It seems that as I get older the less I can keep up with technology.
Or maybe its because the stuff is changing to damn fast.

Anyhow, I recall it was not all that long ago when everyone was buying
VCRs and they were the craze. Looks like they are now obsolete.
however I still use mine to record a tv program I want to see but at
another time than they have it on the air. Or maybe I want to record
a football game or movie to save.

I keep seeing tv ads for these DVRs now. They appear to be the
replacement for the VCR, but the commercials say they can record
several programs at the same time. I sure dont understand how they
can record more than one show at a time...... Then again, how do they
work at all? Do they need some sort of media, such as a tape, CD/DVD,
or memory stick? Can the program be saved permanently, or is it just
to watch the program delayed?

Another thing, it's a satellite tv company advertising them. Is it
even possible to use them on a tv antenna, or are they limited to only
satellite tv?

I just have a basic tv on an antenna, no cable or satellite, no hdtv,
no surround sound or any of that expensive stuff. I'm satisfied with
what I have, tv is not a major part of my life, but I do on occasion
want to watch a show at a different time than it's aired, and once and
awhile, save some program. Is a DVR worth buying, (for my needs), or
am I best sticking with my VCR?

One other thing, if the programming can be saved, is it possible to
edit out commercials and other unwanted stuff on a computer, or would
that be on the tv?

Thanks

On Sep 6, 10:27*pm, wrote:
It seems that as I get older the less I can keep up with technology.
Or maybe its because the stuff is changing to damn fast. *

Anyhow, I recall it was not all that long ago when everyone was buying
VCRs and they were the craze. *Looks like they are now obsolete.
however I still use mine to record a tv program I want to see but at
another time than they have it on the air. *Or maybe I want to record
a football game or movie to save.

I keep seeing tv ads for these DVRs now. *They appear to be the
replacement for the VCR, but the commercials say they can record
several programs at the same time. *I sure dont understand how they
can record more than one show at a time...... *Then again, how do they
work at all? *Do they need some sort of media, such as a tape, CD/DVD,
or memory stick? *Can the program be saved permanently, or is it just
to watch the program delayed? *

Another thing, it's a satellite tv company advertising them. *Is it
even possible to use them on a tv antenna, or are they limited to only
satellite tv? *

I just have a basic tv on an antenna, no cable or satellite, no hdtv,
no surround sound or any of that expensive stuff. *I'm satisfied with
what I have, tv is not a major part of my life, but I do on occasion
want to watch a show at a different time than it's aired, and once and
awhile, save some program. *Is a DVR worth buying, (for my needs), or
am I best sticking with my VCR?

One other thing, if the programming can be saved, is it possible to
edit out commercials and other unwanted stuff on a computer, or would
that be on the tv?

Thanks

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/dvr.htm

HB

wrote
A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one tuner.


Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is how it
allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change channels, it is not
instant, but the ability to do those functions makes it a vey nice toy to
have.

On Sep 7, 1:27*am, wrote:
It seems that as I get older the less I can keep up with technology.
Or maybe its because the stuff is changing to damn fast. *

Anyhow, I recall it was not all that long ago when everyone was buying
VCRs and they were the craze. *Looks like they are now obsolete.
however I still use mine to record a tv program I want to see but at
another time than they have it on the air. *Or maybe I want to record
a football game or movie to save.

I keep seeing tv ads for these DVRs now. *They appear to be the
replacement for the VCR, but the commercials say they can record
several programs at the same time. *I sure dont understand how they
can record more than one show at a time...... *Then again, how do they
work at all? *Do they need some sort of media, such as a tape, CD/DVD,
or memory stick? *Can the program be saved permanently, or is it just
to watch the program delayed? *

Another thing, it's a satellite tv company advertising them. *Is it
even possible to use them on a tv antenna, or are they limited to only
satellite tv? *

I just have a basic tv on an antenna, no cable or satellite, no hdtv,
no surround sound or any of that expensive stuff. *I'm satisfied with
what I have, tv is not a major part of my life, but I do on occasion
want to watch a show at a different time than it's aired, and once and
awhile, save some program. *Is a DVR worth buying, (for my needs), or
am I best sticking with my VCR?

One other thing, if the programming can be saved, is it possible to
edit out commercials and other unwanted stuff on a computer, or would
that be on the tv?

Thanks

They record to a internal hard drive. Most have two tuners which is
what allows them to record things while you watch something else or
record two things at one.

They do not allow you to edit the recording and most do not make it
convenient to move the recorded shows to some other media so that you
can edit it. Most people fast forward through the commercials.

Some people never watch live tv, they have the shows they want to
watch set to record. Then they watch them later and fast forward
through the commercials. I do it a lot myself. A 30 minutes show
takes about 20 minutes to watch.

As others have pointed out, they really are just a specialized pc.
That's the case for most everything electronic these days, smart
phones, ipods, tablets, dvrs, even newer tvs all are just specialized
pcs.

On Sep 7, 5:54*am, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
wrote

A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) *that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one tuner.

Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is how it
allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. * When you change channels, it is not
instant, but the ability to do those functions makes it a vey nice toy to
have.

I used to have Dish and their DVRs, I dropped them when they went nuts
with added fees.

I got a TIVO and loved it, for awhile I just used it on antenna TV.
The newer ones have a digital tuners,and work AWESOME.

Best of all it just plain WORKS!

My dish ones had perodic bugs that required reboots etc. very annoying

my tivo is rock solid..dependable. works great on a cable card with
comcast

better than a VCR it records 2 shows at once, and you can start
watching a show while its still recording.

I enabled SKIP on my tivo, so i can skip forward and backward thru
commercials. I rarely watch live tv, I primetime has 17 minutes of
commercials so i start watching survivor 15 minutes late and catch
up by the end.

connect your tivo to the internet and it does netflix and other
streaming

On 9/7/2011 5:54 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

wrote
A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one tuner.


Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is
how it allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change channels,
it is not instant, but the ability to do those functions makes it a vey
nice toy to have.

I think we watch way less than an hour of live TV/week. The DVR records
what we tell it. Then watch or not whenever. I built the first one based
on something called MythTV when few even heard the term "DVR" and then
a number of them for friends after they saw it.

bob haller wrote:
-snip-
better than a VCR it records 2 shows at once, and you can start
watching a show while its still recording.

And it can hold a couple hundred hours of shows, which are all listed
in an index. I think Tivo has much better software, but even the
Time Warner software lets me arrange that 'index' by the name of the
shows, or by the date recorded.

We got the TW version several years ago when it was introduced as a 6
month freebie. Their software sucks. It is unreliable, clunky and
a royal PITA.

But I wouldn't go without it now for all the tea in China. It is
rare that we get stuck watching live TV-- and I miss being able to
jump through commercials when we do.


I enabled SKIP on my tivo, so i can skip forward and backward thru
commercials. I rarely watch live tv, I primetime has 17 minutes of
commercials so i start watching survivor 15 minutes late and catch
up by the end.

connect your tivo to the internet and it does netflix and other
streaming

Inertia will probably keep me from pulling the trigger-- but the
streaming ability makes Tivo a real temptation again.

