Anyone out there tried tivo yet? I have to say its bit intimidating but
once you master it, its insane and addictive!! I cannot get enough of
it and highly recommend!! (It even lets you pause live tv so if the
phone rings (or oyu have to pee) just hit pause do your thing, come
back and hit play. Voila - you are back in it!) And.. no vhs tapes !
I will admit i dont even know what this is! Please explain for a stupid person like me? :D
I've had a digital video recorder (DVR) for a couple of years now. It's
the only way to go. (TIVO is a brand name for this technology). And
there are other brands available at any electronics store. My sat
company rents me one for next to nothing.
I can watch a hour TV show in about 35 minutes. I wish the commercial
skip function worked. But I just use the FF button. It's great for late
night ball games.
I have a PVR card on my PC that acts just like a Tivo, plus the shows are stored on my PC hard drive so I can burn them to DVD.
Hi, Yustr,
I live in Brazil and we don't have TiVo here...
So, question is: Is it possible to use a DVR with regular cable? I mean, I'll have to program the DVR, right? To start and stop recording. How do I change channels on the cable box? Please, clarify. I'd love to have one of those.
I've had a digital video recorder (DVR) for a couple of years now. It's the only way to go. (TIVO is a brand name for this technology). And there are other brands available at any electronics store. My sat company rents me one for next to nothing.
I can watch a hour TV show in about 35 minutes. I wish the commercial skip function worked. But I just use the FF button. It's great for late night ball games.
As far as I know it can be done with just about any source. Recording to
the PC is nice because the video can be more easily managed and it's
FREE.
Yes it can be done from cable. If your cable system scrambles the
signals, you would just route the TV Out cable from the cable TV box to
the DVR. Then from the DVR to your TV. You would change channels on the
cable box, leaving the DVR on channel 3 (it may be different there).
You would only have limited functionality of the DVR but it will record
shows just fine.
If you want to record something at a specific time, you would have to
program the cable box to switch to that station at the right time AND
you'd have to tell the DVR to start recording at that time.
If it doesn't scramble signals or (like our systems here in the US) it
only scrambles channels you don't care to get, then you can route the
cable from the wall directly to the DVR (and then to your TV). You'd
only have to program the DVR to record a certain program at a certain
time (assuming it has a tuner - if not then go through the cable box
first like above).
My father-in-law had it and never really used it. So he got rid of it.
I think he never figured out its full potential.
I have the DVR from Direct TV with Tivo I love it as I fall asleep
during the 10pm shows... LOL
I'm actually working on building a "sort" of media PC (will be in a box about the size of a VCR) that will do TIVO (DVR) functions, as well as store and play mp3's, be able to burn DVD's of shows, and much more.(also, no monthly TIVO fees, and no need to rent a box from your cable company). waiting for the parts to come in to start building the prototype. would anyone be interested in such a box? just curious
Yes, Dr. Nick, I would be interested.
I've thought about this for some time. Here's a link to others who have
this idea:
The problem that I see is having to use Windows or any OS for that
matter. Why pay the price in processing power that is wasted rather
than put it into quality components and functionality?
My requirements if I were building one: it must power up instantly - no
"booting", no log ins. One button switching between playing a DVD and
watching a recorded show. Full graphical user interface on the TV. No
keyboard entries necessary - everything from the remote. It must be
absolutely silent - no noise from the processor cooling fan or
harddrive.
Cost: $500 seems reasonable.
I have had a computer with media center for some time. The wife watches
TV constantly while she does the books and her correspondence. We do our
"taping" (yes we still call it that) on the DVR from the Sat company. I
have all of my CDs (over 500) ripped to another PC that is connected to
my TV and my stereo. It has a DVD burner and I've put all of those CDs
on to 2 dual layer DVD's. :) So what you're talking about would be of
use.
So far, I've not seen anything that meets my requirements. This is as
close as I've seen:
well, we are planning on building it as a linux based system. (linus barely uses any resources espically compaired to windows, which is a HOG of RAM and CPU power) this would allow us to use a cpu (possibly underclocked) so it wouldn't require a fan, just a heatsink, probably vents in the top like most receivers. everything would be able to be done via remote, as we progress with this I'll keep you guys posted
-nick
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