Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 6

I'm sorry I started these reactions
I wish I could find such an extensive forum about 3570, but it seems there isn't.

To make things worse, 3570 supports writing to the USB, but only certain file types (mp3, wma, divx and jpeg). TV recordings can only be copied to DVD.

But, enough with the differences, what brought me here are the common features. I didn't get the unit yet, but after reading about 3575, I'm already sure I couldn't make a better choice

Thanks for all the discussions and detailed response - it help to push my purchase decision!

I looked at this unit for ~$300 and cost of upgrading my cable box to an HD DVR and found the additional cable bill for 4 years is about $300..

Since about half of the programs I want to time-shift are in HD, I'm going to have to go for the HD DVR rental. (For now).

Cheers,
Rich

Wabjxo, due to your awesome info, I stopped by my local walmart last night and bought me one of these. Never had a recorder, and thought it was time. One clarification, if I already have Directv's HD DVR (HR20), I did not think I could "split" the coax coming from the dish. Since there is no "coax out" on the back of the HR20, are you saying I can run the coax from the dish to the DVDR, and then out from the DVDR to the HR20?

What benefit would that give me since I already have the DVR for pause, recording, etc etc.

Or should I just run my S video from the HR20 out to the in on the DVDR, as well as the audio out from the HR20 into the DVDR, and not mess with the coax and leave it as it is (I only have the two coax ins on the back of the HR20)


thanks for the great info, looking forward to setting this up.

thanks.., I think I will try leaving the coax the way it is, and run the s video and audio outs on the hr20 to the philips.

I mainly want the best possible source for recording to dvd either via directv or my dvr camcorder. I have a sony xbr 1080p tv, so I want to learn how to get the 16:9 display from my recordings w/o distortion.

Re. Directv PPV and on-demand - ppv only requires a phone line if you wanted to order ppv via the box, otherwise you don't need it and can order ppv via their web site. on-demand (beta) for directv is via the ethernet/internet connection on back of the hr20, not via a phone line. in other words, you do not need a phone line for updates, on-demand, etc for directv. appreciate the help, I am sure I will have more follow up ?'s after reading the vols of info here .

thanks for the link.. I had a chance to work with the player a little, it is great, and very happy with the purchase. Will try burning some DV camcorder footage later today. Tried some simple recordings from HR20, both on the fly and what I had on the DVR- no problems at all, and quality looked great when played back on DVD.

A couple of questions, since I am not using the coax in from the dish, and only the s-video (e1) from the HR20, does the DTV/TV button on the remote serve a purpose, or does it matter if I have DTV selected via that button when recording? I assume that is only for the coax in and does not matter in my case, correct?

After recording titles (I think it was to DVD), it said "finalizing" after each title recorded, but seems like I need to finalize the disk when completed as well? easy to do, I just thought it was finalized when it showed that screen when I was initially recording, so initially, the DVD-R would not play in my other dvd players until I finalized the disk. the first "finalized" confused me. They played no problem on other player and on my computer - cool.

Regarding record modes, one record mode for recording and one for dubbing. Will use "high" for dubbing, but if high is not used, should the dubbing rec mode be the same as the initial rec mode, or does it matter?

Can I play mpeg videos on the 3575 burned to a dvd-r from my computer? I tried, but did not seem to work.

I can't seem to find the remote code for the philips to work on my HR20 remote. I will try the above link you provided on the hr20 as well, see if any luck there. Anyone here with suggested codes?

Again, the info here is great, and makes me like the player that much more. The more I learn about it, the more I like it. Video/ movies dvd's also look great on the sony xbr. thanks!!

The DTV/TV button is only for switching between
the built in Digital (DTV) or Analog (TV) tuners.
If you're using an outside source instead of the
built in tuner it has no function AFAIK.

An interesting observation about playing computer-written DVD+R Dual Layer discs in the 3575:

I mentioned some time ago in the original 3575 thread that I had no success playing back DVD+R DL discs recorded by my computer's LG DVD writer in the 3575, either Verbatim or Memorex brand. I eventually happened across one of my DL discs that played perfectly, although it was from the same batch and recorded in the same DVD writer. What was different was the Book Type - that particular disc was created with the Book Type set to DVD-ROM. As an experiment, I took a disc which didn't play successfully, recopied it in the same computer DVD writer to the same brand of DVD+R DL disc from the same batch, but with Book Type changed to DVD-ROM. Sure enough, it played perfectly. A second experiment with another DL disc that didn't play showed the same result.

Although the 3575 still shows the disc type as DVD+R when it reads it, it seems to handle it much better when the Book Type is overridden to DVD-ROM.

Unfortunately my Nero 6 software doesn't know how to set the Book Type with my current LG DVD writer (although it did with my earlier LG drive - go figure!), so I have to burn to a .nrg image file and then use ImgBurn to burn to disc and set the Book Type.

Good luck. I've tried a few universal remotes from the stores, and I'll be darned if I could find one that'll work it.

It must be too new, and it's probably not made by the same outfit that made any of the past ones.

There is a newer, Philips remote I saw at Target recently which I might try. I believe it has DVR buttons, so it might also work your D* unit, if it's a DVR. It has a black faceplate, rather than those older, all-silver, cheaper-looking ones.

I've always set the booktype to DVD-ROM in my computer
drives (Light-ON and BenQ) even for DVD+R (SL) discs.

Take a look at the Sony Universal Learning Remote (RMVL600), $25 at Circuit City. I have one and it is wonderful. It can control 8 components. I use it for all my components including my Panasonic E-85. It has no code for the E-85 but since it is a learning remote, it took me about 10 minutes to program the E-85 remote codes into the VL600. I was able to customize the button mapping the way I wanted it -- not only for the E-85 but even for the other components for which there was a built-in code.

