The HD digital version of a VCR!

D

David W. Richardson

Chapelgrove Films
This thing apparently works just like a VCR connected to a digital cable setup!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LAP3GC8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Connect it between the output of your cable or satellite box and the input of your HDTV, via the HDMI ports. You'll probably need this HDMI splitter to overcome the HDCP problem.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004F9LVXC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3J1IU3A1OXJ4I

The recorder has no tuner, so it's only going to record whatever channel your cable or satellite box is set on -- so no watching one channel while recording another, but I can't do that with my VCR either. You can program it like a VCR. It records 1080p HD 30fps to an external USB drive -- either a flash drive or a standalone hard drive. Playback is through the device, or you can take the drive to your computer and download the .MP4 files to your computer. Do what you like with them there.

I have two TVs -- one in the living room, one in the bedroom. Each has its own digital cable box. If I get two of these, I can do my recording in the bedroom while we watch a different channel in the living room, then bring the flash drive and plug it into the unit in the living room to watch what was recorded.

For a total of about $151 for both the unit and the HDMI splitter (plus you'll need an HDMI cable and a USB drive), it seems like a pretty good deal to me!

Exactly what I've been looking for -- a digital replacement for my VCR. And it records in HD! Sweet!
 
Glad you found a solution that's gonna(hopefully) work the way you want. BUT, why didn't you just go with the native DVR service from you cable/sat provider? I've had DVR service going back to the early 2000's with an SD TIVO with DirecTV and it's one of those things that you can't go back to living without. Currently I have their Genie(record 5 chs at once) in one room and a "normal" HD DVR that records two chs in another room. It's all set-up on their "whole home DVR" system that allows me to watch any recorded program on the DVR that it was recorded on AND/OR any other DVR connected to the system, plus on my iPad, iPhone, laptop, etc. And set recordings via the app on my cell phone, etc. It's just a lot more simple, easy and elegant than trying to cobble together a system that's not as versatile.
 
Run&Gun said:
Glad you found a solution that's gonna(hopefully) work the way you want. BUT, why didn't you just go with the native DVR service from you cable/sat provider? I've had DVR service going back to the early 2000's with an SD TIVO with DirecTV and it's one of those things that you can't go back to living without. Currently I have their Genie(record 5 chs at once) in one room and a "normal" HD DVR that records two chs in another room. It's all set-up on their "whole home DVR" system that allows me to watch any recorded program on the DVR that it was recorded on AND/OR any other DVR connected to the system, plus on my iPad, iPhone, laptop, etc. And set recordings via the app on my cell phone, etc. It's just a lot more simple, easy and elegant than trying to cobble together a system that's not as versatile.
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Because I have the very most basic cable package -- "Standard Cable". That means no fancy features, just a tiny digital converter box and a basic lineup of channels that includes my local stations, TBS, TNT, AMC, USA, Headline News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, The Weather Channel, Nat Geo, Hallmark, CMT, Lifetime Movie Channel, SyFy, etc -- most of them also include an HD version of the channel.

To get their DVR, I would have to have their 'Preferred TV' package (which costs more and has more channels, which I don't need), and then I would have to pay an additional monthly fee to 'rent' their DVR. Granted, I would then be able to record 5 shows at once, but I never seem to have that need.

So why should I shell out all that money month after month endlessly when I can spend $150 one time and have what I need? If I buy two -- one for each TV -- then I can record one show while watching another, or record two shows on different channels at the same time. Works for me!
 
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I just did some quick calculating. If I upgraded to TWC's "Preferred TV" package with the "whole house DVR", for the extra money it would cost me every single month I would have paid for two of these 'digital VCRs' in 2-3 months.

I don't need 'whole house DVR' when I've only got 2 TV's and there's only 2 of us living here and we do nearly all of our TV watching in the living room. I don't need to stream TV to my phone or my tablet. (I didn't buy a 42" HDTV so I could watch TV on an 8" tablet screen, much less a smaller smartphone screen.) And I don't need 200+ channels, many of which are sports channels (I'm not a sports fan), music channels (radio on the TV???), and Spanish language channels (no habla Espanol.) I also have no interest in HBO, Showtime, CineMax, Starz, etc.

I have a Roku stick with Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and Acorn TV, plus a lot of free channels with cheesy scifi, horror and 'drive in' movies. And it also has FandangoNow, so we can rent new release movies when we want. (We can rent from Amazon too.) One day we may decide to get Hulu as well, but so far we haven't needed to take that plunge.

All of that pretty much covers our needs. So it's really not worth it to me to shell out the extra bucks every month just so I can have a DVR which will record 5 shows at once (never needed) and play them in all TWO televisions in my house. The cost-vs-benefit analysis says it's just not for me. For others, yes -- but not me.
 
David, I know you are excited about your find but I would suggest taking delivery of the unit and the splitter, putting it through its paces and ensuring that it all works to your satisfaction before promoting it as a solution. There well may be caveats and I think it would be more helpful to others if those are detailed out. Regardless, I hope that this setup does serve your needs.
 
ProfessorU said:
If people are using an antenna, or unencrypted cable, they can use this as a PVR and spend 1/4 of the price. It only has coax in, no HDMI.

http://amzn.to/2ad11k5
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That device is just like the RCA DTA880 that I tried first. It won't work with my cable box. It only works with a digital antenna.

"This product does NOT work with TIVO and cable company such as Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, Shaw Cable, etc."

But yes, if you're using a digital antenna, then this is an option.
 
CharlesPapert said:
David, I know you are excited about your find but I would suggest taking delivery of the unit and the splitter, putting it through its paces and ensuring that it all works to your satisfaction before promoting it as a solution. There well may be caveats and I think it would be more helpful to others if those are detailed out. Regardless, I hope that this setup does serve your needs.
Click to expand...

I'm not promoting as a solution, but it is a possible option. I've ordered mine. I'll let you know how it works out. Fingers crossed!
 
Yes, I forgot to mention a few days ago that I tested the splitter with DirecTV and a Sony Blu-ray player and it does indeed remove the copyguard on both for external recording.
 
It doesn't want to record on more than half of an 8GB Toshiba flash drive -- a tad over 58 minutes worth -- but it's a pretty old drive. Might work better on a newer drive. I connected an external USB hard drive -- also Toshiba -- that has about 61GB of free space on it and was able to record one hour and 45 minutes before I stopped it. I'll start it recording again at bedtime tonight, and see how much I get on it before it stops.

After recording, I took each drive and connected it to my PC. I'm able to watch the shows recorded on my PC. I can also copy the .MP4 files to my hard drive and open/edit them with my NLE.

Very cool so far!
 
DigitalVision said:
Hi David,

Check formatting of drive, as FAT32 has a 4GB file-size limit. Try NTSF instead

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers
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Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the advice, but the AVerMedia EZRecorder requires NTSF-formatted media, so the drive is formatted for NTSF. I did a low-level format of the drive, but still the same. I considered formatting with a different allocation unit size, but haven't tried that yet. Since the USB hard drive works so well, I may just stick with that. It is a curious anomaly, though.
 
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