I'm looking to replace my current DVD recorder with one that has a good EPG, HDD and ATSC tuner. I see polaroid, rca and phillips have units.....do they have EPG's that can be used to select program recording? Are these off brand units any good? Thanks.

I'm looking for the same thing but can't find one

I can recommend the Philips DVDR3575H/37...160 GB HDD, NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuner, 1080p upconvert, 36-program timer, very simple menus and ops. Record on HDD, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. Record modes keyed to those most usable: 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 6 hour modes. Good to great PQ at all rec. modes. NO EPG however. $288 at Circuit City online and $298-319 at Wal-Mart (just raised the price to $319 at my Wal-Mart).

one that has a good EPG, HDD and ATSC tuner.

No such unit exists yet, in the United States at least. There are only two units with HDD and ATSC tuner: the Philips that wabjxo mentioned, and a Polaroid. Neither have an EPG, as far as I know. In fact, I don't think any of the current non-HDD DVD recorders have an EPG, either.

I suspect the lack of an EPG has to do with the fact that the only free commercial EPG that I know of (Gemstar's TV Guide on Screen which was recently bought by CBS) currently piggybacks its data onto analog broadcast stations in each city. Those analog broadcasts are of course going to shut down in a year and a half. I understand a new version that piggybacks the data onto an ATSC broadcast station is being tested now, but I don't think it's widespread yet.

The current first-generation crop of ATSC DVD recorders seems to have been developed in a rush, by making as few changes as possible to old NTSC-only units.

In principle, these recorders could use the EPG data that each station is supposed to include in its PSIP data stream, but I think most cable companies don't pass that data through, so it would be useful only to OTA people like me. And around here at least, the PSIP EPG data is somewhat erratic. I wouldn't want to rely on it for scheduling a show to record on a daily or weekly basis.

is the Philips DVDR3575H worthy of getting then? all I'm really looking for is a atsc tuner that can record to a harddrive with a descent output like hdmi or component. im not real interested in dvd burning. I was looking at this - Pioneer DVR-640H-S DVD Recorder with HDD....... any thoughts?

is the Philips DVDR3575H worthy of getting then? all I'm really looking for is a atsc tuner that can record to a harddrive with a descent output like hdmi or component. im not real interested in dvd burning. I was looking at this - Pioneer DVR-640H-S DVD Recorder with HDD....... any thoughts?
I also have a Pio 640 and it's a great DVDR but it doesn't have an ATSC tuner, only analog.

For your purposes, the Philips 3575 should be ideal. If possible, look for one that shows, on the end of the box, a Pack Date of July (or later), which is what people are getting as replacements if they originally bought a unit that has a digital tuner problem (loses tuning). That problem occurs almost exclusively for people on analog cable...OTA and digital cable or Sat are essentially A-OK.

Even earlier packed units, like mine (April 2007), have a 78% chance of having no digital tuner problems, even on analog cable.

See separate thread for more reading/info on the 3575.

is the Philips DVDR3575H worthy of getting then? all I'm really looking for is a atsc tuner that can record to a harddrive with a descent output like hdmi or component. im not real interested in dvd burning. I was looking at this - Pioneer DVR-640H-S DVD Recorder with HDD....... any thoughts?

If you are not real interested in burning then I'm not sure why you are looking at getting a DVD recorder. I would not normally suggest this but you might be better off getting an HD Tivo. They are selling for about the same price as the ATSC DVD recorders with HDD but you get HD recording to HDD, dual tuners, and a more reliable/flexible electronic guide for recording (vs. DVD recorders). The only real drawback being the subscription fees - but you can think of it as insurance for reliable record scheduling. If you do want to burn to DVD on occasion then invest in a cheap standalone DVD recorder without a HDD a dubbing/archive deck to compliment your Tivo. Just a thought.

Finding a brand new USA model Pioneer DVR-640 is next to impossible but in the Asian markets Pioneer has some very similar HDD equipped DVD recorders. If you are on a "budget" then the DVR-340H is a nice choice. Several importers carry this model such as 220-Electronics (http://www.220-electronics.com/). It pretty much is the same as the old USA 640 model but the 340 has an 80GB HDD whereas the USA 640 had a 160GB HDD.

Still no digital tuner though ... however you do get FireWire input and a region free machine capable of playing and recording in NTSC as well as PAL. It has a standard NTSC tuner for use in the USA. Not sure about EPG though.

I've been thinking of buying one since the DVD burner in my USA Pioneer DVR-531 died on me.

Thanks for the tips. But the reason i was looking for a dvd bunner with a hdd was because all i have is just an antenna and i dont think tivo does just antenna, i dont know. And tuner was a nice plus cause i have a HD ready tv.

The HD Tivo does handle OTA broadcasts via antenna. You do need to be able to hook it up to an internet connection or a phone line because it gets its EPG that way.

For more information, there's a long thread about it in the HDTV Recorders forum here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=879469

so even if i don't have cable or satellite i can use tivo just for antenna? sry for so many post last one i swear

so even if i don't have cable or satellite i can use tivo just for antenna? sry for so many post last one i swearYes, you can.

Also, if you prepay for 3-yrs. service, it comes to only $8.33/month.