DVD/DVR Combo

I just saw a DVD recorder in a store with a built-in hard drive. Someone
told me that this is a DVR/DVD combo. I have two questions about these
units. The same sales peron told me you can't burn DVDs from cable
programming recorded onto the hard drive because the broadcast and cable
networks have encoded their programs with copy protection. Is this true?

Second, can you choose edit points when you burn a DVD to get a clean head
and tail for a program and to remove commercials?

I'm a real novice, so any info on these units would be appreciated.

Randy

Randall Coleman wrote:
>
> I just saw a DVD recorder in a store with a built-in hard drive. Someone
> told me that this is a DVR/DVD combo. I have two questions about these
> units. The same sales peron told me you can't burn DVDs from cable
> programming recorded onto the hard drive because the broadcast and cable
> networks have encoded their programs with copy protection. Is this true?

No

> Second, can you choose edit points when you burn a DVD to get a clean head
> and tail for a program and to remove commercials?

With most DVRs you can edit out commercials on the hard drive and then burn the remaining program to DVD.

--
Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

"Randall Coleman" <res197va@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:2Oi8i.107$554.2@trnddc07...
>I just saw a DVD recorder in a store with a built-in hard drive. Someone
>told me that this is a DVR/DVD combo. I have two questions about these
>units. The same sales peron told me you can't burn DVDs from cable
>programming recorded onto the hard drive because the broadcast and cable
>networks have encoded their programs with copy protection. Is this true?
>

Can be. If the cable programming has copy protection enabled the recorder
will probably refuse to record it.

> Second, can you choose edit points when you burn a DVD to get a clean head
> and tail for a program and to remove commercials?

Most allow reasonable editing on the hard drive allowing programs to be
trimmed and commercials removed.

>
> I'm a real novice, so any info on these units would be appreciated.
>
> Randy

I'd also stick to main brands for these as some of the cheaper ones are not
so good on the editing front.

"Randall Coleman" <res197va@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:2Oi8i.107$554.2@trnddc07...
>I just saw a DVD recorder in a store with a built-in hard
>drive. Someone told me that this is a DVR/DVD combo. I have
>two questions about these units. The same sales peron told me
>you can't burn DVDs from cable programming recorded onto the
>hard drive because the broadcast and cable networks have
>encoded their programs with copy protection. Is this true?
>
> Second, can you choose edit points when you burn a DVD to get
> a clean head and tail for a program and to remove commercials?
>
> I'm a real novice, so any info on these units would be
> appreciated.
>
> Randy
>

I can't speak to the technology of the unnamed recorder (hmmmm,
nor could I if you had named it;-0), but I capture SD video -
via S-Video output - from cable company supplied HDVRs. The
source programs may be HDTV, PPV, VOD, or plain old digital SD.
There is no problem whatever burning, or otherwise manipulating,
the captures.

However, this is not the first time I've read someone suggesting
that capture/copy is restricted or forbidden for some/all cable
programming by some one or another recorder.

Choose another method of achieving your objective. You
obviously have a PC (or the like).

Needless to say, analog capture from digital cable suffers its
own penalties. But I find the captures I do in this way very
satisfactory when compared with analog broadcast.

Beside which, PC based players are better (more flexible and
filter rich) than firmware players.