Options for Recording After DVDR's Are Gone - Page 5

Wajo: Just want to thank you for this thread idea, especially keeping it on top. I believe my use of cable analog may leave sometime this year....so when I am forced to be 100% digital, there is a lot of useful information here.

All the members' input is also appreciated.

All kudos to Charles R and his posts, they deserve attention, but should be promoted in other "live" threads.

This was a pointless bump to a moribund vanity thread originally initiated as a panic response to the apparent discontinuation of the Magnavox. After all that springtime hysteria, the Magnavox DVD/HDD recorder wasn't discontinued after all, so the Magnavox sticky maintains its pride of place. Having this topic glued to the Magnavox sticky makes it seem like the sky is still falling, and could confuse newbies into thinking the Magnavox is gone when it isn't.

This sticky should have been unstuck during the AVS redesign a few weeks ago: by the time the Magnavox faces another genuine discontinuation threat, the info here will be even more outdated. It would be better for a new sticky on this topic to be introduced at that future time, so it starts off with up-to-date suggestions. Windows 8 alone will turn everything upside down in a few months.
Edited by CitiBear - 8/4/12 at 12:53pm

For sure, considering that they're not going to include Windows Media Center (or even DVD playback ) with Windows 8.

Edited by Rammitinski - 8/5/12 at 12:44pm

Media Center and DVD playback can be added to Windows 8.

From CNET News:
Users interested in Media Center have a couple of choices. If they buy Windows 8 Pro, they can they purchase Windows 8 Media Center Pack to have full integration with DVD playback, broadcast TV recording and playback, and VOB file playback. If they have just Windows 8, they can buy the Windows 8 Pro Pack to get Media Center. Microsoft has yet to announce the cost for Windows 8 and the upgrades; it did say, however, that the Media Center Pack pricing will be "in line with marginal costs."

Yeah, lets lower the entry level versions price, then charge you extra for all the features you actually want and use I'll stick with win7 till something actually better and useful comes out, just like I did with XP till 7 was released.
As far as this thread it serves a useful purpose for those of us wanting to see what other options are out there if we can't find one of these recorders or just want to do something different.
I have been using this box as a media center with my HD HomeRun Prime quite happily for a long time now and once I got all the bugs worked out it just works for me on auto pilot and I don't even have to burn DVD's unless I need a hard copy for someone, plus it's all HD and works with my cable system. If you don't have or want cable they have tons of similar options for cheaper.
I'm keeping one old 3575 around and have been selling off all my other DVD recorders with hard drives I have around so a lot of my history is going bye bye. I sold my Panasonic E80h for 50 and my Polaroid 2001g, the one I added a 250 gig drive to half an hour after getting it home, for 20 because I put a Packard Bell European firmware on it I forgot about and the buyer still wanted it seeing how it had component inputs. I had put the original 80 back in and the 250 now lives in my one 3575 I have left.
I still have one 3575 left if anyone wants it cheap enough, it does have the cable digital tuner problem but other then that works as far as I remember. The Panny ended up going to Minnesota
Keep this thread alive as I wont be buying another Magnavox till they decide to at least support cable card and HD.
Edited by Dartman - 8/5/12 at 7:09pm

I have essentially the same setup as Charles and am very happy with the results. I built my system using mostly spare parts I already owned, plus a $100 cable card tuner which I paid for by selling one of my DVD recorders. I use my existing Xbox to interface media center with my TV. I have also used the media center add-on in Win 8 which works the same as it did in Win 7.

One thing to realize about Win 8 though, is that many media center hacks and add-ons will no longer work and probably never will. My favorite add-on is MyChannelLogos which lets you customize the guide and add logos for all channels. This makes WMC look a lot better and more user friendly. But the developers say Win 8 doesn't allow them to modify any DLL's like the did in Win 7, so it will never work in Win 8. The interface for Win 8 is the worst interface I've ever seen by far. Simply shutting down your computer requires about 8 steps. Running most apps requires a text search. And the Start menu is completely gone. Everything is more complicated to use. It's extremely frustrating. Not only that, it looks like it was designed by and for a 3 year old.

If you use your HTPC with a regular IR remote as I do, Win 8 is nearly impossible to use due to the number of text searches involved. For example to use the windows calculator, you have to click Desktop on the Metro screen, hover the mouse in a corner (try that with an IR remote), wait for a bar to slide out, click a search icon, and start typing the name of the app you want to run. It's incredible that they've done away with the point and click interface that's worked fine for at least 30 years and gone instead with spelling the name app you want to run, assuming you even know the name of it. I'm completely stunned. But this is the future of computing.

So if you're considering going the HTPC route, I highly recommend you avoid Win 8, not because it won't work - it works ok (mostly), but because Win 8 is a horrible OS in every other respect.
Edited by mdavej - 8/6/12 at 8:24am

That's an interesting thread. Thanks for the link!

