Digital Video Recorder

[paulfr]

Are digital video recorders available in LOS ??

They record to a hard disc and allow instant replay

which is great for sports reviewing a great shot

or taking a phone call.

I have not seen any anywhere at the malls,

Pantip, Emporium, MBK, etc

Did I not look hard enough or are they not very

popular here ??

In USA the most popular is TiVo. I know Philips

makes one too. Sony ?? Panasonic ??

Is TiVo available in Thailand ? With updatable schedules

via phone or internet for automatic recording ?

Thanks

[falong]

I know that they sell the digital TV DVD writers for around 20K baht. So that you can record to DVD.

[waldwolf]

Sony, Panasonic (also known outside North America as National), Toshiba, and a dozen others offer digital recorders. Some units also contain DVD burners. Your probably looking at 250-600$ (US) for these units.

TIVO has 2 models, Series 1 and Series 2. In normal usage both require a telephone connection and subscription membership to work, however there is a "workaround" for the Series 1, which would negate the need for the telephone connection and subscription service.

A number of people also offer a "card" for your computer, which allows you to program/record TV on your HDD. Remember, video takes up 1 gig plus of space for every minute recorded time, so you'd need a BIG hard drive.

Sony and a few others also offer computers which include TV record capabilities utilizing Microsoft's WindowsXP Media Edition operating system.

Keep in mind that there are many different TV systems around the world. PAL-1, PAL-2, SECAM-1 SECAM-2, NTSC (many versions), etc., etc.

At the moment, its hard to beat the old VHS Hi-Fi recorder, which you can buy for under 50$(US) and easly share tapes with friends.

[digibum]

A number of people also offer a "card" for your computer, which allows you to program/record TV on your HDD. Remember, video takes up 1 gig plus of space for every minute recorded time, so you'd need a BIG hard drive.

1GB a minute? So a 40 hour Tivo has 2400 GB hard drive? That doesn't sound right. According to the specs for the WinTV-PVR-350 card it says to set aside 2GB per hour of recorded television. That would mean your standard 40 hour Tivo has an 80GB HD which is much more reasonable and that 40 hour quote is at the poorest quality so it's probably a 40GB HD recording at 1GB per minute and if you increase the quality to "High" then you're recording time is cut in half.

The issue with a Tivo and Tivo like services (many of the PVR/DVD combos license the Tivo software), you need a way to update your show schedule. Unless you want to make a bunch of long distance phone calls back to the US (assuming they don't have a local Thai number) you'll want to update via the internet which is possible in the Series 2. Actually, I have my Series 2 plugged into a wireless adapter and it connects via my regular network. Again, only problem might be when you first get the unit. Unless you get really lucky, they make you call in the fist time to get the operating system updates and then you can connect via the internet. Some of this could have changed and since I'm in the US there may be special call in numbers for overseas but that's the skinny on Tivo.

If you do a little research and find that doesn't work for you I would check out building your own unit. All Tivo is, is a Linux computer with their software on it. Microsoft has their HomeMedia software and there are several OpenSource projects going on to develop software to mimic Tivo. Check out Slashdot and Google for PVR Blogs for more info.

[Firefoxx]

I have to agree with the other opinions: The reason you can't find any TIVO-type units here is because you require collaboration between the cable provider (in this case UBC) and the hardware maker.

The alternative is to use add-on TV-tuner cards like the ATI-all in wonder series (which seems to be the favorite). They can do pretty much anything the TIVO can do and more. However, I don't know how compatible they are with UBC's cable system (IE. for switching channels).

[diogenes]

If you have a computer and want to watch or record television, i highly recommend the El Gato EyeTV approach. (This is for the Mac, but I imagine you DOS, I mean Windows, folks have something similar.)

www.elgato.com

For a couple hundred bucks, you can watch and/or record any program. You can also record any show in the future via the internet interface.

Last month i recorded over 50 movies from TCM. The are in MPG format and less than a GB per movie.

They even have a new wireless system that you can broadcast to your laptops. I can just access my movie library or cable connection on my my main hard drive while I move about the house.

Tivo is too expensive if you have a computer with a large enough hard drive!

Happy viewing.

[lomatopo]

An old thread revived ( I searched for "digital video recorders" ), and was wondering if there were any updates. I'm not really looking for TiVo functionality, but just plain old user-programmable digital video recorders here in Thailand.

