I have a SA8300HD from COMCAST ... running SARA. Firewire is enabled.

I have read the several hundred posts on "Recording to a PC ...".

I am able to record to a PC using VLC (videolan) ... but the 1080i recordings periodically show very frequent pixelization which has been reported by other PC users who tried this technique.

Since I am desperate (have quite a few valuable recordings on the DVR) ... I might end up buying a Mac Mini.

But the $$$ question is ... does any know if the pixelization will continue to be problem via the Mac platform as well ?

Can anyone share their Mac-based experiences.

Thanks !!

Nobody ?

How did you accomplish this? Cox cable has made a house call, only to tell me that it cannot be done --that they are "for future use." I have already downloaded the VLC software that one of the Geniuses at my friendly, local Apple store pointed me to.
I bought the double-ended Firewire cable.

QUESTION: How can I activate these 2 1349 OUT ports?

RSVP: jdherman@hotmail.com

I have a SA8300HD from COMCAST ... running SARA. Firewire is enabled.

I have read the several hundred posts on "Recording to a PC ...".

I am able to record to a PC using VLC (videolan) ... but the 1080i recordings periodically show very frequent pixelization which has been reported by other PC users who tried this technique.

Since I am desperate (have quite a few valuable recordings on the DVR) ... I might end up buying a Mac Mini.

But the $$$ question is ... does any know if the pixelization will continue to be problem via the Mac platform as well ?

Can anyone share their Mac-based experiences.

Thanks !!

I'm pretty sure the SA boxes introduce the glitches you mention due to hardware/software problems in the DVR? What you can try doing is recording a couple shows on the dvr, then play them back and record to a PC/Mac and note the points where glitches occur. Go back to the DVR and see if they are present on the DVR during playback. If not, then try re-transferring through firewire and note if it re-occurs and if in the same location.

Mac's will record through firewire once you download and install the Apple Firewire SDK 26. I use it every day and have both PC's and a Mac.