I saw your Craig's List ad and was tempted to call about your E80H. By the time I decided to actually give you a call the ad said "SOLD."
Edited by DigaDo - 8/6/12 at 11:08am

Well it would have been nice to actually sell it local, plus a excuse to meet you but after the local guy saw the tray was finicky he wasn't interested any more even though I told him I'd pop it open and see if I could rework the burner so it stopped hanging up. I think I had to open it one day when it locked up with a disk inside and I didn't have a clue about any emergency disk eject holes or other ways to make it spit it out.
Probably got it outa wack a bit when I put it back together as it does seem very touchy as far as tolerances goes. The other back east buyer was fine with it hanging up every so often like it did after I tweaked it a bit so he got it and you hadn't called or you could have had it. I did use the PayPal money to buy myself a new 7" Tablet with a very nice IPS screen and dual core CPU, as I already had about 121 bucks saved up in there from doing variuos online surveys that pay in points or cash till you have enough to cash out
so it worked out. I got a new toy without having to spend any money of my own or put it on the card I still have the 3575 if you need another one

I'm confused. Was the Magnavox MDR... discontinued or not? And if it wasn't, who sells it?

The MDR515 and older models are no longer being manufactured. Magnavox has three updated models coming out (533, 535, and 537). The manual can be downloaded but the recorders are not available for purchase yet.

The new models appear to use the same chassis as the previous MDR models. The tuner is different (but I doubt better) so the rear panel has been changed slightly to accommodate the different ANT connector placement. Some of the menu and info overlay screens have changed. It looks like the only difference between the three new models is HDD size. The 533 has a 320GB drive, the 535 has a 500GB drive, and the 537 has a 1TB drive.

Thanks, that clears things up.

Win 8 doesn't need DVD playback. Read this:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/if-vlc-can-ship-a-free-dvd-player-why-cant-microsoft/4962

A very interesting game MS is playing...

What's really disheartening is in an article linked to at the bottom of that page:

I have been copying all the movies I record on my 515 onto RW discs and then onto my computer for storage on a hard drive. I have been interested in the discussion here about the Hauppauge 1212 but I am reluctant to have a laptop running 24/7. I see Avermedia have a device called HD EzRecorder Plus C283c which seems to create the same format of video files. But only stereo audio. Would someone who is more experienced like to comment.

I use this Hauppauge Colossus .

So is it correct to say that right now there are no dvd/dvrs on sale in US right now?

Was doing some web surfing and came across these by accident:

http://geniatech.com/pa/hd-cap-u800.asp


http://geniatech.com/pa/HD-cap-U600.asp

Anyone got one?

Blurb from the 800:

"Geniatech HDCap U800 is an eicient HDMI and analog capture box solution for PAL/SECAM/NTSC and digital video capture and playback for Windows, works with HDMI-enabled equipments and capture HD videos up to 1920*1080i, delivers broad compatibility with analog video devices equipped with composite or component interface. You can also connect it to cable/satellite set-top-box, gaming console and HD video recorders to capture your favorite video content on PC and burn CD/DVD directly."

Maybe something to look into?

Did some looking at forums. Not qute ready for prime time but may be promising in the coming months:

http://translate.google.com/translate?twu=1?sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A//www.htforum.com/vb/showthread.php/196184-Mini-Review-Geniatech-HD-Cap-U800-Usb
Edited by Doug O - 10/19/12 at 11:00pm

SUBJECT: Do YOUR Research and Pick YOUR Poison...

• Quote:

  Originally Posted by Frontenac 
  
  I have been copying all the movies I record on my 515 onto RW discs and then onto my computer for storage on a hard drive. I have been interested in the discussion here about the Hauppauge 1212 but I am reluctant to have a laptop running 24/7. I see Avermedia have a device called HD EzRecorder Plus C283c which seems to create the same format of video files. But only stereo audio. Would someone who is more experienced like to comment.
  .
• Quote:

  Originally Posted by mickinct 
  
  I use this Hauppauge Colossus .

.
I have a Hauppauge PVR-1212 feeding a Win7 i3 Quad Core laptop 24x7 for Scrambled QAM from a FiOS HD STB. I also have 3 SiliconDust HDHR3-US Dual Tuners feeding Clear QAM (or OTA) to a Vista E2200 Dual-Core desktop 24x7.

You have to do your HOMEWORK / RESEARCH and decide what's the right combination for *YOU*!!! i.e. AFAIK, many (ALL?) CableCard Tuner Cards *DO NOT* receive OTA.

No there are Magnavox dvd/dvr's available on Amazon and Walmart's website.

The big pig is Magnavox MDR537H with a 1TB hard drive.
You can pay 2 prices on Amazon right now

http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR537H-Recorder-Digital-Tuner/dp/B009L0409C/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1351475056&sr=1-1&keywords=Magnavox+MDR537H

This is from an Amazon dealer, not directly from Amazon. Amazon sells one itself for close to $400.

You can find the 3 models at Walmart. You may have to order it. Order it to the store and just pay the cost and sales tax.

http://www.walmart.com/browse/tv-video/dvd-blu-ray-players/magnavox/3944_1060825_95987/YnJhbmQ6TWFnbmF2b3gie?_refineresult=true&ic=32_0&path=0%3A3944&povid=cat1060825-env258601-moduleA050112-lLinkLHNShopVideo2_DVDPlayers

I just ordered my 2nd backup in case they are no longer sold.

I do appreciate this very much
Edited by SuicideBlonde - 3/17/13 at 6:16pm