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General discussion

DVD Recorder Compatible With Satellite

Aug 30, 2005 7:30AM PDT

I am trying to find a DVD Recorder that is compatible with DirecTV(preferably one that has a hard drive, as well, but not absolutely necessary) . It seems like many of them are not compatible. I do not wish to get TiVo for a variety of reasons, but would like the convenience of the easy programming. Any suggestions?

Discussion is locked

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Compatibility ...
Aug 31, 2005 12:31AM PDT

Most/all DVD recorders are "compatible" with DirecTV meaning that you can hook up the outputs of the DirecTV receiver to the inputs of the DVD recorder and make DVDs.

If however, if by "compatible" you mean programming your DVD recorder to get certain shows at certain times, then you must get a DVD recorder with some type of TV Guide and timer capability.

I do not understand aversions to TIVO (or DVRs) so my suggestion is to get a DirecTV with TIVO to capture shows. You'll need something similar to this anyway with what you want to do. With this solution you can watch them on TIVO and if you like the program you can archive it to most any DVD recorder on the market. FYI ? the TIVO fee for DirecTV is only $4.99/month (although it is going to $5.99/month soon) for the entire account (i.e., not per receiver like their mirroring fee) and you can get 80GB models now for cheap (and sometimes free.)

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Clarification
Aug 31, 2005 11:16AM PDT

Yes, when I said compatible, I meant a recorder that will synch up with the programming guide on my DirecTV or one that has the TV Guide EPG that will work with DirecTV (as I have read that TV Guide's EPG does not work with satellite). The price is not the issue with TiVo, there are some logistical issues with my house that make it difficult.... we've tried before...

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Some additional ideas ...
Sep 1, 2005 12:17AM PDT

Since I don?t know the specifics on the logistical problems you face or what you?ve tried before I?ll provide some ideas on how to get a DirecTiVo working. (Hopefully this is new info and things that you haven?t already tried. If you have already tried these, then my apologies.)

If you have a DirecTV receiver working in your house now I assume that the logistical problem that your house has with DirecTiVo is one of the following:
1. No phone line nearby
2. You have an internet-based phone service that the DirecTiVo can't use
3. Only one sat cable

All of these situations can be handled.

#1. The phone line is only needed for initial set up. After that the phone line isn't necessary unless you really want software upgrades (which are few and far between.) Sure you?ll get a nag screen once a day but it isn't that bad. I ran with one like this for almost a year and it wasn't a problem.

#2. This is the toughest one to handle and my guess is that this is what you have. There are two approaches. The simple answer is similar to #1 above, except you?ll have to initialize it with a sat connection and phone at a friend?s house who has DirecTV and then move it to your location. The more complex solution is setting it up to use the internet-based phone service. I have no direct experience with this so I'd refer you to www.tivocommunity.com for guidance.

#3. Only one sat cable limits the DirecTiVo to only be able to use 1 tuner (vs. the two that it is capable of) however, I've run one with only one cable in my kid's playroom for 2 years and it has been fine.

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I also have HDTV
Sep 1, 2005 12:21AM PDT

Thanks for the help, but I am really looking for ideas that do not include TiVo for the time being.

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Just say no to TiVo ...
Sep 1, 2005 2:15AM PDT

OK ... I'll back off the TiVo approach (still don't understand the problem, but that's ok. Also ... since DVDs are not HD I don't understand how having HD affects the decision ... but ok, TiVo is now permanently stricken from any of my future responses in this thread.)

I don't believe that there is a good solution for your situation. The only idea that I can come up with is scheduling your DirecTV receiver to view a show and then setting you DVD recorder to manually record by time. While not a great solution, it would work.

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DVD Recorder Compatible With Satellite
Sep 1, 2005 12:37AM PDT

Panasoinc has a couple of models that are DVD/HD recorders. I did read reciently that Direct TV is comming out with their own PVR unit that relpace the TIVO (not good news for TIVO). The only HD recorder that coms to mind is HD VHS unit from JVC.
Beacuse of the HD-DVD wars it may take a while for HD-DVD recordes to show up. John

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More clarification
Sep 1, 2005 3:21AM PDT

Thanks. I'm not really concerned about being able to record programs in HD, just wondering if anyone knows of a unit that will synch up with my programming guide automatically. I know I can program it the old fashioned way and set my programming box to automatically switch, just wondering if anyone out there has actually purchased a unit, with or without the hard drive, that sychs up with their programming guide or functions effectively with the TV Guide EPG.