[glasshalffull]

I'm going to buy a dvd recorder to connect directly to my tivo, I need recommendations please.

I'm sick of the hassle of transferring from tivo to pc and then after 11 hours of recording, finding out that for some unknown reason, the dvd won't play in my dvd player.

I have a series 2 tivo. any ideas will help my research along.

thanks

 

[newsposter]

I've had a panasonic E80 for over 2 years. I've burnt the entire stargate series as well as buffy (3 per dvd in SP). I use 90% memorex -r and have had maybe 5 bad disks out of the hundreds of good ones. I like the way it edits but never used anything else so that statement doesnt mean much.

the E80 has been updated but you'd have to look here for the latest. If you have specific needs/questions I can try to answer them about the panasonics. Other brands are different as far as what media they use.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=106

 

[jgaermom]

I have a humax tivo dvd. I love it. It can make a one hour dvd in about 6 or7 minutes. They have good deals on refurbished ones on the tivo site right now. I can't believe you can get a standalone dvd cheaper. As far as the DVDs themselves I use nextech. I got really good deals on 50 packs the last week or 2 and paid about $10 for a 50 pack. Judy

 

[LynnL999]

I have a Panasonic E80, too, and I have really grown to like it. It is a pretty steep learning curve at first compared to a TiVo, but once you get the hang of it, it's really quite easy. I record almost everything at LP speed, which is theoretically 4 hours per disc, but actually fits about 4.5 hours if you use the dubbing function. I can easily fit 6 episodes of network TV shows (with the commercials edited out) on each disc.

I use Ritek discs from supermediastore which are quite cheap. I have had a few go bad after finalizing (probably 3 out of 200, but it's a pain), so I do keep everything on the hard drive (or on DVD-RAM, which you can dub both ways) for a particular disc until it's finalized. As the hard drive holds 80 hours at LP speed, space isn't really a problem.

The E-80 has 3 inputs plus the cable input, so it connects to the TiVo very easily and without a lot of cable-switching.

 

[Georgia Guy]

I also recommend the Panny E80. HD is great for editing out commercials.
With all the inputs it has, I've also got it hooked up to straight cable, HD cable box, and Tivo.
I also use it for recording/editing stuff off my camcorder.

 

[newsposter]

glass you didn't say if you need to edit or not but if you do need it, make sure the unit you buy has that ability. No combo tivo/dvd burner will ever have editing on it. They want you to see the commercials.

 

[glasshalffull]

I'm needing one to edit with. I didn't make myself very clear. Sorry. I already have a tivo series 2 player, I'm looking for a dvd recorder with hard drive to edit and burn recordings from my tivo with the ability to watch other tivo channels while recording another saved program.

sorry about the confusion.

 

[newsposter]

no problem. And i'm sure the others can help you with how much you can watch at a time. Since i dont have a standalone tivo, this discussion is out of my element with its abilities and hookups.

 

[Georgia Guy]

I'm looking for a dvd recorder with hard drive to edit and burn recordings from my tivo with the ability to watch other tivo channels while recording another saved program.

Don't think you can do that...watch another Tivo channel while recording to the dvd recorder's hd. When you copy the program to the dvd recorder, you have to actually PLAY the recording on the Tivo. When you are playing a show on Tivo, that is all you can watch.

As I type this, my Tivo is playing an episode of X-Files into my dvd recorder. There is no way for me to go to the Tivo and watch anything else. I CAN switch inputs on the tv and watch my cable, or hd cable box, but the Tivo is busy until the copy is done.

A dvd recorder works like an old vcr in a way.....it has rca or s-vid inputs that you feel a signal into, and it records that signal to its hard drive, or onto a dvd disk.
There is not, at least on the Panasonic units, any ability to transfer a FILE to it, just a signal.

 

[newsposter]

Ive never seen a tivo with dual outputs, typically it's one signal sent to all outputs. So as noted above, you need to either watch or leave it on before bed to burn to your hard drive.

I have 2 directivos and luckily can watch one while the other is offloading.

 

[ntakidoo]

I'm confused...

jgaermom says it's possible to record a 1 hour show in 6 or 7 min, but several others say the recording has to be done in "real time", like to a VHS tape.

So...which is it?

 

[Georgia Guy]

I'm confused...

jgaermom says it's possible to record a 1 hour show in 6 or 7 min, but several others say the recording has to be done in "real time", like to a VHS tape.

So...which is it?

Its 2 different things. jgaermom is, I think, talking about using her Humax Tivo to burn a previously recorded show to a dvd. It took her Tivo an hour to record that show, then 6-7 minutes to burn a dvd (wow...that's unreal fast to burn a dvd, faster than anything I've ever seen).

A standalone dvd recorder with harddrive, (just like Tivo does), still has to record the show in the first place. Then it can be used to either edit then burn, or just burn, that recording to a dvd. My old Panny takes about 30 minutes to burn an hour show to dvd, I think. (I usually burn 3-4 hours onto each dvd, so I'm not exactly sure of the time...its not as fast as what jgaermom said hers does, I know that).

 

[ntakidoo]

Ah. Thanks Georgia Guy. All clear now.