Has Tivo got the ability to send things to another box? TW just
introduced the ability to record on one DVR and watch on another in
the same house. We have 3 DVR's - so we could effectively record
6 things at the same time and watch them on any box later. [sounds
crazy--- but during sweeps week the 4 networks pit their best against
the competition's best-- so 4 at once might come in handy]

Jim

On Sep 7, 7:44*am, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Sep 7, 1:27*am, wrote:





It seems that as I get older the less I can keep up with technology.
Or maybe its because the stuff is changing to damn fast. *

Anyhow, I recall it was not all that long ago when everyone was buying
VCRs and they were the craze. *Looks like they are now obsolete.
however I still use mine to record a tv program I want to see but at
another time than they have it on the air. *Or maybe I want to record
a football game or movie to save.

I keep seeing tv ads for these DVRs now. *They appear to be the
replacement for the VCR, but the commercials say they can record
several programs at the same time. *I sure dont understand how they
can record more than one show at a time...... *Then again, how do they
work at all? *Do they need some sort of media, such as a tape, CD/DVD,
or memory stick? *Can the program be saved permanently, or is it just
to watch the program delayed? *

Another thing, it's a satellite tv company advertising them. *Is it
even possible to use them on a tv antenna, or are they limited to only
satellite tv? *

I just have a basic tv on an antenna, no cable or satellite, no hdtv,
no surround sound or any of that expensive stuff. *I'm satisfied with
what I have, tv is not a major part of my life, but I do on occasion
want to watch a show at a different time than it's aired, and once and
awhile, save some program. *Is a DVR worth buying, (for my needs), or
am I best sticking with my VCR?

One other thing, if the programming can be saved, is it possible to
edit out commercials and other unwanted stuff on a computer, or would
that be on the tv?

Thanks

They record to a internal hard drive. *Most have two tuners which is
what allows them to record things while you watch something else or
record two things at one.

They do not allow you to edit the recording and most do not make it
convenient to move the recorded shows to some other media so that you
can edit it. *Most people fast forward through the commercials.

Some people never watch live tv, they have the shows they want to
watch set to record. *Then they watch them later and fast forward
through the commercials. *I do it a lot myself. *A 30 minutes show
takes about 20 minutes to watch.

As others have pointed out, they really are just a specialized pc.
That's the case for most everything electronic these days, smart
phones, ipods, tablets, dvrs, even newer tvs all are just specialized
pcs.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Basicly they are similar to a specialized PC,
digitizing, compressing and storing video to
a large HD.

I have the Tivo Premier which records up to 45 hours of HD TV.
It will record many times that of non-HD. It has the capability
of supporting 2 tuners. If you're just using an antenna as the
OP does, then the tuners are already there. If you use cable,
you get a cablecard tuner that's about the size of one of the
old PCMCIA cards that plugs in. Cable company here,
Cablevision, charges 2 or 3 dollars a month for the card.
But it replaces the basic cable box which they charged 2 or 3
dollars a month more for, so you come out ahead on
that. And if you compare it to Cablevisions DVR cable
box, you come out 7 or 8 dollars ahead, because they
charge $5 a month more for their DVR box. It also works
with Satelite, I think Tivo is still supplying the box that
comes bundled with DirectTV.

Everyone who has actually used one that I know of
agrees that it has the best user interface and functionality
of any of the DVRs. For example, I can search for
what I want by name, actor, subject, etc. Usually
after only 5 or 6 characters it's narrowed it down
and found it. It will search not only the cable or
broadcast guide, but also internet sources like
YouTube. It uses an internet connection (required)
and will play those YouTube videos as well as
vidoes you can pay for from Amazon, Netflix, etc.
Best part is the season's pass. After you find
a show, you can sign up for a season's pass.
It will then record it each time it's on, without
regard to any shift in days or time. For example,
if Hell's Kitchen isn't on next week, it won't
record it. And if the following week it's on for
2 hours instead of one, or plays on a different
day, it will correctly record it. It then organizes
all the saved shows in an easy to find format.

You can also pause live TV while you go get
a drink, etc. Or you pause one show and go
to another one because it has two tuners. I
do that occasionally. With the commercials
it works out that you can watch two shows in
about 1.5 times what it would take to watch
just one.

If you're traveling and want to record something
you can reach your Tivo through the Tivo
website and tell it to record from there. If
you have 2 of them, you can start watching
something on one and then finish watching
it on the other.

The downside is that it isn't cheap. To get the
prgramming schedules, which is essentially
necessary to use the unit, requires a subscription
to the Tivo service. That is available monthly
or for the lifetime of the Tivo unit. The unit
with lifetime service is about $550. For me
it's well worth it because being an existing
customer I got it for around $400, it's saving
me about $8 per month compared to the
cable company and will pay for itself in 4 years.
The Tivo Premier storage can be expanded
with an external HD too, they have an XL that
stores 150 hours of HD, etc. But for me
the 45 hours works fine.

On 9/7/2011 7:54 AM, Mr.Spock wrote:
"Ed wrote in
:


wrote
A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one
tuner.


Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is
how it allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change
channels, it is not instant, but the ability to do those functions
makes it a vey nice toy to have.



Thanks for your info.
I typed in ' buy DVR ' into google and got some nice results such as:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...mputers/audio-
video/video/dvd-recorders/dvrs-how-to-choose-105/overview/

or

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3qxzefv

Looks like something cool to own.

Its one of those things that once you have one you will wonder why you
waited. Very similar to GPS.

On 9/7/2011 8:02 AM, bob haller wrote:
On Sep 7, 5:54 am, "Ed wrote:
wrote

A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one tuner.

Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is how it
allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change channels, it is not
instant, but the ability to do those functions makes it a vey nice toy to
have.

I used to have Dish and their DVRs, I dropped them when they went nuts
with added fees.

I got a TIVO and loved it, for awhile I just used it on antenna TV.
The newer ones have a digital tuners,and work AWESOME.

Best of all it just plain WORKS!

My dish ones had perodic bugs that required reboots etc. very annoying

my tivo is rock solid..dependable. works great on a cable card with
comcast

better than a VCR it records 2 shows at once, and you can start
watching a show while its still recording.

I enabled SKIP on my tivo, so i can skip forward and backward thru
commercials. I rarely watch live tv, I primetime has 17 minutes of
commercials so i start watching survivor 15 minutes late and catch
up by the end.

What I resent with all of the newer cablecard and other digital DVRs is
the leash that runs back to the content provider. I started out with
MythTV I built myself which allowed you to do anything with the content.
It even had a feature where it would scan the recording and edit out the
commercials or insert auto skip points if you wanted.

They can also set expire flags so the content is unavailable after a
number of plays or certain time.





connect your tivo to the internet and it does netflix and other
streaming

On Sep 7, 8:38*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
bob haller wrote:

-snip-

better than a VCR it records 2 shows at once, and you can start
watching a show while its still recording.

And it can hold a couple hundred hours of shows, which are all listed
in an index. * *I think Tivo has much better software, but even the
Time Warner software lets me arrange that 'index' by the name of the
shows, or by the date recorded.

We got the TW version several years ago when it was introduced as a 6
month freebie. * * Their software sucks. *It is unreliable, clunky and
a royal PITA.

