No More Tivo DVR's with DVD?

[HIS_DSC_Freak]

I started researching an issue that's escalating for us on our Toshiba RS-TX20: it used to be only certain programs but now seemingly anything we try to burn to DVD give us an "internal error" and fails. I've re-set the machine and unplugged it (after that it got further along in the process, but still failed). Anyway, the few posts I've found on the subject all say re-set or unplug; some people returned their machines to Toshiba and got refurbished ones that ultimately had the same problem.

But in my research I've noticed that NOBODY seems to be selling new Tivo DVR's with DVD recording anymore. Amazon has only third-party sellers (and they seem to be refurbished). BestBuy doesn't sell them. Toshiba still has them on their site, but when you go to find dealers, those dealers don't sell them anymore. Does anybody know what's up? Have they been discontinued?

[megazone]

Yep, all of the DVD units seem to be out of production.

[sommerfeld]

But in my research I've noticed that NOBODY seems to be selling new Tivo DVR's with DVD recording anymore. Amazon has only third-party sellers (and they seem to be refurbished). BestBuy doesn't sell them. Toshiba still has them on their site, but when you go to find dealers, those dealers don't sell them anymore. Does anybody know what's up? Have they been discontinued?
weaknees still has them. I'd been meaning to get one for a while; ordered one late last week and it arrived yesterday.

Try http://www.weaknees.com/dvd-tivo.php

[HIS_DSC_Freak]

Thanks megazone and sommerfield for your replies. It looks like no major retailer (i.e., a BestBuy, Circuit City, Amazon, etc.) is selling either the Humax or Toshiba anymore. I wonder why. It can't be that nobody wants them -- we love being able to archive shows to DVD. Is it an issue with content providers making them back off? Or is it that the technology is still too unstable (lots of folks are reporting the "internal error" when trying to save to DVD)?

But if I decide to replace my RS-TX20, it's good to know weaknees has the Humax's. Thanks.

[ivyvine]

It may be that not enough people were buying them for it to be cost effective to manufacture them, or maybe they are going to make new ones with dual -tuners and work out the bugs in the systems (though I have had one for almost 2 years now and have had hardly any problems with the unit itself). I also don't think it is the content providers, as they had (a year ago?) come up with the "rules" (for lack of a better word) that recording any tv content was fine for personal use as it was not "great quality" and that it was fine with them as many people are now moving to HD and that there will be HD dvr's being made (like the new one from Tivo), and it's those that they will not let you use to record to DVD as the picture/audio quality is much greater than non-HD. So it is illegal to burn to DVD ANY HD content or manufacture your own DVR to do so, though corporations (or anyone that wants to go though the trouble and fees of getting permission to do so) can manufacture a HD-DVR (or one with a dvd burner built-in - if it ever actually happens but probably won't). IF you did have a HD dvr with dvd, the content downloaded would be encrypted/encoded with a flag inside so that when you tried to burn that content, the flag would stop it from doing so (like the copy protected content already on tivo - CNET, Rocketboom, Heavy, iVillage, etc)...