Kworld USB2.0 Tv Tuner Atsc/qam Watch Record Digital HDtv On Pc Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this KWorld 340U at a local electronics store since it was on sale. I am thinking about canceling my cable service since it has just gotten too expensive over the years. I wanted to see if Windows Vista Media Center, this tuner and an antenna could serve as a reasonable alternative to the HD DVR I currently rent from the cable company. The short answer is yes. Long answer is below...
I am using it with a Dell E521 (dualcore AMD x2 3600, nVidia 7300LE, 4 GB RAM, Vista Home Premium) and it works well, though honestly I wouldn't try running it on a computer any slower than this. Watching or recording a HD broadcast uses about 50% of the processor and it can drop a few frames here and there if something intensive is going on in the background like a virus scan. But most of the time it works great. Video quality is outstanding. I have a 22" widescreen LCD with 1680x1050 resolution connected via DVI. It has more resolution than all but the most expensive 1080p HDTVs, so you can see the peach fuzz and caked-on makeup on your local newscasters' faces.
I installed the software which included the driver and a clone of Windows Media Center (which I promptly uninstalled). After that Windows Media Center recognized the tuner instantly. I hooked up a set of rabbit ears I had laying around and it scanned and found all the ATSC channels in about five minutes. (The dinky antenna in the box didn't pick up any channels inside.) Then it downloaded the program guide from the internet. It is much easier to use and has a more attractive interface than the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD supplied by my cable company.
I can schedule recordings, pause live broadcasts, fast forward, rewind and do everything a dedicated DVR can do without a monthly service fee (like Tivo) or paying the cable company $100+ a month.
Apparently it can also pick up unencrypted digital cable channels but I haven't tried that since there's no jack near the computer. Also note that it does not pick up NTSC (traditional analog) broadcasts from the antenna. But those are going away in a few months so this is not too much of a drawback.
Highly recommended. It is "certified" for Windows Vista and I see no reason to pay more for a Hauppauge or other name-brand tuner. This probably has the same chip inside anyway.

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Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder Review

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(More customer reviews)To start off, I'm writing this review solely from the perspective of someone using this to record footage from video game consoles (an Xbox 360, in my case), because that's why I bought it and that's all I've used it for so far.
Upon opening the box, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was a component cable included, a nice bonus. The first thing you'll notice is how light the device itself is. The all-plastic body and the lack of weight contribute to give it a slight cheap feeling, but this is not reflective of the overall quality of the device, as I'm about to explain.
The HD PVR has pass-through outputs, which means you can plug your console into the PVR and then the PVR into your TV (with the included component cable), eliminating the need to split the signal. I was a little bit worried about any input lag caused by the pass-through, but I was thankful to discover that there is absolutely none. The one downside of this, if any, is that the PVR has to be on for the pass-through outputs to work. It doesn't have to be recording and the software doesn't have to be open, so it's not that big of a deal, but it's just one more device that is sapping power.
After getting everything hooked up, you have to install the included software on whatever PC you're going to be using to record. The software installation was pain-free, although I recommend getting the latest driver updates from their website and the latest software updates through the software itself. Make sure that you do NOT lose the CD, as you can only download the driver from Hauppauge's website, not the included software. One of the downsides of the PVR is that only the included software and a small list of 3rd party software will work with the device. Luckily, this isn't that big of an issue as the included software works great, with minimal issues.
One of the great things about the HD PVR is that it does all of the H.264 encoding on the box itself. In other words, you won't need a high-end PC to record in HD because the HD PVR does all of the heavy processing. You will need a high-end PC to watch and edit HD video, however. Unless you're just archiving or using the PC as a storage device (and then accessing the recorded videos on your 360, for instance), you're going to want a high-end PC to edit and playback the video that you record. There's simply no getting around this: if you want to produce videos in HD, you're going to need the tools for it.
The preview window provides smooth, full-quality video. There is a significant amount of lag between the source and the software preview window, however. If you were hoping to sit at your PC and play by watching the preview window, you can forget it. The input lag will make it impossible.
Overall, the video and audio quality are excellent. This will produce video miles beyond any SDi capture card you have. The device will record in whatever format you input (1080i, 720p, etc.). I would recommend going with 720p over 1080i. The lack of interlacing outweighs the gain in resolution, in my opinion (unless you're taking a screenshot or taking video with little movement). It support frame rates up to 60fps, maybe beyond. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 720p at 60fps looks absolutely beautiful. The device lets you change the bitrate from 1MBps to 13.5MBps, so you can increase the quality of the video and sacrifice a small file size, if you wish. I find 8MBps to be a good balance. It allows you to fit 1 - 1.5 hours into around 5GB, and it still provides video that's good enough for YouTube HD uploads and similar casual usage. If you're going for production-quality video with almost no compression artifacts, you can easily increase the bit rate, but you're going to pay for it in file size and the power it requires to process.
All video is encoded in H.264. The software lets you record in 3 container formats: .TS, which is a generic 'transport stream' compatible with many digital media players; .M2TS, which is compatible with the Sony Playstation 3; and .MP4, which is compatible with the Xbox 360. These are somewhat-confusingly labeled "AVCHD", "PlayStation 3", and "Xbox 360" in the software, respectively. It's important to note that *this has nothing to do with what you're recording from* - it only has bearing on what device you want to play back the recorded footage. The MP4 format will play back on an Xbox 360, while the other formats will not. I recommend choosing the format that works best with whatever software you're going to use to edit the video, or whatever device you plan on using to watch the video. Note that most software will be able to open/edit an MP4 file, while I've found less compatibility with the other formats. If you plan to burn footage to Blu-Ray disk, though, go with .TS, as it's the format used on Blu-Ray disks and so your video won't require any transcoding, which is very nice (you can burn a Blu-Ray disk in just a few minutes).
If you don't want your footage encoded in H.264, there is an included converter program that can convert to variety of formats, but I haven't tried it yet, so I can't tell you how well it works.
The only two minor issues that I've had have involved the software. Sometimes the capture program will not recognize the device, requiring you to unplug it from the computer and plug it back in, at which point it should work normally. It's not that big of an issue, and it may be specific to my computer, but it's worth noting.
Secondly, the included playback application, TotalMedia Theater, causes a hard reboot whenever I try to start it. This also isn't that big of a deal because there's lots of other software that can play back the recorded files. Based on searches in which I've found only a couple of mentions about the problem it appears to be a very rare issue, but it's still worth noting. (I'm using Vista 32-bit, for reference).
Overall, the HD PVR is great for recording footage from hi-def consoles like the 360 and PS3. It's easy to use, doesn't require an insanely powerful PC, and produces good-quality video and audio in a good format at a reasonable file-size. Although the price is a bit steep, it's worth it if you really want to record high-quality, high-definition game footage from your 360 or PS3. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in a response and I'll try to answer them as best as I can.


