ATSC DVR & PVR Recorders

[poutanen]

I don't doubt the Tivo should be simple to setup. I was looking at them myself before making the decision to go with the Sonicview Sat/Antenna PVR (HD8000). It's quite easy to setup and use. When you're on the guide screen, you just push the record button on any shows you want to record. I'm actually thinking about selling my Snoicview now that I've got a $150 tuner card in my HTPC computer.

That said, Windows Media Centre, and various other programs make a computer based setup VERY easy to use. You can set it to run the program as soon as the computer starts, making it function just like a standalone PVR. The guide, recording, etc. work the same as a standalone PVR. You use a remote control to change the channels, use the guide, set recordings, etc. but the expandability and function are much less limited than a standalone PVR. Once you become more comfortable using it, you can start setting it to record your favorite series, in only HD if you want, from all channels or only from certain channels (I only record from channels that don't suffer when the weather gets bad)... plus you can throw big hard drives in your computer and essentially have an almost limitless PVR. I'm running 2.5 Tb of total hard drive space and I've barely used that and I've got about 50 HD movies saved, lots of PBS-Nova HD science stuff, my girlfriends vampire TV shows are all saved, etc. etc. etc.

Lol, not trying to sell you on the HTPC idea, I just think it's worth the short time it would take to get it setup to run like a standalone PVR. The great thing is, if you put all your music on the same computer, the one unit can do everything right from the one remote control. Great for dinner parties and stuff like that. Photo galleries, etc. etc.



Good luck!

[windwagen]

You might have seen some of my other posts here. I also wanted what you are asking for and I picked up a Tivo HD in Detroit on a recent business trip. It works awesome - dual tuner, better reception than my Sony W TV, 160 gig.

It was the model before the premiere and many stores were clearing them out. I suggest a trip to Buffalo, but do your research to locate one first. Even the price you mentioned for the Premiere is pretty decent compared to what you'd have to pay for a Rogers PVR.

[stampeder]

jft436, for everything you need to know about Tivo see this thread and ask any Tivo questions in it: TiVos for HD OTA in Canada

Have you looked into these boxes too: DTVPal OTA DVR (EchoStar TR-50 & Channel Master 7000PAL)

[MonopolyBuster]

This weekend I picked up a Magnavox MDR513H 320GB HDD DVR (that also doubles as a DVD Recorder) in Walmart/U.S.. It records only in SD and is the latest incarnation of a unit that started life a few years ago as a Philips DVD Recorder that later had various HDD capacities ranging from 80GB to the present 320GB.

It receives OTA signals and any flaws that were issues with the Philips recorders have been corrected (clock and DVD finalization issues). It is the closest thing to a replacement for a VCR in the digital age and is as easy to use, plus it has the added benefit of not having any complications with software issues since the unit is hardwired (with some selectable user options) from the factory.

It has both digital and analog tuners, has hundreds of hours of HDD recording capability over several selectable quality levels when can later be edited and copied permanently to DVD if desired. It has inputs for recording from any external source such as a VCR, camcorder, DTVPal DVR, etc.

It’s not available in Canada, yet packaging and the instruction manual is in both English and French, and there is an option to set the unit to Canadian content ratings (which would suggests that it meets any CRTC issues).

Clearly this unit has been targeted for Canada, yet is not available in Canada. How is that?

Are these units being kept out of Canada by monopolistic interests? Another disturbing trend is acquistion of primarily OTA networks such as Shaw buying Global, Rogers buying CTV.

Will the CBC and TVO be the only networks remaining OTA for the future? Stay tuned.

[blueroomelectro]

I remember those sorts of DVRs could be found at retailers but were very poor sellers several years ago. Even Factory Direct was selling them. Problem is it's not much better than a VCR as there is no TV guide data available.

[Larpra]

Don't know if this is available in Canada or not, but it can record both types of signal.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Magnavox-M...order/14291489

[JamesK]

^^^^
Does it record HDTV? When I see something like "1080p up conversion", I have my doubts. It also doesn't mention anything else about HD.

[MonopolyBuster]

Originally Posted by Larpra

Don't know if this is available in Canada or not, but it can record both types of signal.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Magnavox-M...order/14291489

I bought one recently from Walmart/U.S.. Downside is that it records only in SD, but everything else about it is great. It is the latest incarnation of a unit that started life a few years ago as a Philips DVD Recorder that later had a HDD added and ranging from 80GB to the present 320GB.