But I wouldn't go without *it now for all the tea in China. * It is
rare that we get stuck watching live TV-- and I miss being able to
jump through commercials when we do.



I enabled SKIP on my tivo, so i can skip forward and backward thru
commercials. I rarely watch live tv, I *primetime has 17 minutes of
commercials so i start watching survivor 15 minutes late and catch
up by the end.

connect your tivo to the internet and it does netflix and other
streaming

Inertia will probably keep me from pulling the trigger-- but the
streaming ability makes Tivo a real temptation again.

Has Tivo got the ability to send things to another box? * *TW just
introduced the ability to record on one DVR and watch on another in
the same house. * * *We have 3 DVR's - so we could effectively record
6 things at the same time and watch them on any box later. [sounds
crazy--- but during sweeps week the 4 networks pit their best against
the competition's best-- so 4 at once might come in handy]

Jim

yeah you match the account code between the 2 boxes and bam you have 4
tuners networked

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:14:33 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:27:04 -0500, wrote:

It seems that as I get older the less I can keep up with technology.
Or maybe its because the stuff is changing to damn fast.

Anyhow, I recall it was not all that long ago when everyone was buying
VCRs and they were the craze. Looks like they are now obsolete.
however I still use mine to record a tv program I want to see but at
another time than they have it on the air. Or maybe I want to record
a football game or movie to save.

I keep seeing tv ads for these DVRs now. They appear to be the
replacement for the VCR, but the commercials say they can record
several programs at the same time. I sure dont understand how they
can record more than one show at a time...... Then again, how do they
work at all? Do they need some sort of media, such as a tape, CD/DVD,
or memory stick? Can the program be saved permanently, or is it just
to watch the program delayed?

Another thing, it's a satellite tv company advertising them. Is it
even possible to use them on a tv antenna, or are they limited to only
satellite tv?

I just have a basic tv on an antenna, no cable or satellite, no hdtv,
no surround sound or any of that expensive stuff. I'm satisfied with
what I have, tv is not a major part of my life, but I do on occasion
want to watch a show at a different time than it's aired, and once and
awhile, save some program. Is a DVR worth buying, (for my needs), or
am I best sticking with my VCR?

One other thing, if the programming can be saved, is it possible to
edit out commercials and other unwanted stuff on a computer, or would
that be on the tv?

Thanks


A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one tuner.
The only one I know of that will export to a PC is a ReplayTV and they
don't have a digital tuner for your over the air broadcasts.

If you are not getting one from the cable or satellite company, you
might be as well off getting a PC set up to run Microsoft Media
Center.
Tivo is anther option but I am not sure how much they have progressed.
The old ones still did not have the digital tuner you need.

Since I have a DTV converter for my older tv set, is there a way to
pipe that DTV box right into a computer? If so, what sort of card
would be needed on the computer? I wouldn't mind taking an older
computer and making it specific for recording tv programs.

I do NOT have any cable or satellite, just an antenna connected to a
DTV box.

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:09:47 -0400, George
wrote:

On 9/7/2011 7:54 AM, Mr.Spock wrote:
"Ed wrote in
:


wrote
A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one
tuner.


Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is
how it allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change
channels, it is not instant, but the ability to do those functions
makes it a vey nice toy to have.



Thanks for your info.
I typed in ' buy DVR ' into google and got some nice results such as:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...mputers/audio-
video/video/dvd-recorders/dvrs-how-to-choose-105/overview/

or

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3qxzefv

Looks like something cool to own.

Its one of those things that once you have one you will wonder why you
waited. Very similar to GPS.

I hope it's a lot better than GPS. Buying a GPS was the biggest waste
of money I ever spent. If I followed that thing, I never got where I
wanted to go. Although I spent over $100 for it, tossing it in the
garbage saved me a lot of money in wasted gasoline, and I got a free
map at the local D.O.T. office, which works 1000 times better.

On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 05:41:05 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

The downside is that it isn't cheap. To get the
prgramming schedules, which is essentially
necessary to use the unit, requires a subscription
to the Tivo service. That is available monthly
or for the lifetime of the Tivo unit. The unit
with lifetime service is about $550. For me
it's well worth it because being an existing
customer I got it for around $400, it's saving
me about $8 per month compared to the
cable company and will pay for itself in 4 years.
The Tivo Premier storage can be expanded
with an external HD too, they have an XL that
stores 150 hours of HD, etc. But for me
the 45 hours works fine.

This is where I get lost. If I'm just connected to an antenna, I cant
get the service. All I want to do is be able to record something off
the air, either by pushing a "record" button, or setting a program
timer. Why would I een need a service to do that? I can look up the
local tv station websites to find out when they are going to be
showing a movie I want to see, or whatever..... I'd also like to be
able to copy a movie or segement off the local news to save as a file,
or burn it to a dvd.

This is why I asked about using an old computer to do this. I can add
a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.

On 9/7/2011 10:38 PM, wrote:
(snip)
Since I have a DTV converter for my older tv set, is there a way to
pipe that DTV box right into a computer? If so, what sort of card
would be needed on the computer? I wouldn't mind taking an older
computer and making it specific for recording tv programs.

I do NOT have any cable or satellite, just an antenna connected to a
DTV box.


Some people over in the computer or TV groups could give you better
advice, but yeah- just search CL or eBay for a Hauppage (sp?) TV tuner
card for whatever spare PC you have. The non-HD Hauppage cards are going
dirt cheap these days. Depending on the card, you can feed in from the
converter box via coax or the other usual flavor of cables. Downside to
this approach is that the resolution isn't the greatest (at least on the
one somebody gave me), and you have to watch the show on the computer.
I'm no expert- maybe some of them let you pipe it back out to the TV.
And they are pretty piggy on hard drive space, at least by the standards
of older computers.

--
aem sends...

wrote

This is why I asked about using an old computer to do this. I can add
a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.



I think you have the layout wrong. The DTV converter is not a tuner, just a
converter. The card should be able to receive the signal and send it to the
HD. If you had a newer TV, that is all you'd need, but since you don't, you
still need the DTV converter after the PC and before your TV.

One of the electronics newsgroups can probably give you better information
on how to do what you want..

I see others mentioned having some sort of service. With cable or
satellite, you get all sorts of nifty option, but they do come at the price
of a subscription. Things like series recordings, program information,
choosing to record only new shows, no re-runs, etc. is very nice to have.
Of course, with cable you get the better channels, like History, Travel,
Discovery, Science, etc. Without them, I could do away with the TV as the
networks have little to offer.

On 08 Sep 2011 08:06:54 GMT, RobertPatrick wrote:

wrote in :

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:09:47 -0400, George
wrote:

On 9/7/2011 7:54 AM, Mr.Spock wrote:
"Ed wrote in
:


wrote
A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one
tuner.


Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is
how it allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change
channels, it is not instant, but the ability to do those functions
makes it a vey nice toy to have.



Thanks for your info.
I typed in ' buy DVR ' into google and got some nice results such as:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...mputers/audio-
video/video/dvd-recorders/dvrs-how-to-choose-105/overview/

or

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3qxzefv

Looks like something cool to own.

