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Best PVR or HDD for archiving Sky+
ihawk
19-04-2011
I want to backup some programs from Sky+ as I am running out of space.
I have a DVD recorder with a HDD but the video editing is slow and labourious. Are there any better solutions out there? I have been looking also at media streamers with HDD's as well.
knackyknickknoc
19-04-2011
Any device you copy to will require playback from Sky+ in real time - you can't change that.

Apart from that what do you mean by "slow and laborious"?

You copy the recordings in one block overnight using the Sky+ COPY feature
There's no need to edit them in any way unless you plan to copy them to dvd to atchive.

If thats what you want to do then editing may seem tedious but it should be quite quick once you get used to it - although I guess that depends on what recorder you have.

Perhaps swap your Sky box for a 1Tb model .
The space is certainly needed these days if you record a lot of HD content
ihawk
20-04-2011
Thanks for that.

At the moment I backup sky+ overnight using the copy feature for loads of shows at once to my pioneer DVD recorded with hdd. But it does it in one large block, when I want to cut the programs into individual shows it takes forever and the user interface is poor, let alone the filing systems. This is the 2nd recorder I've had (first one an LG) but I was hoping that there might be something quicker and smoother to operate with a good filing system and interface, I'm not really bothered if it has a DVD attached.
knackyknickknoc
20-04-2011
Originally Posted by ihawk:
“Thanks for that.

At the moment I backup sky+ overnight using the copy feature for loads of shows at once to my pioneer DVD recorded with hdd. But it does it in one large block, when I want to cut the programs into individual shows it takes forever and the user interface is poor, let alone the filing systems. This is the 2nd recorder I've had (first one an LG) but I was hoping that there might be something quicker and smoother to operate with a good filing system and interface, I'm not really bothered if it has a DVD attached.”

I have a Pioneer hdd/dvdr and I think its great.

You copy over 5 or 6 shows.
Then you use DIVIDE to chop them into the individual programmes , then take each one and choose the thumbnail and then edit the ads out .
Depending on where you record from the auto chapters should make it easy to skip between the ad breaks.

Pioneer models work muc better than Panasonic models.

With the Pioneer you can set the record level to any level regardless of the length of time you plan to record (can't do that with panny).

As long as you use the correct level you can then copy over to dvd at high speed and fill the disc and waste no space
ihawk
03-05-2011
I've been looking around and the one's that most closely matche what I'm after are the Emtec Movie Cube P800, Ellion HMR-700A and the Hauppauge HD PVR to name a few. The Hauppauge interface looked the best but it did not have a hdd. All in all they all seem to have poor software included. So I'm still on the hunt...
niall campbell
03-05-2011
if you go to sky+ forum , you may find other ways of doing it

one of the guys has made a programme to PC
ihawk
04-05-2011
The thing with using a pc though means alot of agro. I do not really want to copy the programs to keep for ever, just backup when I'm running out of space. Every PVR I've ever had seems to be slow to use and un user friendly when storing and editing. Surly there must be something out there.
Originally Posted by niall campbell:
“if you go to sky+ forum , you may find other ways of doing it

one of the guys has made a programme to PC”

gemma-the-husky
04-05-2011
which dvd recorder do you have?

i have a panasonic and sony. editing on both is straightyforward, although i prefer the sony.
ihawk
04-05-2011
I've got a phillips, and used to have an LG

Originally Posted by gemma-the-husky:
“which dvd recorder do you have?

i have a panasonic and sony. editing on both is straightyforward, although i prefer the sony.”

gomezz
04-05-2011
On my old Pio I can rip through a two hour film to top and tail it and remove the ads in a few minutes.
ihawk
04-05-2011
Excellent, what model?
Originally Posted by gomezz:
“On my old Pio I can rip through a two hour film to top and tail it and remove the ads in a few minutes.”

chrisjr
04-05-2011
Originally Posted by ihawk:
“Excellent, what model?”

Whatever model it is I suspect it is now obsolete. As far as I can see Pioneer no longer make DVD recorders.

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/42/index.html
gomezz
04-05-2011
Indeed. It is a 420H (analogue tuner) model but still useful when saving recordings from my PVRs so obsolete is not the right word in this context.
PlayerUK
04-05-2011
Originally Posted by ihawk:
“I've been looking around and the one's that most closely matche what I'm after are the Emtec Movie Cube P800, Ellion HMR-700A and the Hauppauge HD PVR to name a few. The Hauppauge interface looked the best but it did not have a hdd. All in all they all seem to have poor software included. So I'm still on the hunt...”

I use an Ellion 700 (actually it's a Hyundai 350 but it's the same beast) and it does what I want for capturing from a SkyHD+ box using the copy feature. I do transfer the files to the PC to edit etc, although the box does have the capability I've never used it.
knackyknickknoc
04-05-2011
Originally Posted by ihawk:
“I've got a phillips, and used to have an LG”

NO wonder you had problems.
Philips recorders were rubbish from day one.

And their HDD have no -re-encoding feature so if you record to HDD at the wrong quality level you're stuffed and have to put things over 2 discs.

Pioneer recorders are so much better than the rest.
I'd pick up one second hand before buying another brand , even Panasonic
Izak
15-05-2011
It would be far better if Sky actually activated the eSATA/USB ports on their Sky +/Sky+ HD boxes and allowed you to copy/move programmes on to an external hard drive.

Seems daft to include such ports on the box yet never use them!!

If Sky are worried about copy protection then they could insist on the box formatting part/all of the hard drive into a Sky format and encrypting the videos so only a Sky box can read them.
ihawk
15-05-2011
agree 100% To be honest, they could still encrypt the backups so that it only plays on your sky box. I went for a sumvision cyclone HD2 in the end.

Originally Posted by Izak:
“It would be far better if Sky actually activated the eSATA/USB ports on their Sky +/Sky+ HD boxes and allowed you to copy/move programmes on to an external hard drive.

Seems daft to include such ports on the box yet never use them!!

If Sky are worried about copy protection then they could insist on the box formatting part/all of the hard drive into a Sky format and encrypting the videos so only a Sky box can read them.”

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