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Current Crop Of HDTV Recorders Compared
rbrander links to this "nice review of all the HDTV Recorders from the Washington Post: DirecTV's based on the TiVo wins for best interface, but Dish Network's gets a few nods. There's also a nice swipe ('...spectacularly stupid decision') at JVC's for allowing only (copy-protected) Firewire input to the one HDTV tape recorder on the market."
I've recently built myself a nice HTPC with two tuners (Hauppauge PVR-250), and I'm quite happy with it. I intend to move onto HDTV capture cards once the most popular PVR software packages (SageTV, Beyond TV) supports it.
Does anyone know what the state of the HDTV capture cards for PC looks like right now? Obviously, hardware encoding and picture quality is key...
The current crop of Standalone Tivo's blow the DirecTiVo away performance wise. The features of the DirecTiVo's can't be beat, but those that are used to the standard Series2 TiVo (or even the Series1) are growing tired of the dismal menu performance of the DirecTivo. All of this can be solved quite easily.......in software. Update those TiVo's DirecTV!
-Randy
Didn't the title say the review was of ALL the HD recorders available? The Scientific Atlanta 8000HD may not be the best, but it certainly works.
I have never seen D-VHS, but I can only imagine that since it is tape, that it has the same fundamental flaws as VHS, the magnetic tape. I don't care if it is digital, if I put my copy of Fear and Loathing in there and play it over and over I can only surmise that it's going to degrade as the heads go over and over the tape. IMHO, Blu-ray is a much more reliable (in comparison, I know) format.
I do it all the time.
Now you do lose the enhanced resolution BUT it does record in widescreen format which is nice for movies over cable.
FireWire wasn't a stupid decision...it was 5C-protected (copy-protected) FireWire that was a stupid decision.
:-(
FireWire was probably the best promise of device interconnectivity to ever exist in recent years. But it has been crippled by several things:
1. Content providers/TV/movie/Hollywood's deathly fear of being able to easily interconnect all devices, including computing equipment, via one perfect, digital connection.
2. A bit due to Apple's early ridiculous licensing and logo requirements to use the "FireWire" name. FireWire is the name that would have taken IEEE-1394 the furthest, but thanks to the early bungling, we're now stuck with "FireWire", "DV", "i.Link", "IEEE-1394", "1394"...what's that sir? Oh, yes, they're all really the same thing.
Imagine having ALL of your entertainment equipment, including your computer, connected digitally via one, simple FireWire cable each, all daisy-chained off one another. All able to control one another when necessary, sending meta-data and device control commands, as well as audio, video, and other data over the wire. No ridiculous bundles of cabling. Everything plug and play. Everything "just works". Even Wireless FireWire (yes, there's a spec). (And yes, FireWire has the bandwidth necessary to handle all this and more.)
That was the promise of FireWire. Instead, we're stuck with final output formats like DVI, and HDCP-protected HDMI, 5C FireWire that virtually nothing supports, and the coming Broadcast Flag.
Oh well.
The DTheater has encrypyted tapes that can only be played on DTheater (the copy protection) compatible VCRs.
I can record lots of open signals over the Firewire. The lower end one can be found for around $300, but the newer and more expensive ones are made a lot better.
I have a Motorola DCT-6208, the model I think they are referring to in this article that Comcast offers.
:)
Even though the hard drive is only 80GB, and the interface sucks, the thing is virtually free and I don't have to worry about it breaking, hard drive failing, or the eventual obsolescence in less than a year. Anyone shelling out $1000 for the satellite models is a sucker IMO.
I used to be a DirecTV customer and bought a RCA DTC-100 HD tuner on Ebay for $400. I was able to turn around and resell it on Ebay for $350 2 years later, but only because I sold it before the crop of DVRs came out, and because it was a high-demand model. Now, if you are stuck with an obsolete HD Tivo in a year or two, you are pretty much screwed because the new models will be so much better no one will want an older model. Maybe you can sell it to your grandmother though for $100.
With cable though, I can keep getting a better box for virtually nothing. The new Motorola DCT-6412 with two tuners and 120GB hard drive is right around the corner, and I will just have to call and setup an appointment to have the tech come in and swap it out.