I did notice an ad in BK Magazine today for Samsung DVD recorders, two models of which have hard drives (Samsung DVD-R121, DVD-HR720 and DVD-HR725).

Regarding other recording options, are VCRs and media generally available in Thailand? What video format is used (PAL? NTSC?).

[loong]

did notice an ad in BK Magazine today for Samsung DVD recorders, two models of which have hard drives (Samsung DVD-R121, DVD-HR720 and DVD-HR725).

Did the ad give the prices? If so can u post them please?

[lomatopo]

did notice an ad in BK Magazine today for Samsung DVD recorders, two models of which have hard drives (Samsung DVD-R121, DVD-HR720 and DVD-HR725).

Did the ad give the prices? If so can u post them please?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No publsihed prices, sorry. I did briefly Google these models but could only find UK prices, which were more expensive than I'd expected. Not sure where these are in the product cycle, nor what local prices might be. If I see any local prices I'll try to remember to post back here.

[Firefoxx]

Local prices for DVD recorders with harddisks are around 20k+. For generic brands with no harddisks, the price may be as low as 10k+. Here are the store prices:

http://www.sahavitayu.com/dvdrecord.shtml

[kidtongue]

Are digital video recorders available in LOS ??

They record to a hard disc and allow instant replay

which is great for sports reviewing a great shot

or taking a phone call.

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Solution: Get a PC with a Big Drive, get another Big Drive for swap space and overruns, have a DVD burner installed (2 if you want), and install the software. Hmm, maybe I'll start putting them together if there's enough interest.

[astral]

Solution: Get a PC with a Big Drive, get another Big Drive for swap space and overruns, have a DVD burner installed (2 if you want), and install the software. Hmm, maybe I'll start putting them together if there's enough interest.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not a good idea.

If you go the PC route you are lumbered with a PC operating system and all the

hiccoughs and bugs that involves.

I bought the Pioneer machine with a 40Gb disk.

It records 40+ hours of material on standard quality - matching the average satellite quality.

It is as easy to programme as a conventional video.

It reboots and recovers automatically when there is a power failure with no loss

of data, except the current programme being recorded.

Can any PC system match that?

[Firefoxx]

There are merits and disadvantages to both methods. A set-top box is fairly straightforward to operate and simple to use. It does its job, but it's limited, and fixed. For the same price, you can get a full PC system, that can, with a lot of configuration/work, get the job done, but can also do a lot of other things. It's flexible and upgradable.

Depends on what you want, and what you're willing to sacrifice/pay.

[yuyi]

...A number of people also offer a "card" for your computer, which allows you to program/record TV on your HDD. ...

Sony and a few others also offer computers which include TV record capabilities utilizing Microsoft's WindowsXP Media Edition operating system.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you have a computer and want to watch or record television, i highly recommend the El Gato EyeTV approach. (This is for the Mac, but I imagine you DOS, I mean Windows, folks have something similar.) www.elgato.com

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just to make it complete, of course SuSE Linix does include - and of course free - a Digital Video Recorder software, called "VDR" (http://www.cadsoft.de/people/kls/vdr/ ) , which is supporting the Siemens DVB-S card and compatible devices. I haven't used it myself (no time for looking TV ) but others are happy with it. It is quite mature, they just had their five year anniversary.

BTW. most, if not all of the commercially available Digital Video Recorder have Linux inside

[autonomous_unit]

...

Just to make it complete, of course SuSE Linix does include - and of course free - a Digital Video Recorder software, called "VDR" (http://www.cadsoft.de/people/kls/vdr/ ) , which is supporting the Siemens DVB-S card and compatible devices. I haven't used it myself (no time for looking TV ) but others are happy with it. It is quite mature, they just had their five year anniversary.

BTW. most, if not all of the commercially available Digital Video Recorder have Linux inside 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now, does anyone know if there is a card like this that will work in Thailand to receive UBC and record? I don't mean having the UBC box near the computer and going via analog cables, but having the satellite tuner in the computer? How does it work? Is there a slot for the smart card that is normally in the UBC set-top box? Now, one that works with linux, so I can use it?

I would love to be able to record some of the movies that are at inconvenient hours, but I am not looking forward to seeing the poor quality of playing the already compressed UBC videos back through analog and compressing them to MPEG again.