SkyPlus recording to DVD

50Twuncle

Has anyone tried "backing up" anything to DVD ?
Does the recorded DVD only play "through" the Sky box or does it also play on a normal DVD player or PC ?
The reason for this question is I am interested in how Sky limit the recording of movies (ie I think that when recorded to hard disk - they are time limited to a week ? - what about other channels ?)

bcl999

I'm quite new to Sky but have already bought myself a DVD recorder to do the very thing. Ordinary films and programs record fine once you have set up recorder linked to scart 2 on your' skybox. HD recordings only record to DVD at SD resolution. Nothing I've recorded so far has been limited to just a week (that might be Box Office films) but I do know that when the Sky box hard disc gets full it starts deleting the erlier recordings, whether they've been watched or not, to make space for new recordings. There are instructions for recordiing/backing up in the manual which came with my box. The main limitation I've found is that there is no fast way to record to DVD. You have to play the film/program on your box and have the DVD recording for the duation. You also cannot use the box for anything else while it's doing this.

I've never actually bought a film from Box Office but I read on a forum that they have copy protection and won't record to DVD. I've also seen people mention about programmes which won't record but I don't know which type.

The DVDS I've recorded play on a player or a PC once finalised. I've only used DVD-R+ type so far.

50Twuncle

Thanks for that - I will have to get a DVD burner
Next Question - the USB sockets on the Sky plus box - I have been told (by Sky) - that they are not in use yet and are intended for future development - has anyone tried to connect a USB hard disk or to a PC to see what happens ?

spike7451

Only box office movies are copy protected & will erase from the hard drive after a week.Other recordings will last for ages on the Sky hard drive (I had ones on my old Sky+ which were over 2 years old)
Correct you cant use the box for anything else while you're copying to dvd/vhs.As for the USB,originally Sky were intending to allow you to use access the internet some way or another.At the moment the connections are rudundent & dont work. (no software for them on the box)