Looks like NetFlix, TiVo, and Time Warner are working on video on demand. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5376581.html -S
Since when is a link to another article a troll?
I have been happy with my DirecTV Tivo (series 2) since I purchased it a year ago. I am still waiting for the price drop on the DirecTV HD models though, but I cannot wait to put my HDTV to the test!
[n8.r0n] http://petesweb.spymac.net/
Look at the actual URL, not the one displayed.
"If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college."
-Lewis Black
Do not click this link at any costs! It contains some kind of browser hijacking script that pops up like hundreds of goatse/tubgirl/etc popups and basically keeps you from closing it.
We need to find out who keeps posting this crap and turn him in to the feds.. this has to be illegal..
Oh and don't forget that current HDTV capture cards will be illegal on 2005.7.1. Buy 'em now while you can. Future models will have to support DRM via a broadcast flag. :-(
http://www.1394ta.org/About/products/consumer_prod ucts.html
Additionally, the FCC is mandating that as of July 1, 2005, all digital cable set top boxes MUST include a functional FireWire port, and as of April 1, 2004, must provide a set top box with a working FireWire port on customer request. Of course, this doesn't help if content providers choose to encrypt the content.
Here's hoping we can fight the Broadcast Flag. Unfortunately, I can see a future where our kids think that the only way they can watch what they want to watch, when they want to watch it, and on the device they wish to watch it on, is by illegally downloading it from a P2P network, instead of being able to legally record it and move it around THEMSELVES with equipment THEY BOUGHT from a service THEY PAY FOR in their OWN HOMES.
Get the lifetime subscription. It's worth it, and you can think of it as part of the hardware cost. Plus, if you decide to sell your box you can expect to recoup the lifetime subscription cost as it transfers with the box.
As far as "phoning home", how else could it get the program listings and software upgrades? Tivo Series 2 supports broadband, if access to a landline is an issue.
I have yet to meet a Tivo user who isn't happy they bought a Tivo.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I agree that the Tivo has the best interface and general coolness. But be aware that there is a very good chance that the HDMI port will not work at all or has to be messed with and even thats not 100%. If you dont believe just check the tivo community forums about this unit http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.ph p?s=f81a3d87b7dcd78fda0257b6df286bc6&threadid=1832 03
That said if you do not plan to use the HDMI port by all means get one immediately DirecTV has several HD promotions going on right now and has plans to add a lot of HD programming in 2005 and 2006.
I know some (read most) people will think I am crazy but I recently purchased the DirecTV HD Tivo. I have had the unit for just over a week now and absolutely love it.
:) I know I know I know.. justify myself all the way to hell.
The price: 999.00 (ouch, don't tell my wife)
I have had DirecTV HDTV for about 6 months and really hated not being able to record the shows I like to watch. I found myself using my hacked/upgraded tivo (series 1 non-hd) to watch shows that also are aired in HD simply because I like skipping commercials.
The quality of recorded shows are simply amazing. Especially Disovery HD and movies on HBO-HD. Very nice sound as it keeps the DD 5.1 soundtrack.
Was it worth the 1000.00 I paid for it? Well, I priced out building a similar HTPC (Home theater PC) with 2 HD tuners and 2 OTA tuners and it was more expensive to roll my own. Also, mythTV does not worth well with direct (from what I have read). So I do believe it was worth the 1000.00 considering it does come with a 250gb hard drive (150.00).
Could somebody point me to a homebrew PVR tutorial?
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
Most, if not ALL HDTV recorders for PCs support only over-the-air broadcasts, and not QAM encoded. Cable and Satellite use QAM encoding, meaning you aren't going to record unless you have an antenna.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
What the article does not tell you is that the decision to include anything OTHER than a firewire input to the D-VHS VCR would have also required a REALTIME HDTV MPEG2 encoder in the VCR. By "the most popular 3 hdtv interconnects" they are probably talking about Component YUV, Component RGB, and DVI-D -- while these are indeed the most popular interconnects, they transport the already uncompressed video stream. To record them in DVHS format you'd have to recompress the video back to MPEG2, and remux the audio (and ensure sync). This alone would have sent the price of the unit skyrocketing. In addition the decision was not stupid, because as of April 1, 2004, cable companies are required to have the firewire transports on their devices, meaning that the decision for a firewire-only vcr would be fairly standards compliant as well as inexpensive.
