TV - recording via set top box and external hard drive

[Julia]

I have a good TV and DVD recorder in living room.

Fairly old analogue TV that has previously been used with VCR in bedroom which is used infrequently.

I recently bought TEAC set top box and an external hard drive. The set top box I've discovered has no memory so if you go to watch a program that has been recorded, only see half of it, then go back again later, you have to go from the beginning.

The fast forward is pathetically slow and there's no on screen counter so you have to keep stopping it all the time to check where you'd watched up to.

I've been told by two retail outlets that they are all like this and the only alternative is to go for the same sort of set up I have in the living room. I don't watch it enough for that level of cost.

I still have the VCR which I understand can be reconnected instead of the external device, and restoring the totally acceptable record and playback function, but at the expense of reduction of quality of the picture. Also that it's more complicated to operate such a system.

Does anyone have any suggestion? Anyone tried the VCR being connected?

With thanks.

 

[drsmith]

I recently saw a twin tuner PVR with 500gb recording capacity in a Kmart catalogue for $149.

With them getting that cheap, is it worth fluffing around with STB's and external HDD's for recording capability ?

 

[Julia]

No, certainly not. Haven't found anything anywhere near that price here. Don't have a Kmart.
Probably with the presumed increased demand now that analogue has gone, there should be more choice.
Thanks, drsmith.

 

[drsmith]

http://www.kmart.com.au/Catalogue/Catalogue.aspx?CatalogueID=471

Page 13.

TV's too have become a lot cheaper over the past few years with 50 inch plasma now well under $1k.

 

[pixel]

I have a good TV and DVD recorder in living room.
Does anyone have any suggestion? Anyone tried the VCR being connected?

Hi Julia,
we're in a similar situation: lots of old VCR tapes to look (or record) back over, so even a $100 bucks for a new recording device would be a waste of money.
Here is how I've set it up:

Antenna goes into set top box, from there into VCR.
Our (old, analogue, but still perfectly good flat-screen) TV set has 3 inputs:
Antenna (we still can receive analog signals) and two digital: one from set-top box, the other from VCR.

• I can now view an analog channel and record a digital one by tuning the set top box to, say, Channel 11 or ABC24, and setting the VCR timer to record from the set-top input (on our VCR that's called A1).
• I can also record an analog channel (via the VCR's antenna, setting the timer to 1 through to 5 for ABC to SBS1) while watching a digital channel with the TV set switched to the set top box.
• And of course watch a recorded VCR tape, telling the TV to take it from the VCR.

When our analog signal is about to be switched off, I consider spending $29.95 on a second set-top box that I hook between antenna and TV set, so I can still tape one program while watching another.

 

[Logique]

What Dr Zacchary said. Start fresh.
Just get:
- a STB with twin tuner PVR with onboard HDD. It will have all the features you are after.
- or a digital LCD TV with inbuilt PVR/HDD

Buy the best one with most HDD capacity you can afford. Mine has a playback option to continue where you left off last time. Prices have been coming down. Try oo.com.au

 

[DocK]

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/home%20theatre/set%20top%20box/topfield-tpr2000-320gb-pvr/632417

$166 320GB HD - I have its big brother and have been very happy with it. Firmware updates avail via 'net. If it's too good for the bedroom, swap it and the existing DVD around - I think you'd find the PVR to be superior to your DVD recorder for everyday ease of use.

 

[Smurf1976]

You can certainly feed the output of a STB to a VCR and record that way. That's what I set up for my mother back in 2003 when digital first came out and she still uses it. The only hassle is the STB doesn't receive the HD only channels (which weren't around back in 03).

Obviously it's old tech with the VHS tapes, but she's 69 and quite happy with it I think. You could do the same with a DVD recorder if you wanted to.

I'm a bit behind the times in this area. Just have a DVD recorder with it's own tuner and an old (analogue of course) VCR. I'll update when I get around to it...

But if you were doing it now then for a relatively low price you can just buy something as others have said.

 

[sptrawler]

What I did Julia was buy a low energy LED, LCD 42" t.v (on special approx $500)
Then I bought a Tivo PVR, easy to programme, just enter the shows name or the actors name and it records it when it comes on. You do need an internet connection, for it to access the t.v guide.
It has saved me thousands of arguments.
The wife can programme it, therefore when something goes wrong I just shrug my shoulders and say "I had nothing to do with it" MAGIC.

 

[LifeChoices]

^^^ What he said ^^^^

I've got something very similar, but I'm a bit of a computer boffin. I think for the average person Tivo is great and those LED LCD are the way to go.

 

[So_Cynical]

LED display FTW...i got a new LED low power monitor the other week...its gorgeous, i had no idea just how bad my 2 and a half year old LDC monitor had become... colours all washed out and black light, bright pixel issues.

So i reckon a new LED tv with USB recording would be the go...16 gig USB sticks are cheap enough, and easy to transfer downloaded content to if watching downloadable content is important...Tivo would be a great addition.

 

[sptrawler]

By the way, your vhs recordings will look terrible on these new HD screens.
If you have some home movies that you want to keep, best to start looking for a company that does a good job of upscaling them to dvd. It will only be a matter of time before you can't buy vhs players.
Then the cost of transfering them will probably go up as it becomes a niche market.IMO

 

[Julia]

Many thanks to all for the advice and info. Much appreciated.

 

[medicowallet]

Many thanks to all for the advice and info. Much appreciated.

If you are good with computers, then an HTPC is the way to go.

For around $500 you can have a system to hook up to your TV (especially if you have HDMI connection/DVI/VGA)

You can record TV, watch movies over it, back up movies to it (no dvd required to watch), listen to music, very importantly you can do your ASF forum on it whilst split screen watching TV, general computing etc.

Even if you have an oldish computer lying around, for $100 you can set it up to do this... but you need to be good with computers, as I said.

More info on this in the computer section of whirlpool forums.

MW

 

[Julia]

MW, thank you. I can't begin to tell you how totally not good with computers I am, however. I have neither the interest nor the talent.