DVR for free to air

[Mr Tony]

I know we've had threads on looking for DVR's to use with FTA and folks say a used Tivo 1 with lifetime.

Well I doing some research for "the wife" (no I'm not married but a friend of mine we joke that we're married)...anywho she was looking for one for cable. Where she lives cable is included in rent so she can't get one though the cable company.

So I found these 2 from Wal-Mart....

320GB drive and dvd recorder...huh in the specs it says digital tuner too
Magnavox 320GB DVR and DVD Recorder, MDR513H/F7 - Walmart.com

and this one I kinda like....500GB drive, DVD recorder AND digital tuner
Magnavox 500GB HDD/DVD Recorder - Walmart.com

so there ya go if someone is looking for one

 

[Dishman Dan]

I have the 320GB gizmo and I love it!!!

My "wife" would not let me trade up to the 500GB model. Walmart has a 90 day time period where you can try it out and the 500GB came out within the 90 days. She says that hard disc drive holds more TV than I will ever watch!!!...

 

[Mr Tony]

How many hours does it hold? The link says like 387 which I think is high as my D* DVR has the same hard drive size in it and I only get 200 hours in SD (50 in HD)

 

[Anole]

a little bit different

If she's trying to record cable or OTA in HD, I'll suggest something a little different.

While the stand alone boxes at Walmart make the most sense for the great unwashed end user...
... I got a $100 dual tuner that does HD OTA and cable, (HDhomeRun) and interfaces to my computer over the house LAN.
The computer already had the required software (Vista Media Center is part of Vista Home Premimum).
...which will burn simple DVDs of your shows, if you like (but doesn't have an editor to remove commercials)
Has full on-screen guide for all channels.
The computer has HDMI out, so getting audio was the only concern.
One additional purchase was a $15 remote via Amazon.
Oh, and I did eventually add an external USB 500gb drive that I'd pulled out of service from an FTA receiver.

edit:
I just read the reviews for the two Magnavox uints.
If I were choosing just between the two, I'd certainly go for the 500 gb model, with its additional features.
HOWEVER, note that both are basically SD recorders sitting behind a converter box.
One place in the review, they even say they only record in 4:3 (hope that's wrong).
And while they do have HDMI outputs, those are upconverts from SD recordings.
Neither actually records in HD.
That all may be fine for her cable system, but just be advised.

 

[hd fan]

It depends on the REC mode selected if SLP is used then it is 387 hrs SD with poor quality but if SP is selected then 129 Hrs of SD. The highest quality mode HQ will give you 64 hrs , more than enough I guess. Note that eventhough it has an ATSC tuner therefore able to receive OTA HDTV it will only record them as SD video but will play them as HD (720p or 1080i) via HDMI just fine for you to watch Live HDTV.

User Manual can be found at Philips website , http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/m/mdr513h_f7/mdr513h_f7_dfu_aen.pdf

 

[hd fan]

Anole's solution will record in HD BTW.

 

[Mr Tony]

It depends on the REC mode selected if SLP is used then it is 387 hrs SD with poor quality but if SP is selected then 129 Hrs of SD. The highest quality mode HQ will give you 64 hrs , more than enough I guess. Note that eventhough it has an ATSC tuner therefore able to receive OTA HDTV it will only record them as SD video but will play them as HD (720p or 1080i) via HDMI just fine for you to watch Live HDTV.

So basically the ASTC tuner is in essence a converter box built in which would be fine if someone needed one?

I figured there was a "tape speed" option in it. The ones I have all have HQ, SP, SP+, LP, SLP, EP (1, 2, 2 1/2, 3, 4, 6) hour options if burned to a DVD. The HD on mine is only 80GB so SP is like 37 hours

 

[Mr Tony]

Anole
Couple thoughts
While the idea is nice she has basic (2-99) analog cable and she lives about 250 miles away (we worked for the same Telco at one time but different offices...me in admin her in customer service and we still talk daily) so if there is an issue I can't "run to fix it"

plus she is sooooo computer illiterate

 

[Anole]

...plus she is sooooo computer illiterate

Then my edited comments above stand: get the big one and be done with it.
Does she even have a HD/widescreen TV set? If not, she'll most assuredly be happy.
Since she was a friend from work, I thought there was a slight chance she was computer savvy and could handle a more complex solution.

 

[Mr Tony]

Then my edited comments above stand: get the big one and be done with it.
Does she even have a HD/widescreen TV set? If not, she'll most assuredly be happy.

