Dvrs

[Upcountry]

Hi folks,

I have UBC and cable coming into two TV's in different rooms, and I would like to get a DVR to prerecord movies from UBC as well as capture news programs, etc., from cable and UBC.

Recently I saw a DVR at a new store in my town (The Power) and finally saw one in Big-C on sale for 14k baht!

The Philips unit at the store is similar to what is available via tohome.com, but for more money of course.

Here's a list of what I know about so far. I'm interested in usage and dependability experiences users have had with these units.

Also, part of my goal is to hook UBC and cable up as inputs. I think my options are to use the coax input for cable and maybe RCA inputs from the UBC box to the DVR and then the same from the DVR to the TV. If I use the other TV setup, I'll have to divert the T-connector line from my TV (which combines UBC and cable and means that channel 0 (zero) is UBC and the rest are cable) to the DVR and then output to the TV. I wonder how this has worked for others. I know I still have to manually change the UBC channel, unfortunately.

Here’s the list:

Sony RDR-HX910 - 250gig 30,000 baht advertised in UBC mag July

http://audiovisual.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/sbs/10...3/13716615.html

http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPF-Sony_Sony_RDRHXD910

BIG C: LG RH7521W (80 gig drive)

http://www.cnet.com.au/dvdpvr/dvdrecorders...40004024,00.htm

http://shopping.yahoo.com.au/b/a/cp_100304...a_dvdpr_dl.html

http://shopping.yahoo.com.au/b/a/sbs/100304323/16326884.html

tohome.com DVR listings as of today:

Aconatic DVD Recorder AN-8010 DRW JPonline 7,500 6,990

DVD Recorder + HDD 160GB PHILIPS Model DVDR3360H Sinsiam Plus 20,990 19,990

DVD Recorder + HDD 160GB SAMSUNG Model DVD-HR735 Sinsiam Plus 19,990 18,990

DVD Recorder + HDD 350GB PHILIPS Model DVDR3370H Sinsiam Plus 25,990 24,990

LG DVD Recorder RH7521W JPonline 22,900 22,900

Soken unit someone mentioned in another Thaivisa thread (that I can't locate now):

SOKEN DVD Recorder DW-9916

http://www.asiaprnews.com/business/photo-r...er-dw-9916.html

Partly because of Big-C's seven day return policy, and partly due to price, I'm thinking about getting the LG, even though I normally avoid that brand. I've hear that DVR's can be noisy, due the hard drive. I saw a fan box sticking out of the LG.

Another thing to think about, longer term, is that at some point digital programming may make these units obsolete, but I don't know when that might happen. It's an issue in the US and other places.

So, I welcome any and all constructive responses to this query. Let's see if we can agree on the best DVR to get in Thailand these days!

Edited July 8, 2006 by Upcountry

[astral]

I have the Pioneer DVR 720H. It was one of the best buys I ever made.

It has 3 inputs and two outputs, all RCA plugs and S-video.

I have my satellite box plugged in with RCA for sound and S-video.

The satellite box has 2 outputs, so one goes direct to the TV.

The coax input will be OK for cable, but remember the quality of cable is not that good. The cable connection has pass through, so you can run that direct to the TV if you wish. Really, avoid coax if you can.

RCA and S-video output to the TV.

The UBC box has no programmer timing facility

so you have to remember to change the channel when you want a different programme. Such boxes do exist and you might want to buy one!!

I generally record on Standard Play, 2 hours on a DVD when backing up.

To be honest there is no point in using a higher setting, the broadcast quality simply does not justify it.

The direct connections to the TV are not really necessary, as the DVR allows you to record one programme whilst watching a previously recorded one.

All my viewing is time shifted now (record and watch later).

It means I am not tied to the box and can respond to my children's request in real time.

[Upcountry]

Thanks, astral,

Indeed on of my main goals is to get away from having to worry about the TV schedule for real-time viewing. The other is to be able to pause movies, and not have to miss parts of them because of thunderstorm interruptions.

I hate the 7pm start times of some movies too!

I did a quick search for the Pioneer DVR 720H and didn't see it listed - I did see the DVR-630H-S listed on sowhat.co.th (http://www.sowhat.co.th/product/detail.asp?pid=3360). I don't know anything about that outfit - on English either.

I noticed earlier that the 630H-S is considered a very good buy by Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/fea...7569401-4035811

Did you buy your unit in Thailand?

[astral]

The DVR 720H may be out of fashion now.

I have had my unit for 18 month and bought it in the airport in Singapore.

It has a 160Gb disk, which is just enough for my purposes.

I have only seen the smaller 80Gb version in Thailand.

Get the biggest disk that you can. You will be surprised how quickly it fills up, especially if you start archiving a few series to back up to DVD.

Beware. If there is a thunderstorm and the signal goes whilst recording,

you will not know until you come to watch later...............

[g00dgirl]

Does anyone know which HDD/DVD recorders have a more user friendly menu than the Philips ones?

It's a hassle to put in names for recordings you saved and to split recordings and finalize a DVD, the interface is somewhat slow to use on the Philips one I have, it could probably use more processing power, too.

Anyone had a Philips one and another one to compare where usability was better?