Pace unveils slick multi-room DVR system

Posted in DVR by Shane McGlaun on October 26th, 2009

pacelogo-sgI couldn’t live without my DVR. I use it each time I watch TV and I haven’t watched commercials in a long time thanks to the DVR. What I would like to see is a DVR with more tuners that can send programs to any TV in my house. Pace has announced just such a product with a new multiroom DVR.

The multiroom DVR solution records and plays video back from a central NAS device to any TV connected in the home. The device enables full HD-DVR functionality on any TV connected. The system can distribute simultaneous HD streams around the home.

Hitachi unveils new CinemaStar HDDs

Posted in Hitachi by Shane McGlaun on September 10th, 2009

hitachicinema500-sbI love my DVR and out of all the tech in my home, my DVR and my computer are the two devices that I just can’t live without. What I always want in my DVR is more storage; the measly 20GB that DirecTV gives me just doesn’t cut it.

Hitachi announced two new hard drives today that are aimed at use in DVRs and HTPC computers. The drives are the 1TB CinemaStar 7K1000.C and the 1TB CinemaStar 5K1000 CoolSpin. Both of the drives are optimized for streaming video.

Porta System’s Touch1600 with Touch Screen DVR

Posted in DVR by Conner Flynn on August 19th, 2009

Porta System’s Touch1600 with Touch Screen DVRHere’s a first. The Touch1600 DVR from Porta System is the first security system of its kind that features a 17″ touchscreen display. It comes in your choice of 500GB or 1TB storage capacities. The network-enabled system features remote access support, camera motion detection and object movement detection.

A touchscreen on this kind of device is pretty useful since you will want the freedom to playback video in a variety of ways, anytime you want. We don’t have any info on price just yet, but we have our fingers crossed that you won’t be paying a super premium for that touch screen.

Moxi HD DVR gets 6TB drive support and “Moxi Mate” Media Extender

Posted in DVR by Conner Flynn on August 4th, 2009

Moxi HD DVR gets 6TB drive supportThe Moxi HD now has a media extender box and a new software update, which allows the Moxi to offload video to Lacie’s 6TB drive clusters. That translates to over 1000 hours of HDTV. The Moxi Mate is a small $399 ($199 if purchased in a bundle or by an existing Moxi HD customer) satellite box that plays back recordings from your Moxi HD over your home network.

It’s low on features and has no support for more than one Moxi Mate at a time, but at least you can stream your Moxi library around the house if that’s what you want.

Panasonic intros new line-up of 2TB Blu-ray DVRs

Posted in Panasonic by Conner Flynn on July 27th, 2009

Panasonic intros new line-up of 2TB Blu-ray DVRsPanasonic has announced a new series of DVRs that will be available in September. Six models in all, these new DVRs feature a Blu-ray recorder, a VHS player (for the DMR-BR670V) and your choice of 320GB / 500GB / 1TB / 2TB of HDD.

They come equipped with the latest UniPhier system LSI that integrates new AV data compression/decompression technology. The high-end model, the DMR-BW970 should be able to record up to 320hrs of video in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 @ 12.9Mbps and supports Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS-HD, can record on BD-RE / BD-R / DVD-RAM / DVD-R / DVD R DL / DVD-RW, and there’s also HDMI output, an SDHC card slot, the VIERA Link, and is DLNA.

Sanyo Repoch DVR

Posted in DVR by Conner Flynn on July 10th, 2009

Sanyo Repoch DVRSanyo has introduced its latest DVR dubbed the Repoch. The device will comply with the iVR (Information Versatile Disk) standard shared with Hitachi. The Repoch will ship with an integrated tuner for receiving digital terrestrial TV broadcasts, allowing you to view recordings on analog broadcast-compatible TVs.

Connectivity options include an Ethernet connection, HDMI output, component audio and video inputs and a couple of two antenna posts. For $668, the Repoch will come bundled with a 160GB iVR disk when it rolls out in Japan this September 1st.

TiVo headed for Time Warner Cable, maybe many other providers

Posted in Tivo by Conner Flynn on June 22nd, 2009

TiVo headed for Time Warner Cable, maybe many other providersLooks like TiVo is trying to muscle their way into several providers, having gotten a victory out of EchoStar in that DVR patent lawsuit. It’s in talks to bring its service to Time Warner Cable, and according to sources, the endgame is to collect royalties from every pay-TV provider in the US.

That might sound arrogant, or even bullying, but the patents have withstood nearly every legal challenge EchoStar could throw at them, so TiVo is pretty confidant. It has license agreements with Comcast and DirecTV to use as leverage in negotiations too.

Dish Network gives customers DVR access from anywhere

Posted in Digital Video by Shane McGlaun on May 11th, 2009

dishnetworkdvraccess-sbThe cable company that serves my neighborhood sucks. They have about only a few HD channels and didn’t have DVR’s until last year. The company is totally stuck in the early 2000’s. I opted to go with DirecTV instead of cable or Dish Network because DirecTV had more HD offerings at the time.

