Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 438

I thought it already was.

I think JR sold more than Walmart did. I never even saw one in my Walmart Stores.

"Did the brief recording you suggested (tho' I let it go for 15 seconds, not 10...nyah nyah) and it worked. The former menu was gone, and now the menu our Maggies make was there. The short recording was listed as number 2, and when I tried title 1, the original Lite-On recording began to play.

EXCELLENT advice, even if its execution ended up being a little lumpy"

Is it now backwords compatible? Will it play on other recorders and DVD players?

DigaDo:

"Something strange is going on with your EH75. When the front panel display indicates that a disc is present but there isn't it should report the U61 error. I've also found that that situation will sometimes report the U88 error or be followed by the U99 error. This can be related to problems with ribbon cable(s), ribbon cable contacts or a problematic Digital PCB (or a problematic DVD Drive controller board in 2005 and earlier and 2007 and later Pannys). Have you observed those error reports?"

I checked again, I get error U88

Perhaps not. A Texas judge today ruled Dish Networks could reopen their 2005 lawsuit against TiVo, regarding Dish's video recording patents that TiVo allegedly violated.

Seems like it's now off-topic to say this but:

I am enjoying my 515 more and more as time goes by. I previously mentioned having owned a (completely unreliable) Panasonic for several years. To be fair, it had no hard drive, so there was near daily wear and tear on the DVD recording mechanism. There are shows I record regularly and delete after 1 viewing. That turns out to be alot of DVD's recorded to and reformatted/erased over the years. I've made very few DVD's from the 515, but they turn out fine.

Please, Funai, add DL recording to the next (if there is one) machine.

My primary purpose in choosing a DVD recorder over a PVR is to record football games to DVD. A DL is the perfect size for good quality recording of a game. I can dub to 2 DVD's and then use my computer to combine them, but IT'S A PAIN in the backside. HELP ME!!....But...Given the choice between the current recorder and anything else out there, I'll take this one.

What was the Panasonic model number of the recorder you owned?

If it was of the "EZ" series, that would be completely understandable.

It was the EZ...nothing easy about the EZ. I went thru several prior to them being out of warrantee. Finally got one that worked well until just past the warrantee period. From then on it was a fight. It finally died...right around Christmas. The 515 went on sale at Walmart -Merry Christmas to me.

1. What is DL ?
2. Why oh why oh why oh why can't Wall mart go back to selling the DVD recorders in the Brick and Mortar Stores?
3. My first DVD recorder was a Coby. It would fail very often during editing and corrupt the dvd. Then the power supply failed and I had to repair some of the circuitry and added more ventilation to nurse it along. My brother and I got the same model at the same time and the both failed for different reasons. I finally replaced it with a Mag from Walmart with NTSC Tuner for $50.00- It was a great deal for a DVD recorder and as we all know pretty reliable. I never saw a deal like that again at Walmart. The next year during the switchover they sold the Mag with no Tuner for about $100.00. I still use it but it has a problem with timed recordings. Will usually record the first event but will not record the second event because after it finishes the first event it goes into this set up mode. I replaced it with another $50.00 Mag from Big Lots. I just stumbled into that one. It did not even say it was ATSC on the outside of the box but something told me it was. So I got it and sure enough it has ATSC and NTSC. It does have one odd issue. It can not store all the cable channels. It chokes after about channel 50. But I am still using it mostly for ATSC, which it works fine for. I want to upgrade to a HD Mag as soon as Amazon starts selling the 515 since I have a $50.00 Amazon Coupon.

1. Double layer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD%2BR_DL

2. It's too technical. They can sell phones, but a something that needs explanation may be a stretch. Be happy with free site-to-store shipping and all those cheap HD sets on a pallet.

3. With Amazon you can skip the sales tax. As for channel 50, some cable companies use different modulation methods. My Sony TV indicates a channel 26.0 which makes the Mag 2160A show it as 26.2 and eveything else as 26.1.

Life is too complicated anymore.

Oh yeah Double Layer. And here I was just looking at some yesterday in BB. They are few and far between, I was thinking about using them for backup purposes. I bought a set of ten last year and they mysteriously disappeared on me.

All I could think of was Download for DL.

If Mag went to Double Layer it would mean a brandnew DVD recorder/Player. I happen to think their ace in the hole is the player/recorder they are presently using. I think it is a bullet proof device amongst all the other DVD recorder manufactures that "Use" to be out there.

But I would like DL as well as BR !!!! And maybe even BR RW !!!

Nice to be a dreamer and there I go making things even more complicated.

I use to want to see the Mags being able to record directly from the OTA TV guide. Just click on a show and it would record when the show is aired. I have since backed off on that request as OTA TV guide is just not that reliable and it is only about 24 hr at most.

I would like to see away of having two mags use different remotes settings so that we dont have two mags turning on simultaneously. I did use Wajo cardboard trick and that works pretty good but is sort of Ugly looking. Maybe I need to make a copy of the front of a Mag and tape it on to the cardboard

My Sony DVR (V8 via cable) has a TV Guide for 8 days. My Sony TV (V10 via internet) is 24 hours. Many TV sets with V9 TVGOS get 8 days. It's not a reliability issue, it's a geographic issue.

