Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 511

Just wondering if anyone here uses the 515 for doing laserdiscs transfers, and if so, are there any tips you could offer for a new user?

Thanks.

Just another reason to buy Plasma.

ok guys i finally bit the bullet and ordered a 515 from walmart yesterday. should be here later this week with the .97 shipping,i can't wait to try it out. anyone ever compare these to the tivo's that you can use for ota? the thought of paying $20 a month for the tivo kept me from getting one, i hope that i am not sorry with my purchase. unfortunately i have 2 samsung lcd tv's that are 120Hz. plasma uses too much energy for my liking though,just my opinion

Thanks wajo, those links did indeed come in quite handy.

Also, for anyone interested, I did a quality scan following my recent 515 burns, and the results are just amazing. As you can see from the images below, the 515 loves the 8x TY(+R), and the score shows it. Not so much though for the 8x TY(-R).

YUDEN000T02 TY 8x +R



TYG02 TY 8x -R

That first burn is amazing, especially for a DVDR.

Again great thanks for the replies, guys.


Unfortunately, no.



Thanks for the reminder. I do have two Zenith boxes salted away here. And they do have very sensitive tuners that work great with rabbit ears, even in my basement 9 feet below ground level!

Yes, it is the cable box that introduces the delay, as compared to a direct cable feed without the box. YSP is able to introduce delay into their audio feed on the fly to correct for this. This is why games often start out with noticeable delay which disappears as the game progresses.

The problem here is which box(es) YSP wants to synch to. If they're no longer interested in synching to the SD boxes like the Moto DC700, folks like me are out of luck.

As was pointed out here, this game was on WPVI TV6, which I forgot. Things may be better with the usual regular season Fox 29 and other UHF stations' broadcasts.

At any rate, I'm anxious to see what YSP has to say in response to my e mail. Spike himself actually replied to a similar query of mine a couple of years ago for the same synching issue. He was anxious to know which Comcast branch provided my service and what box I was using. The next game - no more problems.




Wow. Satellite must make watching/listening to a simulcast virtually impossible.

For me, it's not so horrible if the audio trails the video by a little bit, which has happened in the past when YSP has overcompensated in that direction. But when the audio leads the video, even a little bit like now, I can't watch it.


Agree, but my Pio rx has never caused this problem.

Could you explain what is being measured on the two axes?

Jim

You might want to read this primer.

Earlier today I placed an online order to Walmart for a 515 only to receive an E mail back from them saying it is no longer available. Any other reliable sources for the 515?

Not easily comparable, they are in different classes. The TiVo has a one time cost of $600 (no monthly fee) which makes it considerably more costly than a single $220 Magnavox 515 unit. For people who are budget constrained and/or happy with a basic single tuner SD recorder the discussion ends there.

However for the sake of argument, the TiVo has dual tuners so for the comparison to be fair, you would have to compare it against a pair of single-tuner Magnavox recorders at a $440 price-point. So what does the TiVo give you for $160 more? Full DVR functionality; HD/5.1 recording/playback; 14 day guide with click-to-record; set & forget season pass and wish-list programming; auto-naming of recorded programs; grouping of series episodes into folders; Network connectivity for playback of Internet sources (i.e. NetFlix, Hulu plus, Pandora etc.); Network transfer of any OTA recorded programming to your PC as a standard MPEG-2 file for editing and burning to DVD-R or BD-R or transfer to network storage for network playback (stream back to the TiVo or to another media player) or conversion for portable media players. This network feature gives one unlimited storage in a universal format.

What do you give up with a TiVo vs. the pair of 515 DVD recorders? No built-in disk burning device or editing capability; the TiVo is strictly a watch and delete (or network transfer) DVR. If your intent is to burn many, many disks to create a huge library, having to transfer them to PC for editing/burning could be time consuming. TiVo is not the way to go for production DVD-R burning -- unless you want that library to be in HD/5.1. You also give up the 6 hr recording buffer on the Magnavox 515. The TiVo has independent buffers for it's two tuners but those buffers are only 30 min each. A current TiVo requires an Internet connection to obtain the guide whereas the Magnavox 515 has no network connectivity and so can be located anywhere.

