DVD Recorders - a few general questions . . .

[H8_2_W8]

Not the DVD burners on a computer by the way, but the DVD recorders for the TV that are meant to take the place of a VCR. I saw a report on CNN online saying they are not selling that well in the US and I’m wondering if it is because of price ($400-$1,000?) or because of some of the limitations they may have.

My Qs:

1. The higher end models seem to have 80-120+ gig hard drives. What’s the purpose of a hard drive when one could record right to a DVD anyway?

2. Since DVD recorders are being marketed to replace VCRs it seems like I could record my favorite shows and watch them later. But, what about movies through a digital cable box (HBO, Cinemax, PPV, OnDemand, etc.), are they in some way blocked out and couldn’t be saved/recorded?

3. Previously owned/purchased DVDs. MY 4 year old has scratched up a couple already and I’d like to make back ups by connecting a regular DVD player to a DVD recorder. Possible? Legal?

4. Any good online info resources for these types of questions?

thanks

btw, I searched “recorders” but cannot search for “DVD” so if this has been addressed I cannot find it.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

I’ve done a bit of research beacuse I was considering buying one.
Here;s what I know:

1. A buffer. It also lets you begin watching what you recorded as you finish recording it.

2. Don’t know… good question.

3. Legal? Yes. Possible? No*.

4. Not in any one place that I see… try epinions.com maybe?

*Yeah, OK, it’s possible, but not easily done.

[Papermache_Prince]

This question came up last night on the Tech TV show The Screensavers. Scroll to the bottom of this page

DVD camcorders
Ryan in Boston wants to know how DVD camcorders compare to digital camcorders that use tapes.

Leo and Patrick won’t buy a DVD camcorder, because of the inconvenience. If you don’t plan to edit your video, you might want to consider a DVD camcorder.

If you plan to edit, you’ll be better off with a digital tape camcorder. Leo says that DVD camcorders record in MPEG-2, which means the image quality is lower that that used in tape digital camcorders. You’re going to convert the video to MPEG-2 after you edit it anyway, so you might as well have source video that’s of good quality.

[Atrael]

Check out DVDHelp.com for some good information and reviews of variouse DVD set top burners.

As to your questions, I’ll give it a shot.

1. The higher end models seem to have 80-120+ gig hard drives. What’s the purpose of a hard drive when one could record right to a DVD anyway?

Because burnable DVD’s cost about a $1 a piece and can’t (to my knowledge) be re-used. I’d rather record stuff to the hard drive for casual watching, and only burn to DVD the shows that I really want to save.

2. Since DVD recorders are being marketed to replace VCRs it seems like I could record my favorite shows and watch them later. But, what about movies through a digital cable box (HBO, Cinemax, PPV, OnDemand, etc.), are they in some way blocked out and couldn’t be saved/recorded?

I haven’t heard anything about this either way. To me it makes sense that you would somehow block that out, but with some systems (DirectTV), I’m not sure how they could encode it not to work. The only thing I could guess is that they might make it so that it would only work on that particular system. So you couldn’t pass it around, but you could record it for your personal use. Again, I haven’t seen anything definate about this yet.

3. Previously owned/purchased DVDs. MY 4 year old has scratched up a couple already and I’d like to make back ups by connecting a regular DVD player to a DVD recorder. Possible? Legal?

Sort of possible the way you’re talking about, a lot easier just to do it on your computer. Not saying anything else about that, as it could be a violation of the DCMA.

4. Any good online info resources for these types of questions?

See above for link to DVDhelp . A great site for information about all things DVD related. Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions.

[H8_2_W8]

CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media)

That’s probably the answer to my own questions (#2 & 3). It looks like all the recorders sold in the US have this, so I wouldn’t be able to make back ups or record cable movies to a hard-drive then save them on a DVD - for my own personal use!

So, should I put Jack Valenti in the Pit?