Went into Curries last week and asked
about DVD recorders

He said they are now dvd hard drive recorders.

I saw a box..... looked like only one
hdml socket
He said that socket takes the video playing on tv and records it onto the hard drive
then you play it back thru the same cable .

Thought there would have been options to get video in from other sources and a socket to get video into the tv to monitor what youre recording.

Doesn't sound like the Currys guy had much more of a clue than your good self; if you don't mind me saying?

The HDMI connection goes in one direction, as far as video is concerned; from the box to the TV.
The box records directly from the aerial or satellite connection. And if there isn't a scart or other input (e.g composite), then it can't record from external sources.

Plus DVD/HDD recorders are nearly as scarce as pure DVD recorders nowadays, apart from high end Blu-ray versions.

the assistant seemed pretty bored, he did nt want to explain anything

I should have gone back and looked if there was a tv coax cable socket
dont think there were any scart sockets
it all seemed pretty minimal

Ive just got an android tv box and Im trying to think of how to record
bits and pieces as Im watching all the stuff thats available.

the android box has hdmi output of course but my present dvd recorder is all scart

it has one hdmi socket but that must be out only

I love xxtimbo threads.

Recording from an Android box isn't going to be easy because they don't want you to do it. The HDMI output will have HDCP copy protection. You would probably need a video capture device attached to a PC.

Everything is moving away from recording live transmissions to streaming. By wanting to record from an Android box you are mixing old and new in a way it was never intended.

could this gizmo do it ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-HD-Vi...-/111590363746

Did you read the line that says "If you record a HDCP-protected video source Such as PS3, xBox ,you need to buy the HDMI SPLLITER",

This is getting complicated !

What do you want to record from the Android box, and why?

If it's stuff you are streaming, just stream it again rather than record it.

for years now , whenever I watch tv, if something interesting comes on I hit the dvd recorder and maybe get a 2 min clip

Before that I hit the video recorder to do the same

Hence I now have about 300 vids full of bits and pieces of tv history

The android tv is full of old tv programmes, movies etc... I want to be able to do the same, record bits and pieces
there must be some way of doing it !

Yes, but why? What happens when your video recorder stops working? Never heard of YouTube? That's where all the interesting clips live now.

ITS just force of habit, Ive got satellite tv Ive got the freebox
... watching them I can just hit the dvd recorder any old time to record bits and pieces.

the android box to me is just another source of tv and I want the ability to record anything interesting I see

it might only be a couple of 2 min clips but there it is... something to show for 60 mins viewing

Theres got to be something out there !

But you might be right, there's prob encryption on some of the content from these android boxes to prevent say a standard dvd recorder from recording it

That's what I said in post #4.

You could come up with a very complicated solution to do it, but I don't think you would cope with it.

Probably not, as they aren't UK spec. boxes - so don't need to meet UK anti-piracy regulations.

However, DVD Recorders (even with HDD's) are pretty well obsolete these days, they have gone the way of VCR's) - I see Currys still offer an EXPENSIVE Panasonic one though at £249, but I'm only presuming it can record from external analogue inputs.

But for simply recording clips, why not get a TV 'card' for your PC that has AV inputs?, and record directly to your Computer.

The trick is to use an hdmi to component (not composite) converter. I use this to my slingbox which accepts component input and hdmi but has problems with hdcp.

Slingbox recommend this as the way to use hd on a slingbox.

You can then convert component to scart.

Quite, my android box has some other useful features such as 'fake' WiFi for those TV catchup apps that won't let you download over an ethernet connection and also HDMI output status spoofing for the likes of the Sky Go app that blocks HDMI output via Android.

Why not make a note of the make and model and look up the specs on the manufacturer's web site. Or do Currys still play their old trick of have specials with different model numbers so they cannot be price-compared with other outlets?

That depends on whatever you want to watch has ad breaks. I'd say recording is the way forward rather than streaming.