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The HD-PVR from Hauppauge is the world's first High-Definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i. HD-PVR records component video from cable TV and satellite set top boxes, with a built-in IR blaster to automatically change TV channels for scheduled recordings. Audio is recorded using AAC or Dolby Digital. The recording format is AVCHD, which can be used to burn Blu-ray DVD disks. Two hours of HD recordings, recorded at 5 Mbist/sec, can be burnt onto a standard 4.7 GB DVD-R or DVD-RW disk for playback on a Blu-ray DVD player. The HD PVR's amazing recording quality allows personal archival recordings of your favorite high definition TV programs from any component video HD set top box. The HD PVR also has standard definition composite and S-Video inputs so you can record your old home video tapes into an AVHCD format for creating Blu-ray recordings. Other features include recording high definition video at up to 1080i resolution, 720P or VGA/D1. Includes HD software video player so you can playback recordings to your PC screen. NTSC, PAL, and SECAm support. IWorks with Windows XP and Vista.

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Mediabridge Ultra Series - High Speed HDMI Cable With Ethernet - Category 2 Certified - Supports 3D & Audio Return Channel - (15 Feet) Review

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(More customer reviews)So far I have bought a total of four HDMI cables, in lengths ranging from 3' to 15'. I bought the 3' cable first. It was made by Philips and sold by the most gigantic of all gigantic discount Marts. It worked fine, and it would have been long enough except it was so stiff I could never straighten it out completely. I returned it.
I did some research on Amazon and found these Mediabridge cables with astounding user ratings and amazingly reasonable prices. Not the sub-dollar junk you can also find here, but less than one third the big-box price of the Philips cables in equivalent lengths. I bought two of the 6' cables to connect my two 1080p upconverting DVD players (a Sony 5-disc changer and a Philips region-free single-disc for playing foreign DVDs) to my wonderful (and cheap) AOC HDTV.
I was a little reluctant to buy 6' cables because I only really needed 3', and I know cable length can be tricky with very high-speed signals, but since the Philips 3' wasn't actually usable to that length, and I didn't want to have to return these, I ordered 6'. They work like a dream. They're as flexible as cooked spaghetti and transmit the signals without a single glitch.
Then I bought a new HP laptop with an HDMI output, but to work comfortably the cable had to be longer than 6'. I figured I'd go all the way and order the 15', since it's only marginally more expensive and would allow me to use the HDTV easily for watching streaming movies from Netflix. This cable also works like a dream.
My TV only has two HDMI inputs, so I do a fair amount of plugging and unplugging, with no signs of reliability problems so far. I highly recommend these Mediabridge HDMI cables--in any length--to anybody needing one.
I'm also very impressed with Mediabridge itself. Each cable comes very nicely packaged individually in a sturdy corrugated box, which is put into a larger box for shipping, and they ship quickly directly to the customer. What a relief not to have to saw through a hard plastic shell to get the product out! It's an impressive company. PLUS, they're an American company, and although I don't know if they manufacture the cables domestically, they're unafraid to print their New Jersey street address right on the box.