It would be stupid to add a guide to the Mag. Internet time: good. Adding a guide: bad idea. Maybe Titan TV would work since it's popular with HTPC users. Rovicorp would be a real risk for Funai.

I'm only asking for internet access since I get no OTA, only cable, so my clock is manual and my cable supplier does not pass the PSIP data through for the Mag to use.

Oh, forgot. I have two Sonys: cardboard painted flat black works great. And they are so old that "play" doesn't cause a power on.

I just did a firmware update for the first time on my Mag 2160A and the update (on the Magnavox site) is now 26972A, date Dec. 28, 2010.

I was trying to get rid of the E19 error while finalizing a dvd which it did.

Also want to say a huge thank you to wajo for all the information he has put together!!

I've been reading threads on this forum since there was talk about an Echostar "thingy" that failed to happen to any large extent. Was converted to considering first Philips, now Magnavox. The MDR-515 seems like the best answer for what this strictly OTA family wants to do.

I'm just not sure I have the right idea of how to configure what we have with what we want. We stuck with composite since it worked, but know that won't be sufficient for our upgrades.

CURRENT CONFIGURATION/EQUIPMENT

1) Radio Shack 15-1892 antenna AntOut via COAX to AntIn on Digital Converter Box

2) AntOut DCB via COAX to Sony SLVN500 VCR AntIn

3) Composite Out of Sony VCR to Composite In (Rear) of Emerson EWF2703

4) Wii is connected to Composite In (Front) of Emerson

5) DVD playerMagnavox MSD124is routed through VCR via VCR's front COMPOSITE feeds. (I'm sure it's convoluted, but it worked using cables we had on hand.)

I can't remember when we added Wii (last new addition), why we didn't use GAME ports on back of Emerson. I'm responsible for connections and I can't move/see behind TV in cabinet by myself. So what we have works without plugging and unplugging (and using existing cables).

WHAT WE WANT TO DOwill it work?

1) Radio Shack 15-1892 antenna AntOut via COAX to AntIn on Magnavox MDR-515 to AntIn on Samsung UN55C6xxx series

(don't know yet if it will be UN55C6300, 6400, 6500, or 6900)do know I'll be limited to 1 composite inputfor the Wiiand 4 HDMI to wonder about.

2) MDR-515 HDMI to Samsung HDMI to complete that loop?

3) VCR via Composite to MDR-515? Will this allow me to copy home VHS tapes to HDD?


4) DVD via S-Video to MDR-515 (plus L/R audio White/Red cords)?


Will the above options work? I couldn't find info. on adding a VCR and an additional DVD player (to save the MDR's usage for when it counts) to the setup. I think that leaves me buying 1 HDMI and 1 S-Video, and possibly 1 Component in case I'm not happy with HDMI performance.

Thanks in advance for your forbearance with my ignorance.

I would think that adding a PSIP guide for OTA would be a lot less expensive to do than an internet connection. I could be wrong, but I'm guesing that most of the buyers of this unit would probably prefer to see the price kept at a decent, "Wal-mart mentality" point.

As long as you can set the clock manually, and setting recordings dependent on the clock manually can override setting them through the guide, what's not to like? Even if the guide info's not completely reliable in your market, any guide info is better than none, IMO (I get complete, OTA, PSIP guide data for all channels here - the time, I admit, can still be all over the place). Even an info channel banner that you can turn off if you so desire would be welcome, IMO.

Not that being able to keep always-accurate time through the internet wouldn't be a great thing - I'd just worry about the price going up too much (I mean, you and I would probably pay it with no qualms - but I don't know if that would exactly help it's supposedly, already-not-good-enough-sales).

Another thing that I, personally, would like to see if I were using the tuner to watch the bulk of my OTA TV through would be the ability to delete subchannels. That'd be a biggie with me.

Thank you so much! Your information is invaluable!

I'm not specific: adding a guide would be a bad idea.

I have two new devices with internet access, Sony BDP-S570 and 32EX700. The 32EX700 frequently (about weekly) loses all internet data yet the S570 has never done so. The EX700 series has TVGOS to get a clock & channel information. Every few weeks I find my clock has gone away (--:--) and I need to download new data for the guide and other internet data, like links to Pandora. I can set the clock manually and kill the TVGOS ability. I did that for a while and never lost the clock or links but had no program information (that I rarely access anyhow). But I started out with a positive attitude with the TV's guide since it could see my clear QAM channels and would let me map them to nice numbers. The TV would eventually crash and I would need to do a complete reset. Yes, the interface between the Sony TV and it's TVGOS is probably buggy and Funai may get it right. But if I get no PSIP data, what kills my 2150A clock if I allow it to use PBS? Why no diagnostic for the clock/PSIP problem?

