DTV DVR sub cancelled. Is DVR useable as a standalone?

[Dragon2650]

Wanting to use a cancelled sub DirecTiVo (Phillips DSR 708 R-17 DVR) as a standalone Tivo/DVR...Is it possible without having to resort to hacking, and having to learn Linux, etc? As an electronics guru, it seems to me there should be a way to disable or bypass the internal DTV receiver portion in order to use the recorder portion, and I plan on maintaining the DVR sub (if possible) but not the DirecTV sub. I am switching to the 'other' sat provider... Have done countless searches here and on other sites, with no real success other than hacking a unit. Every time I boot it wont go to the menu until it finds the bird...Thanks in advance for the help & direction....

[the new guy]

No, the DTiVo does not have the MPEG encoders found in the SA units. It can ONLY record the DTV signal.

Tim

[Gunnyman]

nope and here's why
A standalone Tivo has a Tuner an ENCODER and a decoder.
Now:
A DTivo has a Tuner (only can tune to the proprietary DTV signal) and a DECODER, but no ENCODER.
A DTiVo has no encoder because the stream from the dish is already encoded at the source.
EDIT
what the new guy said :p

[Dragon2650]

Strange...even if I pump decoded video into the unit? How about an IF signal from the output of a sat receiver? Maybe I'm missing what needs to be encoded...I guess I am assuming it can be used in a sort of 'manual' record mode also.

[the new guy]

A DTiVo records the raw digital bitstream from the satellite. A standalone converts the analog cable signal to MPEG2, then writes it to the hard drive. The DTiVo does not have the MPEG converter required to process an analog signal. It is purely a hardware difference, and has nothing to do with the software in the unit.

Tim

[Dragon2650]

Ahhh...makes perfect sense now. Thanks pal.

[jrgtivo]

but if you hack the box to allow for HMO features, you can use the dtivo to listen to music or look at pictures on your tv via your network.