PVR or simple HD/DVD recorder?

OK. Having been (forcibly!) educated
about the wonders of PVRs, it looks
to me as if they do more (and require more commitment)
than I was thinking of.

I have been using VCRs for time shifting for 15 years,
and am used to that, and I wasn't thinking
of much beyond a HD based equivalent, with DVD read/write
thrown in.

So my new question is:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

BugBear

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:23:46 +0100, bugbear
wrote:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

That is all up to your requirements. A good PVR (i.e. the Toppy with
MyStuff) is a radical improvement to TV watching that you don't
understand until you have used one. Even the Humax is a big
improvement over a video.
--
Andrew, contact via http://interpleb.googlepages.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

"bugbear" wrote in message
...
OK. Having been (forcibly!) educated
about the wonders of PVRs, it looks
to me as if they do more (and require more commitment)
than I was thinking of.

I have been using VCRs for time shifting for 15 years,
and am used to that, and I wasn't thinking
of much beyond a HD based equivalent, with DVD read/write
thrown in.

So my new question is:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

What do you mean by a timer based "time-shifter"?

What is it that you want to do?

Do you want to archive stuff or time shift and for
what percentage?

You can buy separate disk based recorders and DVD
recorders which will give you more choice.

Or you can buy a disc based system that will export
files to a PC and then you can burn them onto DVD
there (though I don't know if these are in a formal which
is playable in a stand alone DVD).

tim

Andrew wrote:
On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:23:46 +0100, bugbear
wrote:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

That is all up to your requirements. A good PVR (i.e. the Toppy with
MyStuff) is a radical improvement to TV watching that you don't
understand until you have used one.

Hmm. That makes deciding (wether) to buy
one a bit chicken-and-egg ;-)

BugBear

tim..... wrote:
Or you can buy a disc based system that will export
files to a PC and then you can burn them onto DVD
there (though I don't know if these are in a formal which
is playable in a stand alone DVD).

Almost but not quite ;-) . But there's plenty of free and low-cost
software around to manipulate them.

André Coutanche

"bugbear" wrote in message
...
OK. Having been (forcibly!) educated
about the wonders of PVRs, it looks
to me as if they do more (and require more commitment)
than I was thinking of.

I have been using VCRs for time shifting for 15 years,
and am used to that, and I wasn't thinking
of much beyond a HD based equivalent, with DVD read/write
thrown in.

So my new question is:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

BugBear

Can I just state that there is nothing wrong with the Humax 9200T. I've
owned one for 8 months and chose it over the toppy cos at the time,
www.toppy.org.uk , had an enormous thread about the toppy forgetting to
record programmes.

To date, the Hummy has recorded everything, lost nothing and performed
exactly as advertised. It is quite simply one of the best gadgets I have
ever bought and if it packed up tomorrow I'd get another - you get a 2 year
warranty so actually it would be sent back but the sentiment is correct.

I don't know what Andrews problem is with the Hummy but I know 4 people with
a 9200T and one chap with a Toppy. All the Hummy owners are very happy with
there purchase. The Toppy chap is happy too. You pays your money, you
takes your choice.

bugbear wrote:
OK. Having been (forcibly!) educated
about the wonders of PVRs, it looks
to me as if they do more (and require more commitment)
than I was thinking of.

I have been using VCRs for time shifting for 15 years,
and am used to that, and I wasn't thinking
of much beyond a HD based equivalent, with DVD read/write
thrown in.

So my new question is:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

BugBear

A PVR does a lot more than a VCR's time-shift. For one
thing, you can (with most PVRs) watch a programme while it's
still recording. I tend to schedule any programme I want to
watch, even if I watch it "nearly live", as I used to always
miss the start. This also lets me skip the commercials. So
it's not just for time-shifting by hours or days - sometimes
it's useful to shift by minutes as well.

Live recording also makes a big difference, allowing you to
pause a live programme for an hour or more while dealing
with any interruption (phone call, visitor, cup of tea,
comfort break, etc.)