The nice thing about firewire transporting this is that the video arrives preencoded in a nice transport stream in full quality. The not-nice thing about it is that the FCC is also allowing the firewire to be C5 encrypted. I really really hope someone is working on breaking this one.
I forgot to mention that I am on my 5th DirecTV HD tivo replacment so I am also speaking from personal experience. Im going to keep getting them to send replacements until I get a working one. For a $1000 piece of equipment you would think they would of done more testing oh well...
This is the TV I am using these units with in case anyone is wondering
Toshiba 46H84
your computer telling your tivo to erase it's entire harddrive, then record anime manga 3 at two am, because that's what the virus writer thinks you should watch, your vcr ejecting tapes, and your cd jukebox player snapping cd's in half by partilly loading them and then rotating..
yes, the joys of a massively inter-connected motorized hardware would be ever so much more fun than a purely electronic non-motorized one..
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
I have HDTV and I am with Dishnetwork. There is a cheaper option to record programs and to receive HD tv. It would cost you under $200 to view HD and to record with the ability to record SD signals (There are only like 6 channels in HD anyways). The HD recievers are now on promotion (DirectTv and Dishnetwork). If you can get a 1 year contract, you can get the receiver around $80. Then you buy a modified Tivo box (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ite m=5721787901&fromMakeTrack=true) which will run you around $100. The Tivo box you can send the recorded stuff onto a computer for later viewing. Best of all, no monthly fees ever once you buy this unit.
Let me know what others think. No this is not my auction.
NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
I get the same thing with my Series 2 TiVo right now. The simply listing is pretty fast, but the grid view fills in like Tetris on level 1...
Well, I don't need program listings, and why the hell should it require software upgrades? It's linux based, right?
I just want a box I can hit record on. I don't watch that much TV, I don't need it to recommmend shows to me.
Hell, I hardly need that. Everything on cable is repeated on a 4 hour loop. Miss tonights South Park? Don't worry, it'll be on again in another hour or so.
They're trying to sell me more than I need, and I'm not buying.
I just want a box that records video digitally, and allows me to archive it somehow, whether it's an ethernet port or DVD-R. And, I want to buy it for under 100 bucks with NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
I have yet to meet a Tivo user who isn't happy they bought a Tivo.
And I haven't met an iPod owner who doesn't think the scroll wheel is anything less than mankinds greatest technological achievement.
But I don't want or need an iPod either since a 20 dollar MP3 CD player does all I require.
I've never met a Harley Davidson owner who thinks that his bike is anything less than the greatest vehicle ever built. Fact is, from a purely technical/mechanical viewpoint, Harleys are tempermental piles of shit that are broken most of the time. But it's a status symbol.
iPod, TiVo, Harleys, Abercrombie and Fitch shirts. I don't need any of 'em.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Satellite, at least DirecTV, does not use QAM.
um, i'll volunteer my viewing habits
if it helps keep shows like futurama...
-g
doncha wanna be a neilson family anyway?
And EACH cable can be up to 4.5m (15 ft) long. Most of your cables needn't be longer than 15 inches, much less 15 feet.
Also, IEEE-1394b supports up to 3.2Gbps up to 100m (328 ft) over fiber.
To say nothing of Wireless FireWire...
Despite the rash of problems reported with the HDMI port and the occasionally slow guide rendering, this machine is well worth the price. After recording Ice Age as my first HD show and watching it later at my own leisure...the experience is so fantastic that I feel as though I've practically stolen something. Great stuff!
I have the Scientific Atlanta 8000HD from Time Warner. I believe that is the Comcast box they review, but ours doesn't have any ads nor any of the issues they mention. It doesn't have as good of an interface as Tivo, but it does the job. Two tuners, HD, PIP, nice.