Its one of those things that once you have one you will wonder why you
waited. Very similar to GPS.

I hope it's a lot better than GPS. Buying a GPS was the biggest waste
of money I ever spent. If I followed that thing, I never got where I
wanted to go. Although I spent over $100 for it, tossing it in the
garbage saved me a lot of money in wasted gasoline, and I got a free
map at the local D.O.T. office, which works 1000 times better.



Maybe it's the brand you have?

I was told it was one of the poorest brand/models, a Tomtom model One.
Either way, the only way I'd ever own another GPS is if it's given to
me free, and would probably use up shelf space in the closet.

I've driven for about 40 years without a GPS, using free maps from the
D.O.T. and I always got where I was going with little problem. Using
maps, I occasionally wasted a couple miles and 15 minutes of time.
With that GPS, I once wasted over 100 miles and 2 1/2 hours. That was
the last time I trusted it, and soon afterwards, I caught it leading
me the wrong way once again, for probably the 50th time. Thats when
it went in the trash can at some gas station.

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:10:46 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

On 9/7/2011 10:38 PM, wrote:
(snip)
Since I have a DTV converter for my older tv set, is there a way to
pipe that DTV box right into a computer? If so, what sort of card
would be needed on the computer? I wouldn't mind taking an older
computer and making it specific for recording tv programs.

I do NOT have any cable or satellite, just an antenna connected to a
DTV box.


Some people over in the computer or TV groups could give you better
advice, but yeah- just search CL or eBay for a Hauppage (sp?) TV tuner
card for whatever spare PC you have. The non-HD Hauppage cards are going
dirt cheap these days. Depending on the card, you can feed in from the
converter box via coax or the other usual flavor of cables. Downside to
this approach is that the resolution isn't the greatest (at least on the
one somebody gave me), and you have to watch the show on the computer.

My son 'watches his computer' on his TV. $3-400 will get a new
big-screen that will serve as TV and monitor.

I'm no expert- maybe some of them let you pipe it back out to the TV.
And they are pretty piggy on hard drive space, at least by the standards
of older computers.


Yeahbut-- who cares about HDD space these days. $100 will get you a
2TB external drive from Newegg. [$80 for internal]

I think that might be the best bet from what the OP is saying.

Jim

On 09/08/11 6:26 AM, wrote:
On 08 Sep 2011 08:06:54 GMT, wrote:

wrote in :

On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:09:47 -0400,
wrote:

On 9/7/2011 7:54 AM, Mr.Spock wrote:
"Ed wrote in
:


wrote
A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one
tuner.


Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is
how it allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change
channels, it is not instant, but the ability to do those functions
makes it a vey nice toy to have.



Thanks for your info.
I typed in ' buy DVR ' into google and got some nice results such as:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...mputers/audio-
video/video/dvd-recorders/dvrs-how-to-choose-105/overview/

or

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3qxzefv

Looks like something cool to own.

Its one of those things that once you have one you will wonder why you
waited. Very similar to GPS.

I hope it's a lot better than GPS. Buying a GPS was the biggest waste
of money I ever spent. If I followed that thing, I never got where I
wanted to go. Although I spent over $100 for it, tossing it in the
garbage saved me a lot of money in wasted gasoline, and I got a free
map at the local D.O.T. office, which works 1000 times better.



Maybe it's the brand you have?

I was told it was one of the poorest brand/models, a Tomtom model One.
Either way, the only way I'd ever own another GPS is if it's given to
me free, and would probably use up shelf space in the closet.

I've driven for about 40 years without a GPS, using free maps from the
D.O.T. and I always got where I was going with little problem. Using
maps, I occasionally wasted a couple miles and 15 minutes of time.
With that GPS, I once wasted over 100 miles and 2 1/2 hours. That was
the last time I trusted it, and soon afterwards, I caught it leading
me the wrong way once again, for probably the 50th time. Thats when
it went in the trash can at some gas station.

I tried a early version of a Tom-Tom and it literally sucked. Since I
couldn't even trust to get me home from work, there was no way I was
going to trust it out on the open road.

My Garmin 350 is a totally different story. It's not perfect (none are)
but it *will* get me where I want to go.

I describe (decent) GPS's this way:

While they may not always get you to your destination via the most
direct path, they will get you to your destination.

On 9/7/2011 10:45 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:09:47 -0400,
wrote:

On 9/7/2011 7:54 AM, Mr.Spock wrote:
"Ed wrote in
:


wrote
A DVR is basically just a PC (in a small case with a special
interface) that records TV on a hard drive. When they say they can
record more than one channel that means they have more than one
tuner.


Everything goes to the hard drive and is then sent to the TV. That is
how it allows you to pause, rewind, FF, etc. When you change
channels, it is not instant, but the ability to do those functions
makes it a vey nice toy to have.



Thanks for your info.
I typed in ' buy DVR ' into google and got some nice results such as:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...mputers/audio-
video/video/dvd-recorders/dvrs-how-to-choose-105/overview/

or

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3qxzefv

Looks like something cool to own.

Its one of those things that once you have one you will wonder why you
waited. Very similar to GPS.

I hope it's a lot better than GPS. Buying a GPS was the biggest waste
of money I ever spent. If I followed that thing, I never got where I
wanted to go. Although I spent over $100 for it, tossing it in the
garbage saved me a lot of money in wasted gasoline, and I got a free
map at the local D.O.T. office, which works 1000 times better.

The various GPS units I have/had have paid for themselves 1,000 times over.

Maybe you had a defective unit?

I would never go back to trying to decipher a postage stamp map
depicting 6 highways that may or may not connect while in the dark in an
unfamiliar area like say last night when I was traveling and the exit I
was supposed to use was shutdown in an unfamiliar area.

On 9/7/2011 11:10 PM, aemeijers wrote:
On 9/7/2011 10:38 PM, wrote:
(snip)
Since I have a DTV converter for my older tv set, is there a way to
pipe that DTV box right into a computer? If so, what sort of card
would be needed on the computer? I wouldn't mind taking an older
computer and making it specific for recording tv programs.

I do NOT have any cable or satellite, just an antenna connected to a
DTV box.


Some people over in the computer or TV groups could give you better
advice, but yeah- just search CL or eBay for a Hauppage (sp?) TV tuner
card for whatever spare PC you have. The non-HD Hauppage cards are going
dirt cheap these days. Depending on the card, you can feed in from the
converter box via coax or the other usual flavor of cables. Downside to
this approach is that the resolution isn't the greatest (at least on the
one somebody gave me), and you have to watch the show on the computer.
I'm no expert- maybe some of them let you pipe it back out to the TV.
And they are pretty piggy on hard drive space, at least by the standards
of older computers.


Much better to go with the HD version Happauge card or adapter. They
aren't expensive. First the quality issue as you noted. Quality will be
much better because those boxes were a kludge to convert DTV to
modulated NTSC. So using the RF input (none of those boxes offer any
other outputs by design) would mean two conversions with the first
having degraded the signal a lot. Second, there is a lot less tinkering
because the popular distros know how to change channels directly using
the Happauge card.

