bicker

divxhacker

They have to pay someone to write thedialogue into the Java-embedded document, provided that the show's creators would grant a public broadcast of the dialogue, an affair which can be costly. The document is already there, it calls up advertisements during marked "commercial breaks" at certain times of the stream.

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I love Computers, but I could never eat a Whole one.

Orrymain

Here's my qualm about cable DVRs, or at least the ones available from Comcast. They don't have an output, meaning I can't take what is on the DVR and record it onto a DVD or tape or whatever. I don't like that. What happens to all that programming, some of which I want to keep, if the box fails? I want an output that I can use to save things. The Comcast DVRs don't have it. I'd rather buy a stand alone DVR, which doesn't have the same features and such, but lets me put things onto a DVD.

As for OTA DVRs, if my antenna worked, I might be tempted, but the channel range isn't that great for me to spend that kind of money.

bicker

If it was the law, like it is for other forms of video distribution, then I bet they'd find a way.

bicker

Uh, that's not the case. First, the HD DVRs that Comcast rents all contain FireWire outputs. Here are some references for how to do this:

How to record via IEEE 1394 (Firewire) to Windows XP - AVS Forum
DCT6412 Firewire capture and HD/SD to DVD guide

You might have to search around for advice for your specific model, but they all have to have the FireWire ports, and they all must be operational. That's the law. If you got a box without an operational FireWire port, you are entitled to insist on one with an operational FireWire port. (Note that the service provider is not required to help you make use of the port: That's your responsibility.)

Beyond that, all DVRs that Comcast rents contain analog outputs, which you can feed into your DVD-recorder, or into your VHS VCR.

I have an analog TiVo that allows me to burn directly onto DVD. Note that there are no HD DVRs that allow you to burn HD onto disc.

Orrymain

I haven't asked Comcast about this recently, but I have on at least three separate occasions, separated in time, asked them about the outputs on their boxes. I've spoken with different people in their system about it, too, and not just CSRs. They all confirmed for me that there are no outputs on their DVRs. Again, maybe that's changed. Or it could be that it's an HD thing. I didn't have HD and there was no mention of HD. I don't know if all the boxes are now automatically HD DVRs or not. They didn't use to be, at least not where I live.

So -- I'm not just speaking offhandedly. My information was researched with them. However, as I said, it could have changed. Maybe I'll call and check with them again.

bicker

Well let's be clear: Comcast is not responsible for helping us understand FireWire. Their CSRs aren't trained in it, and indeed they're not necessarily supposed to help you with it, even if they happen to know how to use it through their own home usage. It's a federal requirement to provide it; and they do. That's the extent of Comcast's responsibilities in this regard, and actually, with very good reasons, the extent of what we as consumers can expect from them.

I surely don't want to pay one cent more to pay for CSRs to be helping folks with FireWire. As a consumer, I'm really focused on getting the most for my money, so I don't want to pay extra for my service provider to offer a lot of extra-special super-complex tech support that I won't take advantage of. The way that translates into providing service in the mass-market is that things that a large number of subscribers may need to know about the CSRs are there to help with, and the things that only a very small number of subscribers want to know about they're expected to know themselves (or know from asking friends -- that's why the references I gave you earlier were all independent references, not links to Comcast itself).

Lurker Lee

I have a Motorola DVR from Comcast, and I routinely copy from that to my Panasonic DVR. I use the red/white/yellow cables. Yeah, I know that's supposed to give me a not so great picture, but I'm really not that picky. I mostly archive series shows that I may want to rewatch or that I thought might be worth watching eventually, but not now. I've had the Moto since 2006, so maybe the newer ones are different. Plus I think some markets don't have the Motorolas. My Panasonic also has a DVD burner so I can copy the shows to DVD. I'd assume I could use the same outputs to copy directly to a dvd, but for me it's simpler to copy to the Panasonic's HD and then take my time offloading those show.

98clru

That's one big advantage to the Tivo HD. The Tivo HD (and series 2 onward I think) will allow you to network to your computer and save files that aren't copy protected (mostly downloads at this time like amazon) to your harddrive. It will automatically transfer programs if your computer is on and you set it up for it. The transfer time will depend on what bandwidth is available and system usage for other things on the tivo and pc. If it's a SD program my system is slightly faster than actual time (takes approx. 40 minutes to transfer an hour). Your mileage will of course vary

Once transferred to your harddrive you can convert it from the tivo file to a dvd file you can burn. There are freeware converters out there which you can use your existing burning software to burn or you can pay $75 for video redo suite which will allow you to edit and then burn. Video redo is a very nice program and has a 2 week trial for free. It also has it's own burning engine which looks better than nero version I used to have but not better than the cyberlink dvd suite version than I have now so I haven't used it.

The big issue for cable users is will you need cable cards to receive the digital channels or even worse will your cable company be going where even cable cards aren't sufficient like timewarner and brighthouse. That's one advantage to the OTA option, as long as there is an OTA broadcast compatibility should not be an issue for a Tivo HD.

jwalter

For what its worth, I saw a company at a trade show who is working on a combination ATSC tuner / PVR lite. It will allow you to pause and rewind live TV. But thats it, initially it won't have TIVO type functionality such as the ability to record shows. It won't have a hard drive but will use flash memory instead.

Release date was planned late 2010/early 2011 The selling price was targeted to be under $150. One plus : There would be no monthly subscription fees.

I wonder if that would be of interest ?