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Hauppauge Colossus PCI Express Internal HD-PVR TV Tuners & Video Capture 01414 Review

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(More customer reviews)After going through a horrific experience with AverTV HD DVR, I bought this product directly through Hauppauge. This card tops AverTV HD DVR 10 fold. No questions asked.
Best part, this card does all of the video encoding, meaning your PC's CPU hardly does anything at all. The quality that it gives is incredible with the file size being relatively small. Colossus gets captured using software such as WinTV and Arcsoft. WinTV records into a format of .ts. You can easily import the .ts file into adobe premiere if you rename .ts to .mpg. No problem.
You can record pretty much anything except for PS3 through HDMI, but you can record Xbox 360 and PC through HDMI.
Pros:
Hardware Encoder (No CPU Usage)
Excellent Quality
Great Software
Video and Audio are in sync
Cons:
None.

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The Hauppage Colossus is a high-definition video recorder for making real-time H.264-compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i. This HD PVR has a PCIe computer card interface and records component video (YCrCb) from video game consoles and cable TV and satellite set top boxes, with a built-in IR blaster to automatically change TV channels for scheduled recordings. Colossus also has an HDMI input port, so you can record HD video at up to 1080i from a un-encrypted HDMI source.

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Philips DVDR3576H DVD Recorder with 160GB Hard Disc and Built-In Tuner Review