Firewire will never be enabled on the Dish 921 HD DVR.
Check out http://www.mythtv.org/. They have some links to how to setup a MythTv.
BUt is my name attached to that? I don't want that, and I can't trust TiVo *not* to sell my name. What's next, spam trying to sell me DVD box sets?
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
I recently had quite a struggle getting a cable box with a 1394 port on it from my local cable co (BrightHouse Tampa). I had dreams of a pure digital connection from the tuner to the computer, right to file or to my XvMC X session. After finally getting it and connecting it to my computer, and writing a a good chunk of code to get it to talk through the firewire card in my linux box... every channel is either analog or 5C.
Most the channels here in Tampa are analog and there is no MPEG encoder chip on the Scientific Atlanta 3250HD box, so that means nothing comes out of the firewire port for those channels. The rest of the channels are encrypted and flagged as CCI "once", meaning that only hardware that supports 5C can read it and that hardware must respect the "copy only once" intent of the flag. As far as I know, there is no way to decrypt 5C content in software, which leaves the user with unusable transport streams.
I'd still love to work on a pure digital PVR (one that doesn't make several analog->digital->analog->etc convertsions once the signal gets to the box), but firewire definately doesn't further that cause.
I have been a long time DirecTV customer but i just cancelled last week.
/mo for television and it seems like there's honestly nothing that enriching to watch. Seems like a better way to spend $60 a month is to use half of it to take your significant other out to some cheap resturant, and then donate the rest to a local organization.
I have a Hughes HDVR2 Series2 DirecTivo. It was cool and all, but what I really wanted was a way to get content off of it and watch it on a computer. No home media option for DirecTivo users though. Nice.
The real reason we axed DirecTV (and have not replaced it, nor do we plan to) is that the content just isn't there compared with the price you pay for it.
My big interests are F1 racing and World Rally. Speedchannel's coverage of same amounts to under 10 hours a month, tops. Sure, there is other stuff i _can_ watch (cartoon network, for instance) but i could take or leave it. One issue i find with a tivo is that i have all this stuff in there that i feel obligated to watch because its there and i enjoy watching it...
My wife on the other hand is a minnesota twins fanatic. Yet there wer eless than 5 games available to us, even though we live within 3 hrs of minneapolis and have the local tv pack. The MLB extra innings deal is like $70 or $80 or something silly, and you cant ever get a straight answer on what will or wont be shown because of the ridiculous blackout and regional rights issues related to TV.
So I was basically paying for a few races a month and then some time sucking.
My wife was getting no twins games, but a whole boatload of junk off of TLC that managed to suck her day away. It would start innocently enough - "oh, i'll just watch an episode of blah while i do this chore" and then shes managed to waste the whole afternoon watching crap that isn't even all that interesting.
So $45/mo for a bit of racing and a whole bunch of time wasting didn't seem like a good deal to us anymore.
HD seems like an even worse deal. Where's the HD content ? The devices for doing HD PVR are "cool" (although i think any directivo solution will still have the lack of home-media i cited above) but you're talking like $60+
IMO, alot of whats coming right now is technology for technologies sake. I admit that i am captivated by the appeal of a distributed mythTV setup with FEs all over the house, but really, i shouldn't be watching enough tv to justify that.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
Did you take a look at PAGE 2 of the article?
I recently bought an HD tuner card made by DVico. I am fairly happy with it. The new version of the software is much easier to use. They now also have a QAM version available.
Myth TV (http://www.mythtv.org/)is the best software out there to use under BSD. Wendey Seltzer actually used the program and make it fully functional. on here website you have full directions, drivers and programs to do it. http://wendy.seltzer.org/mythtv/ I myself am looking this for an option to build my own with a DVD recorder. IF serveral people are interested in this kind of project let me know, maybe we can share insight and idea.
NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
http://www.usbhdtv.com/
t hreadid=373490&highlight=sasem/
You can buy one in the US at:
http://www.copperbox.com/lite/sasem.php/
Avsforum thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&
For those that don't have a free PCI slot, this is the way to go. Once the highest of powers grants me permission, I'll be grabbing one myself.
