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What Happened to DVD/HDD Recording?
by simpleuser01 - 2/8/09 12:45 PMI currently have a Panasonic DMR-E85H dvd/hdd recorder.
It works great! However, it has an analog tuner.
After several Emails to Panasonic, they tell me that the tuner can not be replaced with a digital tuner, which means I have to hook it to a converter box. Converter boxes are un-programmable, so I'm limited to recording only one channel, unless I'm present to change the channel on the converter box!!
I asked about replacing the whole unit, and Panasonic tells me that they no longer sell a DVD/HDD recorder.
This is untrue, as, they sell a LOT of them overseas!! WHY DO THEY NOT SELL ANY IN THE USA??
This brings me to my main question.
WHERE ARE ALL THE DVD/HDD RECORDERS?
No one is selling them in the USA!! The ONLY place I can find one is a Wal-Mart. They have a Philips DVD/HDD recorder. I'm starting now to find out that even Philips is going to drop it after this year!!
What Is Going On?
If you're in Europe, you have hundreds to choose from. But here in the good ol USA, you have NONE!!
Unless, of course, you want to subscribe to a cable or satellite service who provides a DVR -- FOR A PRICE!!
I can not afford to subscribe to cable or satellite! Not only that, I will not do business with Brighthouse!! They are a crooked company, and they do not care about the customer! They tell YOU what you can get, they don't care what you actually WANT!! No! I will not deal with Brighthouse!
I smell some kind of corruption here!! Are the subscription services doing something to prevent the sell of these machines?
What am I missing here?
Someone please help me!!
WHERE ARE ALL THE DVD/HDD RECORDERS?
by Coryphaeus - 2/8/09 3:07 PM In reply to: What Happened to DVD/HDD Recording? by simpleuser01They're overseas. Companies go where the market is. You may be the only person in the US that wants this function.
You pay for functionality and versatility.
What you're missing is that you're in the minority.
Yea, overseas
by simpleuser01 - 2/21/09 8:48 PM In reply to: WHERE ARE ALL THE DVD/HDD RECORDERS? by CoryphaeusYea, that's all I can find is overseas.
That don't answer my question.
If I'm in the minority, then why does Wal-Mart keep running out of stock on the Phillips 160GB unit they carry??? Every time they get a stack of them on the shelf, they sell out!!!
Doesn't sound like I'm in the minority to me!!
There is a big market for a DVD/HDD recorder that doesn't need a subscription or cable to operate.
There is something wrong when the selection is big and wide overseas, and we have none here in the USA!!
No, There is some kind of corruption going on.
I'm trying to save up to buy the Phillips from Wal-Mart before they drop them, which I'm sure they will.
The way things are going, by the time I can buy one, Phillips will have gone overseas too!!
This is a shame, and a scam!!
Panasonic should at the very lease, offer a tuner upgrade for the units we already have!!
reason
by slobra232v - 2/22/09 8:46 PM In reply to: What Happened to DVD/HDD Recording? by simpleuser01due to US copyright laws it is harder and harder to find a DVR/HDD that is not subscription based (Tivo, Sat. Provider,Cable Provider)
Copyrights?
by simpleuser01 - 2/23/09 11:30 AM In reply to: reason by slobra232vHow can copyright laws possibly effect the sale of DVD/HDD recorders??!!
If that was true, then the same laws would also apply to DVD only recorders as well!! The fact that the machine also records to a hard drive has nothing to do with copyright!!
In point of fact, the hard drive can not be removed and played on a different machine, where a DVD can!!
NO, this has nothing to do with copyright. There is something else afoot.
This whole industry is quickly becoming corrupt!! It's us consumers that is going to get the shaft!!
Another thing. Copyrights apply worldwide!! True, they have to be applied in each country independently, but in the end, it's the same protection laws. If copyright laws prevented the sale of DVD/HDD recorders here in the USA, the same laws would prevent the sale overseas too!!
I still can't afford it yet, but, you can still buy a Phillips 160GB at Wal-Mart! I'm afraid that Phillips is going to go overseas themselves before I can afford to go to Wal-Mart!! If Wal-Mart can keep them in stock!!
NO, Copyright laws are not the answer.
I got a replacement!
by simpleuser01 - 3/14/09 1:50 PM In reply to: Copyrights? by simpleuser01Yea, I finally bought the Philips DVDR3576H/37 at Wal-Mart!!
It cost $300, and I can't afford it, but, this is the LAST DVD/HDD recorder left in the whole of the the USA!!! Unless you want to give in to the subscription services!!
No, I can't afford it, but, Wal-Mart can not keep them in stock!! I've seen whole stacks of them disappear within a week!! I finally saw 2 of them on the shelf, so I just had to plunge in and buy it.
What choice do I have?! If I waited until I could afford it, it very likely will be discontinued, with no replacement!! My stomach is in knots thinking about spending $300!!
I haven't hooked it up yet, but reading the manual, it seems to be very much like my Panasonic and it has more features than the Panasonic had. However, the Panasonic is several years old, which was my problem to start with!!