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(More customer reviews)This excellent unit is truly powerful and capable. It's a real bargain if its price does not climb (see paragraph 3). It combines 3 different functions in one slim package, any one of which alone would have cost more than its sub-$300 price not so long ago: a 160 GB hard disk recorder, an ATSC digital tuner (and an analog NTSC tuner too), and a DVD recorder. Additionally, it breaks the DVD +/- format war by its ability to record on both.
This unit is one of the surprisingly few hard disk-plus-DVD recorder devices available today that has a digital tuner. It eliminates the high cost of monthly charges for a TIVO. No monthly charges at all! It can do two things at once, allowing playback from either DVD or HDD while recording to HDD. It has a fan but it's quiet, and turns off about a minute after turning the unit off. And, of course, you can watch live TV via your TV's tuner as well.
NOTE ON PRICES: In 2009 the Philip's price has increased, sometimes substantially above what it was last year, although you may still find it at a good price. It may be in limited quantities and/or about to be deleted: I do not know. If you can only find it at an elevated price you should also consider other units. Gary S. reports recently that the newly-available Magnavox H2160MW9, now at Amazon too, is essentially identical to the Philips and is at a sub-$300 price, so investigate that. At higher prices, there are other units that, unlike this otherwise excellent Philips, can record in high definition instead of standard def (albeit on hard drive only): the Moxi MR 1500 (for cable only, cannot be used with an antenna; 500 GB hard drive); or the TiVo TCD658000 HD XL DVR (for both cable and antenna; 1000 GB hard drive). TiVo imposes service charges, unlike Moxi or Philips, so the HD XL effectively costs about $900 for the unit + "lifetime" service fee. However, unlike the Philips, both Moxi and TiVo need an adjunct DVD recorder in order to download keeper programs to a DVD (in SD not HD, at least until Blu-Ray recorders are available). Otherwise you lose your recordings if/when the hard disk crashes.
Recording TV programs
I use a roof antenna, and receive both analog and digital TV signals. Programming to record TV shows is very similar to programming a VCR manually. There is no automatic programming system, but it's really not that hard to do manually. It records HD signals as SD (standard definition).
The listing of programs ("Titles") that you have recorded are clearly shown and easy to navigate to. But it is best to put at least a rudimentary title on the TV programs right after you record them. Otherwise all you have is the date, time, and channel of the recording. You have to add titles by a clunky texting method, requiring multiple presses of numbers 1-9.
Playback
I use an HDMI cable between this unit and my TV. Playback from the hard disk is a joy. Access is immediate. The unit remembers where you left off watching last time on each program individually. You can manoever around the recordings with an (adjustable) 30-second skip forward/backward button, or with an adjustable-speed fast forward/rewind, or with a chapter-jump ("next") which uses the (optional) 10-minute auto-chapters that are inserted.
Playback from DVD is fine, but loading a DVD is slow (perhaps because it can handle so many different DVD formats).
Aspect Ratio (edited 12/08--thanks to Arnold E.)
This will require fiddling with from time to time to display the picture properly.
When recording DIGITAL programs you get 16:9 playback with very good SD definition on a widescreen TV with the following settings: Setup/General/Video/TV Aspect/16:9. AND set the "HDMI" toggle button to 1080p (or 1080i if your 16:9 set doesn't have p). The TV should then choose the correct aspect ratio setting automatically.
If you play back a 4:3 ANALOG program (until June 2009) with these settings, it will play back stretched sideways: reset "HDMI" to 480p to fix this.
AND if you are recording some digital programs which are not broadcast full-screen (e.g. BBC News) you may wish to press ZOOM on your TV to fill the screen.
User-friendliness
Most functions are well thought out and the software is good. But you will have to read the manual.
The remote control has the buttons needed, but several important ones are badly laid out. The STOP button is tiny.
Since it's a multifunctional device, you have to tell it what component you want to use. If you have been watching a TV show recorded on HDD, and then insert a DVD, if you just press "play", it will resume playback of the HDD unless you press "DVD" first. It's not smart enough to realize you want the DVD now.
The 122-page instruction book is detailed. It is fairly well written. Mine is very well-thumbed and dogeared. To get the most out of this complex unit, you will need to read it carefully.
Editing
For copying from old VHS tapes or home DVD's, I find it best to record first onto the HDD. Then use "deleting a scene" to remove unwanted sections. The software for this is pretty user-friendly. Then transfer the cleaned-up version to DVD. You can in theory record directly to DVD from VHS, and delete unwanted sections on the DVD directly, using "Hiding Chapters" but this is clunky (first you have to define the section as a chapter). Worse, these deletions, and added chapter headings, were ignored when played back on another unit.
Upsides
An excellent, low-cost, way to record digital and analog programs over the air or on cable.
No monthly fee.
Good quality SD 16:9 recordings.
Versatile: able to transfer recordings either way between DVD and HDD.
Downsides
It can't record HD programs in HD--it downgrades them to SD.
It's slow to load a DVD.
The remote buttons are poorly laid out.
Titling tracks is tedious.
DVD edits may be ignored in other DVD players.
Summary
This is a really fine and extremely versatile unit, at a good price. It is a leapfrog into the digital age. Finally here is a device with the versatility to fully supplant S-VHS VCR's.
The next step will be when this kind of device is upgraded to record HDTV on its hard disk AND to record Blu-Ray DVD's. Don't hold your breath.
(This review is based on the predecessor model, DVDR3575H, similar except for the tuner).

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Sony RDR-VX555 Tunerless DVD Recorder/VHS Combo Player Review

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(More customer reviews)First let me say that I did not purchase this item to record from broadcasts. I bought it to use as an easy way to transfer video/audio data from VHS to DVD. I wanted to upgrade the storage media for all of the home movies of my family. I can remember when a simple VHS player/recorder cost in excess of $700, so imagine my delight when I came across this item, for just over $200. It is almost too simple. Drop in a VHS tape of your own making, and a DVD (I use DVD-R 4.7g blank media). Push one button. Bam. It begins the Dub process. Easy. And very good. After you make the copy, you are almost finished, you must finalize the disc. Again easy, as explained on page 88 of the manual. Something like two or three options in the menu, and it does it. Now it will play in almost any other DVD player. My Mac did not recognize the disc when I inserted it into the DVD tray on my G4 PowerMac. It just showed up on the desktop as a Sony Disc, or something. DVD player in OS X played the file fine. However, to get it into your Mac, to edit, as I wanted to do, you need to use something like Toast (I have Toast 7.0) Dragged the file over, and toast did the rest. Now the file Toast made from the Sony file is in iMove, waiting for me to edit. Again. Quite simple. The manual does explain that if this unit detects any copyright signal from another source, it will not copy from that source. (Be it a DVD, VHS, or Broadcast from your cable/Dish provider) Something to consider if it is your plan to duplicate copyrighted material. This is not the proper forum for the discussion of 'Legitimate Back-Up vs illegal duplication (aka Piracy), But I felt for the money, this unit does what it says it can do. And it does it well. Personally, I am biased, in that I really like Sony products. Please take that into consideration as well, as you consider this purchase.

