There are threads about this, I know, but my question is simple. Granted that most manufacturers have decoded for whatever reason that we inn the Dtates are unworthy of these, how do we convince them otherwise? What pressures can we bring to bear? I own a Panny EH55 and a Panny EH75 and I'll use them 'til they drop. Then I'll spend a bit on repair, fire 'em up and use them some more. I will NEVER own a DVR without a hard drive. NEVER! But how to convince the manufacturers that we need support as well?

PatH:mad:

You are beating the wrong horse. The USA Congress is the body you will have to influence and the chances of doing that are nil. The manufacturers are only responding to the pressure put on them by the MPAA. You can complain but the important ears are not listening.:D:D:D There is just too much money riding on keeping movies safe from copyright infringement and HDD DVD recorders were making the movie industry very nervous. I think you will see fewer HDD models in the future.

Dave

Dave:

I'm not arguing with you, but is your conclusion supported by any evidence? I mean, I'll certainly accept the logic and concede the possibility, no, probability, but is there any meat on this bone?

PatH

The real reason there are few HD models is Tivo and the cable and dish clones. Most people do not really care about recording shows to disk but do want time shift. For the money, renting makes sense because you do not own it and if it becomes technologically obsolete, the provider replaces it (after a lot of screaming).

Beekeper pretty much hit the nail on the head. This isn't about a copyright infringement conspiracy but more about US viewing habits and the marginal profitability of HDD DVD recorders vs. Tivo and ubiquitous DVRs from Cable Cos. Throw in the US ATSC tuner mandate for 2007 and CE manufacturers with solid design values (i.e., Panasonic and Pioneer, not Philips) pretty much abandoned the US HDD/DVD recorder market.

The manufacturers are only responding to the pressure put on them by the MPAA. Other than blackmail or some other illegal tactic, how can the MPAA prevent, or put pressure on say, Panasonic to stop marketing a device with a 8VSB/QAM tuner with a DVD recorder and/or a HDD? Throw in the US ATSC tuner mandate for 2007 and CE manufacturers with solid design values (i.e., Panasonic and Pioneer, not Philips) pretty much abandoned the US HDD/DVD recorder market. Would you please explain that. What does the digital tuner requirement have to do with the recorder portion?

What does the digital tuner requirement have to do with the recorder portion?

Most manufacturers apparently decided that sales of analog-only DVD/HDD recorders didn't justify the expense of developing new models that include digital tuners.

Panasonic makes HDD DVD recorders for sale in the rest of the world, a model made at its factory in the Slovak Republic (the EX-85model, I think) just won a first prize at a Berlin electronics trade fair. The US dollar's precipitous drop over the past six months, as short sellers target it on the world currency markets, has the undesirable side effect of discouraging Japanese electronic manufacturers from entering the US market with ATSC HDD DVD recorders. The Japanese electronic companies are more interested in making euros now, rather than US dollars.

Philips problems with returns on its HDD DVD recorders does not help matters. Had the FCC licensed an ATSC system compatible with the system in use in Europe, it would have been child's play for Toshiba or Panasonic to modify one of their European models for use in the US. I have read that that the Panasonic models there can work in NTSC or PAL format.

For now, it looks like a long winter coming up with no quality HDD DVD recorder on sale in the US.

The US dollar's precipitous drop over the past six months, as short sellers target it on the world currency markets, has the undesirable side effect of discouraging Japanese electronic manufacturers from entering the US market with ATSC HDD DVD recorders. The Japanese electronic companies are more interested in making euros now, rather than US dollars.



If we elect a president who can add and subtract next year, perhaps that will turn around... in a couple of years. :eek:

Didn't know he even knew the difference!
What we need is someone that doesn't cater to big business, namely the MPAA!