I am thinking of buying the PIONEER DVR-660H-S. I was wondering how does the "pause live tv" feature works. Like can I record the "pause live tv feature" onto the hard drive? Because I have the phillips and you can pause live tv but you can't save it to the hard drive which defeats the purpose having "pause live tv" option.

You can pause live TV, which offers you the flexibility of pausing the programme you’re watching and record it in real time


what does that mean record in real time?

I would read that as meaning, lets say you're watching a program and want to take a break. You push pause and the DVDR will record the channel you're tuned to in realtime(meaning as the program continues the recorder will record it) then when you get back from your break I'd expect you can push PLAY and resume where you left off.

I think why they use the term realtime is because it sounds like it won't do like a Tivo can do, that is record the whole buffer(~1/2hr on HD programs) to the HDD just by pushing REC.
I don't know for sure but to me the whole pause live TV feature just sounds like pushing REC with any DVDR with a HDD or RAM disc. I think?? the Magnavox 2160 which is always recording live TV may be different than both the Pio and Philips. Wajo or one of the 2160 guys would know for sure.

No Pioneers have ever really had an official "pause live TV" function in the way people usually think of it (it ain't a TiVO). If you want to walk away from the show you're watching, you need to manually hit the record button, preferably with some idea how long the show is so you can quickly hit record several times to punch in a recording length (one push = 30mins). If you just hit record once, a Pioneer will record for a maximum six hours unattended and then shut itself down. When you come back to the machine and hit "play", you can watch the show from where you left off. This is one of those questions where the answer sounds more complicated when described than when you actually just use the machine, but here goes with further details:

Since Pioneers don't have an "intelligent" or automated pause live TV function, what you're really doing is simply making a normal hard drive recording with it. As such, the "paused" material is accessible for editing or transfer to DVD later on. Also, after you stop the "pause live" recording, you can start another manual or timer recording right away while simultaneously playing back the "pause" recording. And of course you can do the "chase play" thing where you start recording a show, go have a snack, then come back and watch the beginning of that show while the Pioneer continues to record the end of it.

The traditional "pause live TV" as it functions in TiVOs involves an automated continuous recording of anything you're watching on TV, its a separate buffer section the unit reserves just for the pause function. You don't need to press record to start it up- the thing is always recording whenever its on. There's a subtle difference between how this works and the way a Pioneer works, either has slight advantages and drawbacks. I don't think any of the other "big name brand" recorders (Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba) had a genuine, automatic pause live TV buffer: they all pretty much worked like a Pioneer does. The Phillips/Magnavox/Funai-type recorders split the difference, depending on the model the Phillips might have one type of auto-pause functionality while the Magnavox has another. RCA and Polaroid also had some type of automatic buffer.

In practice its not that difficult to get used to any of these systems: with a little thought, you can make any of them work for you. The only "gotcha" with a Pioneer or other manual recorder is you kinda need to be aware how much empty space you have left on the hard drive: you can't "pause" four hours of prime time if you only have two hours left on your drive. The more automated "pause" function on a TiVO, cable PVR or Phillips/Magnavox/RCA etc sets aside about six hours of buffer space and makes it "invisible" to you, so theres no way you can accidentally run out of time.

okay what i am getting at is once i pause it can i record that stuff i paused onto the hard drive? lets say i leave the room and pause the recorder and come back and i am like that is real interesting and I want to save to the hard drive can I?

I have the Phillips and once you it paused I can rewind, forward, ect... but i can't save it onto the hard drive which defeats the whole purpose of having "pause live tv".

how hard can it be to save that buffer to the hard drive???? My Bell 5900 PVR can do it(same unit has the Dish Network 508)

The pause live tv uses the hard drive(atleast it does for Philips) so that's what i don't get. If my hard drive on phillips is full i can't use the "pause live tv" option. If my hard drive only has 2 hours left then I can only use the pause live tv option for 2 hours.

okay what i am getting at is once i pause it can i record that stuff i paused onto the hard drive? lets say i leave the room and pause the recorder and come back and i am like that is real interesting and I want to save to the hard drive can I?

Like I said, its tougher to describe these machines than use 'em.:) Yes, on a Pioneer there is no distinction between a "pause" and a "normal recording": whatever you "paused" is available to you in the hard drive navigation window, you can keep it, edit it or copy it to a DVD- whatever you want to do. All you're really doing is pushing the record button to make an ordinary recording. The advantage is yes, you have access to save or edit the recording if you want to. The disadvantage is you have to remember to start the recording when you leave the room, and stop it at the end of the the show, and delete it if you don't need it after catching up with what you missed. If you don't keep on top of this manually, you'll soon run out of hard drive space.

