Thank you monomono. It seems not to be a HD DVR, but it allow me to get HD on my LCD.

I don't follow you. It's a video recorder that can record ATSC broadcasts in HD, then play back over HDMI.

Sorry monomono, I now understand why you suggested me this unit. I was looking for an hard drive recorder, that is why I wrote HD. I didn't mean high definition. Sorry, it seems I am not yet familiar with those acronyms.

Steve, you have it, that is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much. It should me in the market in a few months.

Ken

Been following this unit made in Korea and now available in Canada. Can be configured with one of 3 HDD, up to 1.5TB, and records in any format you want. Must be similar to the 3310.

While it has 2 digital tuners, it does not have an NTSC (analog) tuner, and which won't be a problem after 2011 when analog goes silent in Canada.

Does anyone own or tried this unit?

There's lots of firmware issues with this unit that you can read on another forum. Google the unit and you should find easy enough. I would wait a while on this one to see if Dvico fixes all the problems. I've had the R3310 for over a year and its still not right. Dvico is very slow fixing.

I live near Ottawa Ontario. I would like to buy a HDD DVR/DVD player/recorder with dual tuner. The only unit I can find for sale around here is the Sony 160 GB HDD RDRHX780 but it does not have a digital tuner. I think the Magnavox H2160MW9 http://www.magnavox.com/p/index_player.php?id=29 has all the features I want.

Rudy Dyck
Carleton Place, ON

Just a quick note to let you know that this recorder will record ATSC by down-converting it to Standard Definition first, than up-convert it to 1080p when you watch them. Not a true OTA recorder in other means because this way you'll loose the HD quality. From the specs:

Built-in ATSC/NTSC Tuner (SD Quality Output, C-QAM)

Stampeder...Thanks for pointing me in the right direction...Where can I buy...

Djipi...Thanks for the tip!
I am not too concerned about the SD quality output.
Depends on cost and availability...if i can get a HD unit for under $400 great...if not then SD is OK. IF HD is the only unit available then I would go for it even if more than $400.
I just want to find something!!!

Rudster:

If you want an ATSC tuner and a hard drive, the Magnavox and its twin the Phillips 3576 are your only option, assuming you can find one. There's a couple of ATSC Panasonics still available, but they're way overpriced and have no hard drive (a must-have option, imho). My only complaint about the Phillips is the lack of flexible recording times and the inability to record to dual-layer discs, but at this point you can't be too choosy.

As to DjiPi's point, anything viewed or recorded using the Magnavox's tuner is SD, but it will slightly amplify and pass-through a HD signal via the RF connector. It's not a big deal, but it means you don't have to use a splitter to get a HD signal to your TV's internal tuner.

Steve

Steve,

I agree...hard drive is a must. I just want to record a few shows per week and watch them later. I have 2 old antennas up 36 feet...very happy with my OTA TV reception especially now that they are converting to digital.
Thanks for the comments...that helps alot! I will start looking online for the Magnavox and also see if anything else comes up.

All the best!

Rudy Dyck
Carleton Place, ON

An option is an ATSC-equipped FTA receiver, so a few posts have been moved to this thread that covers the topic:

ATSC Tuners in Satellite or Cable Receivers (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=20730)

Another option is the DTVPal PVR, but it doesn't have a DVD burner. To get that, you could use a HTPC, but that could cost you more than $400 unless you already have a PC you can use.

Hello Steve,

Just read the specs...The Channel Master 7000 is exactly what i am looking for...does not matter that it does not have a DVD player/burner. I already have two of those...I will also check out the Sonic view HD 8000 but right now the Channel Master 7000 sounds pretty good.

Thanks for the tip!
RD

Ok time to recap...

No such thing as a HDD Dual tuner w/DVD player-recorder that can
record and then burn to disc in High Definition.

Channel Master 7000PAL PVR and DTVPAL PVR are the same unit.
SonicviewHD8000 is an FTA receiver

Please edit this if I have made a mistake and/or add other
important information.

CM7000PALPVR/DTVPALPVR.....MagnavoxH2160MW9_le.....SonicviewHD8000

Hard disc drive...Yes....................Yes...................No (can add on)
Dual OTA tuner...Yes....................Yes...................No (has ATSC and Sat tuner)
rec/plays HD.......yes....................NO....................Yes(wi th added HDD)
elec/prog guide....yes....................NO...................Yes(may be not so good)
No subscripfees.....Yes..................Yes................... Yes
HDMI output........Yes...................Yes...................Ye s? (saysHDTVoutput)
Ethernet port.......yes...................No......................?
USB 2.0 port........Yes...................No....................Yes
DVD play/record.....No..................Yes(SD)..............No

Thanks...RD

^^^

- Not sure what gen the tuner is in my TV (Samsung HL67A750) but the performance on low quality channels is on par between the two.