I wonder if you applied a bit of heat with a heat gun or hair dryer if it might make it nearly fall off by softening the adhesive? I seriously doubt they put some advanced adhesive that would prevent softening by using heat or discoloration of the sticker. I think they tried to be as frugal as they could with these, so you might give it a try if you are willing to risk the consequences.

I have NOT tried this with the DVDR3575H, but MANY times a little heat will make seals virtually fall off and then once they're cooled they stick back just like new

It's spelled H-a-r-m-o-n-y.

I've had satellite off and on for several years but not with the 3575 hooked up. The coax between the sat box and the LNB on the dish is a 2 way cable. The sat box passes a DC tuning voltage of around 8v for one set of transponders and 13v for the other transponders depending on the polarization of CW or CCW (the old analog satellites had vertical and horizontal polarization). The digital signal comes back down the coax and into the box as a scrambled digital signal to be processed by the smart-card. The card determines in real time if you are authorized to view the channel you are tuning in and decrypts the signal if you are allowed to watch it and displays a message to call in and buy the channel if you are not authorized. If you buy a PPV event, the purchase info is stored on the card and the sat box uses a modem to phone home periodically and upload the purchase history to the sat provider so they can send you your monthly bill.

So sticking the 3575 between the sat box and the LNB would not record any picture since you need the smart-card to process the signal and the rest of the sat box to turn the signal into something you can watch.

Sorry if I misunderstood. I don't currently have satellite so I can't test it out, but if the 3575 will pass the DC voltage back to the LNB for tuning, it should work, but I'm not sure why he would want it between the LNB and the sat box anyway since you cannot record the incoming signal. The ordering of the PPV is done in the sat box and noted on the smart-card for billing later as I described above. The sat box acts as the tuner and passes the decrypted signal to the 3575 via the S-Video in port so having it in between the LNB and sat box would seem unnecessary to me unless the 3575 acts as a digital signal booster LNA to boost a weak signal from the dish on a very long cable run to the sat box.

Actually knowing that the coax from the dish to the sat box, has DC voltage on it, I would be very reluctant to place the 3575 between the 2. I'm not sure how the 3575 would handle DC voltage, on a coax line, where there is normally no voltages. I do know when I used to have a mast mount preamp for my regular antenna, it had the power xformer inside the house. It would use the coax to xmit the power up to the preamp, and there was specific instructions to NOT have any device between the xformer and preamp. It said the DC voltage on the coax line could damage any device between the 2. Just a thought. I'm sure cable TV would not have such a voltage to worry about.

wabjxo...

received your pm.. I have not tried to run the coax from the dish to the 3575, and then out to my sat receiver.

I had run an s video cable and audio jacks from the sat receiver to the 3575 with good results, so I did not try directly to the 3575 first.

If I had an RG-6 cable laying around, I could try it, but not sure if I do at the moment. Any adverse effects of trying this??

With the risk of your 3575 at hand, I would not try putting it in the path from the LNB to the sat box. From your description, you have the best quality hookup already with the S-Video going to the 3575 and since you do not need any signal boost from the LNB, you are only testing for testing sake. Also be aware if you were thinking of doing it with the sat box off to see what would happen, the sat box is never off unless it is unplugged. When you hit the power button on it, you are just killing the output to the TV or other components. The power to the dish LNB is always on sending DV volts through the coax.
For my reasons stated before there is absolutely no advantage to putting the 3575 in the input coax line. If you did need the signal boosted, I believe that there are special booster amps designed for that purpose. FWIR, the digital signal is either present or not and you get a picture if you are getting the signal. The signal strength of 75 will produce no worst picture than a strength of 95. The strength of 75 means the dish is in a bad reception area or is misaligned a little and it will be susceptible to earlier rain fade. I have heard of problems with bad cables and connectors causing digital dropouts, but as long as your cable run is under about 50 feet and the crimps are good, you should have no problems with fade.

Sorry to belabor this point, but I'm an Engineer and cannot help myself.

PS; One of my other pet peeves is the Best Buy's and Circuit City's selling HDMI Monster cables for $100 to connect to your $3000 HDTV when it is passing a digital signal of 1's and 0's down a copper wire when a certified HDMI cable costing $6 will work just as well.

First of all, I want to thank wabjxo for the wonderful selling job he did on me. I was ready to purchase a DVDR with a hard drive and he sold me on this one. I purchased it a few days ago with a Sept. 2007 pack date. Now comes the unenviable task of hooking this up to my system at home consisting of an HDTV, HD Cable Box, DVD Player, and VCR.

Here is my question, my 4 yr old HDTV has a DVI input...so does my HD Cable Box. Which do I hook the HDMI to DVI cable to from the 3575? I want the best PQ for recording not just old VHS tapes, but also I want the recorder to handle the functions my VCR had. I want to watch commercial DVD's in all their HDMI splendour.

From what ive read from wabjxo, i can connect the HDMI directly to the DVI on the TV, and use composite or S-Video from the recorder to HD cable box to record those channels (remembering that DVI requires audio cables). Question regarding about this hookup is which input from the TV do i use so that the recorder will recognize it. e.g. if the recorder is hooked to the tv via Video 7, is that where i go to record channels from my cable box? Or is there a better way.

Please dont tell me to give a try and see which yields the best result. I want to hook this up and have the best chance of success from the start. Regardless, I want to thank for wabjxo and the rest of posters on here who have supported this wonderful machine. Im sure i'll get the same enjoyment from it you are all acheiving.