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Mediabridge Ultra Series - High Speed HDMI Cable - Category 2 Certified - Supports 3D & Audio Return Channel - (15 Feet) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was originally just looking for a cheapo HDMI cable to tide me over until I could figure out which hideously expensive cable(s) to buy for my new Master BR PDP/Blu-ray combo. Based on reviews I read here on Amazon, I started with the 6' (w/o outer nylon braid) and was so impressed, I bought another 6-footer and the 15-footer shown here (both with the outer nylon braided jacket) for my new HT rig in the living room. The 15' cable is perfect for my install: PDP mounted over the fireplace and the Blu-ray located about 6' to the side (in order to clear the fireplace and the two adjacent flanking windows). I'm not sure I needed the "extra" protection of the outer cable jacket, but for an extra buck or two, I thought it looked cool, LOL! I was impressed that they're not only made here in NJ (Cherry Hill), but are of excellent quality. Each comes professionally packaged in an individual heavy-guage cardboard box, with the cable carefully coiled with ties and sealed in a plastic bag. Each connector has it's delicate gold-plated pins protected by hard plastic caps....a nice touch on a "cheapo" cable.
Bottom Line: An absolute steal in a HDMI v.1.3 (12-bit deep color support)cable! Picture quality is outstanding and no issues with video/audio "lip sync". FWIW, I'm using Mediabridge between a Pioneer BDP-51FD BonusView Blu-ray Player and Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV in the Master BR, and another Pioneer BDP-51FD and Pioneer PDP-5020FD 50-Inch 1080p KURO Plasma HDTV in the living room. The Pioneer Kuro, coupled with the companion BD player, are ruthlessly revealing of inferior video quality. The Mediabridge cable aquits itself admirably with this combo, with no visible loss of PQ with the 15' length (as compared with the 6' version). The cables even look nice, especially the braided ones. Save your money....Noel Lee at Monster Cable has enough mansions and yachts, LOL! Use the money you saved by not supporting AudioQuest, Monster, etc. on Blu-ray discs or whatever else that turns you on. All this from an admitted high-end cable junkie...I have lots of Monster, AQ, MIT, etc. cable for my hi-fi and (past) home theatre rigs.

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Cobra Gaming Systems King Cobra HT (Home Theatre) 1080P HDMI Media Center PC with Blu-Ray & Wireless N Black Review

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(More customer reviews)The only item for sale here seems to be the case. The tech specs are misleading and are designed to induce buyers into believing that they are paying for a full HTPC.

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Accell B041C-010B UltraAV HDMI/HDMI Cable (10 Feet/3 Meters) Review

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(More customer reviews)This cable was a great value at the time and I am extremely happy with the quality and construction of the cable and connectors. My only wish was that it was all white for my application. I'd highly recommend this cable.

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UltraAV HDMI Cable 3 meter

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Magnavox MDR515H 500GB HDD and DVD-R with Digital Tuner Review

