Best recording solution sought

A

astrauss

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
442
Reaction score
1
Hi

I have been using LG HDD recorders for a number of years now, but finally gave up because of their inferior quality (all units I had ended up in the repair shop approx every three months). I managed to get a cash refund and went out and bought the Sony RDR-HX780. Now I'm finding that I cannot dub content recorded from DSTV to DVD due to their Copy Once protection. This completely nullifies why I have the recorder.

Looking round various forums, it seems the only workaround is to fork out more money for a device that will strip the copy once signal from the video!!

Are there any other (affordable hopefully) solutions out there where I can connect my DSTV output (SD decoder at tis point, hopefully HDPVR in the not too distant future) to a recording device that will allow me to easily pull off content and get it onto DVD?

The MVix PVR seemed like a super solution (if a bit pricy) but it seems nobody is selling it any more.

Any advice or suggestions would be welcomed.
 
astrauss said:
Looking round various forums, it seems the only workaround is to fork out more money for a device that will strip the copy once signal from the video!!
Click to expand...

This is probably going to be your best bet in the long run, avoid the hassle from the start.
 
I looked into this a while ago, but I couldn't find anything that ticked all the boxes. Every solution has serious pitfalls, and in the end the simplest solution was to just download what I want to watch. It gets 100 times worse when you start looking at HD. Seriously, your options are currently:

1. Very expensive and not very easy to use - HD Fury and Hauppauge HD PVR connected to a PC.
2. Very expensive, rare as hens teeth and still not very easy to use - old skool HDCP stripper and HDMI capture card.
3. Poor quality and not very easy to use - RF to a Hauppauge PVR (PC based).
4. Expensive and poor quality - Video server and PC.
5. Not available right now - HDMI capture card with built in HDCP stripper (:D thank you 1337 hax0rs)
6. Not HD and not easy to find - Older PVRs (like the MVix)
7. Not HD quite vague as far as instructions go - Macrovision stripper and HDD recorder.

or​

8. Reasonably priced, easy to use once it's set up, the ultimate in convenience - watch what you want when you want, highest quality available - 720p or 1080p, no DRM, unlimited space (just add drives), no ads, new releases and you get to make a statement about the unfair manipulation of copyright legislation by greedy corporations - Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, torrents and news servers.

Sorry if it's not what you want to hear, but that's what I found when I asked the same question you're asking.
 
Drunkard, I often do go the way of torrents, but unfortunately, not everything I (read wife and young kids) want recorded is available that way.

Thanks for your detailed response though!
 
"The wife" watches antiques roadshow, eh? Like I said, getting stuff off the PVR is something like: easy, cheap, high quality - pick any two. I watch very little from my HD PVR anymore.
 
The guys at the Sony shop were gracious enough to exchange the HX780 for a Verbatim Mediastation (+R200 pay-in). It looks like it will do the job, except that the remote does not work and now I have to wait approx two weeks for a "special order" as they are out of stock. Grrrrrrr!!
 
They sold me a unit which was returned by another customer. After a month still no replacement, so I settled for credit.

Any opinions on the TViX devices?
 
Before I CANCELLED DSTV - and sold my SD PVR - I used to record content off my PVR to my HDD/DVD recorder (Sinotec 160Gb) - and edit it there before copying it onto DVD's!

Here is a tip - although the Video on Demand content IS supposedly copy-protected with Macrovision - you CAN IN FACT record it successfully off the PVR (unless MCA have instituted MORE advanced copy-protection already on the latest SD-PVR software!)

Here is how you do it:

1. Get yourself a SCART to S-VIDEO / RCA converter plug - about R 50-00 or so from Makro / Ellies, etc, a S-VIDEO to S-VIDEO cable, and a 2 RCA to 2 RCA audio cable
2. Plug the S-VIDEO / RCA converter plug into the VCR SCART socket in the SD-PVR (if the SCART converter plug has a INPUT / OUTPUT switch on it - set it to OUTPUT)
3. Then plug in the S-VIDEO cables and RCA cables from the SCART converter into the back of your DVD/HDD recorder (NB - I am ASSUMING that your DVD/HDD recorder DOES have a S-VIDEO input - as mine does)
4. GO to the SD-PVR's ADVANCED menu option, select the option for TV setup and change the VCR output option from 'Composite' to 'S-video' (check your SD-PVR manual for exact details - going from memory here!)
5. Set your DVD/HDD recorder's INPUT option to S-VIDEO - and select the AV INPUT on your TV that you use for the DVD/HDD recorder - (mine was connected on the AV COMPONENT inputs)
6. Use the SD-PVR's TV1 remote to call up the playlist for either normal recordings (option 1) - or Video on Demand ones (option 2) - select required recording - cue up the item on the PVR first (press pause)
7. Then press REC on the DVD/HDD recorder - release pause on the SD-PVR - voila! - content is copied from the SD-PVR to your DVD/HDD recorder!

Have FUN transferring ALL your PVR content to HDD - or DVD - ENJOY!
 
I have been using MDT-DVR369HPLS, it works wonderfully until recently when it started to give be headaches. The device doesn't even require you to have PVR decoder because you can schedule your recordings just like on the PVR. The only problem is that you can only record while you watch.

I have one different question thought. I have setup my HD PVR to record a series of a documentary (America: The Story of the US, to be precise - very interesting) and now since I have deleted some of the earlier episodes in the series I cannot stop nor even continue recording the new episodes. The PVR behave nasty in the sense that it continue to show the green R symbol but doesn't change to a red (o) once the episode has started.

Please help me, what do I need to do in order to record the next episode?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X