Dvr's In Thailand

[Upcountry]

Recently I posted a question about DVRs (digital video recorders) in Thailand in the Internet, computers, communication, technology in Thailand forum. I realize that they are still relatively uncommon here, and certainly expensive , but I’m surprised that the response was so limited from the farang community. I’ve seen other attempts in the forum as well, with limited response. I’m guessing that many people have chosen not to get updates on new posts from that sub forum, so I hope more readers will see this one and will be willing to weigh in.

I’m looking for a digital video recorder to better deal with the TV schedule and with movie channels on UBC (pre-record to avoid “Segal” moments and storm drop-outs).

Prices are coming down and I’m seeing more and more of them around with the apparent ability to deal with Thai channels. A good manual recording feature is essential since we don’t have anything like Tivo around here.

Here’s a short list of units I’ve found so far:

Sony RDR-HX910 (250 gig drive): B30,000

PHILIPS Model DVDR3370H (250 gig drive): B25,000

PHILIPS Model DVDR3360H (160 gig drive): B19,990

SAMSUNG Model DVD-HR735 (160 gig drive): B19,990

LG RH7521W (80 gig drive): B13,900

Aconatic AN-8010 DRW: B7,500

Some have HDMI output, but I doubt that matters with the kind of programming sources we can expect for at least a year or two, but it might be good for playing pre-recorded DVDs on a 1080i TV. It’ll probably be a couple of years before we get one of those.

So I invite you to share your experience with units you have bought and use here.

If you have success setting up a computer-based DVR let’s here that too! So, far what I’ve seen is limited (hard to watch the result on a TV).

Thanks.

UC

Edited July 26, 2006 by Upcountry

[rono]

I bought a dvd recorder without hard disk some months ago, main reason: they are cheap compared the ones with hard disk. With discs being price around 10 baht it doesn't matter too much if you have to throw away one due to bad signal. You can record 4 movies on one disc so if you have a bad quality movie due to weather you just delete it from the disc.

If you buy a dvd for 10,000 + 1000 dicsc at 10 baht you will have paid 20,000 baht or the price of a dvd recorder with HD but you will have 1000 discs on which you can record 4 movies or will have 4000 movies.

Regarding 1080 dpi tv's, look at samung dlp, they have it.

My tv, dvd home theathre and dvd recorder are all samsung, have optical and hdmi connections and work well.

I would if you stick with the top 5 listed on your post, dont buy the cheap brand..you get what you pay for

[Mobi]

I bought a Pioneer DVR -330-S form Emporium last year for around 12,00 Baht (I cant remember exactly - maybe a bit more).

This does not have a hard disc, but as the previous post says, DVD R's and RW's are so cheap it is hardly worth the extra expense. My m/c has XP, SP, LP, EP, SLP and SEP recording options, which range from one hour for XP to Ten hours on SEP. I usually use LP (4 hours) which gives me very good quality.

It can also record from a camcorder, and recorded discs can be played on other, ordinary, dvd machines. It also has a sophisticated editing facility, a chase the programme facility (start watching a recorded programme while it is still recording) and a host of other things too numerous to mention.

I am far from a techie, but I find this machine very user friendly with its on screen menu, and have recorded al load of stuff from the TV - programmes, movies etc, and even used the chase the programme facility to sync up an English soundtrack on the internet with the World cup picture from thai TV.

I understand that it is very highly rated, and I would certainly recommend it. I do not work for Pioneer.

Have fun

Mobi

[Old Man River]

Upcountry, like you I am looking. I was in Singapore a few months ago, and when converting the price of the 250 GB recorders from Sing dollars to THB, the difference really isn't all that much. I know THB 30,000 sounds like it is a lot, but for one of the top of the line machines, it isn't.

For me, right now I am trying to decide whether to go for the top of the line DVR now, or go with a cheap DVD player with videotape player/recording capabilities and then get the expensive DVR two years from now, when the hard disk capacity is 1 gajillion. Decisions, decisions.

[sin_bkk]

I have the phillips 160 gb ,and I am happy with it ...well,I bought it in singapore , but this doesn't matter. I converted it to be country code free, this als was easy .