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(More customer reviews)I have a Toshiba HDD recorder and was looking for another one at ebay. After bidding on several of them and losing because the bids went too high I learned of the Magnavox. I originally considered the 513 because it was cheaper and its 320 GB was large enough for me. Then I found out that the 515 is not just a larger hard drive, but has an improved remote and saves your settings for an hour in case of a power failure, unlike the 60 seconds of the 513. Now that I have this one I like it better than my Toshiba. Toshiba has chapter mute which allows you to instantly skip commercials, that the Magnavox does not, but in almost every other way the Magnavox is more convenient to use. Besides that, I made too many mistakes watching football with the instant skip and jump too far ahead when there was no clear mute between commercial and program. If I am recording a program with the Magnavox and want to start watching from the beginning all I have to do is press the play button and it immediately starts playing from the beginning. With the Toshiba I had to press time slip and reverse search to get to the beginning. This is so much simpler and no more frustrating mistakes like sometimes happened with the Toshiba. If you wanted to stop a timer recording with the Toshiba you had to get up and press stop two times on the the base unit. That prevents you from accidentally stopping a recording. Magnavox does it by pressing stop twice on the remote, much simpler. I needed my reading glasses to find the stop button on the Toshiba. You can program two consecutive programs with just a 2 second gap; a 1 minute gap on the Toshiba. This also has 1.4 HDMI, which is important in connecting to my new 3D TV. It also links to my TV, so if I turn on the recorder it also turns on my TV and selects the correct input and audio source. It also has a digital tuner so I have connected my old antenna to it as well as my fiber optic TV. I can't fine tune the picture like I could with the Toshiba, but my TV lets me adjust the video settings for every input and saves the settings.
I am so glad I wasn't able to buy an old Toshiba at ebay. You would have to pay almost as much for a used Toshiba (and my first one failed after six years) as you do for a new Magnavox. The bonus for me is that the Magnavox suits my needs much better and the black unit looks better in my setup because everything else is black.
There is a more complete review and explanation of functions at avsforum.
***
I have read a few of the other reviews here. The ones that interested me most were the one star reviews. Most of these are from people who have returned more than one unit. Those reviews plus the similar complaints in the comments on them emphasize that this DVR can be difficult (for some people) to set up. The big problem is that the manual is confusing, and even wrong in places. I am pretty sure there can't be that many bad units, just wrong setups. The best way to set up properly is to visit AVS Forum (google it) and then search for this thread: Magnavox 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575. You will find it more helpful than the manual. The most common problems are freezing or no power, solved with a soft reset--not in the manual and customer service is unaware of it. And save yourself more problems by setting auto clock to off. Most people have gotten it to work for them and you probably can too if you are patient. The first problem I had was getting a picture, solved by setting the correct input in the menu. Early on I also had a power problem, but fixed it as soon as I checked the details for soft reset at avsforum. I am glad I stayed with it. After using every day for four months I have yet to have a recording failure. I love it.
***
My unit went unresponsive after five months. After trying a couple of things that didn't work I changed the batteries. That was the problem. I wasn't expecting the batteries to go bad so soon.

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Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander 1 TB USB 2.0/eSATA External Hard Drive Review

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(More customer reviews)I received my 1TB WD My Book AV Expander today. Here's how it went down:
Unpack, plug into back of DVR with included eSATA cable, plug WD HDD into wall outlet, turn on DVR and TV. See prompt on TV about new attached storage. Look for and find remote that kids misplaced. Then Press A on remote to format. Wait 30 seconds. Now when I press List it shows 5% Full (used to be 40%). It didn't even interrupt the current recording. No more taping over my World Cup matches. How easy is that?
So far no heat from new hard drive and it's whisper quiet. Drive also comes with a USB cable (not needed for this project as the Scientifc Atlanta 8300HD supports eSATA only for adding storage.) From WD's website this drive is on the list of supported drives for Time Warner SA8300HD but it was still a relief to see it immediately recognized.

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Record more. Delete less. WD's My Book AV DVR Expander instantly adds more recording hours to your DVR. With both USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces, the drive is compatible with many DVRs and other AV devices. Or use this drive with your compatible camcorder to off-load video without a computer.

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Gateway DX4320-39 Desktop - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)After much research I purchased the Gateway DX4320-39 desktop. I found it offered the most features for the price. After about six weeks of use I have been very pleased. I run a small web design and hosting business and as such do a lot of editing of graphics and video. The performance in all cases has been great for my use. About the only negative that I have had with this unit is that the included wireless keyboard and mouse did not work. In my case it was not a big deal as I always use a Logitech set up anyway.

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Get powerful yet affordable quad-core processing power plus advanced graphics and memory to fuel your multimedia demands with the sleek Gateway DX4320-39 desktop PC. It includes a Blu-ray Disc drive for viewing movies in crystal-clear HD resolution on a connected HDTV or high-def monitor, and the Blu-ray drive includes an integrated SuperMulti drive for creating your own DVDs and CDs.
The Gateway DX4320 desktop PC (monitor not included;see larger image).

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MAGNAVOX H2160MW9 HDD and DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)TIP: read the "original review", then SEE the update history at bottom
** 05/05/2010 UPDATE newly released firmware update to correct the E19 error
** 11/10/2009 UPDATE: "workaround" for the known "Finalize disc bug fix")
** 9/25/2009 UPDATE regarding my defective unit)
--------------------------- MY ORIGINAL REVIEW ---------------------------
The Magnavox H2160MW9 is is a mixed bag of fantastic abilities and a few disappointing failures rolled into one product. My 4-star rating is very generous, considering the negatives.
If you've invested time doing research on HDD recorders, then you know how limited the choices are. With further research, you'll find that the problems I'm having are not isolated incidents. Google the model number and you'll see.
FAILURES:
*** DVD player does not - will not play DVD discs: --> see the UPDATE 9/25/2009 SEE the UPDATE 11/10/2009: an easy workaround fix

