Cutting the cord 243

[ftg]

@Doug_K

I got this digital converter box for under 40 bucks. It records to a USB flash drive or extern HD (doesn’t include one) and works like a charm. The only thing is you can’t just select a show from a guide. You have to program the channel, date, and start/end times like you did on a VCR. I actually got it because I wanted to be able to manually set the start and end times and it appears you can’t do that with a TiVo.

Yeah, that’s the one I’m talking about. I’ve spent some time exploring it as a gadget to play with. Some notes:

1. No NOT use a flash drive. An external HD or SDD only. Flash drives are not built to handle the kind of use a DVR demands.

2. The Homeworx does do OTA EPG listings. It’s discussed on page 8 of the manual I have. I don’t understand why you aren’t seeing it. You should be able to select a program from the listing and set it to record once, every time, etc.

3. There’s a lot of complaints about the reliability of this box. A lot. Many people have had theirs die in a short period of time.

I’d like to get something like this. But more robust, with two tuners, networked, etc. All for a magical low price.

[Doug_K]

@ftg

Yeah, that’s the one I’m talking about. I’ve spent some time exploring it as a gadget to play with. Some notes:

1. No NOT use a flash drive. An external HD or SDD only. Flash drives are not built to handle the kind of use a DVR demands.

2. The Homeworx does do OTA EPG listings. It’s discussed on page 8 of the manual I have. I don’t understand why you aren’t seeing it. You should be able to select a program from the listing and set it to record once, every time, etc.

3. There’s a lot of complaints about the reliability of this box. A lot. Many people have had theirs die in a short period of time.

I’d like to get something like this. But more robust, with two tuners, networked, etc. All for a magical low price.

Page 8 of my manual shows how to connect the cables. I checked on my Amazon account, and it was on sale for $25 when I got it. I’d have to go through 30 or more before I’d even get close to the cost of a Tivo. Time will tell, but so far I have no complaints with it, other than the recorded video gets weird if the signal drops for a second. Also if your drive isn’t fomatted NTFS, video more than 30 minutes or so will be broken up into 4 gig files with mts, mts1,mts2, etc. extensions. That’s only a big deal if you’re wanting to edit it, and even that can be worked around by renaming the files.

[ftg]

@Doug_K

Page 8 of my manual shows how to connect the cables. I checked on my Amazon account, and it was on sale for $25 when I got it. I’d have to go through 30 or more before I’d even get close to the cost of a Tivo. Time will tell, but so far I have no complaints with it, other than the recorded video gets weird if the signal drops for a second. Also if your drive isn’t fomatted NTFS, video more than 30 minutes or so will be broken up into 4 gig files with mts, mts1,mts2, etc. extensions. That’s only a big deal if you’re wanting to edit it, and even that can be worked around by renaming the files.

Sorry, I thought your were linking to the current model, not the old one. For the old model the EPG info is on page 7.

The info on NTFS seems useful. The “official” line is that only FAT32 is supported, which explains the 4GB chunks. Wonder what the deal is on the new model.

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I’ve been looking at the SiliconDust Connect Duo. Dual tuner. For network use only (no HDMI out). Costs $35/year for the 14-day program guide and DVR service. Streams programs through (and for DVR mode stores on) your server for watching on devices on your network. There’s apparently also an option to use Plex and pay them instead.

Goes on sale for about ~$80 regularly.

SiliconDust also has other OTA/Cable options and has a fairly good rep.

The fact that the programs go straight to my server is a big plus for me.