On Dec 21, 3:34*pm, myfathersson wrote:
On Dec 21, 12:39*am, "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
wrote:

Sounds a great idea (would like to try it). However it does mean
having a pc + keyboard etc and when pushed for space that could be a
problem. Could make custom "slimline" *PC I suppose - I mean no need
for it to be a tower or whatever. Do you by any chance (he asks
optimistically) have any more detail info/tips etc on setting this up?

I'm not in the US, so I can't give you model names and numbers that would
be of any help. However ALL of the set top boxes sold here have USB ports
on them.

The early ones would let you plug in a USB disk or memory stick and use it as a
PVR (personal video recorder). They get information on what to record based
on program guide data sent in the data stream.

The early ones simply recorded the programs as a raw MPEG transport stream
and only played back things they recorded. The newer ones record it as a
more common file type (playable on a PC) and play most formats of downloadable
videos.

Compared to a PC, they are small, cheap ($50 on up), produce no heat or noise,
and so on. If you use a memory stick instead of a hard drive, they are
quiet and cool.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, *N3OWJ/4X1GM
My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-(

That is very interesting. May i ask where you found this out? Is this
documented in any manual?'

The reason I ask is that here in the US, all set top boxes have
similarly had USB ports for quite a long time as well. However I was
under the impression that they didnt do anything or were inoperative.
The reason I was under the impression that they were inoperative has
been because i have repeatedly been told that in specific terms by
every cable company technician I have ever spoken to about this!

As the OP I have been mystified by certain arguments in this thread:
Namely that everyone should stop using VCRs and go over to some form
of DVR, usually touted as being contained in a cable box which you
have to rent from someone. I should add that VCRs are comparatively
new in the US, and americans uniformly think that they invented them,
possibly around the mid 1980s (I even saw a TV program supporting this
view from no less august a source than Popular Mechanics as recently
as yesterday!!). In England things have always been *more advanced,
with the original Phillips 1500s being introduced and gaining
reasonably widespread acceptance in the mid 1970s.

Philips is a Dutch company, correct?

The video cassette recording system Cartrivision was introduced at the
Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1970. Sold at first exclusively by
Sears retail stores, the system was noteworthy for being the first to
rent prerecorded movies -- by mail, making it a predecessor of
Netflix.

Even in those days,
VCRs had relatively advanced features which let users time shift and
arrange to turn the recorder on and off and tune channels in advance
of the program being recorded.

How were the copyright infringement issues resolved in the UK?

As time went on, throughout the 80s,
90s and naughties, these features became more and more advanced until
they really were quite sophisticated.

Suddenly about five years ago the world went over to a new (?) system,
and one in which you could only turn a DVR such as an Archos ON (and
sometimes even *OFF), - *and then only if you are there to do it in
real time. *And then sometimes only to view some tiny recorded picture
in a small box in the middle of a huge TV screen!

Why are Americans so unsophisticated and is there really some way of
using this USB port in conjunction with a computer to obviate all this
lack of sophistication? Someone please tell me that I am wrong about
Americans being so unsophisticated and why, when Klem commented on how
easy recording programs (yes, even multiple programs and even when you
arent there to turn it on) on VCRs used to be, everyone jumped down
his throat and told him to move into the 21st Century!

The unnecessary conversion from digital to analog in order to record
using 40 year old technology offends engineers. It would be like
renting a Super-8 version of a Cinemascope film.