I dont think she does...and if she does it probably was needed as a replacement to one that died. She basically wants to record prime time stuff as she has to get up early for work so 1/2 way through primetime (and primetime in Central Time zone is from 7-10) she is sleeping

Since she was a friend from work, I thought there was a slight chance she was computer savvy and could handle a more complex solution.

nah....if they still use the system they did when I was there it was AS400 (ancient system)

 

[Anole]

.. She basically wants to record prime time stuff as she has to get up early for work so 1/2 way through primetime (and primetime in Central Time zone is from 7-10) she is sleeping

I can identify. Too often, I miss the last part of the 8pm show and the first part of the 9pm show.
My first backup was a Dish PVR recording in SD. That's worked okay for years.
Later, my second backup became an XviD wide-screen download, in very good quality (better than Dish, and it's 16x9!)
Now, I'm using the system above, which records and plays back in 1080.
All three levels are in place, so I have redundancy for those few shows worth the effort.

Back to the Magnavox...
Only two things I didn't see answers on, that should be looked into:

The guide may be modest to non-existent.
But, once the weekly shows are set up, she can come home to her hard drive recordings and will be happy.

When transferring any shows to DVD, I've found from experience with my own DVD recorder, ya really don't want to cram too many shows onto it.
Record in the two hour mode, not 4hr, 6hr, etc.

Wife of a friend wants to use 4hr all the time.
Once when I asked her to make me something, I provided discs, and made a point of speed, she still crammed 'em onto a single platter in 4hr mode.
Needless to say, I didn't ask for any more.

 

[Mr Tony]

Back to the Magnavox...
Only two things I didn't see answers on, that should be looked into:

The guide may be modest to non-existent.
But, once the weekly shows are set up, she can come home to her hard drive recordings and will be happy.

it probably works on the OTA part but not the cable. But the shows she watches are weekly shows so yeah set it and forget it

When transferring any shows to DVD, I've found from experience with my own DVD recorder, ya really don't want to cram too many shows onto it.
Record in the two hour mode, not 4hr, 6hr, etc.

same here...the only things in 3 hour (LP) mode are hockey games that I want to keep

 

[mr3p]

I like the topic Let me throw out a couple more models...

Channel Master CM-7000PAL OTA ATSC HD DVR. I have the Dish DTV Pal which is the same thing and it works well.

Pansat TC-1000 ATSC, clear QAM cable, DBS and DBS S2 (with daughtercard) all in one box which supposedly will record to external USB

Sezmi DMR1000 OTA ATSC DVR and with access to PPV/VOD over internet - Does require 5dollar/month fee

 

[Mr Tony]

But the issue with the ones you posted is 2 of the 3 are OTA only and not for FTA

 

[mr3p]

eek you're right I guess I starting reading several of the other posts in the thread which wandered toward OTA ATSC...

 

[Larry1]

I have an older Philips/Magnavox unit like the ones above. I only use it for OTA and not for cable. It works great. As pointed out it is only SD resolution, but does upconvert to HD. You will have to get used to setting timers by time and channel, as you probably will not have a program guide loaded into the recorder. What I think is a better solution, is to get a used Series 2 TiVo with a lifetime subscription. They can be bought fairly cheap on EBAY, and are much more user friendly. Now both these solutions will work fine for SD cable and a 4x3 tv. (provided the cable as stated is analog cable) The TiVo will require connection to a phone line or preferable a high speed internet connection. With the TiVo if you want to make a DVD of a recording, then you will need a networked computer to transfer the shows off of the TiVo (provided they are not marked a copy protected) to your computer and then DVD authoring software to make a DVD out of the transfered file. (or some other way of playing a mpeg file)
The lack of a program guide on the Magnavox makes the PVR cumbersom. The TiVo is a real plus with its automatic recordings of shows that have like interestes. You build up a history of interests by using a thumbs up and thubs down button rateing the shows. Over time it can automatically record shows that you will like. Another plus is the ability to set timers over the internet.

 

[Larry1]

I got a $100 dual tuner that does HD OTA and cable, (HDhomeRun) and interfaces to my computer over the house LAN.

The HDhomeRun is a great dual tuner, but it is Digital only. It will not tune analog channels.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

Walmart's website says "not sold in stores". Bummer.

 

[Mr Tony]

but you can have it shipped to the store for FREE or have it shipped to your house

 

[Anole]

The HDhomeRun is a great dual tuner, but it is Digital only.
It will not tune analog channels.

That's right, digital OTA, and unencrypted digital cable (QAM).
This is not the right product for your "wife", but for anyone else reading, here's a review.

Also does not have video inputs which you might use to connect to ...say... an FTA receiver.
I was confused by the title of this thread; it says "FTA", but ya don't say the lady has anything but
OTA and cable, so that's why I thought the HDhr might be a possibility.

And, I was assuming anyone with cable, had modern digital cable channels on it (in addition to any analog channels).
But for OTA, when I look outside, I see 90 digital subchannels here, and maybe two remaining insignificant low power analog.
In case anybody didn't get the memo: we've gone digital!