Some questions about PVR & DVDR devices (1 Viewer)

[Mick Wright]

The apartment I live in makes it impossible for me to get a satellite, so I'm going with digital cable with a high-definition package. They also offer to include a PVR for $10 a month, but I'd like to avoid that charge if possible. I'm going to also be buying a dvd recorder to archive my old vhs taps, laser discs, and various tv shows. My questions are:

1. Can a dvd recorder with a built-in hard drive time-shift high definition? If so, I would rather go with a dvd recorder w/ hard drive than cable box pvr w/ a subscription.

2. Is there any way to archive high-definition signals at this time? I assume the answer to this is no.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Stephen Tu]

(1) No, DVD-R cannot record in high-def. Definitely go with the HD-DVR.

(2) Yes. If the DVR has an active firewire output (as the Motorola 6412s do), you can connect this to D-VHS or to a PC for archiving. But only works for non-copy protected content.

 

[Mick Wright]

Thanks for the response.