With your Magnavox, the housekeeping is automated. You can't dump the paused recordings to keep permanently on the hard drive, but then again you don't have to bother about deleting unwanted "pause recordings" or worry about running out of buffer room like you would on the Pioneer. If all you really want to do is gain access to the pause live TV buffer, you actually don't need a new recorder at all: you can just ignore the dedicated "pause live TV function" on your Magnavox, and operate it as if it were a Pioneer or other fully manual recorder. Just hit record when you need to and stop when you're done, and you'll have the recordings right there in your hard drive window to play with. I'm sorry if I'm not being clear enough, like I said the simplest things can be the hardest to describe in writing (which is why the instruction books for all these recorders are horrible).

Yes, on a Pioneer there is no distinction between a "pause" and a "normal recording": whatever you "paused" is available to you in the hard drive navigation window, you can keep it, edit it or copy it to a DVD- whatever you want to do.

you just sold me on the Pioneer:D



EDIT:

All you're really doing is pushing the record button to make an ordinary recording.


Well, technically, yes...i guess buying a new dvd recorder is stupid

With that being said I should just get my Panasonic Eh55 200GB fixed it is still under warranty until June 22, 2009.


Magnavox never heard of that company. But you seem very knowlegable on the subject so might look into that.

Magnavox is a brand that belongs to Philips. It used to be a very respected US company, but was bought by the Dutch company decades ago.

But the DVD recorder that is branded Magnavox is actually made by Funai, a Japanese company. Same with the Philips. They make almost all the DVD recorders in the world now and other companies slap their name on them.

Just like anything else anymore. ;)

With that being said I should just get my Panasonic Eh55 200GB fixed it is still under warranty until June 22, 2009. Magnavox never heard of that company. But you seem very knowlegable on the subject so might look into that.

Man, I really need to stop looking at AVS at three in the morning: the posts start to blur and I mix them up! Sorry, somehow I got jjeffs reference to the Magnavox confused with the idea that you already had one- thats why I kept referring back to "your Magnavox". Again, so sorry, this stuff is confusing enough without bozos like me mixing the posts up in our replys:o.

I understand now that your existing recorder is a Panasonic EH55: that is a highly-prized machine and probably the most popular one among members here. Definitely worth repairing, it holds its resale value very well. Using it to "pause live TV" would work just as if you had a Pioneer, as discussed. And no, its never stupid to buy another DVD/HDD recorder: all of us here would agree, you can never have too many!:) If you're thinking you might want a Pioneer as a backup spare deck, they are an excellent choice, similar in quality and features to the EH55. The Pioneers don't have TVGOS, but thats gonna be rendered useless for many people after June 12th so its a moot point for most. Its still a handy feature to have because it can control an external cable box or ATSC tuner, even if the timer settings are manual without the TVGOS data.

Yes, on a Pioneer there is no distinction between a "pause" and a "normal recording": whatever you "paused" is available to you in the hard drive navigation window, you can keep it, edit it or copy it to a DVD- whatever you want to do.

you just sold me on the Pioneer:D
To try to clarify a bit further, as CitiBear said there's no "pause live TV" function on the Pioneer as it's often understood by, for example, Tivo users.

What you CAN do, however, is to hit the record button at any time to start recording whatever it is you're watching. This starts a normal recording just like any other you might make.

AND you can hit "play" while the recording is STILL BEING MADE and watch it from the start (remembering that it started at whatever point you hit the "record" button).

What's more, while you're PLAYING the recording that is STILL BEING MADE, you can hit Pause, Fast-forward, rewind, etc. etc. The only limitation (of course) is that you can't fast-forward into the future portion of the recording that hasn't actually been recorded yet.

You can do this by hitting the record button manually, or you can do it with programs that you've scheduled for automatic recording too. With my Pioneer I usually wait about 15-20 minutes into a program before I watch it - I hit "Play" to start viewing the program from the start and then I can skip over the commercials when they appear. If I need a bathroom break I hit "pause". By the time I get to the last commercial I've almost caught up to the program in real time.

An example of another way to "pause live TV," that I do all the time with my Pio, and would presumably work with your Panny, is as follows:

I program my Pio to record CNN's Situation Room, which runs from 4 - 7pm. I record the 4 - 6 portion. While it is recording, I start to play it back from the beginning, usually somewhere from 4:30 - 4:45pm. I skip parts I'm not interested in, skip commercials, and use the Pio's fast forward with sound setting a bit here and there, and I will have caught up to the live show by the time, or before, it is going to end. Of course I can pause, and return, at any point in the recording.