Need DiVX type player WITH recording function(PVR)

ttygt

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I want/need a DiVX/External Hard Drive thingy, with the ability to record from TV, VCR, etc.

Basically a PVR in a little box.

I can find stuff in Taiwan and the UK, but nobody seems to want to
sell them locally.

Nice ones include Verbatim's MediaStation, and Emtec's Qube recorder.

Mvix claims to has a pvr unit, but it costs thousands of rands.

The stuff from the UK goes for 130 to 200 pounds, which is not to bad, since
a harddrive is included in the price, 500-1000gb.

Am I the only person the country that has this need?

I want to connect it the DSTV PVR, to record from PVR, straight to the disk
without needing a PC.

Any Ideas?
 
I actually want them to enable the USB ports on DSTv SDPVR...

mvix is the only one I'm aware of, so I'm also looking at this with a keen eye..

Whatever you do, DON'T buy an LG DVD [RW] with a built in HDD. It's crap :)
 
Yea, now you tell me.

I already bought the LG DVD R/W (no hard drive). Lens has been replaced twice, threw away after third time stopped working.
 
wait just a little longer for the WD HD TV media player and PVR in one. Their HD player was a very good success and I would have bought one, but the Mede8er won my vote. I didnt need a PVR. Also, if u can get hold of one, get a Tivo, its the best PVR I ever had!
 
There is talk over at Mede8er that they will be launching a pvr version sometime next year. I will be watching them with a keen eye.
 
Computer mania sells verbatim media stations, they're quite pricey though, at about R2800.
 
Yea, now you tell me.

I already bought the LG DVD R/W (no hard drive). Lens has been replaced twice, threw away after third time stopped working.

Same here. I have the one with the HDD. It stopped reading discs for about the 3rd or 4th time now, though it's out of warrantee now.

So at the moment I'm using the agonizingly slow USB 1.1 port to copy stuff to it. The REALLY bloody irritating thing is, even the USB 1.1 port is stuffed. It sometimes only partially copies a file.

Anyone ever tried opening it to check if you can access the HDD through either Win, Ubuntu or some other tool? Would be real nice if I can take the drive out, copy stuff to it and then slot the drive back in...(or vice versa)
 
Thanx Xmnsx,

I went to Computer Mania site (never gone before). They have a weird booklet style site,
which is interesting.

I did however see Iomega's little PVR version, going for R2199 (500gb). it seems to be more or less what I am looking for, and not too pricey. I am looking at the manual to figure things out.

Haven't seen the Verbatom yet.
 
Does anyone know what format / encoding / DRM the Sony DVRs are using when writing DVDs? This isn't *quite* off-topic, since it's dr_phalange's DVR I'm asking about :-). It also has relevance to the original question, because if there's any DRM, it will have a bearing on how to plug the DivX recorder in.
 
mVix PVR, love mine.... but if it is stand alone without a PC networked to it, it will not be sufficient as the PC does some encoding via FTS.
 
I also needed something similar to record my shows off Mnet
I bought a Whalfdale Dvd Rw with a built HDD from HiFi Corruption for about R2500. It broke before a month was up.
 
Same here. I have the one with the HDD. It stopped reading discs for about the 3rd or 4th time now, though it's out of warrantee now.

So at the moment I'm using the agonizingly slow USB 1.1 port to copy stuff to it. The REALLY bloody irritating thing is, even the USB 1.1 port is stuffed. It sometimes only partially copies a file.

Anyone ever tried opening it to check if you can access the HDD through either Win, Ubuntu or some other tool? Would be real nice if I can take the drive out, copy stuff to it and then slot the drive back in...(or vice versa)

Yes you can access the drive, but not too sure about directly copying video files to it - the LG recorded files are accessible from folders and are in MPEG2 format, with a different extension - just copy the files to your PC HDD, change the extension to mpg and you're away... maybe try it the other way?
 
I have a Fantec 1080i pvr, records dstv 100%, BUT interface is not so hot and doesn't look great.
Make sure you read a couple reviews if you buy from the UK, also check to see that what video formats the device supports like mkv.
The fantec I have doesn't support some video types and no dts support, sucks actually - now have to have an htpc to play all my series and movies through.
 
Fantec PVR

HEMPS,

I found your posting when you were looking at the Fantec back in June.

Mind if I ask a couple of questions?

1. I read the user manual for you model, and it seems possible to change the setting to record straight to a USB device/harddrive.
Can you confirm if this is possible?

2. You quoted a price, was that with or without a hard drive?

3. How did you purchase the item? Local, imported (imported youself?)(Expansys?)

Thanx for your contribution.
 
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