Saving recordings on DVR - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

CAJeannieFan57 · 11-07-2009, 11:37 AM

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for my question, but I'm not sure where else to post it.

I have a BUNCH of things recorded to my DVR, which is getting full very quickly. DirecTV won't tell me how to save them to another place. One of my thoughts was to find a way to move them to an external hard drive, and then burn them to DVD's. There's a USB connection at the back of my DVR, but I'm not sure how to move the recordings!

Anyone have any clue, or am I destined to lose some of this stuff down the line? (sigh...most of this is not yet available on commercial DVD's or I'd have bought those!)

Donna

sbeamish · 11-07-2009, 06:33 PM

Not sure if you can do it the way you want to, maybe someone else can give you a suggestion for that method.

However, my wife suggests while playing the show, tape it to a video tape (hopefully you have or can borrow a VCR) then copy from video tape to DVD.

You may lose a bit of picture quality that way, but at least you'll have your shows/movies intact.

I know it's the "old fashioned" way, but it will work if there's no way to burn it or download it directly.

Hope this helps!

CAJeannieFan57 · 11-08-2009, 10:34 PM

I've tried that, and you're right, it's definitely a good way to lose quality. Too, one thing I'm recording is a game show that runs 3x a day on GSN on weekdays, once a day on weekends. Sometimes my favorite actor is on that game show, and sometimes he's not. So if I tape all 3 weekday shows, I might have a bunch of shows on the tape that he's not on (and therefore, I don't want to keep them). It's a bummer if he's on the middle of the three shows, because then I have to transfer it to another VHS tape. (I have an episode guide for this game show, but GSN has been known to play them out of order.)

Anyone else have any ideas for me? Why would DirecTV put a useless USB jack on the back of the DVR if it's not for something like this?

11-07-2009, 11:37 AM	#1
CAJeannieFan57 Member Forum Regular Join Date: May 01, 2005 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 871	Saving recordings on DVR I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for my question, but I'm not sure where else to post it. I have a BUNCH of things recorded to my DVR, which is getting full very quickly. DirecTV won't tell me how to save them to another place. One of my thoughts was to find a way to move them to an external hard drive, and then burn them to DVD's. There's a USB connection at the back of my DVR, but I'm not sure how to move the recordings! Anyone have any clue, or am I destined to lose some of this stuff down the line? (sigh...most of this is not yet available on commercial DVD's or I'd have bought those!) Donna
	__________________ Donna

11-07-2009, 06:33 PM	#2
sbeamish Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 28, 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 296	Not sure if you can do it the way you want to, maybe someone else can give you a suggestion for that method. However, my wife suggests while playing the show, tape it to a video tape (hopefully you have or can borrow a VCR) then copy from video tape to DVD. You may lose a bit of picture quality that way, but at least you'll have your shows/movies intact. I know it's the "old fashioned" way, but it will work if there's no way to burn it or download it directly. Hope this helps!

11-08-2009, 10:34 PM	#3
CAJeannieFan57 Member Forum Regular Join Date: May 01, 2005 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 871	I've tried that, and you're right, it's definitely a good way to lose quality. Too, one thing I'm recording is a game show that runs 3x a day on GSN on weekdays, once a day on weekends. Sometimes my favorite actor is on that game show, and sometimes he's not. So if I tape all 3 weekday shows, I might have a bunch of shows on the tape that he's not on (and therefore, I don't want to keep them). It's a bummer if he's on the middle of the three shows, because then I have to transfer it to another VHS tape. (I have an episode guide for this game show, but GSN has been known to play them out of order.) Anyone else have any ideas for me? Why would DirecTV put a useless USB jack on the back of the DVR if it's not for something like this?