On 9/7/2011 10:59 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 05:41:05 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

The downside is that it isn't cheap. To get the
prgramming schedules, which is essentially
necessary to use the unit, requires a subscription
to the Tivo service. That is available monthly
or for the lifetime of the Tivo unit. The unit
with lifetime service is about $550. For me
it's well worth it because being an existing
customer I got it for around $400, it's saving
me about $8 per month compared to the
cable company and will pay for itself in 4 years.
The Tivo Premier storage can be expanded
with an external HD too, they have an XL that
stores 150 hours of HD, etc. But for me
the 45 hours works fine.

This is where I get lost. If I'm just connected to an antenna, I cant
get the service. All I want to do is be able to record something off
the air, either by pushing a "record" button, or setting a program
timer. Why would I een need a service to do that? I can look up the
local tv station websites to find out when they are going to be
showing a movie I want to see, or whatever..... I'd also like to be
able to copy a movie or segement off the local news to save as a file,
or burn it to a dvd.

This is why I asked about using an old computer to do this. I can add
a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.


You are missing most of the goodness of a DVR if you do what you are
describing.

DVRs are one of those things you could spend hours explaining to someone
and they still don't get it or you show them how it works and they say
"I want one". Maybe ask a friend for a demo?

I built my first one maybe 9 years ago and no one could get how it
worked until I showed it to them. I then built a number of them for
friends. At that time there wasn't much to pick from commercially.

On Sep 7, 10:59*pm, wrote:
On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 05:41:05 -0700 (PDT), "

wrote:
The downside is that it isn't cheap. *To get the
prgramming schedules, which is essentially
necessary to use the unit, *requires a subscription
to the Tivo service. *That is available monthly
or for the lifetime of the Tivo unit. *The unit
with lifetime service is about $550. *For me
it's well worth it because being an existing
customer I got it for around $400, it's saving
me about $8 per month compared to the
cable company and will pay for itself in 4 years.
The Tivo Premier storage can be expanded
with an external HD too, they have an XL that
stores 150 hours of HD, etc. *But for me
the 45 hours works fine.

This is where I get lost. *If I'm just connected to an antenna, I cant
get the service. *All I want to do is be able to record something off
the air, either by pushing a "record" button, or setting a program
timer. *Why would I een need a service to do that? *I can look up the
local tv station websites to find out when they are going to be
showing a movie I want to see, or whatever..... *I'd also like to be
able to copy a movie or segement off the local news to save as a file,
or burn it to a dvd. *

You're right that you don't need the program information service to do
the task that you describe above. The issue
is that probably 95% of the market for a DVR does not
want to set it by channel, time, and day to record. They
want the convenience that the program service provides.
If you've never tried a Tivo it's hard to describe the
great features that it offes that make use of the program
information. For example, I can set up a wishlist to
auto-record any movie with Robert Deniro. Or anything to do with
Ronald Reagan. The latter will capture everything from
any movie he was an actor in, to documentaries, to even
the presidential debate last night at the Reagan libarary.

The fact that you are using it with just an antenna limits
how much you could use it for that purpose. But for the
mass market that has cable or sat, there a hundreds of
channels and being able to capture programs of interest
in the above way is a huge advantage. Hence, Tivo
has their product designed and priced to serve that
mass market.

The older Tivos would work to record by time and
channel without paying for the subscription service.
Not sure about the current ones. You could look on
Ebay for a used Tivo. You would have to decide if
you want HD or only standard and make sure that
what ever one you buy is compatible with digital
broadcast. I think all starting with Series 2 are, but
all but the newer ones would require an external
digital tuner that you can also buy cheap. Some of those
Tivos will come with lifetime service, which means
that the service is included for the lifetime of the
unit. The service is transferable with the unit if
you sell it. I have an original Tivo Series 1 here
that I would sell, but the Series 1 is not compatible
with an external digital tuner so it would not work
with an antenna, only cable or sat.

If you get one without the service, you need
to be sure it will work doing just channel, day, time
recording. If you get one with lifetime service
you need find out if it uses phone for the service
updates or internet. Older ones use phone, newer
require internet.





This is why I asked about using an old computer to do this. *I can add
a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. *Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.

As others have said, there are people doing this using
a tuner add-in card for the PC. I don't know of any
doing it using a capture only card and feeding it with
an external tuner. The obvious problem there is that
the PC card would need to output an IR signal to
change the tuner channel. Having it all on one card
probably makes more sense and doesn't add much
in cost. The only thing is, from what I know, you
then watch it on the PC, not the TV.

I would think the used Tivo idea would be more
attractive from a price/feature standpoint than
doing the PC integration thing. Also, if you're
going the Tivo route, you might want to check
what their repair costs are. I had my Tivo
Series 1 damaged by lightning and back then
the repair policy was for $100 they shipped
me a refurbished unit, which I think is a good
deal.

On 9/8/2011 8:46 AM, George wrote:
(snip)

Much better to go with the HD version Happauge card or adapter. They
aren't expensive. First the quality issue as you noted. Quality will be
much better because those boxes were a kludge to convert DTV to
modulated NTSC. So using the RF input (none of those boxes offer any
other outputs by design)

Uh, wrong- all of the low-end DTV boxes I have also offer the VCR-style
R-W-Y cable option. Noticeably better picture than the 'channel 3'
game-style RF output. If his old TV has inputs for R-W-Y of course. My
ancient Hauppage has the jacks, which I assume are for input, but have
never really played with.

--
aem sends...
would mean two conversions with the first
having degraded the signal a lot. Second, there is a lot less tinkering
because the popular distros know how to change channels directly using
the Happauge card.

wrote

I was told it was one of the poorest brand/models, a Tomtom model One.
Either way, the only way I'd ever own another GPS is if it's given to
me free, and would probably use up shelf space in the closet.

I've driven for about 40 years without a GPS, using free maps from the
D.O.T. and I always got where I was going with little problem. Using
maps, I occasionally wasted a couple miles and 15 minutes of time.
With that GPS, I once wasted over 100 miles and 2 1/2 hours.

I've used a Garmin for a few years now. Handy device if used properly. Like
you, I've travelled cross country a couple of times using regular maps.
Even with the GPS, I use a map to see just where I'm going. I can drive to
any major city in the US with no map at all, just a little knowledge of
geography. If I wanted to attend the Indy 500 race, I know I have to cross
PA, then OH, and into IN. What I use the GPS for is once I'm in the general
area, it will guide me to the motel, or Bob's house, or whatever.

They are not perfect, but they do work. I also have preferences the gps
does not have. An electronic device finds the shortest or fastest route
based on pre-programmed information. There may be "better" routes though,
if you have driven that way before. The computer does not know that a
particular town is awash with school busses so the next street over is
easier, and that type of thing, but it will take you to the destination you
asked for.

..

On Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:31:23 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 06:02:27 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:


wrote

This is why I asked about using an old computer to do this. I can add
a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.



I think you have the layout wrong. The DTV converter is not a tuner, just a
converter. The card should be able to receive the signal and send it to the
HD. If you had a newer TV, that is all you'd need, but since you don't, you
still need the DTV converter after the PC and before your TV.

