I recently purchased a PIONEER DVR-633H-S DVD Recorder With 160 GB Hard Drive under the illusion that I could make copies of dvds. That obviously is not the case. Is there a way to do this? Preferably a cheaper way..
You are far, far better off using your PC to make copies. That way you can get all the menus, extras, etc, etc.. The disc structure will stay intact. With a DVD player to DVR transfer, you'll get the movie only basically.
With Macrovision protection the way it is, you'll probably need a separate DVD player that will tie into one of your inputs, and a Sima GoDVD box to strip the Macrovision signal out. Then you'll be able to record the incoming movie straight to a DVD or to the HDD.
The DVD Player should be had at a pawn shop or something like that for $30, the GoDVD for around $70, so for $100 or so, you can dupe DVD movies like that. There again, only the movie part of the disc will work. You can record the extras to it's each own separate file, then add these to your finished DVD. Pain in the butt, but it can be done.
I can't find anything about how much time you can record to the 80 gig hard drive. I'm not really looking to record to DVD at all. I just want a good recorder to get ... say 80 hours of telitubbies. A gig an hour doesn't seem like that much to ask.
It's not like a lot of people go in depth of how the thing runs.
Can you record say 80 hours of tv, and then have it play everything back to back, then repeat?
I just can't see an 80 gig drive holding 10 hours of video, while the ilo can hold 8 hours on 1 dvd.
I like my vcr more than the ilo. It's a much more reliable device.
How much you can record to an 80 Gig HD on the 531H depends on the quality you have it set at. I use the LP mode most of the time, which is 4 hours per DVD and I get around 60 hours of record time on the 80 Gig HDD. So at the SLP, or 8 hours per DVD record speed, you will get just over 150 hours. I think it tops out at 170 hours on the HD at the lowest setting.
But I do burn stuff to the HD as well. And have been dubbing lots of commercial VHS to DVD for long term keeping, and to free up some bookshelf space!
Most dvd/vcr timers have a set limit. 8, 10 or so. I would hope for $300 the thing could handle several hundred timers.
Does it have problems recording programs on different channels back to back? 8:00-8:30am on one channel, and 8:30am - 9:00am on another? My ilo has problems with this, it had to finalize. VCR tapes don't.
I guess I want something that plays just like mp3s on my computer. Play Pause, prev, skip, rewind, fast forward etc... and a playlist with the option to repeat or shuffle.
Maybe I'm being unrealistic in my expectations.
Do you know of a comprehensive data sheet on this thing?