For those of us who bought DVD recorders 5+ yrs ago, the $600 entry price of a TiVo is not that shocking. But it is for people who are just getting into digital recorders and are looking to pay what they did for that quality VCR they now have to replace. If you fit into that group, it is unlikely that you will be disappointed with the Magnavox 515 for OTA recording/playback -- unless you see a real difference between live OTA HD and the Magnavox recorded SD.

I was about to ask about that here; In one of the reviews at Walmart for the 513 it says: "....It only records in a 4:3 format, not a 16:9 widescreen format." What's the point of one of these if it can't record HD nor 16:9 from HD sources? I'm only concerned with the HDD recording, not DVD. Will it record 16:9 HD @720+ from cable onto the HDD?

However in another review below it: "....The other reviews posted on this website and others failed to specify that this DVR will record in HD and also pause live HD TV which was the most important feature i wanted."

So I'm confused as to what it can do.



The first post (and page) on this thread says they have a 6hr buffer.



That's exactly what I'm now having to do. My VCR (lasted a phenomenal 15+ years!) has finally now about had it (and even if you can find anymore they are featureless crap with a DVD combo). But I have digital cable with the STB. I'm not about to pay Cox another ~$17 a month for a DVR from them. So I've been looking for something that works just like a VCR except with a HDD that will record HD. Will a 513 do this?

Can you: Just like a VCR, set record timers to record from the cable box, (to the HDD, and can you do it in HD)?

Can the record timers be entered manually for those a$$hole networks that add 1-3 minutes of extra commercials causing programs to end 1-3 minutes after the hour or half-hour?

Thanks.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about this, especially if you've already burned dozens (or hundreds) of TY 8x -R discs on your Magnavox. Scans can be useful tools but can also scare the hell out of us unnecessarily. Funai recorders have always been optimized for +R over -R (the early Funais were +R only), which may account for the superior +R scan. But that doesn't mean -R should be avoided at all costs, or your -R Magnavox recordings are poorer. It just means Nero scan thinks they're poorer, but Nero scan isn't exactly known for 100% accuracy or relevance to real-world disc condition. Its more of a rough estimation, with the host PC and optical drive introducing a raft of variables into the scan.

No, it does not record in HD. No US DVD recorder does. It only accepts 480i from it's composite/S-Video inputs and it's tuner down-scales any HD content it receives to 480i before it is recorded or passed through an output. Like just about every other CE device with an HDMI output, it offers 1080 up-scaling of SD content through the HDMI port, but in most cases the up-conversion circuitry of your display will do a superior job.

That is correct. What I wrote is that you give that up with a TiVo which has a 30 min buffer.

Subtract the monthly cost of the STB you now have which will be returned if you get the DVR. i.e. with FIOS the DVR costs $16/month but the STB costs $10/month so the real cost of the DVR is only an extra $6/month.

A DVD recorder will not replace a set-top box. It does not have cable card functionality which means it's tuner will only received the unscrambled local channels and none of the scrambled cable channels you are paying for. Tons have been written on this topic by many other posters. It's hard to read any thread and not come across someone's difficulty using a DVD recorder with cable.

Could you clarify: it was out of stock on walmart.com or at the local Walmart store?

Thanks for the reply. Read again what you quoted of mine, I wasn't asking about the DVD portion ^ . Only the HDD.



Why would I return my STB for the DVR since the DVR can't receive the digital cable channels? It's an additional $17 a month to replace my STB with their (Cox) STB/DVR.



Yeah I know all that. I'm not looking to replace my STB, that's how I get digital cable and HD channels. Like I said I'm only looking to replace my VCR. So will one of these units do that? "So I've been looking for something that works just like a VCR except with a HDD that will record HD. Will a 513 do this?"

Read post #1.

No, it will not store content in anything except 480i. It will upconvert output to 1080p with HDMI but no DD5.1 either.

It works better than a VCR. I never met a VHS tape that contained data on its content. They might exist.

Tested: Recorded HD CBS (1080i) to HDD. Played back, set to 1080p & display 16:9. No letterbox, no barn doors. Quick test on a cable channel. It's late.

I'm just getting more and more confused. If you say "no" how can you say it works better than a VCR? What exactly in the 1st post? The 1st posts says 16:9 recording! "...widescreen (16:9) recording,.....". I also see in the PDF flyer it's DD (but it doesn't mention 5.1 except on playback).



