Should I buy a DVD HDD Recorder or a PC with Windows Media Centre

overworked_underpaid

I wonder if anyone can suggest if I should connect my SKY+ box to a dedicated DVD-HDD recorder or a PC in order to copy and edit recordings and burn them to DVD.

I understand how the DVD recorder option will work but I am not sure how you would connect a PC and if it is actually worth doing that?

Larumbelle

I connect mine to a DVD recorder, burn the prog to a DVD-RW then edit it on the PC. I looked into doing it directly to the PC, but it seemed to be a lot of faffing about:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=1995414

When you do record to the DVD, I find that ignoring 'copy' mode and just using the normal playback mode is easier.

danivtec

DVD recorder is the more simplier to use.

jmc160

Just to give you the other side too...

I connect my Virgin Media STB to a Vista Ultimate media centre PC. I use the SCART out socket (for recording) connected to a video capture card in the pc by composite AV cables. Then there's another composite cable that comes from the graphics card to the TV. The PC gives me full PVR functionality so I can pause, rewind, fast forward live TV and I get one-button recording.

As far as control goes, I have a USB infra-red receiver connected to the PC so it ca receive the signal from my Media Centre remote. I have an IR blaster that plugs into this receiver and that's attached to the front of Virgin STB, so the computer processes the signal from the remote and in turn controls the Virgin box for me, so it can cange channels itself when it has to for recording purposes.

I found it releatively easy to set up, and it's all done via wizards so you get full instructions at every step. You also get a full 2 week program guide that can be edited as and when you wish (to remove missing channels etc.) which the computer will download automatically and keep up to date.

There are lots of options for recording series, so you don't even have to remember your programs are on - it'll do it for you! and the Recorded TV library is navigated very easily with preview pictures. You can also tell it to sort the programs by title, so everything is nicely sorted and very easy to navigate.

Mine gets used as a full-on media centre, so it stores all my music, pictures, videos and recorded TV. Youcan do nice little things like play a slide show of your photos on your TV while you're playing some music. You can program in internet radio stations too if you like. My wife's South African, and with this she can listen to her favourite radio station from back home!

I have my Xbox 360 attached in a differet room as a Media Centre extender, so I get all the same functions and access to all my media in two rooms.

I can even connect to mine online from anywhere in the world and set something to record or stream my recorded TV.

Sorry for the looooooong reply, but I lurve my Media Centre!

PS it's set up to use my TV as a second display, so if I want to I can use it as a computer on the monitor on my desk too. I have a 250GB HDD for the operating system and any software, plus storage of my music and photos, plus a second 500GB HDD for my recorded TV. This gives me about 370 hours recording time on a fair quality setting, which is more than good enough.

You also get a really nice graphical interface.

This is the video capture card I use, the remote and IR kit came with it.
So there's lts of pros, and the sky's the limit when it comes to expanding and upgrading, the one real drawback I've found is that burning recorded TV to a DVD (which I do very rarely) takes a long time as the media centre transcodes it as it goes. I normally just set this to run overnight when we're not watching anything.

overworked_underpaid

Thanks for your replies.

I agree with danivtec that dvd recorder is simpler to use and will probably go down that route, however still curious about the PC option.

I cant get the digitalspy link to work, posted by silvercharming.

jmc160 still confused how you actually watch TV. Do you watch SKY from the PC? i.e. is your computer connected to your telly? or the other way round.

jmc160

Hi overworked_underpaid, sorry for the confusion! I'llgive you the journey of the TV signal...

It comes into the house on the cable to the Virgin STB.
The Virgin STB sends it to the Media Centre PC.
The Media Centre PC sends it to the TV.

The TV is set up as the PC's second Display.

Is that better?

overworked_underpaid

Do you use the S-Video Out from the Media Centre PC to connect to Your TV or do you use the VGA output?

One more question: Can you use the standard Windows Vista Home Edition on your PC or is there a special Media Centre version?

jmc160

My graphics card has this kind of TV Out socket and I use an adapter to connect a standard composite video cable into it.

I use Vista Ultimate for mine, it has Windows Media Centre bundled in with it. There aren't so much "special" MCE versions anymore, as there were with XP, if you get either Home Premium or Ultimate, you'll get Media Centre with it.

MiserlyMartin

I had this dilemma for years. I couldn't decide what to do. I almost bought a Reelbox, (google it if interested) which is a twin tuner satellite or cable PVR , with DVD burner, capable of recieving HD broadcasts via a cheap upgrade to the tuner. It runs on Linux. But the box at the time was still in beta testing and wasn't wife/gf friendly. Ok to be used by techies though. It might be more sorted now. Anyway I got bored of waiting and bought a DVD recorder with hard drive and transfer to the recorder via RGB scart. Picture is ok but you are always going to lose a bit of quality going from D to A, out of the scart then A to D again. Transcoding loss. Thats why the reelbox or a twin tuner PVR which will burn to DVD directly is sought after. There are other sat recievers which will let you put hard drives in it, but you will end up with the TS stream which must be transcoded to DVD compliant files. But at least you won't lose any quality because it all stays digital.

What sort of TV do you connect your vista media centre to LCD or CRT?

jmc160

At the moment CRT as I can't justify the cost of an HDTV when the tube still works perfectly.

MiserlyMartin

Is the picture ok via your MC? I still have a CRT and it blows any £1700 Sony LCD picture away with its clarity and lack of motion blur/pixellation.

When they make flatscreen that are as good as CRT's I'll get one.