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Sling Media SlingCatcher SC100-100 Universal Media Player for TV Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been waiting for this product for 22 months, having seen the announcement and demo at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronic Show in January 2007. I have long been a fan of Sling Media and have used its products for close to three years. I have also recommended them to many friends and colleagues. I am a technologist and a "gadget freak" and seldom return products. Even less frequently I write reviews.
I received the SlingCatcher yesterday, after pre-ordering it on Amazon, and I could not have imagined, 24 hours ago, that I would now be packing it to return it. In a word, this product is a disaster. It is expensive for the features it offers (I paid $299 at Amazon, and I note that the product is already discounted two days later) and it is poorly implemented.
The installation was the only positive part of the experience. It was very simple to install (even simpler than a Slingbox) and recognized the network immediately. I have a wired, 1 Gigabit network available at the right location. The SlingCatcher does not have WiFi. The only peculiarity is that it took several minutes to download a software upgrade. Given that I have one of the first units to come off the boat, I wonder how many bugs were discovered during the trip from China to the USA. I should say that I did not experience any of the installation problems mentioned by other users.
The SlingCatcher lets you do three things (according to what's written on the box): watch video from the Internet; watch video from a Slingbox; and watch video from a PC. But be careful about making assumptions about what these descriptions mean!
Watch video from the Internet -- while you might think that this feature would allow you to browse the web and stream videos from it, it is not quite so. You have to have a computer on your network running a software program called "SlingProjector," which allows you to "project" whatever you can play on your computer onto the SlingCatcher (and your TV.)
I downloaded the SlingProjector software to my laptop (which I operate wirelessly) and to my home computer which sits on my 1Gig network (iMac running Windows because there is no SlingProjector software for the Mac OS yet!) I was able to go to the web from my laptop and stream software which in turn was streamed from my computer to the SlingCatcher and my TV. In order to stream a Hulu or Youtube video, the software lets you capture the portion of the screen where the video is being shown via a "cropping" feature. This works reasonably well, but the resulting quality is not that great. Part of it is a function of the quality of the incoming video, but I think that the fundamental problem is that as you stream the signal twice, you lose quality. In addition to that, you are showing the video on a large screen TV, and that is bound not to look as good as on the computer. So, expectations are high and quality is lower than it could be. Not a good outcome.
I then streamed videos from my home computer on the 1G network, with similar results. Note that in order to do that, you better have the SlingCatcher, your computer and your tv in the same room, otherwise you have to go back and forth all the time. I was watching a video and all of a sudden a computer message popped up right in the middle of the screen, which required going back to the home computer to click on the message.
But the worst part of the SlingProjector was that it did not work in some instances. I wanted to show a PowerPoint presentation on the tv screen, and in order to do that I did not use the "cropping" feature, but I put the SlingProjector in full screen mode. After opening the PowerPoint file, it was not possible to get the thing going from my laptop to the SlingCatcher. I managed to see a screen, but then the whole thing would freeze and I could not make it work even after restarting and resetting the box. After a while I gave up.
The second feature is the ability to connect to a SlingBox and watch on a TV what you would until now watch on your computer. That feature seems to work, though I found the menu system quite cumbersome. The quality also did not seem that great. I would have thought that having two hardware boxes talking to each other would allow Sling to optimize protocols and provide high quality and speed. Not so. Perhaps you can get better results with the HD box, which I do not have (it would have been the next purchase probably.)
Finally I thought I would get good results with the third, "slam dunk" feature, "Watch Video from your PC." Note that even this description is misleading. Watching video from your PC means implementing the Sling version of "Sneakernet" -- copy your files on a USB stick from your computer and walk it over and plug the stick into the SlingCatcher. But much to my surprise, this did not work at all. I tried both a USB stick with a few files, and then attaching a 500GB USB external hard disk full of media files. In the first case it found nothing, in the second case it told me that the files were unreadable. So much for the slam dunk feature.
So, I am disappointed at two levels. First, because the product is buggy and does not work as advertised. I knew what I was buying, because I have been reading about this for almost two years and despite the misleading descriptions, I knew enough not to be surprised. Even so, however, the product just does not work!
At another level, I am very disappointed in Sling. This was a huge opportunity to corner the market as the "media center" device of choice. For $300, why didn't the company include a web browser, so that I could go on the web directly and stream video from there as opposed to having to do it twice, with the additional inconvenience of having to use a computer in the middle? Was that not possible, given that the product is 2 years late and they charge $300? How much more would that cost? Some additional memory maybe?
Second, what's the deal with Sneakernet? Have we gone back 20 years? If you can read from a USB device (which you can't even make work) can't you allow me to read from devices on my network? I have several computers on the network as well as a NAS. My Playstation allows me to browse all these devices, retrieve and stream videos in HD, retrieve pictures and music and play it at high quality and flawlessly on my TV. If you can do it from a USB device, why can't you do it off the network? Even if it requires people to upgrade to a 1Gigabit network for HD video, it is still better than not having the feature at all.
In conclusion, I am very disappointed. The SingCatcher is under-featured and overpriced. Most importantly, it is a buggy product, which is incredible for something that's been in the works for over two years.