I alos use ITV , a mac based digital reciever/decoder . Works on terrestric analog and digital tv and cable tv , and you can scheduel your recordings via some internet programm guieds ( the mac is connected via bluetooth/gprs mobile phone) never tried this in thailand, but I am sure it works there as well.It works well in Singapore, Malaysia, USA,UK,Germany , that I have ried out myself .

You can than distribute yoyur recordings wireless in your home if you have a second computer and a fast wireless card left. So, you can create your own private wireless media server.

ITV also has a "one button export to IPOD " feature, so you can copy your recordings to your video-ipod and take them with you .

[Upcountry]

Thanks, folks, for your input.

sin_bkk, interesting point about converting to country code free. I imagine that would be necessary for machines bought here too. Good to to know that the Philips works well.

Rono, and Mobi, good suggestion about non-hard drive units. I like the idea of being able to watch and pause during recording, which I think is only possible with a hard drive unit, but for the price difference, you suggest a good compromise.

Yes, I think Pioneer does sell some good stuff.

Edited July 29, 2006 by Upcountry

[OldAsiaHand]

Another point to consider:

I also decided on a DVD recorder without a hard drive because I thought that having a disk to carry around would give me far more flexibility. I record sports due to the times the live broadcasts come in here, then I pop the disk into a player in whatever room I am in when I want to watch. I even watch the disks on my laptop in the car occasionally. Can't do that with an internal hard drive.....

[pgrin]

Another point to consider:

I also decided on a DVD recorder without a hard drive because I thought that having a disk to carry around would give me far more flexibility. I record sports due to the times the live broadcasts come in here, then I pop the disk into a player in whatever room I am in when I want to watch. I even watch the disks on my laptop in the car occasionally. Can't do that with an internal hard drive.....

I made my own PVR for about 2000 Baht. Buy and install a TV tuner card in your PCTV Tuner card, save to your pc hard drive. If you want to burn a disc I use VCD because CD-Rs are cheap. I would like to know where Rono finds DVD-R for 4 baht. Takes about 10 minutes to install the card and you are good to go.

P

[Upcountry]

I found out that the Panasonic DMR-EH60 is available at a discount from Home Pro. I got excited about the higher quality low quality recording feature and the fast DVD recording ability. But then I found that while it supports DVD-RAM it does not support DVD+RW (only +R).

That's a drag, as I have a set of DVD+RW's and finding DVD-RW's or RAMS in my town will be pricey ( think. Not easy to get to Phantip. I'm inclinded right now to get the Philips DVDR3370H instead (no RAM, but +RW). My mind is not made up yet, though.

The Panasonic is much cheaper with a 200GB disk. That's less than the Philips 250 but the better quality small file recording ability would make up for that. I'm hoping to learn more about pros and cons of each before deciding.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Upcountry

[Upcountry]

Further update:. The PHILIPS Model DVDR3360H (160 gig) is a much better deal right now, on sale at Home Pro for B17,900), so I got one.

Man, I love the time-shift feature, not available on the Panasonic, which makes missing parts of a program a non-issue. Last night I backed up several times to repeat parts of a movie when I was distracted and thought I had missed something worth looking at again.

I've been able to record movies too to watch later, either off the hard drive on or DVD. Right now I have only three complaints.

One is the quality of the delay of the recording, even at HQ. I hope it's just because I have to fine-tune the channel input, but right now the picture is more blurry and the sound is more tinny when played back through the DVR then when I view it directly on the TV (particularly for one channel). I could stand to fine tune some cable channels on the TV as well, so I wouldn't be surprised it that's all there is too it. The unit's troubleshooting section even covers this point.

Another is the sound output. There is a digital output, but on my receiver the round coax only works for CD, not DVD. The optical connector I use for my DVD player is missing on the DVR.

My last complaint is that the recording features (at least the time-shift) only seems to work on the antenna input. In my home I have cable TV coming in via coax, and UBC connected via RCA to the TV. When I set the inputs up the same way on the DVR, UBC ends up on the EXT 1 (auxiliary) input and is not available for time-shift as far as I've been able to determine.

I guess that leads to my biggest gripe about TV in Thailand, which is that the monopoly of UBC is such a backwards dinosaur. I wish their programming was available as a premium package via the local cable company so that I could record one UBC channel and watch another. It's also a huge pain to have to set the DVR for the UBC input and then remember to set the UBC box to the channel I want at a specific time. Wake up UBC!