I also have four Sony DHG-HDD250 HD DVRs that require TVGOS to get even a clock. Their listings, like the TV, assume you have a cable card or an antenna. I have neither yet since last fall my TVGOS cable data has been very reliable. As my channels change I usually need to do a reset and rescan, but that's no problem. I don't have Comcast and my cable supplier will publish the clear QAM channels on their BBS channel for those without a STB or CC. How's that for being anti-Comcast? There are no figures that document how many Mag units are OTA compared to cable. But most Walmart stores are in rural or small town areas. The Sony DHG has 20+ pages of diagnosic information. Its last update was FIVE years after being discontinued so it could get data from an OTA digital channel after a reset.

Don't get me wrong, I love my 2160A and have 12 pages of titles right now. This thread, and Walmart feedback, has shown that Funai would be better spending money on improving their manufacturing quality control. The world of copyright suits is constantly changing so adding HD/DD5.1 would be inviting trouble from Tivo.

Price is the big issue. I will probably get the 515H soon since it might go away due to poor sales. Internet access? The Funai BR has that.

Please be gentle with me because I know nothing about DVD recorders or machines like the 515. What's the best input the 515 can record with? Does it just record with composite and S-video? I'm also wondering if our new(future) TV needs to have S-video or not to get the best recording quality with the 515? Thanks.

Only want to say that subchannel deletion would be really nice. Yet I never use my unit as a tuner. I don't even use my TV or STB as a tuner in the classic sense. I have a 'favorites' ability to switch channels, and 90% of my viewing is recorded. Accurate time isn't that important since I stopped using the DVD as much. Most cable channel program times aren't that accurate anyhow. Out of 600+ channels, I need about 20. As for time: the TVGOS data inserter sends a time signal every 15 seconds. The FCC says PSIP time must be sent every second. Imagine if that was wrong what would happen. A TVGOS complete clock sync only happens a few times a day (like Windows) and there is also a time zone packet needed before you get a clock.

Yeah, I would agree. It's just that something like that is often best left unsaid around here.

It sounds like you're one of the priviledged few who are still getting the extended basic cable channels in either analog or clear-QAM. I can'r ever remember a time when we got the extended digitals in the clear here, although we might've very briefly in the beginning. The analogs were cut off awhile ago, too.

A lot of new Devices, TVs, AVRs, etc. Have dropped s-video - especially true for Sony

It's not going to last. I lose 10 more vsb/analog in two weeks. Last month my cable office had a 3 months free offer. I got a HD STB and 15mbs internet, both with free install & activation. The lower 20 channels are probably going to be around for a while and all my existing (50+) analog are duplicated in SD and the 'locals' are in HD. I have a full channel banner enabled on all my stuff, so I would see PSIP data if it was there. I feel for those who have a cable feed that treats them like just another source of revenue. I feel envy for those who can get FiOS or have a choice for their content. The recent deal included HBO too, and my STB has composite output. I used it to record to the 2160A and it looked ok. Letterbox with a 16x9 panel isn't that bad.

Without wajo and others here there would be fewer units sold. That's all I shall say about that issue.

The TV doesn't really need S-video input but S-video output from your STB or DVR would be nice for best possible recording quality. Component or HDMI would be the best way to hook the 515 to your HDTV.

Gentle time. You have asked two questions.

The best input for the 515H is the best quality content, like OTA HD or HD cable, then S-Video, then composite - if you're desperate. That's how you get data to the 515H.

The best output is HDMI, then component, then S-Video, then composite - if you're desperate. Like rdgcss said, S-Video is almost gone. My Sony TV does not have it, and I'm sure will soon drop composite. With HDMI you can upconvert to 1080p if your content is good and your TV supports it. You have to decide what does the best upconversion with your own eyes.

The resolution of your TV determines how it shows what it receives. A 720p TV always shows 720p. A 1080p TV always shows 1080p. Few TV sets are not able to accept 1080p anymore, but some older ones may not. You can disable progressive scan (that's the p in 720p) The 515H can set its HDMI output to whatever you decide. There are charts and diagrams in the manual that explain quality issues. It's a big book, but worth reading.

Yes, I do understand that is the bottom line as far as to why things are the way they are around here.

It's to not keep these units from disappearing altogether, and I do realize that. And contrary to what some around here may believe, I want to see these devices remain in production for as long as possible, too - doesn't matter what "brand name" they may be, either.

Actually these units can accept RF input from another unit, say an old, cheap VCR that only has RF output. Channel 3/4 out, tune to same on the DVR & record to Hd or DVD.

I've learned too be very creative over the years

Now, my VCR is insulted. It (Mitsubishi) usually sells for $200 - $300 on eBay. But I do have some old PBS tapes from before DTV. I wonder what would happen if I fed the XDS data to the H2160A? I might try that next week. I know the (old, cheap) VCR preserves analog VBI information. Who knows?

When something unpopular, negative or stupid is posted, I usually check previous posts by that person. If everthing is put downs or dumping, then I let someone else be the crusader rabbit. Usually responses to a post fail to really read the post and don't take into account the technical level of the OP. Sure, canned responses are nice and very valuable. Sometimes you need to listen and answer what they want, not what they said. That's a hard job. I like posting since I have no life. But working for the world's largest private employer has made me more (not less) sympathetic to others. Even at work I would rather spend hours helping someone, not minutes finding how to not help them. It's just how I've been re-wired as I have gotten older. I wasn't always this way.