How am I going to be able to use my VHS recorders when digital is forced on us?

In article [email protected], "Adrian" MyFirstNameATTyahooDOTTCOMM=20
says...
=20
I bought the Pioneer model they were selling a couple of months back and =
it
is excellent. I don't regret buying it for a minute.I can of course recor=
d
from a freeview box, but it's timer recordings which become clumsy. There
seem to be two ways of doing this with the Pioneer + Freeview box
combination...
=20
1) Set timer on PVR to record from SCART - AND - set timer on Freevi=
ew
box to come out of standby and select correct channel.
=20
2) Use the timer on the Freeview box and set the PVR to wake up and
record when a signal is detected on the SCART.
=20
Neither is ideal and would confuse the hell out of many Luddites and
technophobes I know, for whom VideoPlus is their limit.
=20
I was having a look at a Pioneer last week, it is the DVR-530H, it have=20
got a massive 160GB hard drive and of cause the DVD recorder. But it is=20
a lot of money it is over =A3300 and to be honest, I have seen lots of=20
problems with other DVD recorders, including my own, so I think I will=20
leave it where it is.
It was a thought and it looked good and seemed to work ok.

The timer problem do not worry me, I already got a Thomson PVR, a Sky=20
box and DVD recorder, so if I want to record of Sky, I have to either=20
use the timer on the DVD recorder or the VCR as well as use the program=20
guide on the Sky box to tell the box to change channel.

I use the VCR more any way for recording of Sky as it is more reliable.

In article ,
says...

It normally happens the other way round with me. People give me VHS
tapes expecting me to be able to play them. I gave away my VHS machine
when I got a DVD recorder /

The last time I tried to give someone else a VHS tape, they couldn't
play it back because my machine defaulted to recording in some
super-duper non-compatible format.

If you have a need for removable media, I'd suggest keeping the
original VHS or DVD recorder along with the PVR.


My VHS is staying, I sometimes record things for my parents and they do
not own a DVD player. Also it is more reliable than a DVD recorder.

The VHS records in Long play, Standard play and extended play. Extended
play is not that great, the quality is a bit crap.
But then I normally records using SP anyway, unless I am going away for
a few days and want to record a few things, then I use LP.
Now with the Thomson PVR, I can use that if the programme is on the
Freeview channels.

In article , Marky P wrote:
Unfortunately it doesn't have a hard disc.
I have that Sony unit. I had to make the decision between intergrated
DTT or a HD, & I opted for the former. Editing is still possible
using the A-B erase function, & timer recording is so easy it's
unbelievable!

Each to their own. With an integrated tuner, recordings are easier, but
with a combined HDD and DVD recorder, copying is easier as it doesn't
require synchronising of two machines. With luck, consumer demand will
eventually ensure that we can have the best of both.

Rod.

In article , Ad C wrote:
You've probably got the samer as me, but I have no problems recording from an
external Freeview box, and neither need you. Nor will any such problem occur if
they do switch off the analogue broadcasts. They could switch them off tomorrow
and it wouldn't make any difference to me.

But it would to millions of other people.

Of course, and I wasn't suggesting and wouldn't suggest that the services are
switched off tomorrow, for that very reason, just illustrating that much of what
would be needed for the switchoff is available now.

Rod.

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 19:21:48 GMT, Bruce Stewart
wrote:

Marky P wrote:



I don't have a TV console type DVD recorder as yet so this is a bit tounge
in cheek, but IMO they are not as flexible as tape because the tape can be
interrupted, wound back a bit and then 'lined up' for the subsequent
recording. e.g. if the start of an advert break is missed, the tape can be
rewound to the last bit of programme and then lined up ready for a restart
when the programme
material restarts producing an apparently seamless playback. Can a DVD
recorder do that?

I just record the whole programme & edit the ads out afterwards using
the A-B erase function.

Marky P.


You need to be using DVD-RW (not +RW) for that and formatted in VR Format.

