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PVR question |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 283
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PVR question
Hi all,
Hope this is right place for this ques - apologies if not. Ive got a panasonic dvd recorder thats just broken, leaving me with plenty of tv progs on hard drive, none of which i can now download onto dvd. It does have usb port but this only works one way - ie reading from it not recording to it. It appears I may have to give up the hard drive on the recorder as a lost cause. My main ques is - what do other people use? Is it best to buy another dvd recorder with hard drive (these dont seem to be in vogue currently and not widely available) or should I get blu ray recorder with hard drive (mega bucks) or do i get just hard drive recorder? If I went for this last option, is there one you can get with usb port that you can download tv progs to external hard drive? Thx in advance to all the techys out there, Pete |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Scottish Borders
Posts: 11,997
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Well you can always take the hard drive out and connect it to your computer, either internally or in a USB caddy.
Not sure what format it'll be in, or if you'll be able to watch the programmes, but there's probably something that'll read it, even if you have to burn a Linux live CD/DVD/USB to do so. Most people nowadays just have a hard drive based PVR, with two or more tuners, that allow them to record a couple of programmes at once. Some of them will allow you to connect an external drive to back up programmes to. But again you've got the problem that the PVR often formats the drive to something that Windows on the PC can't cope with, and HD programmes, at least, being encrypted. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DAVEVILLE, Daveshire DA1 1VE
Posts: 33,621
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There isn't much choice around at the moment when it comes to PVRs. Most companies have pulled out of the market, leaving pretty much Humax as the only major brand left. Thankfully the Humax machines are excellent.
A few other models are available, but most are getting long in the tooth, and nearly all of the companies involved wont be bringing out new models after their current ranges are sold out. Panasonic are about the only company left producing combined PVR/DVD recorders, but they most certainly aren't cheap. They also produce combined PVR/BluRay recorders too, but as you would expect, these are very expensive. On current models the DVD or BluRay side is only for archiving, you cannot record direct to the optical drive. You record to the HDD and then dub to the optical drive. But if you want the simplest way to archive some recordings to disc they are about your only choice today. The two most respected companies when it comes to just plain Freeview HD PVRs were/are Digitalstream and Humax. The Digitalstream model(s) allow you to copy recordings to an external HDD, but HD recordings are encrypted and can only be played back on the original machine, or another Digitalstream recorder. SD recordings aren't encrypted, but the Digitalstream uses a Linux based XFS file format, which makes it a bit of a pain to get SD recordings off the drive. The easiest way is to use a Linux boot disc on your PC to access the drive, copy the recordings over, and then boot back into Windows (or OSX if you use a Mac). Another option is a commercial programme for Windows that can read XFS formatted drives. There are a couple available, Captain Nemo and UFS Explorer for example, but they aren't free. A Linux boot disc is free, but a bit more convoluted. There are still some new Digitalstream PVRs available, the 500Gb model tends to go for around £120-£150, but second hand models can be bought for around £60 on Ebay and sometimes in shops like Cash Converters. The Humax models are more advanced, but consequently more expensive. Their latest is the DTR-2000T which you can buy new for around £170 for the 500Gb model. As well as the usual two channel recordings it also allows playback of media from a PC via the home network. The previous model allowed archiving to an external HDD, but again HD recordings were encrypted. But enthusiasts came to the rescue with a custom firmware that allowed HD recordings to be unencrypted. I'm not sure if the custom firmware for the older models can be used with the 2000T though. The older Humax models could copy files to an external drive formatted as Fat32 (easily read under Windows of course, but with some file size limitations) or the Linux based EXT3 file system. Drivers to allow Windows to read EXT2/3 formatted drives are readily available, and many are free. I presume (although you'd need to confirm) that the latest models are the same. Humax also produces PVRs for YouView, essentially just Freeview HD PVRs with the added functionality of being able to scroll back through the EPG to play catch up content very easily. But their YouView PVRs aren't as advanced in terms of other features as their standard Freeview HD PVRs. YouView doesn't support DLNA for example, so no playing media across your home network. YouView PVRs cannot archive content to an external HDD either. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 283
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Thx for that emptybox and captainkremmen - esp for your full explanation captain!
