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Hard drive recorder and div x player

Interesting Ian

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Hi, is it possible to purchase one of these to hook up to my TV? My video recorder is broken and I was thinking of getting a dvd recorder. But since I will basically just be doing timeshifting I don't really need to record to dvd. On the other hand it would be nice to have something that plays anything that I might download from the Internet, so it would need to play divx. So does a combined hard drive recorder and divx player exist?
 
Hmmm . .forget it, it doesn't look like they exist :rolleyes:

What about a dvd recorder which plays divx but sub £200?

I'll have a look on the Net now.
 
Interesting Ian said:
Hmmm . .forget it, it doesn't look like they exist :rolleyes:

What about a dvd recorder which plays divx but sub £200?

I'll have a look on the Net now.
Click to expand...

No they don't exist either.

Could someone give me any advice here? I know absolutely nothing whatsoever about DVDs. Never seen one in my life. Is it the case that only these divx players will play a video downloaded from the Net?
 
From what little I know of Divx, the real benefit is that a Divx encoded movie is much smaller than a standard DVD movie. I think you can get something like 4 Divx movies on one DVD.

As far as what format you normally download, I have no idea. One option may be to make sure you have a Divx-capable piece of media software and store any Divx encoded files on a data-formatted DVD if you plan on playing them only on your computer. If you want to be able to play them on a stand-alone DVD/Divx player, I am not sure how to help.
 
DaveW said:
From what little I know of Divx, the real benefit is that a Divx encoded movie is much smaller than a standard DVD movie. I think you can get something like 4 Divx movies on one DVD.

As far as what format you normally download, I have no idea. One option may be to make sure you have a Divx-capable piece of media software and store any Divx encoded files on a data-formatted DVD if you plan on playing them only on your computer. If you want to be able to play them on a stand-alone DVD/Divx player, I am not sure how to help.
Click to expand...

OK, I thought that everything that I download might be divx, I have no idea. You can't convert divx into something a dvd recorder or non-divx player would recognise?

For some mysterious reason I am unable to find a dvd recorder which will play back divx (although there are a few dvd players knocking around which will play div x. I'm totally confused).

I was thinking about buying this, but am put off if won't play anything I download.

Also have no idea what he's talking about half the time. eg progressive scan, multi-region compatible, chapters etc.
 
Interesting Ian said:
OK, I thought that everything that I download might be divx, I have no idea. You can't convert divx into something a dvd recorder or non-divx player would recognise?
Click to expand...
Sure you can. You just get a recording that is of the same (relatively lower) quality of Divx with the enormous file size of a regular DVD.

For some mysterious reason I am unable to find a dvd recorder which will play back divx (although there are a few dvd players knocking around which will play div x. I'm totally confused).
Click to expand...
I believe when it comes to your computer, the drive doesn't care at all what format the information on the DVD is in. You just need the software to decode the file properly. As far as a standalone option like you are looking for, you might be out of luck, but a Divx capable DVD player here in the US probably goes for ~$50 if you find it on sale, and that would probably be with progressive scan.

I was thinking about buying this, but am put off if won't play anything I download.

Also have no idea what he's talking about half the time. eg progressive scan, multi-region compatible, chapters etc.
Click to expand...

Progressive scan means it is capable of sending information to the television monitor in a format that will draw every line of the screen every pass (as long as your TV can handle it - this means HDTV usually). The picture is clearer than interlaced, which draws every other line on each pass.

Multi-region means it can play DVDs encoded for different regions: the US and Canada are Region 1, Europe is another region, and Asia yet another (there are more I think, but you get the idea). This is an old copy protection scheme that has fallen by the wayside in some areas.
 
The cheapest solution would be to buy a cable that connects the graphics card of your computer to the TV, it requires a bit of tinkering to get it to work sometimes though.
 
You don't need to convert your DivX movies to DVD format to play them on a DVD player. You could convert them to SVCD format instead. You will lose some quality in the conversion, though.

I would say that your best bet is to either get a DVD player that can play DivX movies, or run a cable from the TV-output of your video card to your TV. I would suggest the latter, because you will probably find that your DVD/DivX player won't properly play back a lot of DivX files. They tend to be much pickier than computers.