Edited August 19, 2006 by Upcountry

[Upcountry]

Addendum to addendum!

I discovered on second try that I could set the timer to record from “ext1”, the auxiliary input. I also managed to get the time shifting /instant replay to work with the ext1 input as well, so I take back what I said above in the third complaint.

I can in fact time shift and record from other than antenna input, so the UBC box itself isn’t creating an insurmountable problem. Nevertheless, the fact that I have to change the channels on the UBC box will be even more of a bother now when I use the DVR to record programs overnight, etc.

In a few years we’ll be remotely programming our wide-screen TV’s with our mobiles, but for now LOS just has to remain stuck in the 20th century. At least I don’t have to pine for a Tivo anymore. ;-)

[fxm88]

If you are sufficiently techy you might investigate MythTV, a homebrew PVR project.

I suspect the deal-breaker for any of these will be the (un)availability of program guide/schedule information.

[sleepyjohn]

I made my own PVR for about 2000 Baht. Buy and install a TV tuner card in your PCTV Tuner card, save to your pc hard drive. If you want to burn a disc I use VCD because CD-Rs are cheap. I would like to know where Rono finds DVD-R for 4 baht. Takes about 10 minutes to install the card and you are good to go.

P

Hey very interesting.

I have a Macbook that will run Mac or Windows.

I'd love to use it to

1. record programs from UBC

2. use it as a monitor to watch TV at my future weekend place, taking my UBC box and card with me, and getting another dish set up there.

I started searching a bit as I don't know much at all.

Got recommended el Gato eyetv 250 but not at all happy if it'll do, and quite a lot dearer.

Any ideas??

Also can i get another dish from UBC d'you know? Would they let me have a second? Or use a generic one cheaper and set up myself?

thanx for any input...

[rono]

I didn't say that prices for dvd-r are 4 baht, prices are around 12 baht each, if you record 4 movies on one disc the price of one movie is...wait a minute..need calculator ..yes 3 baht per movie

[pgrin]

I made my own PVR for about 2000 Baht. Buy and install a TV tuner card in your PCTV Tuner card, save to your pc hard drive. If you want to burn a disc I use VCD because CD-Rs are cheap. I would like to know where Rono finds DVD-R for 4 baht. Takes about 10 minutes to install the card and you are good to go.

P

Hey very interesting.

I have a Macbook that will run Mac or Windows.

I'd love to use it to

1. record programs from UBC

2. use it as a monitor to watch TV at my future weekend place, taking my UBC box and card with me, and getting another dish set up there.

I started searching a bit as I don't know much at all.

Got recommended el Gato eyetv 250 but not at all happy if it'll do, and quite a lot dearer.

Any ideas??

Also can i get another dish from UBC d'you know? Would they let me have a second? Or use a generic one cheaper and set up myself?

thanx for any input...

Sleepy,

A tv tuner set up for a note book is a little more expensive but still a lot cheaper then a stand alone dvr. You have 2 options, USB2 external tuner orCardbus Tv Tuner PCMCIA. You need to have enough space on your hard drive t save your video but both work well.

P

[VanZam]

I second that.

I also use a TV card with my computer, does everything the DVRs do, except the 2000 baht investment for a good tv card wont break the bank.

[Upcountry]

sin_bkk,

I'm still enjoying my Philips 3360H, but there a couple of caveats. I don't know if you or others have experienced this and might have a suggestion.

When hooked up to cable via coax, I notice that the sound and video quality through the DVR is lower than when viewed directly on the TV (even though the signal passes through the DVR). I tried fine-tuning the channel, but I couldn't improve on the default. I'm trying to find out if this is just the nature of the unit, a wire connection/cabling problem, or something else.

I called Philips Thailand but the minimally English speaking person told me someone would call me back. I'm waiting, hours later.

I'm also frustrated by a audio output limitation of the box. My DVD player has an optical digital sound out, which works nicely on my surround sound receiver. But the 3360H only has a coaxial digital output. I had to program my receiver to take that input in as DVD audio instead of CD. I've noticed some funky issues with surround sound using this setup. For instance, during China Moon, the background sounds that normally come out of the left and right speakers disappear when an actor talks, and the voice comes out of the center speaker. Somehow there is a crude "gate" to the sound processing, not a subtle as with my DVD hookup. The receiver seemed to sense the digitally processed surround sound, but maybe it isn’t getting it right from the HQ HDD recording playback.