I agree the Humax do look good - I'm thinking of going for either the youview 500gb or another panasonic dvd recorder. Its a compromise tho - if i go humax then its difficult or impossible to archive or if I go panasonic then I get dvd recorder but no catchup etc. Mmmmm need to think more lol. What do other people do nowadays - if you record something from TV lets says a film and want to keep it - how do you do it? Sounds like I want to go back to VHS VCR lol. Thx again, Pete |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Redditch Worcs
Posts: 17,296
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The best Humax recorders that allow archiving are both discontinued though you may be able to get the Freeview one
Freesat Foxsat HDR Freeview HDR FOX T2 http://www1.humaxdirect.co.uk/Direct...0-b08241aeacef Both the above have free firmware extentions that allow you to do a lot more with the box. I would avoid the Youview box as it's a poor pvr compared to the above pair. |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 283
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Thx for that Graham.
2 quick ques - a) the freeview box looks interesting - can I archive with that straight out of the box or do i need to change to firmware immediately - and is this easy? b) What do you mean by the youview is a poor pvr compared with others? I thought it would be the same technology. Thx again Pete |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Redditch Worcs
Posts: 17,296
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Quote:
Thx for that Graham.
2 quick ques - a) the freeview box looks interesting - can I archive with that straight out of the box or do i need to change to firmware immediately - and is this easy? b) What do you mean by the youview is a poor pvr compared with others? I thought it would be the same technology. Thx again Pete The UI on the Youview box and it's limitations is down to Youview. Re the limitations compared to a proper pvr http://myhumax.org/forum/topic/salient-points-from-faqs |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 10
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As mentioned, Youview box DTR-T1010 boot time very slow at 2 minutes, lacking a lot of features expected of a modern PVR, including LAN viewing of content i.e. DLNA, or any archiving method. About the only good thing is all the catch-up services are covered iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and 5OD.
The Panasonic units with DVD/Bluray appear a good choice if you want to play discs at any point, which I sometimes do. However, I read the UI on them is sluggish, which will be frustrating to use. Maybe they are bringing out new units for 2014 to align with their latest TVs and services (they just announced they will support all catch up services on TVs via Freesat platform, but although they use the internet connection to stream on my TV you still need a sat connection to get to the on demand players). My old Humax (very old!) 9200 works well most of the time, easy to use but a bit sluggish, and the newer units like HDR Fox-T2 appear excellent. There appears to be no box with "everything" - disc play/archive, network DLNA, all catch-up services, good UI, fast and responsive. Such a market opportunity is there...
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DAVEVILLE, Daveshire DA1 1VE
Posts: 33,621
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Quote:
As mentioned, Youview box DTR-T1010 boot time very slow at 2 minutes, lacking a lot of features expected of a modern PVR, including LAN viewing of content i.e. DLNA, or any archiving method. About the only good thing is all the catch-up services are covered iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and 5OD.
The Panasonic units with DVD/Bluray appear a good choice if you want to play discs at any point, which I sometimes do. However, I read the UI on them is sluggish, which will be frustrating to use. Maybe they are bringing out new units for 2014 to align with their latest TVs and services (they just announced they will support all catch up services on TVs via Freesat platform, but although they use the internet connection to stream on my TV you still need a sat connection to get to the on demand players). My old Humax (very old!) 9200 works well most of the time, easy to use but a bit sluggish, and the newer units like HDR Fox-T2 appear excellent. There appears to be no box with "everything" - disc play/archive, network DLNA, all catch-up services, good UI, fast and responsive. Such a market opportunity is there... ![]() |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DAVEVILLE, Daveshire DA1 1VE
Posts: 33,621
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Quote:
Thx for that emptybox and captainkremmen - esp for your full explanation captain!
I agree the Humax do look good - I'm thinking of going for either the youview 500gb or another panasonic dvd recorder. Its a compromise tho - if i go humax then its difficult or impossible to archive or if I go panasonic then I get dvd recorder but no catchup etc. Mmmmm need to think more lol. What do other people do nowadays - if you record something from TV lets says a film and want to keep it - how do you do it? Sounds like I want to go back to VHS VCR lol. Thx again, Pete If you don't mind not archiving in HD then it's simple to connect a DVD recorder to a PVR and just archive it straight to disc manually. A bit of a pain, but it works. If archiving of content in the best quality is important to you then you have really just two choices, one of the Panasonic units or a Humax Freeview+HD PVR that supports the custom firmware, so you can transfer recordings to your PC and burn them to disc that way. |
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 283
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Thanks captain, you have been most helpful
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