(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best dvd players & recorders

You should buy a DVR, like this one that I got from Amazon. Free to use and being able to skip and delete easily is truly a relief compared to VHS tapes (which I used until 2 years ago when buying this.

http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR515H-500GB-DVD-R-Digital/dp/B004PYDE1E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1323008493&sr=8-4

If you are looking for something cheap...I haven't found it yet. To be honest, I'd advise against cheap and go more robust and versatile.

Like me...I saved 10 bucks to get ATSC tuners only. Which are useless now that I have the option to record QAM.

If you're looking to simulate the experience of a cable company style guide we recommand the Forumler Z7+ or Formuler Z8. They are on the higher end in terms of price and stability. As well as their app being far suppier to anything else out there.

Msg me for a trial of our service when you get your box, I'd be pleased to help in any way I could!

The one I'm returning today is this one. It's the top listing on Amazon when you search for "DVD Player":
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DVP-SR200P-DVD-Player-Black/dp/B001IBHUU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302532425&sr=8-1

Granted, it's cheap, but it does get decent reviews. Note however the scattered 1-star reviewers talking about it breaking instantly...

I'll check VideoHelp though, thanks for the suggestion!

I finally gave up on waiting for some of my favorite British stuff to be available in my region and instead bought a region free DVD player. So now I can watch everything and it wasn't that expensive either. I bought a Pioneer DV 420K

Agreed, from what I see you'r not bad, it's just that when I see a LP on camcorder I can't continue.

--edit--
If you don't want to use ROMs the gamecube had an add-on to play GBA games you coudl do that and use a capture card: this
or a dvd recorder: this
from there.

I know you said you want something with HDMI, but I've used this for VHS and Video-8 conversions successfully on Linux for some time. I set it up to view in VLC, then capture the stream, then clip it later:

https://www.amazon.com/Dazzle-Dvc-101-Dvd-Recorder/dp/B003OKHTZW/ref=sr_1_cc_5?s=aps&srs=3038595011&ie=UTF8&qid=1466528575&sr=8-5-catcorr&keywords=Dazzle+USB

If you are smart about the TiVo you buy you don't need a hack to do that. My old series 2 Toshiba, for example, had a free limited mode. I never used it because I bought lifetime service for it at the time.
Amazon example

You can buy a Region Free DVD player on the cheap from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Region-1080p-Upconverting-Player/dp/B004BI6MVS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343003504&sr=8-1&keywords=Region+Free+DVD+Player

That would be my personal recommendation.

Imagine movies that fit on a CD !! That's right, no overburning needed.
However at that time we watched them on glass tube tvs (the horror).
I remember buying an APEX cheap ass brand that was able to play VCDs out of the box. Awesome.
[https://www.amazon.com/Apex-AD600A-AD-600A-DVD-Player/dp/B00004TKLW]

DVD's. I buy the Region 2 (Europe) "Complete Series" sets because they come with around 50 episodes rather than the standard 12-13 found in the North American DVD Sets. You can buy them on ebay or amazon.co.uk even if your not from Europe. You will need a Region free DVD player though. Here's the 4th set with episodes 154-192.

So let me get this straight.
Let's say I want to do what you suggested. I go ahead and buy the box set, which is $82. Let's say I don't own a TV or DVD player (you'd be surprised how many people don't). That's another $24.99 for the DVD player and another $150 for the TV. That's great, but that still doesn't let me watch it on a tablet or phone. For that I would need a computer, but not just any computer, one with a CD-ROM (computers don't have them anymore) or let's just say an external DVD drive, which would be around $25.

OK, now we have our digital copies. The problem is, unless you have a phone with a LOT of space, you can't have all 6 seasons on your phone. You're gonna need to store them somewhere in the cloud, and I won't get into pricing for storage. All of this just so that I can watch it on my phone on the way to work.

Or I could just spend 50 bucks for now.

Tech TV, adults discussing tech in an adult manner, I miss it too.

Wow, they must not make DVD recorders with this functionality anymore, this used one is going for over $600.

Personal advice: Check out region free dvd players. Then you can keep all of your dvds and will be able to get new US dvds and play both. Here's a very highly reviewed one for $75 (55.50 pounds). A bit pricey, but probably cheaper than replacing all your dvds.

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-S700P-K-Up-Conversion-Playback-slideshow/dp/B00KJ10E60/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1505748700&sr=8-5&keywords=region+free+dvd+player

Without actually being there and prodding it myself, it's impossible for me to tell you what needs to be done. I don't know that anyone here will be able to help.

You'll have to manipulate it around and look for any broken/misaligned parts yourself.

If this isn't something you feel comfortable with, you can simply buy a new Sony DVD player for $28 from Amazon.

If any parts are broken, it won't be worth repair.

Why waste your time? I converted hundreds of AVI and MPG videos to VCDs to play in my DVD player back in 2001-2003. Now, you can just buy a DVD player that plays AVI/DivX. MPG, and WMV for $50. This Philips is only $40 now, and you can plug in a 1GB external hard drive into the Philips' USB port and play AVIs right off of it.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVP3560-F7-Upscaling-Multimedia/dp/B003LWXJ2A

It looks like the TiVo series 2 was the last dual-tuner (NTSC and ClearQAM), DVR available. Plex does support the Hauppage 2250 series.

kinda bulky. 2 way converter + player. Supports images. Sony RDR-VX515 -> http://www.amazon.com/Sony-RDRVX515-DVD-Recorder/dp/B000A2JXG0/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

$20 + shippings.

I totally thought he would have ordered you a Mickey-Mouse Blu Ray player like this bad boy: http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Classic-Mickey-Mouse-Player/dp/B0001NEAJS only Blu Ray (which apparently don't exist)

Simple.tv is a brand new option with lots of potential (but still somewhat buggy).

The Magnavox MDR537H 1 TB DVD Recorder/HDD with Digital Tuner (http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR537H-Recorder-Digital-Tuner/dp/B009I5KWLK) is a complex DVR designed around 7 years ago to straddle both the old analog signals and new digital ones, and is like a video Swiss Army Knife. It's probably nowhere near as easy to use as a Simple.tv, but may also do more.

There's a Boxee TV cloud dvr which might do this-- but it only works in very limited areas.

You can also build a custom PC dedicated to do all sorts of DVR style tasks, and lots more (and sit by itself in a closet somewhere).

One huge problem with DVRs is most require a monthly subscription to enable even the most basic recording options. However, all the alternatives listed above offer ways around that, for maybe as little as $0 a month.

Would this player work in the UK?

Lately? Not many. Ever? Quite a few, actually. Here's a couple of examples:

http://www.directv.com/technology/tivo_receiver
https://smile.amazon.com/Toshiba-SD-H400-Combination-Progressive-Scan-Digital/dp/B0000AA9E8

My DVR isn't even that sophisticated - I type in the channel and start and stop times for timer recordings.


And I haven't had a cable card or any CableOne equipment, except a cable and a wall outlet. The tuner of the DVR, and the tuner of the TV select the channels.


(I live in an apartment building - and the owner is the customer, not me.)