If you have the Guv'mint "converter", it has a tuner in it. You snatch
the digital signal over the air and down convert it to NTSC for your
old TV or old DVR/VCR.

I was scratching my head as Ed said that it's not a tuner. My
Guv'mint "converter", does have a tuner in it. The tv is ALWAYS set
to AUX. All channel changes are done on the DTV converter.

On Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:54:08 -0400, George
wrote:

a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.


You are missing most of the goodness of a DVR if you do what you are
describing.

Yea, but I cant get the service to use a commercial DVR because I cant
get cable tv. Rural areas like mine dont have cable, and SatTV is
just too expensive. We cant get any internet except dialup either.

DVRs are one of those things you could spend hours explaining to someone
and they still don't get it or you show them how it works and they say
"I want one". Maybe ask a friend for a demo?

I'd like to see one in action. I dont know anyone who has one.
Everyone I know still uses a Vcr.

I built my first one maybe 9 years ago and no one could get how it
worked until I showed it to them. I then built a number of them for
friends. At that time there wasn't much to pick from commercially.

I'd like to see a blowup of what you built.

What I'm most interested in doing, is just recording a movie off the
air, or saving something off the news, such as when a tornado did
severe damage in a nearby town in June, I now have a video tape with 5
minutes of news on it. Really what I want most is just a digital
"VCR", something to record to in digital format, and where I can edit
it, out the commercials or parts I dont want, and maybe save it to
DVD, or turn a few minutes of tv news coverage into a youtube (like)
sort of video.

I'm sure an actual DVR can do a lot more and the weblinks posted on
some replies from this thread showed me what it can do, but none of
that will work off my antenna, and I could not justify the cost of the
service even if I could get cable.

On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 06:02:27 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

I see others mentioned having some sort of service. With cable or
satellite, you get all sorts of nifty option, but they do come at the price
of a subscription. Things like series recordings, program information,
choosing to record only new shows, no re-runs, etc. is very nice to have.
Of course, with cable you get the better channels, like History, Travel,
Discovery, Science, etc. Without them, I could do away with the TV as the
networks have little to offer.


I agree the networks have little to offer, but in the last couple
years they came out with THIS-TV and ME-TV. I love those oldies
programs. That's about all I watch now. But that's just what I want
this DVR for. For example, I have around 20 video tapes just for
Mister ED the talking horse. (my favorite program). It sure would be
nice to be able ot remove all the commercials, and burn that huge
stack of tapes to a few dvds. But I've never found a way to connect a
vcr to a computer either (other than the audio portion).

wrote
I was scratching my head as Ed said that it's not a tuner. My
Guv'mint "converter", does have a tuner in it. The tv is ALWAYS set
to AUX. All channel changes are done on the DTV converter.


I was confusing it with something else. You know you can trust the Guv'mint
to give you what you need.

On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 22:49:56 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:


wrote

I was told it was one of the poorest brand/models, a Tomtom model One.
Either way, the only way I'd ever own another GPS is if it's given to
me free, and would probably use up shelf space in the closet.

I've driven for about 40 years without a GPS, using free maps from the
D.O.T. and I always got where I was going with little problem. Using
maps, I occasionally wasted a couple miles and 15 minutes of time.
With that GPS, I once wasted over 100 miles and 2 1/2 hours.

I've used a Garmin for a few years now. Handy device if used properly. Like
you, I've travelled cross country a couple of times using regular maps.
Even with the GPS, I use a map to see just where I'm going. I can drive to
any major city in the US with no map at all, just a little knowledge of
geography. If I wanted to attend the Indy 500 race, I know I have to cross
PA, then OH, and into IN. What I use the GPS for is once I'm in the general
area, it will guide me to the motel, or Bob's house, or whatever.

It's pretty easy to navigate the Interstate system, cross country. ;-)

They are not perfect, but they do work. I also have preferences the gps
does not have. An electronic device finds the shortest or fastest route
based on pre-programmed information. There may be "better" routes though,
if you have driven that way before. The computer does not know that a
particular town is awash with school busses so the next street over is
easier, and that type of thing, but it will take you to the destination you
asked for.

It also doesn't know that a particular route is a RPITA during rush hour. All
roads (at an equal hierarchy) are the same.

I have a Magellan. The thing has a habit of giving the wrong directions but
displaying the correct information (sometimes). Very annoying. It is still
better than a map for navigating a large city. I would never buy a Magellan
again. I'll likely replace it with a Garmin.

On Sep 9, 4:21*am, wrote:
On Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:54:08 -0400, George
wrote:

a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. *Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.

You are missing most of the goodness of a DVR if you do what you are
describing.

Yea, but I cant get the service to use a commercial DVR because I cant
get cable tv.

The Tivo service works with any or all of over the air TV,
cable and satellite. The service information itself is not
downloaded in one of two ways. Older units used dial
up where it makes a toll free call once a day. Newer ones
use an ethernet connection to your home network.





*Rural areas like mine dont have cable, and SatTV is
just too expensive. We cant get any internet except dialup either. *

DVRs are one of those things you could spend hours explaining to someone
and they still don't get it or you show them how it works and they say
"I want one". Maybe ask a friend for a demo?

I'd like to see one in action. *I dont know anyone who has one.
Everyone I know still uses a Vcr. *


Try looking on Youtube. I bet there are videos
demonstrating how they work.




I built my first one maybe 9 years ago and no one could get how it
worked until I showed it to them. I then built a number of them for
friends. At that time there wasn't much to pick from commercially.

I'd like to see a blowup of what you built. *

What I'm most interested in doing, is just recording a movie off the
air, or saving something off the news, such as when a tornado did
severe damage in a nearby town in June, I now have a video tape with 5
minutes of news on it. *Really what I want most is just a digital
"VCR", something to record to in digital format, and where I can edit
it, out the commercials or parts I dont want, and maybe save it to
DVD, or turn a few minutes of tv news coverage into a youtube (like)
sort of video.

I'm sure an actual DVR can do a lot more and the weblinks posted on
some replies from this thread showed me what it can do, but none of
that will work off my antenna, and I could not justify the cost of the
service even if I could get cable.

From the standpoint of editing, I agree a device like
Tivo isn't going to do what you want. It has no such
capability. As for service cost of a DVR, you can find
older Tivo units on Ebay with lifetime service bundled
in for a reasonable price.

On Sep 9, 4:21*am, wrote:
On Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:54:08 -0400, George
wrote:

a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. *Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.

You are missing most of the goodness of a DVR if you do what you are
describing.

Yea, but I cant get the service to use a commercial DVR because I cant
get cable tv. *Rural areas like mine dont have cable, and SatTV is
just too expensive. We cant get any internet except dialup either. *

DVRs are one of those things you could spend hours explaining to someone
and they still don't get it or you show them how it works and they say
"I want one". Maybe ask a friend for a demo?

I'd like to see one in action. *I dont know anyone who has one.
Everyone I know still uses a Vcr. *

I built my first one maybe 9 years ago and no one could get how it
worked until I showed it to them. I then built a number of them for
friends. At that time there wasn't much to pick from commercially.

