Re: Is there a hard drive TV recorder that does NOT use Tivo service?
- From: Doug Smith <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:27:36 -0600
On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:22:01 -0600, me wrote:
"Jean" <Jean@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Philips DVDR3575 with a 160GB disk (available online through ???) a
Doesn't get very good reviews tho... does it?
I have one and am happy with it. Bought it at a Circuit City here in
Nashville, though I have the impression I bought the last one & they
aren't stocking them anymore.
Downsides:
- Loses recording schedules if power fails.
- Recording only by channel/time, doesn't use DTV EPG info to record by
program title. (though I suppose given the free form of program title
data, recording by program title might not work very well!)
- Doesn't seem to be a way to pull up EPG data beyond the current
program. (support of EPG seems to be an afterthought, it's in a MUCH
uglier font than the rest of the user interface.)
- Editing of recordings is a bit clunky.
- Naming recordings is a bit strange - it's kinda like sending a text
message but not quite.
- Downconverts HD to SD before recording - no ability to record in HD.
(I don't think Blu-Ray recorders existed when this thing was designed,
and since the point of the hard drive seems to be to supporting DVD
recording I suppose they figured there was no point to recording HD...)
Upsides:
- Perfect SD recording quality.
- No tapes (or DVDs) to mess with.
- HDMI output, trivially easy to connect and no need for five wires.
- Easy onscreen programming of recording schedule.
- Easy to dub recordings out to DVD. (I haven't come anywhere near
filling the HD, but I do send some PBS programs to Mom...)
- Sensitive ATSC tuner, much better than the one in my TV. (I don't have
cable so I don't know how well the QAM tuner works, though I'd think
that's a binary thing -- either it works fine or it doesn't work at
all...)
- Reliable, as long as the AC power stays up.
Features I don't use (much):
- Supports 5.1 surround.
- Jack for miniDV camcorders, so you can dub your miniDV recordings to
hard drive or DVD.
- USB port, so you can view .JPG stills or play .mp3 or .wma audio
files. (however I see no sign you can dub them)
The only serious problem I have is the loss of recording schedules with
power failures. You *can* do more with a PC-based system but if you
don't have the time to be doing all that shopping/software & hardware
installation, this is certainly a good plug-and-play solution.
--
/home/w9wi/.sig
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