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What's the least picky DVD Recorder with Digital Cable STB?

post #1 of 18
3/6/08 at 1:32pm
Thread Starter 
I'm looking around for a better DVD recorder that will allow you to record shows off a digital cable stb without giving you any hassle. I currently have a Samsung DVD-R135, and no matter what the channel or the show is, if I try recording a TV show, the message "Cannot record copy-protected movie" comes on the screen. I mean, jeez, even on a local broadcast station on my cable box it won't record it, whether it's a movie, a 30-minute show, or whatever. I mean, jeez, how picky is that? It won't record ANYTHING off my STB. This is hooked up via coax, btw. Do you think I made a wrong choice of DVD recorder here? Which brand and/or model do you think would work best with a digital cable box? Please make sure that it can do HDMI out to my HDTV as well, thanks.
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post #2 of 18
3/6/08 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8IronBob View Post

I'm looking around for a better DVD recorder that will allow you to record shows off a digital cable stb without giving you any hassle. I currently have a Samsung DVD-R135, and no matter what the channel or the show is, if I try recording a TV show, the message "Cannot record copy-protected movie" comes on the screen. I mean, jeez, even on a local broadcast station on my cable box it won't record it, whether it's a movie, a 30-minute show, or whatever. I mean, jeez, how picky is that? It won't record ANYTHING off my STB. This is hooked up via coax, btw. Do you think I made a wrong choice of DVD recorder here? Which brand and/or model do you think would work best with a digital cable box? Please make sure that it can do HDMI out to my HDTV as well, thanks.

welcome to and thanks for participating (being another victim) in 'the fleecing of america' ,ie, we're all getting ripped off in one way or another. google term if u dont understand it.
dont know of any dvdrs that will defeat 'protection' by themselves but others might.

to deal w 'protection':

firebird-systems.com
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post #3 of 18
3/6/08 at 1:42pm
Thread Starter 
Pfft, yeah, like the cable companies want you to pay $10 a month for a hard drive-based STB, when DVD-RWs are far more affordable in the long haul. Jeez, so much for being budget-conscious when recording your favorite rerun sitcom or soap opera on a specialty channel.
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post #4 of 18
3/6/08 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8IronBob View Post

I'm looking around for a better DVD recorder that will allow you to record shows off a digital cable stb without giving you any hassle.

http://www.world-import.com/lo5115combo.htm.

Or, if you want to keep the recorder you have:

http://www.world-import.com/dp-5000_...stabilizer.htm.
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post #5 of 18
3/6/08 at 2:07pm
Thread Starter 
Ah well, guess I'll go with standard cable then, and possibly go with a DVD recorder with digital tuner for QAM HD, might be a little better with that... Thanks anyway. I believe the Toshy 550 may be something to look into.
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post #6 of 18
3/6/08 at 2:12pm
You won't get true HD out of a DVD recorder's tuner, though - it's downscaled to SD.

Also, Toshiba's recorders are made by Funai, and Funai's QAM tuners are especially buggy - channels tend to just "disappear" from them.

Toshiba's are also pretty overly-sensitive to copy protection. Your best bet would probably be a Panasonic.
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post #7 of 18
3/6/08 at 2:22pm
NOT a EZ series though!, at least not this years current 7-offerings. Maybe the new 8-series will prove better, time will tell.
If you don't need the digital tuner thing, try and get a used or still sometimes available new ES-15. My 2 have proven quite reliable, not like the bug ridden EZ series.
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post #8 of 18
3/6/08 at 5:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjeff View Post

NOT a EZ series though!, at least not this years current 7-offerings. Maybe the new 8-series will prove better, time will tell.
If you don't need the digital tuner thing, try and get a used or still sometimes available new ES-15. My 2 have proven quite reliable, not like the bug ridden EZ series.

what he said (find es 15, i got one, great machine).
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post #9 of 18
3/6/08 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I have a Samsung R135, which is extremely picky, from what I understand. I've had this one for well over a year and change now. However, even tho it's a nice recorder, the DVDs recorded from there won't play back in anything else. I'd like to play them back in a PlayStation 3 and/or HTPC, so hopefully there'll be nice players/recorders that'll allow for that type of sharing. I'll definitely look into a Panny, as you mentioned. They may be a bit better than Sammy, at this point.
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post #10 of 18
3/7/08 at 4:08am
Quote:


This is hooked up via coax, btw

Which inputs are you using on the recorder?
Are you doing coax into the STB and component or S video out into the recorder?
If not try it this way.
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post #11 of 18
3/7/08 at 6:41am
Thread Starter 
Ahh, so you say it's best to use a tunerless recorder? Well, guess that settles that.
Anyway, I was originally gonna use direct standard cable for DVD, and maybe use my HTPC to record digital cable, and transfer the recordings to my PS3's HDD to watch digital channels that way. That, to me, sounds like a better move.
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post #12 of 18
3/7/08 at 6:45am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

You won't get true HD out of a DVD recorder's tuner, though - it's downscaled to SD.

Also, Toshiba's recorders are made by Funai, and Funai's QAM tuners are especially buggy - channels tend to just "disappear" from them.

Toshiba's are also pretty overly-sensitive to copy protection. Your best bet would probably be a Panasonic.

Ahh yes, Panasonic, thanks for bringing them up. I was looking at their sister company, JVC, since they seem to have upscaling dual-deck recorders with DVD and VHS recording with upconversion. However, I'm not too sure how much better theirs would be. I mean, Matsushita seems to have some quality CE products, and might be worth the looking into.
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post #13 of 18
3/7/08 at 1:53pm
Traditionally, Panasonics have always been one of the least copy protection-sensitive. And their QAM tuners seem to be much better than the Funai ones (Philips, Toshiba, Magnavox, etc.).

For tunerless, the Toshiba D-VR600 is cheap, and doesn't include the buggy Funai tuner. Costco was selling them for under $100.00 recently according to the people here.
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post #14 of 18
3/7/08 at 2:45pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, all right... Sounds great. Pulled the trigger on the DP-5000 and right now, I'll use it on my current DVD recorder, hoping that'll correct things in the short term. Might upgrade to a Panasonic DVD recorder sometime in another couple of months, just so long as I find that the DP-5000 is doing the job right on my Samsung DVD-R135.
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post #15 of 18
3/7/08 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

Traditionally, Panasonics have always been one of the least copy protection-sensitive. And their QAM tuners seem to be much better than the Funai ones (Philips, Toshiba, Magnavox, etc.).

For tunerless, the Toshiba D-VR600 is cheap, and doesn't include the buggy Funai tuner. Costco was selling them for under $100.00 recently according to the people here.

I think you meant the Toshiba DR-400 which is the tunerless model, the one carried in Costco is KR-10 which is the twin of DR-400 with HDMI cables included. cost is around $120.
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post #16 of 18
3/7/08 at 11:40pm
Oops, you're right. Thanks for catching that.
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post #17 of 18
3/8/08 at 9:17am
I've got a Toshiba D-R400 that I got just recently, and it's been working great. (Well...SO far.) No problems recording stuff off the TV -- I've got a STB w/digital cable.

DGK
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post #18 of 18
3/8/08 at 10:15am
Thread Starter 
You're right... After a while, a tunerless DVD/VCR combo may be the way to go... If JVC dual-decks are still around (I believe I saw some for $180), then I may jump on one of those. I mean, besides the STB, I have loads of old VHS tapes I have yet to convert. So I'll make sure that the DP-5000 comes in handy for everything.
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