I'd like to see a blowup of what you built. *

What I'm most interested in doing, is just recording a movie off the
air, or saving something off the news, such as when a tornado did
severe damage in a nearby town in June, I now have a video tape with 5
minutes of news on it. *Really what I want most is just a digital
"VCR", something to record to in digital format, and where I can edit
it, out the commercials or parts I dont want, and maybe save it to
DVD, or turn a few minutes of tv news coverage into a youtube (like)
sort of video.

A DVD recorder.

On 9/9/2011 4:21 AM, wrote:
On Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:54:08 -0400,
wrote:

a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.


You are missing most of the goodness of a DVR if you do what you are
describing.

Yea, but I cant get the service to use a commercial DVR because I cant
get cable tv. Rural areas like mine dont have cable, and SatTV is
just too expensive. We cant get any internet except dialup either.


Why not? Every DVR I know of has OTA capability.


DVRs are one of those things you could spend hours explaining to someone
and they still don't get it or you show them how it works and they say
"I want one". Maybe ask a friend for a demo?

I'd like to see one in action. I dont know anyone who has one.
Everyone I know still uses a Vcr.

I built my first one maybe 9 years ago and no one could get how it
worked until I showed it to them. I then built a number of them for
friends. At that time there wasn't much to pick from commercially.

I'd like to see a blowup of what you built.

What I'm most interested in doing, is just recording a movie off the
air, or saving something off the news, such as when a tornado did
severe damage in a nearby town in June, I now have a video tape with 5
minutes of news on it. Really what I want most is just a digital
"VCR", something to record to in digital format, and where I can edit
it, out the commercials or parts I dont want, and maybe save it to
DVD, or turn a few minutes of tv news coverage into a youtube (like)
sort of video.

Not much point of saving to DVD except maybe if you want to give a copy
to someone. The whole niceness of a DVR is you get to move away from the
limited and tedious VCR concept of having to have stacks of media that
you manually change.


I'm sure an actual DVR can do a lot more and the weblinks posted on
some replies from this thread showed me what it can do, but none of
that will work off my antenna, and I could not justify the cost of the
service even if I could get cable.

No cable necessary. The various do it yourself versions and windows
media center all can use a tuner such as a Happauge card which will
receive OTA TV allowing you to even record two programs at the same time
if you use a dual version. I know tivo can record OTA too.

On 9/9/2011 6:26 AM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 22:49:56 -0400, "Ed wrote:


wrote

I was told it was one of the poorest brand/models, a Tomtom model One.
Either way, the only way I'd ever own another GPS is if it's given to
me free, and would probably use up shelf space in the closet.

I've driven for about 40 years without a GPS, using free maps from the
D.O.T. and I always got where I was going with little problem. Using
maps, I occasionally wasted a couple miles and 15 minutes of time.
With that GPS, I once wasted over 100 miles and 2 1/2 hours.

I've used a Garmin for a few years now. Handy device if used properly. Like
you, I've travelled cross country a couple of times using regular maps.
Even with the GPS, I use a map to see just where I'm going. I can drive to
any major city in the US with no map at all, just a little knowledge of
geography. If I wanted to attend the Indy 500 race, I know I have to cross
PA, then OH, and into IN. What I use the GPS for is once I'm in the general
area, it will guide me to the motel, or Bob's house, or whatever.

It's pretty easy to navigate the Interstate system, cross country. ;-)

They are not perfect, but they do work. I also have preferences the gps
does not have. An electronic device finds the shortest or fastest route
based on pre-programmed information. There may be "better" routes though,
if you have driven that way before. The computer does not know that a
particular town is awash with school busses so the next street over is
easier, and that type of thing, but it will take you to the destination you
asked for.

It also doesn't know that a particular route is a RPITA during rush hour. All
roads (at an equal hierarchy) are the same.

the newer ones do if you subscribe to the road alert service. it can get
realtime info on road traffic and reroute accordingly.

I have a Magellan. The thing has a habit of giving the wrong directions but
displaying the correct information (sometimes). Very annoying. It is still
better than a map for navigating a large city. I would never buy a Magellan
again. I'll likely replace it with a Garmin.

i have a tomtom that i bought for a trip to italy. when you're presented
with a roundabout with 7 exits, each having a signpost for between 4 and
10 different towns, non-english advisement signs, and high traffic, it's
wonderful to be told 'take the 3rd exit'. my previou trip to italy had
me going around the roundabouts a few times before i could figure out
where to get spit out.

On 9/9/2011 1:30 AM, wrote:
On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 06:02:27 -0400, "Ed
wrote:

I see others mentioned having some sort of service. With cable or
satellite, you get all sorts of nifty option, but they do come at the price
of a subscription. Things like series recordings, program information,
choosing to record only new shows, no re-runs, etc. is very nice to have.
Of course, with cable you get the better channels, like History, Travel,
Discovery, Science, etc. Without them, I could do away with the TV as the
networks have little to offer.


I agree the networks have little to offer, but in the last couple
years they came out with THIS-TV and ME-TV. I love those oldies
programs. That's about all I watch now. But that's just what I want
this DVR for. For example, I have around 20 video tapes just for
Mister ED the talking horse. (my favorite program). It sure would be
nice to be able ot remove all the commercials, and burn that huge
stack of tapes to a few dvds. But I've never found a way to connect a
vcr to a computer either (other than the audio portion).



there are products that can do this. they're not cheap. you want a video
capture card or usb adapter.

http://www.ramelectronics.net/audiov...c22005-p1.html

On 9/9/2011 9:47 AM, George wrote:
On 9/9/2011 4:21 AM, wrote:
On Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:54:08 -0400,
wrote:

a big hard drive, and imagine I need some sort of card, and some
software (not sure what)?
I can sort is see using my DTV converter box as the tuner, but not
sure how to connect it to the PC. Yea, I'd only get one program at a
time with the DTV box, but that's plenty.


You are missing most of the goodness of a DVR if you do what you are
describing.

Yea, but I cant get the service to use a commercial DVR because I cant
get cable tv. Rural areas like mine dont have cable, and SatTV is
just too expensive. We cant get any internet except dialup either.


Why not? Every DVR I know of has OTA capability.


DVRs are one of those things you could spend hours explaining to someone
and they still don't get it or you show them how it works and they say
"I want one". Maybe ask a friend for a demo?

I'd like to see one in action. I dont know anyone who has one.
Everyone I know still uses a Vcr.

I built my first one maybe 9 years ago and no one could get how it
worked until I showed it to them. I then built a number of them for
friends. At that time there wasn't much to pick from commercially.

I'd like to see a blowup of what you built.

What I'm most interested in doing, is just recording a movie off the
air, or saving something off the news, such as when a tornado did
severe damage in a nearby town in June, I now have a video tape with 5
minutes of news on it. Really what I want most is just a digital
"VCR", something to record to in digital format, and where I can edit
it, out the commercials or parts I dont want, and maybe save it to
DVD, or turn a few minutes of tv news coverage into a youtube (like)
sort of video.

Not much point of saving to DVD except maybe if you want to give a copy
to someone. The whole niceness of a DVR is you get to move away from the
limited and tedious VCR concept of having to have stacks of media that
you manually change.

backup. you've never had a hard disk crash, or run out of foom, i would
expect.