JA
Your email is 3dinfo@maficstudios.com so it seems. Goto hell MF.
No. it's just on the second page of the two-page article... PS :-p
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
With the DirecTivo's it is not necessary to connect the phone line. I have 3 at home, and 2 have not been connected to a phone line in over a year. They download the program data from the satellite, but you will not receive any software updates.
Though one may note that for anyone with more than one machine the economics of the choice changed with the new multiple account discount they are offering. If you aleady have one machine, then the logic of buying another machine and getting a Lifetime pass are very questionable ($5 a month vs $300 lifetime cost calls it into doubt)
he did say aggregated information
I have a JVC D-VHS recorder. It will happily record unencrypted MPEG-2 on the FireWire input.
(However, this is sort of a moot point, since it is almost impossible to find a cable/satellite service that will deliver unencrypted video via FireWire. The only one I know of is a certain hardware-modded satellite receiver)
I wouldn't single out JVC though. D-VHS has been available for at least a year; back when it came out, none of the other interfaces like DVI were standardized yet. You will never see a consumer unit that records via analog HD YPbPr anyway. It will either be encrypted FireWire or (more likely) encrypted DVI.
BUt is my name attached to that?
No, and it never has been.
I don't want that, and I can't trust TiVo *not* to sell my name.
I'm surprised by that - especially because, IIRC, TiVo is opt-in.
Why don't you trust them? What reason have they given you not to trust them?
Coming soon - pyrogyra
"Here's hoping we can fight the Broadcast Flag. Unfortunately, I can see a future where our kids think that the only way they can watch what they want to watch, when they want to watch it, and on the device they wish to watch it on, is by illegally downloading it from a P2P network, instead of being able to legally record it and move it around THEMSELVES with equipment THEY BOUGHT from a service THEY PAY FOR in their OWN HOMES."
So why aren't you yelling at all the pirates who brought about this mess? Nope, Slashdot would rather encourage the kind of behaviour that only makes the situation worse, rather than the behaviour that would make it better (self-discipline for starters).
I spoke to one of the media contacts at Tivo and they said they would be happy to do an interview on my LCD tv site. The media contact said that she would be happy to connect me with any of their engineers.
I would love to collect good questions for this Tivo Interview. Please feel free to visit the site and post your questions and I will do my best to get answers.
Laugh at my ignorance while I learn Rails - a Real ne
Bitch about DirecTV all you want.
You'll go right back as soon as you see your cable company's prices.
DirecTV's basic Total Choice package? $40/mo, includes SciFi.
Want SciFi if you're a Cablevision subscriber? Please cough up $80-90/month, oh yeah and you still get fewer channels than DTV's Total Choice package.
Damn trees in the front lawn blocking my house's view of the DTV sat. Between CV's price insanity and those trees, my TV comes through a classic V/U antenna in the attic and I just get Stargate: Atlantis and SG-1 episodes via BitTorrent.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
"I really really hope someone is working on breaking this one."
Why? Encryption at best might interfere with going to a lower format, but it doesn't have to (analog jacks). Encryption doesn't interfere with storage or transportation (which fair use allows). The only thing that people are mad about is that they can't share their copy with a thousand of their friends. Big loss there, invite everyone over to your house to watch. You guys need the social contact anyway.
So their choice is to sell my information behind my back (but legally, since it's in the contract) and increase profits, or not make a profit and keep my information secure. I would prefer a company *not* have that kind of power over me.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
I've got a Motorola 6208, which has the single HD tuner and 80 GB hard drive. I'm really happy with the box, and it only cost me $650 CDN. We can't get HD over the air here in Canada, and none of our satellite companies offer a HD PVR yet, so this is the only feasible option. The hard drive is small, but I don't really care. I've got a computer with a tuner connected to my HDTV as well, and it's busy archiving stuff that I want to hang onto. I generally delete stuff off the PVR once I've watched it. The only shows I want to archive are shows for my kids - every episode of Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, Spongebob, etc.
Publisher, Universe Today - http://www.universetoday.com
bluewee!!!!
