Over the weekend, I installed and set up the Humax DTR800, an all-in-one 80-hour TiVo, DVD recorder and progressive-scan DVD player. I received it last week and was anxious to try out the DVD recording functions more than anything.
Given that it's a TiVo, I first had to set it up, which takes as long as setting up any other TiVo -- in other words, a long time. There's nothing that must be done differently during the set-up process just because it contains a DVD recorder. Of course, the TiVo Central menu looks different because it includes a DVD recording option.
As one of our readers suggested, I would find it easy to record TiVo-recorded programs on the DVD-RW disc that came with the unit. Both the TV screen and the Humax's front panel display the progress, showing you the percentage of recording that has occurred and how much time is left.
I was able to choose multiple programs to record; TiVo showed me how much room was left on the DVD for recording. Of course, it will not let you choose more programs than a DVD can hold. The actual recording of programs was faster than I expected.
My only complaint is that I could not find a way to record to DVD a program that is stored on another TiVo that is connected to the Humax via my home network. Maybe this isn't possible. If it is possible, I could not discover how to do it from the on-screen menus.
For this review, I recorded on the DVD-RW disc that came with the unit. But I also could have recorded to DVD-R discs. The DTR800 cannot use DVD+R discs for recording. The playback quality of recorded discs was similar to the original material.
One thing I don't feel qualified to judge is the unit's playback of prerecorded DVD discs. I tried one and it looked fine to me, but I'm not such a geek that I can measure its technical quality.
Because I didn't want to get into my stereo rack and behind the TV to pull cables, I didn't run the DVD player in progressive mode. The player is no worse (and perhaps no better) than a $79 DVD player.
Overall, I think the DTR800 is worth the current street price of about $399. It combines three functions into one, saving on rack space and remote controls. It's also a way to convert VHS tapes into DVDs without using a personal computer. The Humax is a good addition to your home audio-video system, especially if you're a TiVo user.
1. It is NOT possible to record content to DVD when it was not originally recorded on the unit.
Two reasons:
1. The DVD-RW TiVos do not record in the same format as normal standalone units. They record natively in a DVD Video compliant format (the DVD spec specifies resolution, MPEG2 settings, audio format, etc). These settings use more disc space, a fair bit more, at the High and Best Settings. Normal standalone TiVos record using settings optimized to use less disc space while maintaining a reasonable quality level. But this difference means recordings from non-DVD-RW units need to be transcoded to a DVD compliant format before burning. With TiVoToGo the PC does this, but the DVD-RW units don't have the power to do it on the box, and they can't route the recording internally through the decoder/encoder chain. So there isn't a way to do the transcoding on box.
2. OK, so that's the BIG reason why you can't do that. But even if you have two DVD-RW units and you MRV video from one to another, you can't burn it. Even though the video and audio is in the right format, the units need some 'metadata' to handle the recording. That metadata is stored on the recording unit, but it is not transferred with the current MRV protocol. So you get the video, but not the metadata to burn a disc. MRV pre-dates the DVD-RW units, and I suppose adding this was never a high priority. I mean, first of all, how many people are going to buy *two* DVD-RW TiVos (OK, so I have two...), and even if you have two how many of those people will want to MRV and burn - when you can just burn on the original unit.
People who want to pull video from multiple units and make a DVD would probably use TTG and a PC, it is more flexible.
Posted at 11:55AM on Jun 15th 2005 by MegaZone