Did some more research and found that the Region Free, or Code Free DVD recorders sold out of the US or the UK are quite expensive and very similar in price to the ones in Taiwan like the Pioneer for NT$23,000. This is not an option. Going to go back and fix up the HTPC.
Hmm…now I decided to buy the Pioneer 80GB model here in Taiwan for NT$23,000. Too many things might go wrong and if I have to mail it back to the US it would eat into the price difference and be a pain in the butt to fix from Taiwan.
Hobart, when you buy it, let me know how it goes recording dream.
AMOS: Works wonders with CableTV because you can schedule, but with SAT TV you can only record the channel that is on when you go to sleep or the channel you are watching…Jim might have a solution in the future though
Yes, I would like to add a hardrive to the receiver but the engineering means a whole new motherboard and chipset and software…
Oh I see, I misunderstood, I guess you have no solution. I thought you had something in the works for the next generation. Guess I will keep looking elsewhere or try to build it myself in a DIY HTPC SAT TV PVR.
Well, there you go Amos, no solution other than this DVD recorder but it isn’t a very good one actually.
[quote=“Hobart”]Oh I see, I misunderstood, I guess you have no solution. I thought you had something in the works for the next generation. Guess I will keep looking elsewhere or try to build it myself in a DIY HTPC SAT TV PVR.
Well, there you go Amos, no solution other than this DVD recorder but it isn’t a very good one actually.[/quote]
Cheaper solution is a VCR player… all Amos wants to do is tape one or two games of fotty watch them and use the tape and record over it.
There are satellite receivers with harddrives in them but I cannot use them for Dream TV due to the way they structure their own system which is also being upgraded. If I could take the Dream TV card and separate it from it’s decoder then I could use it in a PVR.
But a PVR is being worked on right now Hobart… give us time to get it sorted… we need more memory as well as some other mods. Doesn’t happen overnight.
[quote=“Hobart”]Oh I see, I misunderstood, I guess you have no solution. I thought you had something in the works for the next generation. Guess I will keep looking elsewhere or try to build it myself in a DIY HTPC SAT TV PVR.
Well, there you go Amos, no solution other than this DVD recorder but it isn’t a very good one actually.[/quote]
I nearly purchased a machine in RT Mart last night. 13,000nt for a Lasonic or some such local brand. It has a removable 250gig hard drive and english marked remote. Common sense got the better of me and I did not proceed, primarily because I figured I need to check the net for prices first.
I had forgotten this thread and was just suprised to see so much good information.
- Hobart, I had no idea what aHTPC was but do now after help from our google friend.
ramelectronics.net/html/HTPC.html Does not seem you can have a remote?
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I have used a Phillips VCR for 3 years on long play, 8 hours. It has been good but has just died and tape quality seems to suffer after a few uses on long play. Other problem is searching takes time to get to any segment of the tape you want.
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I did the Costco and 3C look on Sunday. Costco as Hobart mentions is expensive and small HDD size. 3C in Taipei was horrible, in Yang Mei they have all the players together so you can quickly see what is going on.
the 18,000nt was a Japanese brand. Panasonic from memory.
- Not sure what to do now. Don’t really want to back step to another VCR and recordable DVD for around 8,000nt ? Is it slow to find your programs or the bit you want like when you watch a DVD?
HDD just seems so versatile and I imagine it would be fast.
Finding the programs is super easy and fast. You hit a button to see thumbnails with dates and you can even Title them.
HTPCs can have remotes. Mine has two, one from the PVR card and the other I got from GuangHua to operate other programs. PC remotes are not easy to find in GuangHua and you might want to import one.
[quote=“Hobart”]Finding the programs is super easy and fast. You hit a button to see thumbnails with dates and you can even Title them.
HTPCs can have remotes. Mine has two, one from the PVR card and the other I got from GuangHua to operate other programs. PC remotes are not easy to find in GuangHua and you might want to import one.[/quote]
3C have a DVD Phillips player for 8,000nt. So, if I buy that and DVD record programs it won’t be like starting a movie.
I tend to run out of patience starting a dvd movie and choosing all the options and getting to the start.
FAST is the main reason I am thinking hard drive. If FAST is possible with DVD recordable then I’ll go that way.
What you saw is DVD recorder, not DVD recorder with HDD. For NT$8,000 there was no HDD, so it might not be that fast. The Pioneer that I purchased with HDD is indeed superfast. Two clicks. Much faster than DVD menus etc.
BTW, do a search for Phillips in the AVSforum and you will see they have reliability problems.
I bought the BenQ DE350. It has a 160GB HD and works like a charm with my dream satellite. In fact, I dozed off again 3/4 pissed last night at quarter time - fortunately I was recording the game so watched the rest this morning.
Nice to know it works well… A few too many crownies and meat pies again eh? Can you post some specs?
Nice to know it works well… A few too many crownies and meat pies again eh? Can you post some specs?[/quote]
Interface
Inputs:
- SCART2 (CVBS I/O, Audio I/O, S-Video)
- Composite Video (CBVS)
- S-Video
- IEEE 1394/Firewire/iLink
- Antenna IEC75
- Analogue Audio L/R
Outputs:
- SCART1 (CVBS I/O, Audio I/O, S-Video)
- Analogue Audio L/R
- Component Video (Interlaced)
- Composite Video (CBVS)
- S-Video
- Digital Audio (Coaxial, Optical)
Video Compatibility Video Signal Format: NTSC / PAL
Progressive scanning 480p
Horizontal Resolution: 625 lines
Color Black and Silver
Weight 14.2 lbs. (Gross)
Has a hard disk capacity of 160GB, which amounts to around 200 hours of video. I believe the highest quality HDX gives over 30 hours.
I just saw the Benq for around 18k in 3C is this where you brought it?
[quote=“Ironman”]I just saw the Benq for around 18k in 3C is this where you brought it?[/quote]Ironman, I snapped a photo of the price and specs at 3c and then surfed up some information. Once everything looked ok, I went up the road to a local TV dealer and asked him to match the price.
Hey, I’m really happy. Your the early adopter! Brave. 3C sucks for service so what a good idea to get it elsewhere. I did the same with a computer.
Questions.
- Is it okay for all play zones?
- Are the instructions in english?
- Is the remote in english and easy to use?
- Is there the smallest chance that Benq know what they are doing and its internally specs are for more than 1,000 hours of use?
Keep in mind that I manufacture in Taiwan and keeping the cost cutters away from my specifications seems to be the biggest headache.
OK, 1 by 1 ironman.
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Is it okay for all play zones? I have an xbox that plays all zones so I’m not sure. If I can get my hands onto some DVDs from different zones I’ll check it out.
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Are the instructions in English? The interface has options of many languages. It’s defaulted to English so setup was a breeze. Unfortunately the manual is in Chinese. I’ve messaged benq for an English manual.
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Is the remote in English and easy to use? Remote is in English. Peace of cake. Just hit record and you’re recording to your hard drive.
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Is there the smallest chance that Benq know what they are doing and its internally specs are for more than 1,000 hours of use? I’m not sure about this. Where did you find this info?
I made up the 1,000 hours, Just seems a round figure manufacturers can use to say 365 days x 3 hours gets you approx’ there.
I have a Benq camera and its been faultless. Be good to know about the zones. Hope it gives you a great run.
[quote=“Ironman”]I made up the 1,000 hours, Just seems a round figure manufacturers can use to say 365 days x 3 hours gets you approx’ there.
I have a Benq camera and its been faultless. Be good to know about the zones. Hope it gives you a great run.[/quote]I have a BenQ projector and it works like a charm too, that’s why I wasn’t fussed going BenQ.