What DVR?
- Thread starter jgantert
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Just recently purchased off Ebay a Zenith HDR-230. Records off air HD programming only. Which is what I wanted it for. So far, am happy with it - and no monthly fees.
I currently have Scientific Atlanta 8300HD for cable and the 942 for Dish Network. Both are pretty good overall!
Keep in mind that only DVRs designed for specific cable/satellite companies will be able to record HD channels provided by them. Other (third-party) DVRs can only record OTA channels and perhaps some unencrypted cable channels. That's why it is better to get the DVR from your provider. For example, the 942 can record any Dish channel (HD or SD) and it can record HD OTA channels too.
Keep in mind that only DVRs designed for specific cable/satellite companies will be able to record HD channels provided by them. Other (third-party) DVRs can only record OTA channels and perhaps some unencrypted cable channels. That's why it is better to get the DVR from your provider. For example, the 942 can record any Dish channel (HD or SD) and it can record HD OTA channels too.
Ilya said:
Geesh, its statements like that that keep me away from E*. Of course, the 8300 might be that much better than the 8000, but I doubt it.
My wife was pissed at the 8000HD last night. We went to record American Idol, and it was ok, so we watched Lost. The red record light was on all 2 hours, but when we went back to the DVR it only recorded 1 hr 2 min, and said low disk space -- recording suspended. Ugh. No warning at all!
-John
PS> Sorta suprised how many SA DVR boxes there are out there... I would have guessed <20% or so.
I had a SA8000HD DVR for a month last October and three SA8300HD DVR just last month - the SA8300HD was a big improvement IMO! It was nice having the three HD DVRs (plenty of storage), but the plain and simple truth is Adelphia still sucks and I jumped over to E* as soon as they carried the VOOM HD channels. I am now using a 942, which IMO is 100x better than having three of the SA8300s. Now if E* would only broadcast the other 11 VOOM HD originals and pick up Universal HD, CinemaxHD, StarzHD, ESPN2HD and WealthTV.
Motorola DCT-6412
I have the ever quirky DCT-6412. It seems like the luck of the draw whether you get a good one or a bad one and even if you have a "good" one, you have to do and try so many things (and read the forums) to make it "work" more than 60% of the time (some do like it though). I have also the Mitsubishi-WD52825 which like the WD62825 (62" version of this DLP rear projection), has a DVR which is called a PVR (P=personal). So that gives me 120 more gigs and also a more reliable recording mechanism than the DCT-6412. The only problem is that it easily records OTA High Def but if you want to record Comcast ( or D* or E*) programming in high def, you have to input to the Mitsubishi using firewire (from the HD STB) (I think for some legal issues component and DVI inputs to Mitsubishi PVR are greyed out). Which causes the Motorola to act quirky. The solution is to pull the firewire out of the Motorola as soon as you are done recording HD to TV from STB so that when you are recording to the DCT-6412, the firewire cable is not in the 6412 to mess up its recording performance.
So for those with third party DVRs, you might check and see if it has firewire inputs and if your Comcast (or E* or D* or other cable) STB has firewire outputs. There must be a reason that firewire HD recording to 3rd party DVRs is legal unlike component or DVI/HDMI. Maybe that's why so few Cable and Satellite HD STB have firewire outputs. My non-DVR HD boxes (also from Motorola) lack firewire outputs (unfortunately).
Wayne
I have the ever quirky DCT-6412. It seems like the luck of the draw whether you get a good one or a bad one and even if you have a "good" one, you have to do and try so many things (and read the forums) to make it "work" more than 60% of the time (some do like it though). I have also the Mitsubishi-WD52825 which like the WD62825 (62" version of this DLP rear projection), has a DVR which is called a PVR (P=personal). So that gives me 120 more gigs and also a more reliable recording mechanism than the DCT-6412. The only problem is that it easily records OTA High Def but if you want to record Comcast ( or D* or E*) programming in high def, you have to input to the Mitsubishi using firewire (from the HD STB) (I think for some legal issues component and DVI inputs to Mitsubishi PVR are greyed out). Which causes the Motorola to act quirky. The solution is to pull the firewire out of the Motorola as soon as you are done recording HD to TV from STB so that when you are recording to the DCT-6412, the firewire cable is not in the 6412 to mess up its recording performance.
So for those with third party DVRs, you might check and see if it has firewire inputs and if your Comcast (or E* or D* or other cable) STB has firewire outputs. There must be a reason that firewire HD recording to 3rd party DVRs is legal unlike component or DVI/HDMI. Maybe that's why so few Cable and Satellite HD STB have firewire outputs. My non-DVR HD boxes (also from Motorola) lack firewire outputs (unfortunately).
Wayne
- Nov 29, 2003
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Again I have the 6412 (two of them), not one problem yet ( 4 months now ), it records what I want it to record, has never missed one yet (except for user error), it has a % for hard drive space, so I have never overfilled it, well worth the $10 a month for it.
