Hello,

I am a first time member on this forum and I think this is a great source to help me out in my buying decision. Originally I was planning to buy the Panasonic DMR-EH55S but it was still priced high. So I waited and waited only to find out last week that the unit was discontinued and basically no vendor or dealer had this unit in stock. So that's a lost cause. So I am looking at the Pioneer 640H-S unit which got a good rating in consumer reports. So I went ahead and downloaded the user's manual just to see what was involved in operating this machine.

I stumbled on something that is confusing me though. I noticed that the tuner only goes up to channel 125 which is way less than what my cable company has. My channels go into at least the 300's and even beyond. I contacted somebody at Pioneer and he stated that I could not use the unit because my cable programming is digital and the unit cannot record digital. I can understand that maybe the guide that the unit uses only goes to channel 125 but can't I manually program a recording of a channel in the 300's. Can I not select the channel that I will record. As far as I can see, my connections from 640H-S to cable box or to TV will be analog so I do not see what the problem would be. My cable company is Cablevision (optimum - IO Triple Play (cable, phone & internet).

Can someone shed some light on this.

Also, I downloaded the Panasonic EH55S manual and it looks like their programming guide only works with DirecTV. But it does appear that the work around there is to use VCR+ programming. Am I correct in this assumption.

Anyone's help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Mike

Welcome.

Does your cable box have any analog outputs? You shouldn't have any problem unless it's a wacky new cable box with no analog outputs (s-video or RCA/composite) at all. Most cable boxes will output 480i analog signals for recording to one of the 640's line inputs. The tuner in the 640 is only for analog cable/OTA channels. You can record any of your digital channels through L1, L2 or L3 on the 640.

(I use digital satellite and never even use the 640's tuner at all. You can still set timer events for line inputs.)

The only time you might need to record using the 640's tuner is if you want to watch a digital channel on TV while recording a different channel on the 640 simultaneously. Then you channel being recorded would have to be analog.

Yes, it does have analog inputs so I guess what you are saying is that I am not going to have a problem.

Thanks

Yes, it does have analog inputs so I guess what you are saying is that I am not going to have a problem.

ThanksIt would probably be good for you to read some of the other threads here on the Pioneer units. When you record through the line inputs, you have to take steps to make sure that the Set Top Box is tuned to the proper channel, even for timed recordings. Some use smart remotes to do this, but if you don't use that, then you'll have to manually ensure the tuner is set correctly. This is a problem if you wish to record from two different channels with no manual intervention between recording times.

Theron

It would probably be good for you to read some of the other threads here on the Pioneer units. When you record through the line inputs, you have to take steps to make sure that the Set Top Box is tuned to the proper channel, even for timed recordings. Some use smart remotes to do this, but if you don't use that, then you'll have to manually ensure the tuner is set correctly. This is a problem if you wish to record from two different channels with no manual intervention between recording times.

TheronYes, sorry I should have mentioned that. I don't have a problem because I can set multiple timer events using my sat tuner, but foreverdvd you should know the 640 has no IR blaster and will not change channels on your tuner.
You have to set timer events for both the 640 and your tuner unless your tuner has an IR blaster and can control the 640 as a Pioneer VCR, which requires the 640 is left on.