I’m still experimenting, but I noticed some channel issues with MP3’s from a DVD as well (right channel not coming in right away). I don’t have any problems with the receiver using my CD player of DVD player. There might be a problem with my cable or receiver, but that seems unlikely.

I have the DVR's output set to default for multi-channel receiver.

This sound output problem is practically a deal breaker. The SAMSUNG DVD-HR 735, I noticed, does have optical digital out, in addition to HDMI, but it only supports DVD-RW (not +).

[chownah]

I'm interested in the USB ported external tuner. I only have broadcast tv and want to record some news broadcasts etc. so that I can play them back and learn the Thai language from them. My question is; how do I hook up the antenna? So far this is a theoretic question....if an antenna can not be connected then I will not try to purchase one. Without an antenna you get nothing where I live...at least on a regular tv you get nothing...with the antenna the reception is ok.

[libya 115]

I second that.

I also use a TV card with my computer, does everything the DVRs do, except the 2000 baht investment for a good tv card wont break the bank.

I'm interested in the USB ported external tuner. I only have broadcast tv and want to record some news broadcasts etc. so that I can play them back and learn the Thai language from them. My question is; how do I hook up the antenna? So far this is a theoretic question....if an antenna can not be connected then I will not try to purchase one. Without an antenna you get nothing where I live...at least on a regular tv you get nothing...with the antenna the reception is ok.

Yes: I am interested as well. Are USB T.V. tuners readily available in Thailand? And would a small wire antenna be enough to receive CH 3,5,7,9,11 etc onto my PC?

[pgrin]

I second that.

I also use a TV card with my computer, does everything the DVRs do, except the 2000 baht investment for a good tv card wont break the bank.

I'm interested in the USB ported external tuner. I only have broadcast tv and want to record some news broadcasts etc. so that I can play them back and learn the Thai language from them. My question is; how do I hook up the antenna? So far this is a theoretic question....if an antenna can not be connected then I will not try to purchase one. Without an antenna you get nothing where I live...at least on a regular tv you get nothing...with the antenna the reception is ok.

Yes: I am interested as well. Are USB T.V. tuners readily available in Thailand? And would a small wire antenna be enough to receive CH 3,5,7,9,11 etc onto my PC?

USB TV Tuner

You can plug an antenna or cable into the box and recieve TV signal. Record to your hard drive if space available.

P

[astral]

Forget anything based on a PC and windows, it is nowhere as good as the DVR's available today.

I have had the Pioneer DVR-720H for 18 months now.

It is marvellous. As easy to programme as the old VCRs and the capacity

of the hard disk is huge. No need to fiddle about loading disks every few hours, like the old VCR's and their tapes.

I can programme the machine and leave it recording for weeks whilst I am away on buisness.

If there is a power failure it recovers automatically, you can't say that of a PC based solution.

Most programmes are watched an then deleted, but if I want I can drop the programme to a DVD. A 2 hour programme can be copied to DVD in just a few minutes.

[pgrin]

Forget anything based on a PC and windows, it is nowhere as good as the DVR's available today.

ASTRAL,

I agree with the above statement just as I agree with the statement that a Honda is nowhere as good as a Porsche. I did a quick search and found the price of your shiny toy to be between $800.00-$1000.00Pioneer DVR. I bought a pcmcia tv tuner card and an 250GB(Pioneer=160GB) external hard drive for less then $125.00. The card has all of the functions of The Pioneer DVR and the external hard drive is mulifunctional. My computer is plugged into a UPS so power failures are not an issue. As for programming, I get a screen on my computer monitor that I input using the keyboard and mouse, not pointing a handheld remote at a distant screen.Most computers come with a dvd recordable drive. Also, when I travel I can watch videos from the hard drive, no need to burn/waste a disc. When I travel to and from Thailand my tv tuner comes with me inside my laptop so I can use it anywhere. I agree your choice is an elegant solution but it is not the only way to go.

P