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Thread ID: 123276	2012-02-15 08:05:00	Panasonic DVD Recorder, Tivo or ?	tutaenui (1724)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1259236	2012-02-16 05:09:00	STB's are cheap as chips now (<$100) and may even get cheaper, so recording via AV to existing VCRs or DVD recorders is no problem. They are eminently portable as well, so you can shift them from TV to VCR anytime you want. We have two working VCRs so we can record two programs at the same time and watch a third or fourth channel. We recently bought two TVs with FreeView built in, we have a set-top decoder in the lounge (that's a laugh, you can't balance a decoder on top of an LCD TV!) and I have another in the Man-Shed so that I can watch motor racing in peace. Total overkill really, we watch bugger-all TV, but I got mightily cheesed off when both kids were at home and I couldn't get near a TV upstairs so I had to watch in my office, which was too much like work. Recently, while clearing out the storage area of said office, I also discovered that I had two new Panasonic TV DVD recorders tucked away still in their boxes. I knew I had one, and that it was DVD only, but I just found another that has HDD and DVD. I think I must have got carried away some time about the idea of copying all our tapes to DVD, so perhaps I'd better get on with it. Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
1259237	2012-02-16 05:27:00	Can you back up to BD media a program in HD or is this blocked ?? I know you could on the older non FV certified boxes.. Sorry old boy, but I avoid that sort of thing, so do not know. I knew at one time that would like to do that sort of thing, bought suitable machine at great cost and never did it, so since then I don't think about it.	Cicero (40)
1259238	2012-02-16 06:08:00	The cheapest decent quality easy to use DVR is Tivo. Good support if you have issues too.	Alex B (15479)
1259239	2012-02-16 07:16:00	The cheapest decent quality easy to use DVR is Tivo. Good support if you have issues too. Hmmmm. Just wish they would ramp up Caspa. Agreed the TiVo is the best bargain out there..	paulw (1826)
1259240	2012-02-16 18:01:00	Can you back up to BD media a program in HD or is this blocked ?? I know you could on the older non FV certified boxes.. I don't know if the Panasonics have any BD (Blue Ray?) drive options. The old analogue Panasonic unit would record straight to disc without requiring any further re-encoding, or could be set to record to a number of compression settings. The newer Freeview digital model insists on re-encoding all media before it is transferred to disc, which I'm assuming is again to keep the Hollywood laywers from snapping so feverishly at their heels. The re-encoding is done in real time (ie, a 3 hour movie will take 3 hours to re-encode), but luckily these re-encodes can be cued up for when the unit is 'off', and the jobs get done while you sleep. In order to get file sizes down to transfer via DVD media, I've had to encode the HD recordings at 704x576, which is plain old DVD PAL resolution, so based on my limited experience I'm thinking full HD to Blue Ray might not be an option, but possibly the newer and premium products will support it... at a price.	Paul.Cov (425)
1259241	2012-02-16 19:38:00	This thread couldn't be more timely for me. My tv finally crapped out on Tuesday evening, its only the ON/OFF switch not working but after 9 years its not really worth repairing. I priced a Panasonic combo, 32" + recorder at JB Hifi, cash purchase (I had just done 3 days work as an extra on a certain big budget film here in Wgtn). Got home to find an email, 4 days more next week and the week after tbc. Back to JB hifi today to get a new quote....42". I think 50" would be OTT for my sitting room.	martynz (5445)
1259242	2012-02-16 23:57:00	You can get a Panasonic with a Blu-Ray writer and you can copy HD on to it. Only problem is the Blu-Ray discs are not cheap.	Jeff (1070)
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