Buy new Tivo w/DVD or just add standalone DVD?

dgrrr · 01-19-2006, 05:59 PM

NOTE-- my parents do NOT HAVE DIRECT TV. So the immiment changes to DirectTV issue are not relevant to us.
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My folks are having their 60th anniv in a couple weeks, and I want to add DVD burning capability to their TIVO setup.
NOTE - they ALREADY HAVE TIVO WORKING, they have a SVR 2000 tivo device, a few years old. They have Comcast cable, not directtv.

first --
Should I just add a standalone DVD burner to the mix? OR spend the $ on a new TIVO unit with DVD burner?
My main concerns are, in theis order: (1) interface / is it easy to operate? (I"ll set it up for them), and (2) cost

second --
Should I buy the tivo_com brand (humax) for any reason? If not, I’m looking at the Toshiba line (RS-TX20, 60)... Other brands I heard about are pioneer, sony, Panasonic - any to avoid?

third -
During all my research, I was assuming that
--HDD / DVD Recorder (e.g. Toshiba RS-TX60)
does the samething as a
--DVD Recorder TiVo Series2 Digital Video Recorder (e.g. Toshiba RD-XS54)
Apparently this is wrong, so I wasted hours comparing. Toshiba said I need need to make sure "TIVO" is in the name or description of the device. Is this true?

fourth --
Are there any other landmines like the one above that I should know about?

thanks you guys!

jmace57 · 01-19-2006, 06:45 PM

I have a Humax 80 gig (DRT800) model

I saw on ecost.com that they have a refurb (after rebate) for $139.

Here is the link Linky

they also have a new one for $249 Linky2

I would go with the refurb - I have had good luck with them in the past.

By the way, you're a good son!

Jim

megazone · 01-19-2006, 07:14 PM

I would get the Toshiba RS-TX20/60 or the Humax DRT400/800. The interface is an updated version of the TiVo interface they already know and love. Right now they're stuck on 3.x with the old Series1 Sony they have, so they'll get a ton of new features. And if they have broadband, network it for them and they'll get even more.

Burning DVDs is trivially easy and it is well integrated into the TiVo UI, so it'll be the simplest way to go for them.

dgrrr · 01-19-2006, 10:23 PM

Thanks both of you, I think I'll go with the toshiba.

Turns out there there was a big misconception in my post. I just learned that a "DVD-R/RW Recorder" is a different thing than the "external DVD-R/RW burner" that sits on top of my PC. Somehow the hours of research I did on this stuff didn't expose that fact. I actually went to radio shack, looking for a "tivo-to-dvd-r/rw burner" adapter cord. (My burner only has firewire / usb inputs. It's for PC.)

windracer · 01-19-2006, 10:25 PM

Here's another recent thread on a similar topic (standalone TiVo vs. DVD units):

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...d.php?t=282157

dgrrr · 01-19-2006, 11:03 PM

Thanks, very relevant, very helpful!

I forgot to add to the orig msg -- my folks currently save to VCR, and will need to re-hook up VCR to whaever we buy. So I considered buying a DVD / VCR combo recorder -- intead of a new Tivo + dvd -- but it sounds like teh NEW tivo features that will come with a tivo dvd drive are good enuf that

new tivo + DVD, hooked up to old VCR device
would be better than
old tivo, hooked up to new DVD + VCR device

but that's a whole nother post!

thanks!

dgrrr · 01-20-2006, 01:30 AM

to all -- Am reseaching this issue http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2004/10/issues_with_tiv.html

so IF we keep the old tivo, we can't burn it's contents to the dvd drive on the new tivo. To be able to burn content from old tivo to a DVD burner, the DVD recorder would have to be STANDALONE.

So I gotta decide if that's important (keeping the older tivo as an active unit)

windracer · 01-20-2006, 08:45 AM

That's true ... you cannot MRV content to the DVD units and then burn it onto DVD (see Megazone's comment in the PVRBlog article ... it explains why).

There is a way around this, though: the old analog hole.

It'd be tedious, but it would work. The DVD units (at least, my TX20) have a firewire port for recording from a camcorder, but they also have a menu option to record from the composite jacks.

Hook up your old standalone to the inputs on the new DVD combo unit (check out this post for an example). Then do manual recordings to transfer each show from the old box to the new. These types of recordings can be burned to DVD but you'll lose the episode information (descriptions, actor list, episode numbers, etc. etc.) since it's just a plain recording.

I love being able to record right from firewire. I can film my daughter with the camcorder, then transfer it to the TiVo and burn it to a DVD for my parents pretty quickly (without any editing, of course).

megazone · 01-20-2006, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by windracer

That's true ... you cannot MRV content to the DVD units and then burn it onto DVD (see Megazone's comment in the PVRBlog article ... it explains why).

Of course, his old unit is a Sony SVR-2000, which is a Series1, so it doesn't do networking - so MRV, TTG, etc, is moot anyway. :-)

dgrrr · 01-23-2006, 10:47 PM

Again, many thanks to both of you. Having the 'analog' option makes a big diff. I don't even KNOW if my mother will want to keep the original (older series 1) tivo -- but if she does, AND for some reason she deliberately records stuff on it that's destined for a DVD... then we have the analog option.

I"m going to assume that any device that can output via the yellow + red + white rca cables ("composite video" and right and left audio?), can be likewise hooked up to the "tivo + dvd recorder" unit , and recorded "in the old fashioned way" (using analog)

thanks again!

megazone · 01-24-2006, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgrrr

I"m going to assume that any device that can output via the yellow + red + white rca cables ("composite video" and right and left audio?), can be likewise hooked up to the "tivo + dvd recorder" unit , and recorded "in the old fashioned way" (using analog)

Yep.