DirecTV DVR......
- Thread starter heeman
- Start date
mcad64
Well-Known Member
mcad64 said:
My experience with doing this, it's either one or the other as far as adding hard drives. It may be different with the receiver you are using, but when I added an external hard drive, it stopped seeing the internal one. The external was bigger than the internal, so I did gain some, but it didn't add to the overall storage capacity.
mcad64
Well-Known Member
Does it look like this:
If so , it should be doable!!
http://www.diamondcase.com/Knowledge/Knowledge_HTML/DVR_Expander.HTML
If so , it should be doable!!
http://www.diamondcase.com/Knowledge/Knowledge_HTML/DVR_Expander.HTML
No that is not it either...................I would take a pic and post, however too dificult to get behind the equipment for a pic.
Looks like this from the manual.
http://www.directv.com/learn/pdf/System_Manuals/DIRECTV/HR21_web_manual.pdf
Looks like this from the manual.
http://www.directv.com/learn/pdf/System_Manuals/DIRECTV/HR21_web_manual.pdf
D
Deleted member 133
Guest
Keith,heeman said:
I'm going to jump back to this OP.
I record a ton of stuff on my cable box' HDPVR (the same Scientific Atlanta HD8300 that Mike has - and which, in another thread, I deal with replacing / upgrading its internal hard drive) and a lot of it I want / need to archive.
To do so I simply "play" the desired program to my external Sony RDR-HX900 DVD Recorder's hard drive from the HD8300. Then I edit out the bits I don't want (beginning and end - and commercials if there are any.) Up until it failed, I could then burn the edited (and titled) program to a DVD-R using the RDR's DVD recorder. Unfortunately there's no replacement available for the failed recorder. However I can "play" the program from the RDR to any other external recorder. I'm currently using an old Magnavox that my son abandoned when he moved out years ago. Works great. Once transferred to the disc I title the programs and then the disc, and then finalize it. There's some time involved, but almost all of it is just the time spent playing the content twice at real speed. The editing on the hard drive takes a minute or two, and the titling on the recorder just a bit longer.
If I then wanted to, I could take that now completed (and finalized) DVD and pop it into my laptop where I could rip it onto a hard drive (so that I could then stream it to any number of players in the house.) But most of the time I simply archive it the old fashioned way: safe and sound on the DVD that I made.
If all I wanted to do was transfer programs to the computer, rather than archiving them on disc, I'd use (over and over) a DVD+RW instead. Heck I'd probably play them direct from the 8300 to the Magnavox, skipping the RDR, since I only use the RDR for content editing. That I could do just as easily on the computer using some of the editing software at my disposal.
Sounds complicated, but not at all in practice.
Jeff
ps. I think that adding an external hard drive to your box is a good way to increase storage capacity, but ultimately that's gonna fill up as well. As far as I know, the external hard drive gets formatted to your box, and once it is, you can't simply take it (and its content) and connect it to your computer. To work on the computer it would need to be reformatted - wiping out the recorded content. PLUS a given program can get split between the box and the external drive while being recorded. It doesn't necessarily reside on one or the other, and I don't think there's a way to tell the box to store it exclusively on one or the other.
D
Deleted member 133
Guest
It ultimately ends up as "DVD" quality. Almost all of what I keep are "classic" movies - the majority of them are b/w.heeman said:
I try to keep the quality as high as possible through the transfer process. It comes off the 8300 as either HD or SD (depending on the source channel), and the pre/pro sends a (downconverted) signal to the RDR via component cables. It's recorded to the RDR's hard drive at something called HQ+ (I think). I then use the highest quality recording mode wherever possible on the Magnavox - depending on length of the program. For long programs that would not fit onto a DVD-R, I edit it into two files on the RDR and burn each to its own disc.
For SD programs I've compared the picture quality of the original (8300) versus the final copy (DVD-R) on my big screen and can't see any difference. For HD there is of course some difference due to the downconverting, but the DVD-R looks as good as any store-bought DVD, limited only by the quality of the source material.
What I've never tried but am curious as to whether it would work, would be to "play" the analog output from the cable box into the analog A/V input of a PC, and capture it as a file - which could then be edited etc. I'm sure that the HDMI protocols would prevent an HDMI-out to HDMI-in transfer, but all analog? Heck, I've got a nifty little "Audio2USB" device (dongle size) that I've used to digitize some old vinyl recordings. It came with some very good editing software. I bet someone sells an equally nifty "A/V2USB" device. I'll look around later today.
Jeff
I know it's not DirecTV, but my Dish network receiver doesn't split content between its internal and my external HDD. Also, it's not 'one or the other' as with Huey's experience. My external drive is seen by my Dish receiver as added space. I can move programs to/from receiver to external drive. The only downside is when watching content straight from the external drive (instead of transferring back to the Dish's hard drive), I'll have some lag time watching content.
I think that has to be due to the USB port. I bet if my receiver had an eSATA connection, I wouldn't have that issue.
I think that has to be due to the USB port. I bet if my receiver had an eSATA connection, I wouldn't have that issue.
