I Need Help (Gadget Help)
Mar. 14th, 2009 12:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gonzaiSo, I've been thinking of getting a DVR - reading about them, looking at stores and prices, etc but not feeling comfortable enough about them to pull the trigger. Due to circumstances yesterday, I no longer have the luxury of time - I need one, NOW. Thus I turn to the internet for help.
I know I need a DVR with a VCR combo - we have too many VHS tapes still floating around here, and the downstairs still records on VHS.
As I understand it, a DVR with its own digital tuner can record one channel while you watch another? If so, I need that. We often have 2-3 shows on at once we want to see.
The new television which occasions the need for the DVR appears to be a 1080i (the manual says nothing and my brother, who surprise-gifted us with said TV, doesn't know.) Therefore, I think an upconverting DVR would be a worthy compatriot to the new telly. So, desired, but not a dealbreaker.
The big question for me is in the actual recording. Do programs record directly onto a DVD, or do they record to a hard drive in the machine? If the former, is there any way to edit what goes onto the DVD (ie, cut commercials?) If the latter, do you record to the hard drive and then burn it to DVD at your leisure? Can things recorded to the hard drive be transferred to a computer instead? (I have plenty of portable and external hard drives, and I know how to make DVDs on my computer.) I've just never quite gotten the hang of this particular aspect.
I'm willing to pay a fair amount amount to get a machine that does what I want and will last a few years - up to around $300 or so.
With those criteria in place, what should I be getting/looking for? Any particular brands, models, or stores I should go to? I did look at Circuit City before they closed, but they only had floor models that you weren't allowed to test, and I'm not paying that amount of money to gamble, I want something under warranty that I can return if need be!
All advice is most appreciated!
I know I need a DVR with a VCR combo - we have too many VHS tapes still floating around here, and the downstairs still records on VHS.
As I understand it, a DVR with its own digital tuner can record one channel while you watch another? If so, I need that. We often have 2-3 shows on at once we want to see.
The new television which occasions the need for the DVR appears to be a 1080i (the manual says nothing and my brother, who surprise-gifted us with said TV, doesn't know.) Therefore, I think an upconverting DVR would be a worthy compatriot to the new telly. So, desired, but not a dealbreaker.
The big question for me is in the actual recording. Do programs record directly onto a DVD, or do they record to a hard drive in the machine? If the former, is there any way to edit what goes onto the DVD (ie, cut commercials?) If the latter, do you record to the hard drive and then burn it to DVD at your leisure? Can things recorded to the hard drive be transferred to a computer instead? (I have plenty of portable and external hard drives, and I know how to make DVDs on my computer.) I've just never quite gotten the hang of this particular aspect.
I'm willing to pay a fair amount amount to get a machine that does what I want and will last a few years - up to around $300 or so.
With those criteria in place, what should I be getting/looking for? Any particular brands, models, or stores I should go to? I did look at Circuit City before they closed, but they only had floor models that you weren't allowed to test, and I'm not paying that amount of money to gamble, I want something under warranty that I can return if need be!
All advice is most appreciated!
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 10:36 pm (UTC)The Toshiba and a Panasonic model both keep coming up on lists of DVRs with decent customer reviews (although the reviews are all either really positive or really negative, the other brands are universally negative.) And they both come with and without the VCR. Right now it's looking like I'll get one or the other brand. The other possibility right now is to keep using the old VCR until FiOS comes to my area in a couple months, and then see what the costs are for Verizon and their DVR.