I'm sure an actual DVR can do a lot more and the weblinks posted on
some replies from this thread showed me what it can do, but none of
that will work off my antenna, and I could not justify the cost of the
service even if I could get cable.

No cable necessary. The various do it yourself versions and windows
media center all can use a tuner such as a Happauge card which will
receive OTA TV allowing you to even record two programs at the same time
if you use a dual version. I know tivo can record OTA too.

On Sep 9, 12:47*pm, George wrote:
On 9/9/2011 4:21 AM, wrote:


What I'm most interested in doing, is just recording a movie off the
air, or saving something off the news, such as when a tornado did
severe damage in a nearby town in June, I now have a video tape with 5
minutes of news on it. *Really what I want most is just a digital
"VCR", something to record to in digital format, and where I can edit
it, out the commercials or parts I dont want, and maybe save it to
DVD, or turn a few minutes of tv news coverage into a youtube (like)
sort of video.

Not much point of saving to DVD except maybe if you want to give a copy
to someone. The whole niceness of a DVR is you get to move away from the
limited and tedious VCR concept of having to have stacks of media that
you manually change.


Not much point? How about if you record an NFL game for example that
you want to KEEP a copy of?

On Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:07:59 -0700, chaniarts
wrote:

On 9/9/2011 6:26 AM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 22:49:56 -0400, "Ed wrote:


wrote

I was told it was one of the poorest brand/models, a Tomtom model One.
Either way, the only way I'd ever own another GPS is if it's given to
me free, and would probably use up shelf space in the closet.

I've driven for about 40 years without a GPS, using free maps from the
D.O.T. and I always got where I was going with little problem. Using
maps, I occasionally wasted a couple miles and 15 minutes of time.
With that GPS, I once wasted over 100 miles and 2 1/2 hours.

I've used a Garmin for a few years now. Handy device if used properly. Like
you, I've travelled cross country a couple of times using regular maps.
Even with the GPS, I use a map to see just where I'm going. I can drive to
any major city in the US with no map at all, just a little knowledge of
geography. If I wanted to attend the Indy 500 race, I know I have to cross
PA, then OH, and into IN. What I use the GPS for is once I'm in the general
area, it will guide me to the motel, or Bob's house, or whatever.

It's pretty easy to navigate the Interstate system, cross country. ;-)

They are not perfect, but they do work. I also have preferences the gps
does not have. An electronic device finds the shortest or fastest route
based on pre-programmed information. There may be "better" routes though,
if you have driven that way before. The computer does not know that a
particular town is awash with school busses so the next street over is
easier, and that type of thing, but it will take you to the destination you
asked for.

It also doesn't know that a particular route is a RPITA during rush hour. All
roads (at an equal hierarchy) are the same.

the newer ones do if you subscribe to the road alert service. it can get
realtime info on road traffic and reroute accordingly.

I have a Magellan. The thing has a habit of giving the wrong directions but
displaying the correct information (sometimes). Very annoying. It is still
better than a map for navigating a large city. I would never buy a Magellan
again. I'll likely replace it with a Garmin.

i have a tomtom that i bought for a trip to italy. when you're presented
with a roundabout with 7 exits, each having a signpost for between 4 and
10 different towns, non-english advisement signs, and high traffic, it's
wonderful to be told 'take the 3rd exit'. my previou trip to italy had
me going around the roundabouts a few times before i could figure out
where to get spit out.

My Magellan tells you what sort of intersection and which exit to use but it's
often wrong (a "slight right" is often not slight or even a right). I bought
it because it had the larger display and voice directions, when these were
quite expensive options in the Garmin or Tomtom line. Well, it paid for
itself[*] but it does **** me off, at times.
[*] I bought it for my wife when we moved to a large city. She has a
*terrible* sense of direction and can't read a map to the garage.

On 9/9/2011 4:48 AM, Marina wrote:
"Ed wrote in
:


wrote

I was told it was one of the poorest brand/models, a Tomtom model
One. Either way, the only way I'd ever own another GPS is if it's
given to me free, and would probably use up shelf space in the
closet.

I've driven for about 40 years without a GPS, using free maps from
the D.O.T. and I always got where I was going with little problem.
Using maps, I occasionally wasted a couple miles and 15 minutes of
time. With that GPS, I once wasted over 100 miles and 2 1/2 hours.

I've used a Garmin for a few years now. Handy device if used properly.
Like you, I've travelled cross country a couple of times using
regular maps. Even with the GPS, I use a map to see just where I'm
going. I can drive to any major city in the US with no map at all,
just a little knowledge of geography. If I wanted to attend the Indy
500 race, I know I have to cross PA, then OH, and into IN. What I use
the GPS for is once I'm in the general area, it will guide me to the
motel, or Bob's house, or whatever.

They are not perfect, but they do work. I also have preferences the
gps does not have. An electronic device finds the shortest or fastest
route based on pre-programmed information. There may be "better"
routes though, if you have driven that way before. The computer does
not know that a particular town is awash with school busses so the
next street over is easier, and that type of thing, but it will take
you to the destination you asked for.


I have a Garmin,too. It's useful to me especially in areas with busy
traffic where looking at a map would be difficult.

Or just unsafe, inconvenient and time wasting. I was on a highway in an
unfamiliar area. My exit was closed because of an accident. There were
no shoulders. If I had a map I wouldn't be able to use it and if I was
going on guesswork I likely would have turned off at the next exit.
Except that would have given me a 15 mile trip the wrong way.

As soon as the GPS saw I blew past the exit it suggested the second exit
ahead. That put put me on a local street I didn't know but it knew a
route. If I had a map I would have still been going the wrong way after
taking the first exit and then looking at a little postage stamp detail
of the area to find a route.

On 9/9/2011 1:06 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:30:38 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 06:02:27 -0400, "Ed
wrote:

I see others mentioned having some sort of service. With cable or
satellite, you get all sorts of nifty option, but they do come at the price
of a subscription. Things like series recordings, program information,
choosing to record only new shows, no re-runs, etc. is very nice to have.
Of course, with cable you get the better channels, like History, Travel,
Discovery, Science, etc. Without them, I could do away with the TV as the
networks have little to offer.


I agree the networks have little to offer, but in the last couple
years they came out with THIS-TV and ME-TV. I love those oldies
programs. That's about all I watch now. But that's just what I want
this DVR for. For example, I have around 20 video tapes just for
Mister ED the talking horse. (my favorite program). It sure would be
nice to be able ot remove all the commercials, and burn that huge
stack of tapes to a few dvds. But I've never found a way to connect a
vcr to a computer either (other than the audio portion).


That is what a capture card will do for you. They are pretty cheap.
You can even get one with a tuner in it fairly reasonable these days.

The advantage of the Replay TV over just about any DVR is you can
transfer straight to the PC in an MPEG file that DVD burners can use.
You can use Womble or some other editor to crop out the commercials.

That is built in to MythTV. I can even tell it to automatically remove
the commercials it already detected. Unfortunately it has the same
issues as replay because it intentionally won't work with a cable card
as directed by the upstream providers.


Look at AVS Forum for all the details.