (which is strictly for recording over-the-air TV and has nothing to do with DISH satellite service), would be more constructive than more complaints here. You would be supporting manufacturers who make products for this US market, and demonstrating that a demand for these product categories exists. Nothing speaks more persuasively than money.
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Is this not a free forum to express our opinions, put info out there? I've gotten many good suggestions, including the Walmart Magnavox, which is definitely a very good temporary fix. I appreciate that info very much. I don't care to support Walmart and its shoddy business practices so I'll search for it elsewhere, and have had bad luck with Magnavox, but I appreciate all the ideas out there. The machine I want does exist, just not in the U.S. at this time. I have no reason to believe it can't or won't be available in the future. And certainly it will not be unaffordable forever. If enough people were to makes their wishes known to Panasonic, they very well may be persuaded. Right now I think the economy is playing a part in this too. When you voice complaints, you get help from others who have similar issues and thought they were the only ones. They realize they're not alone, and it generates discussions that lead to very helpful solutions.
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Originally Posted by nina96
The only other HDD DVD recorders with ATSC tuners made in the last two years were from Philips, but they are currently being sold on eBay at two or three times their original price, and were likely bought at WalMart. Only a couple of other vendors ever carried them. Philips will exit the consumer electronics business at the end of the year, so those were the very last HDD DVD recorders that will come from them.
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Then Walmart it will have to be for now. I won't give up on my dreams and I have every right to fight for more options. I'd never buy such items on Ebay anyway though, too risky. I remember the Phillips, and I did seriously consider them, but then I heard from a Panasonic rep that they were edging towards bringing them to the U.S.(they estimated by 2009 at the time I called) , so I held out thinking surely they'll introduce them by the time the digital switchover took place. When that did not occur I contacted Panasonic again. This time they said they have no CURRENT plans for U.S. release, meaning the option is still open, but not in the immediate future. It was thoroughly disappointed, as Panasonic is the only brand of vcrs and dvd players/recorders that have remained trouble-free for me personally, but I am undeterred. Clearly the door has not closed on the idea, and in the meantime, you are correct, I along with others can indeed demonstrate a desire such products by purchasing items like the Magnavox (though I still shudder at giving business to Walmart). But I had not known about this particular recorder until it was mentioned here. Never came up in my searches. Proves my point about the squeaky wheel. Regular people heard my complaints and offered me multiple solutions. So I thank you very much and everyone else in this forum and others.
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