Recording to DVD RW through a Laptop

1658 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by ChuckA, Dec 26, 2006

jsmth

Discussion Starter · Dec 25, 2006

I just switched to DISH and have the ViP622 DVR. I found several threads discussing connecting a DVD R, but none that explain at the level I can understand (I’m not very familiar with some of the terminology). I understand the USB port can’t be used for this. What I’d like to do is burn shows onto a DVD RW in a laptop. I don’t really care too much about the quality, as long as the content is there in reasonable form so my kids can watch some of their shows in the car when we leave for a long road trip. I spoke to the tech folks at the local computer store, but the cables they provided don’t seem to work on my laptop. Also, I assume I need some software to do this on the laptop. Please help me understand how to do this and what hardware and software I need. My laptop had s-video and USB ports. Perhaps I need something else? Is this going to be a painfully slow process because I will not be able to download directly from the DVR hard drive?

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ChuckA

· #2 · Dec 25, 2006

You can not copy from the DVR to your laptop. You can record to a DVD R in real time or you could acquire a video capture card for a computer and record to it in real time. I am not sure what is available in the way of video capture to a laptop since you don't have expansion slots. But, yes it will be slow because you can't copy from the DVR hard drive.

The only real option for that is to copy to a Pocket Dish instead of DVD. It will allow the kids to watch programs on the go, but not from your DVD player.

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bruin95

· #3 · Dec 25, 2006

Jsmth, a Pocketdish is the easiest and best solution for you.

http://www.pocketdish.com/

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jsmth

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 25, 2006

thanks Chuck and Bruin

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TBoneit

· #5 · Dec 25, 2006

What they mean when they say record to a DVD R is use a DVD Recorder and burn it to a DVD that way. The better ones have a Hard Drive to make editing easier.

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tedb3rd

· #6 · Dec 26, 2006

I have my 622 hooked up to a DVD recorder unit (via RCA cables) and I can record to a DVD-R disc in real-time. I see where you were interested in getting it to the computer but I've never tried that--don't have TV input on the computer, but my computer has a DVD drive so you could do the same if yours is DVD compatible. Of course, the pocket dish is an option you could consider too.

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lujan

· #7 · Dec 26, 2006

This is two threads now that I'm seeing that are recommending the pocketDish. No, no no, don't get one if you're planning on copying any HD programming. My pocketDish lasted about 1 day at my house until I found out that it does not record/capture any HD programming. I was told that it would downconvert any HD programming to SD and that's why I got it in the first place. They either lied to me or are just very ignorant. I quickly sent it back because I watch about 90 - 95% HD so the pocketDish does me no good. If you primarily watch SD programming, then the pocketDish is for you.

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ChuckA

· #8 · Dec 26, 2006

lujan said:
This is two threads now that I'm seeing that are recommending the pocketDish. No, no no, don't get one if you're planning on copying any HD programming. My pocketDish lasted about 1 day at my house until I found out that it does not record/capture any HD programming. I was told that it would downconvert any HD programming to SD and that's why I got it in the first place. They either lied to me or are just very ignorant. I quickly sent it back because I watch about 90 - 95% HD so the pocketDish does me no good. If you primarily watch SD programming, the te pocketDish is for you.

You just have to plan ahead. If you know you want to put certain things on the PocketDish you just have to set them up to record from an SD channel. Then its a snap to download to the PocketDish. I also watch almost all HD, except when I am planning a trip I find programs I want to take with me and record them in SD. If dish gets the ability to use it as the EXT device from the 622 fixed, then you can record HD transmitted programs directly to the PocketDish instead of the DVR (down resed of course). It still has some drawbacks, but I really enjoy mine on the road.

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