PVR/DVR Help Please

[dwcrawford]

riichard will tell us

[Wattle]

I'm still trying to get movies from my DVR to a disk or the computer.  My DVR does have a USB port and the cable service dude says I can move files from the DVR to a flash drive (as Richard has said earlier), the problem is does anybody know how to do that???

Thats why I keep going back to the Panasonic... it has a DVD drive/burner. From what I have read though it is meant to be very slow. Maybe because it has so much crammed into the little box.

The kids like the idea of the Tivo but down here it is only 160GB.

[Chris]

We did it once to a flash drive, but forgot how we did it. I'll have to play around to relearn it.

[RichardMEL]

I honestly have not spent much time looking at the Tivo, mostly because it is geared to the Free To Air channels here (specially 7) and doesn't, as I understand it, have an external input to put a cable box in.. and I don't think it supports taking the recorded files off it to a PC, flash drive etc. The main thing that I am sure the kids would like is that it is EASY to use (much like the foxtel IQ/IQ2) - with the menus there, EPG (Electronic Program Guide) integrated easily so you just point and click (pretty much) - whereas with something like the Panasonic it isn't so simple - I am not sure if it includes an ICE-TV subscription or not but it's extra you have to setup, or you would have to manually set it to record shows (much like an older VCR) *BUT* it includes the DVD Burner convenience.

So I think what you need to decide in the end is what features you REALLY want and will use the most - eg: being able to easily burn stuff to DVD vs. easy to use program guide/recording vs. total storage space on disk and all that.

Wattle sorry the DTV forum confused you - a lot of them speak techno nerd and make it difficult.. my understanding is the BW are coming out with a newer model(same with Panasonic) so that may be the issue. Also I'm not surprised that HN would say the Tivo has the market.. I think they are one of the joint marketing partners.. you might want to check with JB Hi-Fi or similar. Of course if Panasonic are going to bring a new unit out you might get a great deal on the current one from a mob like Panasales or similar.