- The time zone settings ARE a pain in the ass, but also a pain in the ass is each channel having their own time info. Long ago I chose to just manually change the time.

- As for recording, that has more to do with the drive than the PVR. I remember researching that issue before buying my external drive, and I've only had probably 5 out of 250 recordings fail on me. Possibly due to recording weak channels.

Conclusion: There is NO good OTA PVR out there that doesn't require a subscription to get EPG info. The DTVPal still has major issues as far as I know... So the 8000 is still the best of the worst. I believe the tivo has it's own file format, or are the *.tivo files just transport streams? The SV-HD8000 records in raw transport streams which makes them easy to work with for archiving. No file conversion, a 2 hour HD movie can be remuxed in a few minutes, while any kind of conversion takes much longer (at least on my computer).

Bottom line, I think an HTPC is still the way to go. It's not without it's own problems though. I've heard of TV Guide issues in Canada, not working with Windows Media Centre? Higher initial cost, etc.

I hope one day there is a reasonable GOOD OTA PVR... :)

The other issue with an HTPC is that you don't have the convenience of a real PVR which is having all the controls at your fingertips. Namely a full-function remote control to pause, rewind , fast forward, slomo, access the channel guide, schedule recordings, etc...

You have to access the program's menus with a mouse, which is a real pain when you're trying to change channels or pause.

The other issue with an HTPC is that you don't have the convenience of a real PVR which is having all the controls at your fingertips. Namely a full-function remote control to pause, rewind , fast forward, slomo, access the channel guide, schedule recordings, etc...

You have to access the program's menus with a mouse, which is a real pain when you're trying to change channels or pause.This is totally untrue. You can very easily get a remote control for your PC - in fact remote controls with IR receivers and IR blasters are often bundled with TV tuner cards, although not necessarily OTA tuner cards. There is even a specific remote control sold by MS for Windows Media Center. Windows Media Center, BeyondTV, SageTV and MythTV are all designed to be used by a remote control from a destance - the UI for WinMC is often called a 10 foot UI since it is meant to be used from 10 feet away sitting on your coach and uses large fonts that are readable from that distance.

You can also buy remote controls for PCs for <$20 on eBay. Once you have an IR receiver on your PC you can also use external programs like Girder or EventGhost although they are not necessary for most PVR functions. You also have the option of using a keyboard which is a better way to enter text when searching for TV shows.

I use the same Harmony remote with my HTPC that I use with my cable box, DVD player, AVR, etc.

There are inital setup issues with getting the TV guide data in Windows Media Center but that is a one-time issue and once you have that done you are set. There are also other PVR software options such as MythTV (for Linux) and SageTV (for Windows, Mac, Linux) that work perfectly with Canadian OTA.

HTPCs also offer a whole bunch of other functionality, such as ability to playback other media files (i.e. downloaded movies, music, etc), ability to watch online streaming video from TV network websites or Youtube, ability to transfer your shows to other PCs or burn to DVD/BluRay, ability to automagically skip commercials, ability to integrate several different sources (OTA+cable) in one system, ability to have several tuners to record several channels at once, ability to add more hard drive storage as required, etc.

They can be more expensive initially and more work to set up and maintain but they offer a premium solution to this issue. There is also no subscription fee required.

^^^ You forgot a major one IMHO, the ability to stream recorded shows to other TVs in the house. I'm still planning on a full MythTV setup one of these days...

A few questions about the Silicon Dust HD Homerun. I'm seriously considering it, but I want to know...

Does it have an internal drive, or is recording accomplished by streaming to a capture program on your computer?
How sensitive is the tuner for fringe area reception?
I shouldn't have to ask this but I will... can you add channels manually, or are you stuck withe results of a scan?

I stumbled across the official SiliconDust support forum, and posted the same question there. The official answers are...
Does it have an internal drive, or is recording accomplished by streaming to a capture program on your computer?
All recording is done on your PC. There is no internal storage in the HDHomerun.

How sensitive is the tuner for fringe area reception?
It depends :)

I shouldn't have to ask this but I will... can you add channels manually, or are you stuck withe results of a scan?
Yes and no. The provided software requires you to scan... but you can set an option to NOT wipe the previous data when scanning. In "set theory" teminology, the result is a union of the scans. For instance, I could scan for Toronto/Buffalo stations, repoint the antenna for Hamilton and scan again. The resulting PSIP table will be all of the stations found in either or both of the scans.