Eastlink PVR
Diane Johnston
I'm thinking about getting a pvr, as my old vcr is giving up the
ghost. I was talking to the Eastlink people and they're saying
that the machines they rent out are set up so you can't copy or
export a recorded show to a usb or computer or to a dvd recorder
to save. True? not true? If i bought a pvr, would those features
be available? Sometimes there are things i record that i want to
keep. Part of me resents having to pay 14.95 plus tax to rent the
box when purchasing a box would pay for itself eventually though
they're about 500+tax at the moment. A bit steep. If i bought the
box, though, they don't charge any monthly fee from what they
told me.
From what i understand, a dvd recorder with hard drive isn't the
same as a pvr, that you can't rewind live tv or record two
channels or record one and watch another... I don't think the dvd
hard drive recorders here have dual tuners do they? That's one
advantage to the pvr box that i can see, not having to have the
tuner on the channel you are recording which i have to do now
because of my set up to be able to record pay-tv movies.
Can anyone shed a bit more light on this? Thanks.
Diane
Diane Johnston
> understand what comes off has to then be reformatted. If you want to
> keep some of the shows you record, you're better off using Windows
> Media Center unless you have HD which may restrict you possibilities.
> Windows Media Center allows you to rewind and replay like a PVR. What
> you buy at Future Shop is the same as what Eastlink supplies. You save
> the rental and just pay for the programming.
>
> If you have Vista Home Premium or above or XP Media Center edition,
> you're already set to record.
I'd have to have a tv tuner card though, right? Don't think i
have XP Media Centre.
IT's all so confusing. I guess there's always torrents if i can
find the shows i want, download and save.
Still, there should be a way to hook up a dvd recorder to the
television bypassing the digital box and record what plays on the
tv. The dvd player is hooked up to the tv now without going
through the other equipment but it's just a player, not a recorder.
Diane
Rick Walker
"Diane Johnston" wrote:
> IT's all so confusing. I guess there's always torrents if i can find the
> shows i want, download and save.
That could be your best option Diane, should you wish to save your
recordings. I can only watch a show or movie twice before I'm done with it,
although I have friends that save movies and other shows. I used to save
certain programs, but that was back when VCRs were brand-new. I purchased
my first VCR in 1980, one of the first kids on the block to own one, and I
still use a VCR with another TV hooked-up to regular cable. That's always
an option for you as well.
> Still, there should be a way to hook up a dvd recorder to the television
> bypassing the digital box and record what plays on the tv. The dvd player
> is hooked up to the tv now without going through the other equipment but
> it's just a player, not a recorder.
If I ever figure it out, I'll let you know. :) I purchased the PVR with
the hard drive so I can record one show while watching another, or record
both those shows if I'm not here. When I purchased my 42" LCD a month ago I
had a set price in mind, and where I wanted the stand, digital box, Blu-ray
and the TV the fellow "adjusted" the figures for me. I wound up paying $299
for the PVR with the hard drive, a far cry from whatever the list price was,
and I'd recommend buying if you intend to keep the channels you like. But
barter a bit - can't hurt! All boxes (including Eastlink's) are made by
Motorola, too.
But as Donna mentioned, Media Player works... but the HD program
recording with it is another question that I can't answer.
- Rick
Al Smith
You are perfectly within your rights to record any television
program you choose, and to keep it on your computer or anywhere else
you choose to keep it.
I would never get a machine that limited my free use of material I
had recorded. But I don't watch much television, so I've never had
to look into what machines are available.
-Al-
moeman66
wrote:
I have an eastlink pvr and a dvd recorder connected together by
component cables and the dvd recorder is connected to the tv by hdmi.
I record things on the pvr and if I want to keep it I just record it
on dvd. When you transfer from pvr to dvd both machines must be
running so you must pick a time when your not going to watch tv. I
don't think you can use the cable box when this is happening.Long
story short, yes it is possible. Not sure about pay tv movies , I
think that has something to do with the use of Hdmi cables .
Hope this helps, also I use hdmi from my recorder to tv but component
cables or other cables can be used.
Diane Johnston
the pvr and into the dvr and then into the tv? similar to my
setup now only using a vcr and digital box.
Thanks!
Diane
moeman66
>
> Ah... so the cable comes in from the wall, into the pvr, out of
> the pvr and into the dvr and then into the tv? similar to my
> setup now only using a vcr and digital box.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Diane
I should tell you that my cablebox/pvr is connected to the tv as a
main connection and the recorder can only record things off the
pvr ,not on station you are watching. The cablebox doesn't run through
the recorder but a secondary line runs from the cablebox/pvr to the
recorder. Using your example above it would look like this.