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Philips DVDR3575H/37 1080p Upscaling DVDR with Built-In Tuner Review

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(More customer reviews)You know how you buy a product, and it doesn't have all the features you need? Well, this is another one of those. I've never understood why manufacturers sell products without all the features - I guess they need their customers to upgrade every now and then, huh?
I currently have a Panasonic DMR-E80H (80GB hard drive) that has worked flawlessly and is still kickin today. The time had come for me to buy another DVD Recorder. After TONS of research, I bought a RCA DRC8000N. This one was ok, good interface, cheap (200.00), but the tuner quality wasn't all that great - it had little wavy lines on my local channels (through analog cable signal straight from outside line). The remote control for the RCA wasn't responsive either - it took a second for each command to go through. So I exchanged it for the Polaroid DRA-01601A (260.00). This one had a little better picture quality (except through 1 of my channels which was extremely noisy), so I immediately returned it. Finally, my local Wally store had the Philips DVD3575H in stock and I picked one up for 300.00.
Pros:
The tuner quality is very good - I have analog cable, and my 65" tv shows little noise with it. The tuner is even better than my Panasonic one.
The remote is responsive and pretty well laid out - I don't like the black play/pause/rew/ff buttons though - I keep wanting to hit the button just above them so I still have to hunt.
You can play a recorded event while recording another one. You can play the one that you're currently recording too (ie: chase play).
It has SDTV tuner.
It's quiet when running - I honestly couldn't hear it from my couch.
It has a skip function that allows you to skip ahead 30 seconds when you're watching a recorded program. The 30 seconds is changeable to 60, 2 minutes, etc.
It has 3 fast forward and 3 reverse speed settings.
You can have up to 6 markers to mark a spot of a recorded program and you can jump to it (helpful if you have to stop watching a program and you lose the "resume" function of it by turning off the device). My Panasonic one will hold up to 99 and are used as chapters instead of "markers". I'll still call this a pro as many recorders don't even know what a marker is.
It will auto-chapter every 5 minutes (this is an option as well to change it to 10 minutes, etc.)
The Info bar (display bar at the top of the screen) is well thought out. It shows information as to what you are playing and where you are at in the program (ie: 27:35 of 1:03:00). From the Info bar, you can change closed captions, repeat options, fake surround sound settings, noise reduction settings, set markers, change to another chapter, change to another recorded program. This makes it simple for some tedious functions.
Cons:
Unfortunately, yes there are always cons.
1. You can't title a timer event until after it's done recording. Why? I have no clue. Basically, if you record 10 programs per week, it'll be difficult to remember what each of them are. They are labeled like this: Day, Time, Channel, Recording Quality. This is not helpful at all to me.
2. If you do actually want to go edit the name after it has recorded, you have to enter it like you're on a cell phone. You have to press the number 2 three times to get the letter C. Then you have to change it to lowercase letters, then repeat over and over. That's just stupid.
3. If you have a weekly timed event, you don't have the option to overwrite the previous week's program. My Panasonic gives this option, which is very helpful. With the Philips, I have to remember to delete the programs before the hard drive fills up. With my Panasonic, I just let it overwrite and no worries.
4. No TV Guide? I don't know if this is a real con because from reviews I've read on other DVRs that have it, it's a crap shoot whether it works or not.
5. There's an annoying bright blue light when this thing is recording. I'll just have to cover it up with some tape.
If you have the money to spend - go buy a Panasonic (at around 450.00).
If you don't, then this is an excellent alternative (at around 300.00).
I'd stay away from the cheap ones, because that's what they are.
I can't comment on the DVD playing/recording abilities of this thing as I'll still use my reliable Panasonic for those functions.
I'll probably keep this one unless something goes really wrong over the next few days. I am extremely tired of researching DVD Recorders. I almost went and bought an old TIVO with the Basic Service so I wouldn't have the monthly fees. But I hate buying used equipment - especially off of eBay.

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