Bruce S.
True. Forgot about the fact that it may not play on other DVD players
if editing in this way.

Marky P.

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 21:50:53 +0100, Ad C
wrote:

In article ,
says...

It normally happens the other way round with me. People give me VHS
tapes expecting me to be able to play them. I gave away my VHS machine
when I got a DVD recorder /

The last time I tried to give someone else a VHS tape, they couldn't
play it back because my machine defaulted to recording in some
super-duper non-compatible format.

If you have a need for removable media, I'd suggest keeping the
original VHS or DVD recorder along with the PVR.


My VHS is staying, I sometimes record things for my parents and they do
not own a DVD player. Also it is more reliable than a DVD recorder.

The VHS records in Long play, Standard play and extended play. Extended
play is not that great, the quality is a bit crap.
But then I normally records using SP anyway, unless I am going away for
a few days and want to record a few things, then I use LP.
Now with the Thomson PVR, I can use that if the programme is on the
Freeview channels.

It's funny, you mention long play. There is a thread in
alt.uk.broadcast.tech (or whatever it's called) about the poor quality
of DAB & how the future of hi-fi is in jeopardy with everyone going
MP3, but quality trade-offs have been going on for years. Most people
I know only used the LP function on a VCR, even for archiving. Most
people are happy to trade quality for quantity.

Marky P.

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 21:36:42 +0100, Ad C
wrote:

In article ,
says...

May I add that although cassettes & vinyl are considered 'dead'
formats, both are still being produced.


Well done that man. Yep, you can still buy vinyl, ok, so you can not get
them at your local wollies or Tescos, but they are still around.

Audio Cassettes I must admit, I have not seen any pre-recorded for a
while, but you can still buy blank ones. not everyone have got a
computer to burn audio to DVD, or a stand alone CD recorder, or a MP3
player. I got myself a new Panasonic Midi system, and it had twin
cassette decks, which is good, because I got a lot of cassettes.

I like the sound of vinyl, it sounds real, with more feel to the sound.

NOW compilation albums are still released on cassette, but I think
that's it :-)

Marky P (listening to the new Coldplay album on vinyl).

In article ,
says...

Of course, and I wasn't suggesting and wouldn't suggest that the services are
switched off tomorrow, for that very reason, just illustrating that much of what
would be needed for the switchoff is available now.


I am all digital, so I would not lose my T.v if analogue was switched
off tomorrow. But saying that, I would be unhappy if it was switched
off.

Roger R wrote:
The normal tape length is 3 hrs, whereas DVD's are limited at present to 1 hr
without reducing quality, and many programmes -the sort I'm interested in
anyway- are often over 1 hr. VHS tape is down to under 99p per 3 hr tape. Ok
the quality is not comparible to DVD but is that too important for many
programmes. s-video tape if it is.

Even if you increase the quality so you can fit more than 1 hr onto a
DVD5 it will probably be much higher quality than VHS. Additionally dual
layer DVD9 DVD-Rs are coming down in price allowing you to fit more onto
a single DVD. The last time I checked there were around the £4 mark.

In article ,
says...


It's funny, you mention long play. There is a thread in
alt.uk.broadcast.tech (or whatever it's called) about the poor quality
of DAB & how the future of hi-fi is in jeopardy with everyone going
MP3, but quality trade-offs have been going on for years. Most people

DAB is a disgrace, I am glad that FM will not be switched off for many,
many years, in fact I can not see it happening in my life time.
I only use MP3 for portable use, in fact it is not even MP3, it is What
ever the format is that a Net minidisk player uses.
A mate of mine got all of his music on the computer and uses that
instead of his Hi-fi.
I suppose purist would find it hard to understand why.
Myself, I still Cd, cassettes and vinyl. My hi-fi can play MP3s, but I
never do.



I know only used the LP function on a VCR, even for archiving. Most
people are happy to trade quality for quantity.


Most people I know uses Sp and not LP, I suppose because most of the
people I know are more for quality.