Digital Video Recorders - A Question

[Zedayen]

I'm planning on purchasing my folks a DVR for Christmas, as they are currently using an archaic VHS to record their favorite TV shows. I, like most of you I'm sure, tend to watch anything good online, so I haven't had the chance to look at a DVR device in depth. The range on offer at most retailers 'round here are slim, mostly a few LG's and some "Sony-gatz" knockoff types. The storage capacity on most seem to range from 160GB to 500GB with the 500GB models pricing around $500AUD.

Which brings me to the part where I seek advice. I wish to know if you can replace the HDDs in these devices and what type of dive they use, and whether the OS is firmware on the chip or software on the drive. The act of physically replacing the drive is a non issue. I just want to know if I can save $300 and give my folks 2000+ hours of recording enjoyment over the ~300 hours with the hefty tag.

Thanking you in advance for your input.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Firmware built into cameras is very often if not always incompatible with desktop or laptop computers. Additionally, computer based operating systems are not the same as internal software which manage the process pipeline of recording inside a camera.
Usually in paying for a camera you're paying for the quality of the lens or receiver chip, not the digital space on it (in which I would always pick higher quality if given the option).
Amounts of time in-between video dumping or frequency of transferring to a computer would never be a concern or consideration in my head.

 

[Zedayen]

Firmware built into cameras is very often if not always incompatible with desktop or laptop computers. Additionally, computer based operating systems are not the same as internal software which manage the process pipeline of recording inside a camera.
Usually in paying for a camera you're paying for the quality of the lens or receiver chip, not the digital space on it (in which I would always pick higher quality if given the option).
Amounts of time in-between video dumping or frequency of transferring to a computer would never be a concern or consideration in my head.

I believe there has been a slight misunderstanding. It's not a camera, it's like a TiVo, only not a TiVo. TiVo isn't really big here. They're sometimes called PVRs as well.

 

[Hashime]

It very much depends on the model. In general I would say no as provides like to lock these things down for extra profits. I do know some can use an external drive however.
I would suggest if your family has a good enough computer to encode HD video on the fly that you look at a TV tuner card. Some have hdmi inputs and can record from the stream. That again is a model specific thing.

 

[Zedayen]

It very much depends on the model. In general I would say no as provides like to lock these things down for extra profits. I do know some can use an external drive however.
I would suggest if your family has a good enough computer to encode HD video on the fly that you look at a TV tuner card. Some have hdmi inputs and can record from the stream. That again is a model specific thing.

Last time I was over there was a few months back and their choice of desktop was.....underwhelming. There is no chance of adding a tuner card to their PC. Besides, I think they're going to have enough trouble figuring out how to work the P/DVR. I guess I'll just have to mess around with the box before I wrap it.

 

[Hashime]

It very much depends on the model. In general I would say no as provides like to lock these things down for extra profits. I do know some can use an external drive however.
I would suggest if your family has a good enough computer to encode HD video on the fly that you look at a TV tuner card. Some have hdmi inputs and can record from the stream. That again is a model specific thing.

Last time I was over there was a few months back and their choice of desktop was.....underwhelming. There is no chance of adding a tuner card to their PC. Besides, I think they're going to have enough trouble figuring out how to work the P/DVR. I guess I'll just have to mess around with the box before I wrap it.

That is your best bet.