Re: digital to own dvr?

On Apr 14, 9:02 am, Del Mibbler <mibbler@large> wrote:
G-squared <stratu...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote (in part):

I was looking around on the net this weekend for a standalone ATSC
DVR
and wasn't having much luck.

You won't, at least until the Echostar TR-50 come out.  And who
knows
when that will be, and whether its abilities will be too crippled
to
be truly useful.

The only standalone HD DVRs I know of (not counting those tied to a
cable or satellite service) are the LG LST-3410A and the Sony
DHG-HDD250/500, both discontinued.  I have the LG box and would
recommend it to anyone who wants an easy-to-use recorder for OTA or
clear QAM.  I  would, that is, if most of these had not become
unreliable in a few short years (they were made in 2003-2004),
apparently due to a combination of low-grade parts (mainly power
supply electrolytics that dry out before their time) and a design
with
little tolerance for voltage changes and ripple.

We buy LOTS of capacitors at work though most are for Sony units 20+
years old. The Ampex gear from the same period has virtually no issues
with capacitors - 4 or 5 ceramic failures but no electrolytics.

The Sonys seem to have held up better, maybe because they're newer.
But they and the LG depend on an analog signal for their guide
information, and if they can be made to work with the digital
version
of the guide it will be by a method only a tinkerer will tolerate.

As for transfers to and from a PC, AFAIK the Sonys can't do that at
all.  The LG can work with a short list of D-VHS recorders which
can
then transfer with a computer, or the LG can work directly with a
computer if it thinks the computer is a D-VHS.  Windows-based
efforts
haven't worked well, but apparently it's quite easy to do with a
Mac.

You mean like sharing a TV show or watching remotely? We frequently
watch TV shows across the LAN and archive onto USB hard drives. Why
screw with tape if you don't have to?

But it isn't just DVRs.  Where are the receivers for the many HD
displays that were sold with just an analog tuner or no tuner?
 There
used to be several manufacturers; now it's pretty much down to one:
Samsung.  There's a flurry of CECBs but that market will dry up in
about a year when the last coupons expire.

Del Mibbler

Why would anyone sell an HD STB at this point in time? If you bought
the set in 2003 or 2004 and wanted HD OTA, you bought it then. Since
then, all that has been folded into the TV as "integrated HDTV" so
either way, there is no pressing need. Your cheapest way to do this
now is a tuner in the PC which is not nearly as goofy as it sounds.
While we have the Samsung HD STB, it rarely gets used as the computer
can pause and skip fwd / reverse.

GG
.

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