Motorola DCT-6412
I am somewhere in between you (with no problems) and my friend in DC who has had 2 DCT-6412 replaced (his third one seems to be working fine). Mine is working decently now after adding signal booster, removing splitter and finally (and most importanly), removing firewire cable from its output on the 6412. And you got 2 good ones....... I want you to pick my Powerball and Megamillions numbers!
Wayne
bruce said:
I am somewhere in between you (with no problems) and my friend in DC who has had 2 DCT-6412 replaced (his third one seems to be working fine). Mine is working decently now after adding signal booster, removing splitter and finally (and most importanly), removing firewire cable from its output on the 6412. And you got 2 good ones....... I want you to pick my Powerball and Megamillions numbers!
Wayne
I've only had the 8300 for a month, but so far no problems with recording. In most cases I delete programs after watching them and keep the disk space usage under 80% to avoid problems like you described.jgantert said:
You can also configure the box to delete older programs on as-needed basis, so you will never run out of diskspace.
My only problem with the 8300 is that it "forgets" the HD mode from time to time. The 942, has a nicer user interface, but the 8300 is much quieter!
I have 2 8000HDs and have no problems out of them (failing to record or such). They have some feature limitations that it would be nice to have added but I have no screwups. We don't have the 8300s in our area yet.
I've only had my 6412 for about a week. But, it works great, so far. Less quirky then my relatively reliable Dish 721. Certainly better than the litter box 811. Better than the reliable, but limited and old-fashioned 501.
But, it is lacking some features of the 721 that I do miss, like:
-Caller ID
-IR/RF remote control
-Being able to set the recordings to start early or late in one minute increments (I loved the default "1/3-early/late" setting). The 6412 "early start" setting is in 15 minute increments!!??? WTF?
-Full on-screen menu for all functions. You must power down the 6412 to access some user settings!!??? WTF? The iGuid emenu is also a mishmash of different functions that should be sub-divied into different pages.
-DVR list of all recorded programs on one page. The 6412 w/iGuide DVR menu includes links to both recorded programs and scheduled recordings, so you need to click multiple times to see your list of recorded shows. Plus, the scheduled recordings are listed per day, instead of all on one screen. If you don't remember what days your recording were scheduled for, it can be a lengthy process to find them. Very very stupid.
-Multiple favorites lists accessible easily by pressing the guide button. 6412 requires you go to menu first, then choose favorites!!??? WTF?
I'm still glad I switched. But, I wish they would have thought of these simple features and design details. It ain't brain surgery.
But, it is lacking some features of the 721 that I do miss, like:
-Caller ID
-IR/RF remote control
-Being able to set the recordings to start early or late in one minute increments (I loved the default "1/3-early/late" setting). The 6412 "early start" setting is in 15 minute increments!!??? WTF?
-Full on-screen menu for all functions. You must power down the 6412 to access some user settings!!??? WTF? The iGuid emenu is also a mishmash of different functions that should be sub-divied into different pages.
-DVR list of all recorded programs on one page. The 6412 w/iGuide DVR menu includes links to both recorded programs and scheduled recordings, so you need to click multiple times to see your list of recorded shows. Plus, the scheduled recordings are listed per day, instead of all on one screen. If you don't remember what days your recording were scheduled for, it can be a lengthy process to find them. Very very stupid.
-Multiple favorites lists accessible easily by pressing the guide button. 6412 requires you go to menu first, then choose favorites!!??? WTF?
I'm still glad I switched. But, I wish they would have thought of these simple features and design details. It ain't brain surgery.
goober22 said:
Well, technically it wasn't a screwup. Operator error, but it would have been nice for the system to alert me that the recording wouldn't fit into memory. I thought that was standard DVR stuff.
Only once has my 8000HD box reset itself. Oh, and the last time I played BUZZtime, the network scores weren't synced with the local score I had.
But the 8000HD Box I have still has the DD5.1 audio cutouts when playing back stuff.
-John
GaryPen said:
To compare with the SA8000HD box...
#1 - 8000HD box has the minute feature
#2 - Same behavior on the 8000HD box. You need to turn it off then press some buttons on the set top box (not remote) to access the HD/SD setups.
#3 - 8000HD has one button to get to the recorded programs list
#4 - Favorites Guide, whats that?
The 8000HD only has CH+ for the favorites. No guide. No multiple favorites list either. 
-John
jgantert said:
Yes, I never said the box did not have some shortcomings,
but mine have never lost recordings, failed to record, rebooted spontaniously, etc. We just received a firmware upgrade last week. We finally have passthrough/upconvert enabled as well as DVI. Still no firewaire yet.
Yeah, I didn't think about N/A.
Oh, just checked the DVI output again... says DVI output is blocked. And that's all she wrote. Strange, I can go thru the menus and everything, but I cant watch anything but a black screen. (My TV does have HDCP -- it was required by Voom).
-John
Oh, just checked the DVI output again... says DVI output is blocked. And that's all she wrote. Strange, I can go thru the menus and everything, but I cant watch anything but a black screen. (My TV does have HDCP -- it was required by Voom).
-John