I am yelling at the pirates. But that's not the point: no matter what the industry does, the pirates will still pirate. They'll break every encryption, work around every roadblock, and will still do everything they do now, and have always done.
The only people really affected by things like the Broadcast Flag and encryption of content are the ordinary, paying, law-abiding consumers. The pirates still pirate, and we can do less and less with the things that we OWN - or rather, we can only do what the media moguls' whims let us do.
Just buy an HDCAM deck from Sony or a D5 deck from Panasonic. Sure, they cost upwards of $50k each, but the picture sure does look good....
TAPE?? Please. The war is over. Disks (optical and magnetic) won.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Satellite uses QPSK or ("turbo") 8PSK, not QAM.
The QPSK is pretty standardized, whereas the 8PSK is still being tweaked by various parties for maximum bandwidth. Of course, most HDTV broadcasts use 8PSK.
Once you get above the encoding layer, there's the encyption. The cable industry appears to have settled on cablecard as a means for standardizing the encryption setup (I think this may have been forced on them by the FCC).
However, unlike in Europe, where satellite receivers have been standardized, US satellite systems are very proprietary, and even where they use international standards (Dish uses DVB and Nagra encryption), they will not let you subscribe using anything but their own proprietary hardware.
Actually, you do receive software updates over the satellite connection. How do I know? Because my hacked DirecTivo which isn't plugged into a phone line at all (and has a hack running to prevent the 'call home' to give statistics and report what OS its using) just downloaded the latest update this weekend. It hasn't installed it - another hack, since that would wipe out all my extra software - but its there.
"Stumble before you crawl"
They'll have HDTivos in all those secondary rooms (guest bedroom, kitchen, etc) of their house.
I agree with your larger point, though -- the cable company provided box is a huge defense against obsolence, repair, and overpriced periodic subscription fees (or "lifetime" gambles).
It's one of the reasons that Tivo is in a tough spot; people who need a cable box will find the cable provided box to be an automatic "yes", given that it's little or no extra cost and zero integration effort as is required with a Tivo.
Tivo's salvation *may* be the new cable-card standard, which would give a standalone Tivo access to the same digital bitstream as the cable company provided boxes, enabling stuff like multi-channel recording and HD recording far simpler (since you just store the bitsream off the line, not re-encoding the actual picture).
I've been told that the cable companies really don't like being in the hardware business. While it seems like easy money, in many urban areas the losses and repairs have to make it a break-even deal at best.
Wow. You know, I used to think the "problem" with the internet was that it was created in an environment of implicit trust, and thus email and usenet news etc. have problems with spam and spoofing and viruses.
But now you've made me realize that this same problem extends to any gadget that talks to another one over any cable.
Once paranoia becomes implicit instead of trust, you can imagine that the standard response of any gadget to any command is "why should I listen to you?" You can also imagine all the additional configuration that will be necessary to answer that challenge.
It looks like occasionally the card with the HDMI on it gets jarred loose in shipping. Some people have simply taken off the lid and pushed it back into place. Others, less willing to mess around with a unit under warranty, have simply returned it for replacement.
The DirecTV and Dish recorders both retail for $1,000, but Dish's can also be rented free as part of an ongoing promotion (Dish customers pay a $5-a-month service charge either way).
This is not true as far as I can find it. You can lease a regular DVR for $5 a month, but if you want Dish's version of the HD DVR you still have to shell out around $1,000. If I am wrong, please correct me but I have been researching this a lot lately since I am debating which service I want.
LG-3410A (there is an older Zenith version also). This can record OTA HD, but apparently cannot playback while recording. It has active firewire ports for archiving to DVHS. I hear folks have put 300GB drives in them without fuss. Was $800, but now are $600ish.
... ultimately the best thing would be to have a unit that records to a HDD and can archive to HD-DVD (or Blu-ray), that has integrated firewire for other units that may come along.
RCA-DVR10: this is a firewire only solution. two plugs: power and firewire. I hear it is unreliable, plus you can't buy them in a local shop. You should be able to daisy chain to DVHS.