It receives OTA signals and any flaws that were issues with the Philips recorders have been corrected (clock and DVD finalization issues). It is the closest thing to a replacement for a VCR in the digital age and is as easy to use, plus it has the added benefit of not having any complications with software issues since the unit is hardwired (with some selectable user options) from the factory.

It has both digital and analog tuners, has hundreds of hours of HDD recording capability over several selectable quality levels when can later be edited and copied permanently to DVD if desired. It has inputs for recording from any external source such as a VCR, camcorder, DTVPal DVR, etc.

The stange thing about it is that it’s not available in Canada, yet packaging and the instruction manual is in both English and French, and there is an option to set the unit to Canadian content ratings (which would suggests that it meets any CRTC issues).

Clearly this unit has been targeted for Canada, yet is not available in Canada. How is that?

Are these units being kept out of Canada by monopolistic interests? Another disturbing trend is acquistion of primarily OTA networks such as Shaw buying Global, Rogers buying CTV.

Will the CBC and TVO be the only networks remaining OTA for the future?

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by MonopolyBuster

Clearly this unit has been targeted for Canada, yet is not available in Canada. How is that?

It used to be available in Canada, but not anymore. My guess is sales were poor.

Are these units being kept out of Canada by monopolistic interests?

Not likely.

Another disturbing trend is acquistion of primarily OTA networks such as Shaw buying Global, Rogers buying CTV.

Will the CBC and TVO be the only networks remaining OTA for the future?

Also not likely. Rogers and Shaw are, for reasons I have discussed in more appropriate threads, huge fans of OTA and will keep CITY and Global OTA as long as they own them. Not sure about Bell though.

[kgb]

Hi there. Question to you all out there. Are you using PVR for recording or is better to get HDTV tuner for PC

[Digital_Frank]

From what I have seen, there are not many "generic" HD PVR and they are all very expensive. ($400+)

I went with the HVR_950Q TV tuner to record my shows and stream them to my DLNA enabled TVs using Windows7 "Home Share" This allows me to watch any recorded show on any TV. I also can stream live TV to my iPad / iPod / other PCs using the $12 WinTV 7.2 Extend.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by Digital_Frank

I went with the HVR_950Q TV tuner to record my shows and stream them to my DLNA enabled TVs using Windows7 "Home Share" This allows me to watch any recorded show on any TV. I also can stream live TV to my iPad / iPod / other PCs using the $12 WinTV 7.2 Extend.

Have you tried using Windows7 Media Center? It requires a hack to work on Canada however and you may have to convert your TV shows from WTV format to MPEG-2 (using a tool like DVRMS-Toolbox) to stream to your TVs, but it has a very nice UI.

[Digital_Frank]

Originally Posted by Wayne

Have you tried using Windows7 Media Center? It requires a hack to work on Canada however and you may have to convert your TV shows from WTV format to MPEG-2 (using a tool like DVRMS-Toolbox) to stream to your TVs, but it has a very nice UI.

Thanks for the tip, but I have set up WMC and it works well.

What I like about WinTV is that you can configure it to convert the .ts to .mpg automatically. The mpg files are a little smaller and I can edit out the commercials on stuff I really like. (My editor does not support .ts files)

[tinglew]

Just got into this OTA business last weekend when I installed an antenna and got these amazing HD broadcasts.

Now I'm looking to improve on my TV's EPG and possibly throw a PVR function into the mix. I don't want to buy a new TV, the one I have (Sony Grand Wega) works fine at receiving digital OTA broadcast on its own, its just that the program guide is really very basic.

Reading through this thread it seems my other option would be to buy the Channel Master 7000, looks like this would do everything I want as well.

Just trying to explore my options, I'm thinking that a computer might be more flexible than a one function device like the Channel Master in the long run. And if I have to spend the same amount then I would lean towards the computer.

Warren

[stampeder]

Before you go further with trying to decide, read through the selection of threads in our Home Theatre Personal Computer (HTPC) and Media Extenders forum. Everything you need to know about HTPCs is in that forum. We don't discuss them in this one.