Panasonic has assured me that they are NOT going to help me!!!
Well, the deed is done!! I've got my DVD/HDD recorder with a digital tuner!! No thanks to the industry, who seems to be trying there very best to force subscription DVR's on anyone in the USA who wants to record to a hard drive!!
I say again...this whole industry is becoming more corrupt by the day!!
I bought that!
by R. Proffitt
- 3/14/09 1:56 PM
In reply to: I got a replacement! by simpleuser01
I own that model too. It's a little hard to program compared to my older RCA but the feature to burn a HDD video to DVD is pretty sweet.
You'll like this model (at least until your cable co goes digital.)
Bob
Thanks for the encouragement!
by simpleuser01 - 3/14/09 3:08 PM In reply to: I bought that! by R. Proffitt
After spending $300 on this, I need some encouragement!!
It seems to be very similar to my Panasonic, with a number of things my Panasonic did not have.
One downfall is the Philips does not have a EPG, where my Panasonic did. The upside is, the EPG in my Panasonic now does not work anyway because it received the info via the local PBS station, which has now shut off it's analog signal!!
So I still have no EPG. I guess I'll just have to print out a listing off the web once a week or so.
Also, the Philips has a digital tuner, so it doesn't need an analog signal.
I use an antenna anyway! I can't afford any subscription services!! With all the sub-channels available off the antenna, I really don't need cable!
Lucky you found one!
by dilly1979 - 5/6/09 6:22 PM In reply to: I got a replacement! by simpleuser01The Philips DVDR3576H is going to set a record for actual appreciation of investment. Since these are no longer being produced, the remaining ones are now going for hundreds of dollars OVER retail, if you can even find one. Those few that show up at a random WalMart get snapped up and bid on Amazon for $499-1200, and rebuilt ones are currently $350-400 on eBay. This is absolute insanity. Why hasn't the market allowed these DVD recorders with Hard Drives and ATSC tuner exist??? I smell a huge stinky Hollywood RAT! This would be a good topic for cNet to do an investigative report on.
Did some digging
by simpleuser01 - 5/6/09 7:35 PM In reply to: Lucky you found one! by dilly1979Yea, I've got it, but I haven't had time to hook it up yet. I've read the manual but the machine is still in the box. Soon....
Anyway, two things.
First, it seems that the new TiVo machines can not be used without subscribing. That option is out!
Second, I found out that the reason you can't buy a HDD/DVD recorder in the USA is BECAUSE of TiVo!! They sued and won the right to HDD recording in the USA!! They claimed patent infringement! How they could have won such a lawsuit is beyond me. But then I never thought this country would go socialist/Communist either, but look at what's happening!!
The good news, if I've got it right, is that the patent runs out next year and the machines will start selling again!!
And it seems that TiVo is having financial troubles too!! To Each His Reach!! They reached too far!!
Hopefully, we will have our pick of HDD/DVD recorders next year!!
[OT] huh?
by Pepe7 - 5/7/09 8:18 AM In reply to: Did some digging by simpleuser01What does output from a patent infringement case have to do with your odd proposition that this country has 'gone socialist'(?)
Nothing
by simpleuser01 - 5/7/09 12:31 PM In reply to: [OT] huh? by Pepe7One has nothing to do with the other except to say that I don't understand how either happened.
I don't understand how TiVo can grab the whole HDD/DVD recording industry clean out of the USA!! How is it possible for them to win a lawsuit like that?! It's like Microsoft winning a lawsuit to stop all other operating systems from being sold.
We here in this country, a "free" country, can not buy a simple machine like that, yet they sell thousands of them overseas!!
It's just not right!!
I hope that next year, things will change. I hope my information on that is correct!!
playing the devil's advocate
by Pepe7 - 5/7/09 4:48 PM In reply to: Nothing by simpleuser01I completely sympathize with your point of view, but consider this scenario first before you sign off on the idea as ludicrous.
Pretend that you own a small business which obtains much of its revenue/came into existence from a patent on a process that you've invented. Your employees, funds and time went into inventing a particular process that pays your bills/allows you to exist as an entity. Wouldn't you want to have some degree of protection over what you rightfully invented(?) Granted, we don't know enough of the specifics regarding the TiVo case, but what if what happened in TiVo's case happened with a friend or familar members livelihood(?) You probably wouldn't complain as such. Life can sometimes be a double edged sword, eh?
cheers,
Pedro
DVD w/ HDD
by jmarsltd - 7/4/09 2:34 AM In reply to: Nothing by simpleuser01TiVo by itself did not have the 'clout' to pull these great machines. Notice that the 'cable' and 'dish' providers all offer a recorder w/HDD. I think they 'suckered' TiVo into paying for the court battle and now they are all going to the 'bank'. I noticed that Wal-Mart.com (Jun 09) has a new one. Look for a come back.
I didn't make the above post...
by dilly1979 - 5/8/09 11:33 AM In reply to: Lucky you found one! by dilly1979I don't know who or how but someone else made the above post with my user name.
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