Firewire ain't that bad. To record HD, I go onto my integrated set, then tell the timer to record a show, it turns on the vcr, sends the show to the DVHS deck (mine was $90 at Best Buy) and turns it off. Again I have 2 cables: firewire and power. Yea, it's tape, but I'll spend $90 plus a few tapes (which can be found for much cheaper online than their "retail" prices) before I spend $600+ on a HD unit.
I'm not that much on the bleeding edge. I'll wait for prices to come down and more features to be crammed in. PLUS, other units are coming that support cablecard. I can afford to be patient, as long as I can record the occasional HD show that I absolutely cannot miss.
DVHS seems to be a stopgap technology
Last thing: the article implied that the JVC deck should have been able to record over component video. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but recording an analog HD signal over component wires would require the signal to be (re)encoded in realtime to be recorded. This is $$$ for the chip, compared to just recording a straight digital signal.
You don't "need" program listings, but they are an excellent feature, and open up a lot of possibilities that traditional VCR-style recording by channel/date/time can't provide. For example, you can record anything from a favorite actor, director, writer, genre, etc., and Tivo will automatically detect that a show you like has changed timeslots. Most shows are NOT repeated every four hours. You don't "need" a TV at all, yet I assume you have one, and probably a monthly cable or satellite bill to go along with it. And yes, it's Linux-based, but what does that have to do with software upgrades? Tivo's software is a lot different today than it was 3 or 4 years ago, and without downloadable updates, you'd have to jump through hoops to get new features and bug fixes. I want a car that can drive 200 MPH, never breaks down, has a 30 speaker stereo system, built-in DVD player, and I want it for under $10,000 with no strings attached. Not going to happen any time soon.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I love my HD-Tivo. He had some good points on the limitations, but he seemed to misunderstand some of the reasons behind them, or existing ways to solve them.
Some wrong or misleading info:
- "JVC's decision to use firewire was a mistake". He obviously doesn't anderstand what is involved in recording HD video. Firewire is used to xfer the compressed digital data stream -- the raw, unmodified MPEG2 stream that is sent from the broadcaster. Recording by any other means (RGB/VGA, YPrPb, DVI) requires the recorder to re-compress the video with MPEG2 or some other format (think of trying to record the VGA output from your computer.. this is the same as recording HDTV.. You don't record the analog output, you record the original digital data). HD MPEG encoders are extremely expensive pieces of hardware (currently just used in professional video production).
The issue is not JVC's choice of connections, firewire is definitely the best choice for this function, the issue is the MPAA's pressure on satellite companies to not allow external archiving of HD material. So, despite customer outcry, DirecTV has refused to include a firewire port. Dish does include a firewire port, but it is currently disabled - and they are calling it "dishwire", presumably to limit its functionality if needed.
But, cable companies are beginning to include firewire ports on their HD boxes. There is some FCC directive saying that the new cable boxes must include a firewire port for recording. But, I think this is still not a done deal.
Several DVD recorders also include firewire input ports. It is definitely the right port for the job..
- Sluggish Tivo operation. Yes, I would like the HD Tivo to operate faster.. But, this can be minimized by using the other still Tivo guide. The other guide shows the current playing programs in one column, then a longer list of upcoming programs for the selected channel in the second column. This updates faster because it only needs to update one channel. And, it's better for selecting programs to record, because you can quickly see all the programs on the channel you want for the next two weeks.
- Dish forward skip button. This is a nice feature. Tivo can also do this if you enter a short series of keypresses on the remote to change the functionality of the jump-to-end and instant-replay keys. The jump-to-end changes to 30 second skip, and the replay becomes a 7 second rewind in case you go too far.
This is a good point, but someone looking at purchasing their first (and probably only, at least for a while) Tivo would be well-advised to purchase the lifetime sub. A second or third unit would probably be cheaper in the long run at $5/month.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
"Could somebody point me to a homebrew PVR tutorial?"
boy do I have the place for you
Build your Own PVR Community (shameless plug, I know)
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Do any of these units have a standard DVI output and ignore the dreaded broadcast flag?