Thanks, good to know, (but still a bit confused on your comments). So I assume that means you can manually set record time lengths like I described?

I have a HDTV but I only use it for live TV. For playback of VCR recordings I have to use a SDTV because it looks hideous on a HDTV. I don't want to have to do the same thing with this DVR...... (see my last sentence below).



Don't follow you there.



Thanks. But how does that look? I can't understand how 480 recorded content being "blown up" to 1080 can look decent.

Thanks.

The Magnavox ONLY records in standard definition (480) for either the DVD and HDD functions, it can not record in high definition of any sort.

(From my other reply): Thanks. But how does that look? I can't understand how 480 recorded content being "blown up" to 1080 can look decent.

It's not HD, but it looks great Just use your DVD player and play a commercial DVD with wide screen 16:9. What you see on your TV with that DVD is comparable to what you will get with the Mag playing your recorded broadcast program on the HDD (with HQ setting).

It is going to look like SD looks on your TV. Assuming the original broadcast material was of good quality, it will look much like an ordinary commercial DVD looks on your TV. If that is not good enough for you, then you need to look elsewhere.

On some things it looks very good, on others things nothing special. Just about like anything else, it depends a lot upon what the source material is. I'm sure you've watched some older TV shows or standard definition DVD's on your TV that look good upconverted, and with others not so much. Easy to find out if it's for you or not, get one from Walmart.com when they get some more back in stock and try one out, and if you don't like, then it just return it to your local Walmart store in your area. You get a 90day return policy, and Walmart is very good for returns for items they sell online, as long as you save the original box and all it's included accessories/manuals and purchase paperwork.

It will do everything your VCR did, including recording and displaying the same picture ratios, from your cable box (yes, you can adjust the start and stop times to combat what the @$$hat networks do with their showtimes - you have full, manual control over that).

The picture quality will undoubtedly be better than that from your VCR, but it will be "upscaled" SD, which will not be as sharp and detailed as "true" HD (if you're going to use it on your SDTV, that may not matter all that much anyway, depending on it's resolution. But on the HDTV there should be a noticable difference).

I didn't see if you mentioned your HDTV's screen size. The smaller that is, the more condensed and closer to "HD-quality" the Magnavox's picture will look on it. Depends on how far you're sitting away from it, too.

If it looks "great", then how can it look like SD, which is hideous? A DVD looks a helluva lot better than SD on a HDTV. At least in my case it does.

I knew there'd be some "catch" to these, TGTBT. Why would anyone make something like this not capable of HD recording? Could a FW update change that?

And why does the first post on this thread state 16:9 recording?

Thanks for replying.

Yeah I can always try one then return it if it doesn't look good enough.

1.) Depends on the source quality. Garbage in, garbage out. SD-DVD's are generally mastered well enough to look good.

2.) To the first question, why does your VCR only record in SD? You want a recorder that will record cable in HD, look elsewhere, but you'll have to pay more. Simple as that. To the second question, no.

3.) They mean directly from the recorder's internal digital tuner. It will only record everything in 4:3 from an external cable box (it will record the widescreen 16:9 as letterboxed 4:3 - that means black bars all around. You should be getting this already with your VCR on your HDTV, so you should be familiar with what's being described. If the TV has an appropriate zoom mode, you may be able to compensate without "distorting" the picture, although you will lose some sharpness).

Ok thanks.

Can this unit output to all outputs simultaneously? HDMI, component, S-video and composite?



"Unfortunately" it's a Pioneer 5020. (It's a shame they didn't make a '4220' Kuro).

Anyone that owns any working model Pioneer display from one of their last couple of generations is definitely not unlucky.

You will be unlucky when it breaks down for good, though (I have an 1140HD myself, and I dread the day).

I don't know about the "simultaneous" part. I don't personally own a 513 or 515, so someone else can answer that better. The only thing I can say is that *usually*, all others are cut off when HDMI is used (the TiVo might be different, but I'm not even sure, even though I actually have one of those).

Knowing that you have a Pio display, though, it should make most SD look decent. Mine does, as long as it's not utter garbage.