Scheduling a recording by EPG is the other main advantage of
a digital PVR. I expect Freeview DVDRs would have this
facility as well. Unfortunately, I don't think any PVR
manufacturer has implemented Videoplus, which some users
might find easier than the EPG.

bugbear wrote:

I have been using VCRs for time shifting for 15 years,
and am used to that, and I wasn't thinking
of much beyond a HD based equivalent, with DVD read/write
thrown in.

So my new question is:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

The "time shifter" choice is credible, and it will continue do what you
are used to it doing. It may even add the ability to "program"
recordings from the program guide rather than having to enter times /
Video+ codes etc. There are a number of basic boxes that will do this
including the one that Tesco knock out.

For some extra investment, you can however have a whole range of new
capabilities that allow you to use the PVR in ways that were not
previously possible. For example Watching a recorded program while
recording another one (or two), telling it to record all programs that
match certain search criteria. It takes much of the effort out of
catching all the parts of a serial or multi part program. Quite often if
you find you start a new multi part program half way through, and then
think "I wish I had recorded the first part", setting an instruction to
grab it by name will often prove successful since it will find it no
matter when it turns up (dead of night, or repeat during the "signing
zone" etc).

So in short I find I can forget all about TV schedules etc, leave toppy
to shlurp what I am interested in, and then watch it at times of my
choosing. Since it has dual tuners, the fact that it has a background
agenda to record stuff for me, does not stop anyone else recording
something on the spur of the moment etc.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

bugbear wrote:
OK. Having been (forcibly!) educated
about the wonders of PVRs, it looks
to me as if they do more (and require more commitment)
than I was thinking of.

No , they really don't/

I have been using VCRs for time shifting for 15 years,
and am used to that, and I wasn't thinking
of much beyond a HD based equivalent, with DVD read/write
thrown in.

So my new question is:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

Seriously , buy a Humax and it's a doddle to use.
--
Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk www.ebayfaq.co.uk

"WCZ" wrote in message
...

"bugbear" wrote in message
...
OK. Having been (forcibly!) educated
about the wonders of PVRs, it looks
to me as if they do more (and require more commitment)
than I was thinking of.

I have been using VCRs for time shifting for 15 years,
and am used to that, and I wasn't thinking
of much beyond a HD based equivalent, with DVD read/write
thrown in.

So my new question is:

Is a PVR a must have, or is a basic timer based
"time-shifter" a credible choice?

BugBear

Can I just state that there is nothing wrong with the Humax 9200T. I've
owned one for 8 months and chose it over the toppy cos at the time,
www.toppy.org.uk , had an enormous thread about the toppy forgetting to
record programmes.

To date, the Hummy has recorded everything, lost nothing and performed
exactly as advertised. It is quite simply one of the best gadgets I have
ever bought and if it packed up tomorrow I'd get another - you get a 2
year warranty so actually it would be sent back but the sentiment is
correct.

I don't know what Andrews problem is with the Hummy but I know 4 people
with a 9200T and one chap with a Toppy. All the Hummy owners are very
happy with there purchase. The Toppy chap is happy too. You pays your
money, you takes your choice.

I bought a Humax 9200 a couple of months ago and your overall opinion and
experience of it coincides 100 per cent with that of my own.

In fact I was so impressed with the whole PVR concept that I thought that
I'd like another one for my den, I didn't require anything as elaborate as
the Humax and really couldn't justify the cost anyway.

About a month ago whilst scanning through the Freeview channels I came
across a 'single tuner' Digifusion 80gb PVR being offered for £51.00 on
'price-drop tv'.

I thought that buying one would be worth the risk, as for that kind of money
if worst came to worst I would at least probably wind up with a spare
digibox and a 80 gigabyte HD for my computer!

It duly arrived and on examination appeared to be a pretty well put together
piece of kit, both inside and out, it also has (imo) some very nice
straightforward software, and so far has worked extremely well, so much so
in fact that as they were offering the same model for £45.00 a week ago I've
now purchased another one which is now installed in our kitchen diner and is
working fine.