Transfering DVR shows t oDVD (1 Viewer)

[JLKINSER]

Hey all

I am replacing my DVR box Monday but would like to keep the DVR programs I have already recorded since the ones I have were recorded live and you can't get them anywhere. I have a DVd burner on my laptop. Can I burn my DVR programs to DVD? If so could some one explain in detail how to do it since I am a novice?

Thanks so much!!!

 

[battlebeast]

Well, I have a great many movies on my PVR, and they ONLY way to get them off that I have found is this:

 

I connect my DVD Video Camera and select "line in", thus, the DVD records what my TV is showing... the movie I am playing back from my PVR.

 

Once I have the first part of the movie on a mini-DVD, I have to use Roxio Copy and convert to get it from the DVD into a Mpeg-2 format on my comp. From there, I can burn it to DVD! However, since the movie is longer than the legth of a mini-DVD, I have to copy the film in multiple parts. I connect the parts with Windows movie maker, and make the movie at a very high quality.

 

It's a long way, but that's the only way I know of getting the films off the PVR.

 

:/

 

[AndyMcKinney]

obviously, a set-top DVD recorder will do the job without having to jump through a lot of hoops. Works similiarly to a VCR. One with a built-in hard drive is better than one without, but more expensive and a little harder to obtain a brand new one as the HDD-equipped ones have sort of been phased out Stateside. JR.com has a refurbished Magnavox HDD model for $160 with free shipping this week.

 

[smithb]

Another option is to get a capture device. Since you have a laptop you would most likely want to go with a USB type that can be connected to any USB port on your laptop. Then you connect an S-Video cable from the capture device to to the DVR. The only issue is that like the camcorder option mentioned above, you need to play the movie on the DVR in real-time to capture it to the laptop. So a two hour program will take two hours to capture.


I have shows I record and capture every day. In fact, I have now recorded and captured almost 2TB of content or approximately 2000 TV shows this way. The output file is typically already in the correct mpeg format for burning and playing back on many DVD players that can support just mpeg files. Otherwise, there are many programs out there that will allow you to author mpeg files into the standard DVD format with menu support.


The only issue I ran across early on with this method had to do with a few random audio dropouts. This was solved by ensuring I had plenty of disk space and I turned off the virus protection during the capture. Processor speed, free disk space, other running programs, and virus protection software can all slow down the computers ability to capture in real-time.


It is an investment of around $75 but you are covered from then on for capturing content off the DVR or transferring old VHS tapes to DVD. In other words, anything that can output through an S-Video cable. As an external device you can also use it on any computer.

 

[Kazz]

Thanks a lot Smithb