Dr. Stupid
 
Stimpson J. Cat said:
You don't need to convert your DivX movies to DVD format to play them on a DVD player. You could convert them to SVCD format instead. You will lose some quality in the conversion, though.
Click to expand...


But what is the disadvantage of converting to DVD?

I would say that your best bet is to either get a DVD player that can play DivX movies, or run a cable from the TV-output of your video card to your TV. I would suggest the latter, because you will probably find that your DVD/DivX player won't properly play back a lot of DivX files. They tend to be much pickier than computers.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of just buying a dvd/hdd recorder now. Which one is the best for < £350?
 
I bought the DVHR300 from SHARP . The only negative so far is that it takes a while for it to boot up. It was the cheapest I could find in a local store, over the net it was perhaps 10% cheaper. I paid 5000 SEK which should be less that 350 £.
 
A simple google for dvd player divX will bring you here

There are a multitude of DivX/XVid cpable DVD-players well in your price range. Converting anything to (S)VCD is no longer necessary really unless you want it to play on older players as well.

Zee
 
One question.

Since you're looking for a recorder, is there actually something on british TV that's worth recording? Just asking, because in Germany there sure isn't.

:D

Zee
 
ZeeGerman said:
One question.

Since you're looking for a recorder, is there actually something on british TV that's worth recording? Just asking, because in Germany there sure isn't.

:D

Zee
Click to expand...

Well, not much if you're talking about keeping it on a permanent basis. It's the "timeshifting" which would be more important to me (i.e recording the programme and watching when you want). But maybe I should just buy a new VHS recorder for £50 instead of spending £300 on a HDD/DVD recorder. Must stop wasting money! :D
 
Interesting Ian said:
Well, not much if you're talking about keeping it on a permanent basis. It's the "timeshifting" which would be more important to me (i.e recording the programme and watching when you want). But maybe I should just buy a new VHS recorder for £50 instead of spending £300 on a HDD/DVD recorder. Must stop wasting money! :D
Click to expand...

I mean as well as a dvd player which would be another £50. Or get a combo effort. Dunno. Decisions!
 
Interesting Ian said:
Well, not much if you're talking about keeping it on a permanent basis. It's the "timeshifting" which would be more important to me (i.e recording the programme and watching when you want). But maybe I should just buy a new VHS recorder for £50 instead of spending £300 on a HDD/DVD recorder. Must stop wasting money! :D
Click to expand...

You're probably right. DVD recorders are horribly expensive and (from what I've heard), are unreliable and not worth fixing if they go wrong. Incidentally, £50 is quite a lot to pay for a video nowadays. Richer Sounds have a big name dvd vcr combi available for £60. Worth checking their catalogue if you have a branch nearby. http://ws2.richersounds.com/index.php?SID=20bbea9ba3cd8743a36dbdb997f0be84
 
asthmatic camel said:
You're probably right. DVD recorders are horribly expensive and (from what I've heard), are unreliable and not worth fixing if they go wrong. Incidentally, £50 is quite a lot to pay for a video nowadays. Richer Sounds have a big name dvd vcr combi available for £60. Worth checking their catalogue if you have a branch nearby. http://ws2.richersounds.com/index.php?SID=20bbea9ba3cd8743a36dbdb997f0be84
Click to expand...

Hmmmm . .yes there's one down Middlesbrough centre (4 miles away). OK, I shall need to read extensive reviews and customer experiences of said machine (Toshiba SD24) :)
 
The whole point of a HDD DVD-recorder is to get rid of the problem of finding a tape with enough space left on it when the time is running out.
 
Vitnir said:
The whole point of a HDD DVD-recorder is to get rid of the problem of finding a tape with enough space left on it when the time is running out.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, I know, most definitely an advantage!
 
Interesting Ian said:
Hmmmm . .yes there's one down Middlesbrough centre (4 miles away). OK, I shall need to read extensive reviews and customer experiences of said machine (Toshiba SD24) :)
Click to expand...

I thought I'd ring (telephone) up first to see if they had any in. 2 in, one non-multi region, the other multiregion. The multiregion costs £10 more. They're getting more in stock on friday.

I don't really know what this region thing means. But wouldn't I be able to hack it for the non-multi region anyway?
 
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