DirecTV launched a new app for the iPhone not too long ago that allows you to access your DVR, even if it’s not connected to the Internet, and schedule recordings. Dish Network has announced that it is now offering a service called Remote Access that allows users of Dish Network DVRs to access their DVR and record programs from any computer in the world.

Apricorn updates DVR Expander

Posted in Apricorn by Shane McGlaun on April 9th, 2009

apricorndvrexpandernew-sbI love my DVR. I haven’t watched a commercial in over a year and if I had to go back to life without a DVR, I would rather not watch TV. The only problem with my DVR is that it needs more space, but I can’t simply crack it open and put in a bigger drive. This is where products like the Apricorn DVR Expander that debuted back in January come in.

The DVR Expander is an external hard drive designed specifically to work with certain DVR models. Apricorn has updated the DVR expander with a black and silver color scheme that looks better than the original. The device now works with Scientific Atlanta 8300 DVRs, DirecTV DVRs, and Dish Network ViP HD DVR.

Iomega DVR expander turns Pace cable boxes into DVRs

Posted in Iomega by Shane McGlaun on February 27th, 2009

Iomega DVR ExpanderLast summer Iomega unveiled a product providing what many DVR owners find themselves needing much sooner than they thought — more storage space. The Iomega DVR Extender is an external 500GB hard drive that connects to DVRs via eSATA.

Iomega announced today that users of Pace set-top cable boxes can now use the DVR Expander to add up to 300 hours of storage for standard def programs and up to 60 hours of HD content. The most interesting part of the announcement is that if users have Pace boxes that lack a hard drive, the DVR Expander will turn them into full featured DVRs.

Apricorn launches massive 1.5TB DVR Xpander

Posted in Storage by Shane McGlaun on January 23rd, 2009

1.5TB DVR XpanderWhen you first get your DVR from the cable or satellite provider its 10 or 20 hours of recording time sounds like an eternity. Then you quickly realize that you can’t get your full season of Oprah and The Price is Right without running out of room for necessities like Celebrity Rehab.

Apricorn has announced a new DVR expander called (wait for it) the DVR Xpander that offers 1.5TB of storage space. With that much storage, you can record 843 hours of SD programs or 187.5 hours of HD programs. Surprisingly the price for the 1.5TB version isn’t even that high at $239.

Toshiba RD-G503 DVR with 500GB HDD

Posted in DVR by Conner Flynn on January 22nd, 2009

Toshiba RD-G503 DVR with 500GB HDDToshiba intros two new Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) for the Japanese market. The Toshiba Vardia RD-G503 has a huge 500GB hard drive, while the RD-E303 has a 300GB hard drive.

Both DVRs support DVD burners, MPEG-2 TS and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC recording, Digital / Analog tuner, DVD upscaling and two remote controls (one fully functional and one with just basic controls). The Toshiba Vardia RD-G503 and RD-E303 will be released next month for $770 and $660.

Program TiVo with your mobile phone

Posted in Tivo by Darrin Olson on November 25th, 2008

Tivo mobile allowing programming through mobile phones, beta releaseThere’s few things better than owning a piece of technology or gadget that keeps on giving, and TiVo is turning out to be one of those devices with it’s latest beta release of a mobile website to control your TiVo box. This adds to the devices core ability to act as a DVR, and the company has also recently introduced features to order pizza, stream Netflix content and watch YouTube videos.

TiVo says the new mobile site at m.tivo.com will allow users, subscribers or not, to browse television listings and search for shows. The online app will also will recommend other television shows based on what you are viewing. The site is available to anyone that has access to the internet through a mobile browser, and no installation on the mobile device is necessary.

SlingBox PRO-HD finally ships

Posted in Sling Media by Shane McGlaun on September 26th, 2008

SlingBox PRO-HDThe SlingBox was one of the first time and place shifting devices that would send programs from the TV to the PC. The interesting device let users shoot their favorite programs to the PC for viewing and recording in DVR-like fashion.

Back at CES in January, we talked a bit about the PRO-HD SlingBox that was unveiled. Sling Media announced today that the PRO-HD is finally shipping. Yeah, it took long enough for Sling Media to actually ship the device, which isn’t so cool.

NDS survey says 7 out of 10 DVR owners can’t live without it

Posted in Digital Video by Shane McGlaun on September 3rd, 2008

DVR SurveyI am a big time DVR fan; I don’t know what I did before I had DVRs on each TV in the house. Before the DVR, I actually had to watch commercials. If my wife wanted to watch something that really sucked, like one of those wedding shows, I missed something good (like anything not a wedding show).

Thankfully, the DVR saved me from having to program my VCR and enduring crap TV and commercials. According to a survey from NDS, 7 out of 10 people who own a DVR, say they can’t live without it. The survey also shows that 89% of Americans say that a DVR makes for a happier home life. I agree with that, the other guys out there don’t like wedding shows either I am betting.


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