tivo vs replay vs capture card

[jetblac]

Being new to this site I guess missed this topic already but...
Replay and tivo record telivision on the fly and with top quality.
So why is it so difficult to get those results with that amount of ease on my desktop? I just want to record my favorite shows and watch them in broadcast quality thats it, Just like tivo. ok maybe not like tivo, It would be nice if i could get a 1 hour show on a cd.
Whqts my best bet. And don't say get tivo
Thanks

[lennyt]

This is my thing: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250. Capture card with TV tuner.(see capture cards this site). I record TV and movies to HD. (You should have at least 60 G or more. I then edit with TMPGEnc Tools, Merge & Cut to take out commercials then I burn disks with Ulead DVD Video Factory. VCD format will give you 60-65 min of good VCR quality and SVCD gets you 30-38 min of near DVD quality. Check your DVD player to see what formats it plays. Not all can play SVCD. (see DVD players, this site also.)

[Gil T Pleasure]

So why is it so difficult to get those results with that amount of ease on my desktop?

ReplayTV and TiVo are specialized machines designed to do one thing and that is to record/playback TV shows. On the other hand, PCs are multi-purpose machines designed to do all kinds of things, from word processing to gaming to CD burning. So it’s no surprise that it’s much harder to achieve the same result with the same amount of ease on your desktop as you would on the standalone PVR.

And don't say get tivo

Get a standalone DVD-RAM recorder (or a standalone DVD recorder with built-in HDD). That way, you get the best of both worlds. You can watch and record at the same time, pause live TV and best of all you can bring the disc alone with you (provided you have a DVD-RAM capable player to playback the disc). If you go with the DVD recorder with built-in HDD, you can burn the disc to DVD-R.

[aznguy]

ReplayTV Rocks!!!

just got it and can transfer files to PC...

but only problem is I don't know how to reencode ReplayTV files... its mpeg2...but alittle different that causes TMGPEnc to crash for some reason.

Tivo not capable of to PC.

[HOWITIS]

you can transfer files from tivo to the PC with a little hacking, i've got a tivo and a Panasonic E30. it works great for when you want to keep some of the stuff you record.


















oh ya, get a tivo!

[aznguy]

well how you hack it?

is it as EZ as ReplayTV "DVA"?

[Cyrl]

Transferring files to the PC from a Tivo is a nightmare compared to the simplicity of the ReplayTV using DVarchive or Qvision. Plus Replay TV's lowest record quality for an hour long TV show after you edit out commercials fits perfectly on one CD. Of course just buy a DVD burner and make DVD's out of them if you can, it's soooo much better.

[NightWing]

Excuse me. But dident Replay just crash as in Chapter 11 and sold off the designed?

[MichaelLAX]

Transferring files to the PC from a Tivo is a nightmare compared to the simplicity of the ReplayTV using DVarchive or Qvision.

Just picked up a Replay 5060 from Costco so I can xfer the mpeg2 out to burn DVDs, instead of the process of redigitizing my TiVo using ADS Technologies USB Instant DVD for Mac.

Where can I get DVarchive or Qvision?

I just want to take the mpeg2 out and see if the Capty software that came with my Instant DVD will accept it for "trimming" of commercials and authoring/burning DVDs.

Do you know of any tutorials on this subject? Thanks

[MichaelLAX]

I found DVArchive and MacReplayTV; thanks.

[Robert Simandl]

ReplayTV Rocks!!!

just got it and can transfer files to PC...

but only problem is I don't know how to reencode ReplayTV files... its mpeg2...but alittle different that causes TMGPEnc to crash for some reason.

Tivo not capable of to PC.

Womble mpeg2vcr can edit and/or reencode ReplayTV mpegs quite nicely. I've used it sucessfully with mpegs from my ReplayTV 4160 and my Panasonic Showstopper 3060.

But if you use DVD MovieFactory to do your authoring, reencoding (which takes many hours) isn't necessary. I just use Womble to edit out the commercials without reencoding. It just reencodes the break points and only takes a few MINUTES instead of several hours.

[PlasticDVDr]

Capture card!!!

I'm a newbie at this, but I've only seen PVR's for starchoice in Canada... I don't think you can use those ones on digital cable... and besides, who wants to pay a extra monthly fee anyways????

I am a newb at this, so don't flame, instead educate me...

[DVWannaB]

Thanks for starting this thread, because I was interested in this subject also.

Help me out here. With ReplayTV, is there any special set-up required to transfer video files into your computer, like a home network or special equipment or something else? Or do I just download Qvision or DVArchive, connect computer to Replay TV and transfer away?

Thanks

[Gil T Pleasure]

Read the FAQ or post questions directy to the ReplayTV Forum.

[DVWannaB]

Thanks..........I think

Seems like they bounced around the topic and didnt quite answer the question or was not allowed to. I guess I will have to experiment on my own and if it doesnt work, I'll send the unit back.

[Gil T Pleasure]

DVWannaB,

You might be interested in this thread: ReplayTV ripp to PC VIA Ethernet -Unbelievable high quality. Maybe the original poster can answer your question.

[DVWannaB]

Thanks, Gil. I saw it yesterday and jumped in with a post. Yes, the first poster answered the very question(s) I had. Good stuff