1 wall to pvr to tv
2 componet connection from pvr to recorder to tv
Hope this helps
Maurice
Maplemoose
I can't comment on your copying questions BUT I can answer your question
about the capabilities of the rented DVR vis-a-vis dual tuners. I have
rented one for 2 years now and yes, they have dual tuners and you can record
one show while watching another. You can record 2 shows simultaneously while
you are way. You can rewind live TV. I do these things all the time. Way
more than I ever anticipated. The pause live TV feature is great!
There is one advantage to renting over buying, especially considering the
high price. Twice I have had problems with the DVR and both times Eastlink
quickly came out and fixed it. Once they exchanged DVR's. That is why I am
going to stick with the $15 a month which is actually $10 when you consider
that you have to rent a digital box anyway if you did not rent a DVR.
Why don't you rent one for a few months and then decide which way to go?
I think PVR's and DVR's are basically the same. Just different names
depending on the manufacturers and cable companies. Anyone wants to correct
me on this go ahead.
"Diane Johnston" <tv...@accesswave.ca.flowers> wrote in message
news:1Nmcl.5433$PH1.122@edtnps82...
Diane Johnston
>
> I can't comment on your copying questions BUT I can answer your question
> about the capabilities of the rented DVR vis-a-vis dual tuners. I have
> rented one for 2 years now and yes, they have dual tuners and you can
> record one show while watching another. You can record 2 shows
> simultaneously while you are way. You can rewind live TV. I do these
> things all the time. Way more than I ever anticipated. The pause live TV
> feature is great!
>
> There is one advantage to renting over buying, especially considering
> the high price. Twice I have had problems with the DVR and both times
> Eastlink quickly came out and fixed it. Once they exchanged DVR's. That
> is why I am going to stick with the $15 a month which is actually $10
> when you consider that you have to rent a digital box anyway if you did
> not rent a DVR.
>
> Why don't you rent one for a few months and then decide which way to go?
>
> I think PVR's and DVR's are basically the same. Just different names
> depending on the manufacturers and cable companies. Anyone wants to
> correct me on this go ahead.
>
>
main difference. I don't rent my digital tuner, i owned one when
they first came out. When it finally died after quite a long
time, Eastlink replaced it and haven't charged me, just said i
had to give it back if i stopped the service. So yeah, my bill
will go up 15+ a month. I can afford it, it's just the principle
of it since i've never paid rental before. I'm hoping to borrow a
vcr for awhile because i need to transfer stuff on old tapes to
digital (via a little device i bought at Staples) so when that's
done, i'll decide what to do.
Diane
Fixer
"Diane Johnston" <tv...@accesswave.ca.flowers> wrote in message
> Maplemoose wrote:
>> snip
Diane, I've had a little experience with this. I have the rented Pvr and no
longer use a vcr.
A little while ago I had a need to save a clip from Breakfast Tv. I recorded
the whole show on
pvr and my media ctr pc; I couldn't find a program to edit the media centre
version, was a wierd
format and I only wanted a 10min clip. What worked was connecting the pvr to
my recordable dvd
by the front jacks on my recorder (not the best quality but better than
vcr), queued my pvr to the right spot,
hit pause, started my dvd recorder and let pvr play. That dvd clip was
easily changed into any
format I wanted by computer.
There maybe a problem with some movies, as I've been told that some movies
shown on cable are set up
to be able to record them once (to a pvr) but there is some code in them so
they can't be
recorded a second time something like the restrictions put into purchased
downloaded mp3 songs.
pjp
"Fixer" <gflemingx...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:mhScl.5690$PH1.1356@edtnps82...
I've no experience with a pvr as such but have both a hardware based dvd
recorder and also a pc with video/audio capture.
Either makes an acceptable recording and neither I believe is as versatile
as a pvr but there's also some addition cavaets ..
1 - the stand alone hardware recorder seems to record audio in some format
such that although it seems to play on everything here, I haven't (yet) been
able to "rip" it to divx/mp3 format. Burned copies play as well as original.
2 - hardware based unit recognizes macrovision and refuses to record vcr
tapes, argh!!! PC has no problems with that bs.
3 - the pc copy seems slightly poorer quality but that may be simply be
wiring as the run from tv etc. to pc is rather long. It may also be that for
best video capture size versus dropped frames I have to use mpg format which
means a conversion when burnng later to create a "normal" dvd movie disk.
Maplemoose
Eastlink DVR's DO have dual tuners now. They changed over a couple of years
ago and I believe every one they rent now has a dual tuner. I know mine
does. Phone them and ask!
I use the dual tuners all the time watching one station while recording
another or recording 2 programs at the same time. One thing you can do with
them is watch a recording while you are recording something else. I do this
a lot more than I ever thought I would. I will be watching a recorded movie
and the news comes on. Rather than stop the movie I will record the news to
watch after my movie recording is over. Then I can also fast forward past
all the crappy stories I don't want to hear on the news!
"Diane Johnston" <tv...@accesswave.ca.flowers> wrote in message
news:b5Ncl.5594$Db2.1370@edtnps83...