(I want to still use my non HDCP/HDMI-compliant projector to watch all HD programming at best resolution after mid-2005 ).
The problem of viruses occurrs because companies produced programmable products without considering the security consequences.
Viruses for environments that have decent security models, like Linux, FreeBSD, and MacOS X are rare-to-nonexistant, unless one is running Microsoft Office in that environment.
Most of what people call "computer viruses" are only "MicroSoft viruses".
i am not saying there's anything better..
we have no TV service _at all_ now..
Of the stuff out there, i think DTV or Dish is the best stuff, with the nod going to DTV because of DirecTivo (replayTV might be more featureful, but its historically been just awful compared to tivo), and i dont give any cable companies any money at all, and haven't since i left my parents home. (DSL and DTV, all the way)
I have just gotten to the point where even DTV doesn't seem worthwhile anymore.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
we're in fargo. so we have to get the fargo local stations, (which were just enabled in summer of 04), which generally do not carry the games.
:/
the regional fox sports net channel doesn't show up until you upgrade packages.
its frankly not my problem why direcTV cant give us a reliable feed of twins games. For a while, everyone was upset with Victory Sports Network (which bought the tv rights to most twins games and wouldn't deal with anybody except on their terms).. i can tell you that we got less than 5 the whole season.. heck we WENT to more games than we saw on TV
ReplayTV offers something like home media, iirc.
Re: HD content - no, i'm not blaming dtv for lack of HD content. Lack of HD content is a pervasive issue, but the ltitle shred thats out there is an additional premium package from DTV... once upon a time it was like 3 HD channels for like $15 extra a month, in addition to buying a new receiver that was also quite expensive.
It's gotten better, and will continue to get better, but that still doesn't really fix the content issue i mentioned earlier, and i still feel like anyone doing HD is an early adopter at this stage..
finally, no matter how many HD channels they add, uninteresting time-sucking crap is still uninteresting time-sucking crap, even at high resolution with 5.1 audio.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
I want a Tivo that will record and playback over-the-air hdtv.
Apart from making my own out of an old computer and some baling wire, what are my options?
These guys: http://169time.com/ will add FireWire to your DirecTV, Dish STBs so that you can do this. They also provide a How-To guide for recording in High-Def. You can just FireWire pipe this into your HTPC and rock and roll!
I have one of the new Motorola HD-DVR boxes that Comcast puts out, and a handy-dandy new Dual 2.5ghz G5 with 30" cinema (don't hate me, I just sold my primary residence and took a little profit, is all...). I'm able to connect the two boxes via FireWire and record (through a couple of clunky apps out there) the packetized MPEG2 stream to a disk file, and play it back with VLC... but all I want to be able to do is VIEW the cablebox signal via the FireWire connection and use the 30" cinema display as an HD screen, avoiding the cost of a separate (redundant hardware!) HDTV... It already has a PVR so I don't need to record.
Does ANYONE know of anything out there (or that will be out there) that will accomplish this?
So their choice is to sell my information behind my back (but legally, since it's in the contract) and increase profits, or not make a profit and keep my information secure. I would prefer a company *not* have that kind of power over me.
Which part of "Opt In" don't you understand?
You have more to worry about if you own a credit card. Much much more.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Isn't a -1 Flamebait a bit extreme for an honest mistake?
Which part of "don't want to be dealing with someone who doesn't have my best interests at heart" don't *you* understand?
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
Which part of "don't want to be dealing with someone who doesn't have my best interests at heart" don't *you* understand?
Yet you promote Apple. Who don't have your best interests at heart.
Who do you deal with?
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Check this link .
And, no, I don't download from their music store. I use it to sample music before pirating it.
Let's just say I don't like giving out information to people who don't need it and who will use it without permission. Radio Shack still thinks I live at 1234 fake street.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
And, no, I don't download from their music store. I use it to sample music before pirating it
Ah, so you're not just paranoid. You're thieving scum as well. Ok.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
On the other hand, maybe this is a technology that you want to be an early adopter of to avoid cards that end up getting crippled by "broadcast flag" laws.
July 1, 2005 is the cutoff date.
gewg_