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Pioneer TiVo DVD-R
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Posted by: stockmd

Can you give me feedback on using this unit? Worthwhile?/Easy recording??

Posted by: cptodd

I love mine. You should do a search because there are MANY MANY MANY (I have not seen this many posts on one thing ever on this forum) posts regarding this machine.

Chris

Posted by: bicker

Another pair of very happy customers here, for the Pioneer 810H.

Posted by: Robert S

I linked a long list of 810H threads here.

Posted by: stockmd

This unit does not have a Directv receiver attached . The installer who came in also said I cannot watch a channel and record one at the same time . Is that true. I almost want to return this Pioneer 810..............................

Posted by: dgh

That depends on what kind of setup you have. In general the answer is "yes" but some configurations require a second receiver.

I see this is not your first TiVo. If your other TiVo is a stand-alone, then the hookup should be the same as that one. If the other TiVo is a DirecTiVo then with an appropriate multi switch, they should all play happily together.

Posted by: stockmd

So ...I will have 2 Tivo's (Pioneer 810 and Hughes Directiv) on 1 TV....seems like a terrible waste. I was thinking of moving my Hughes Tivo to another room when I realised that the Pioneer does not have Directv receiver...Damn .
In any case I do not want box after box stacked up to get 1 Tivo.....

Posted by: Aragorn

I am a new Pioneer 810 owner here and I am glad I found this place!!! I think the new Pioneer has potential, but has some major drawbacks just like any other Tivo units.

For one they should let you choose the recording type(This is on Tivo basic) and, even on manual. Also the basic Tivo puts allot of limitations on this player that Pioneer and the sales people that sell it leave out. With the basic Tivo feature you can only record in fine setting(The best) and then that only allows you 14 hours on 80gig..... I mean come on lets be realistic, even a 80gig hardrive in these units are lame. The base unit should start at 160gig and go up from there, I am just glad I found a few places where I can tweek this thing, because it is in need of it. Also this unit isn't cheap, and Pioneer should have given the user more editing features, so you can actually fit a 2 hour movie onto a DVD-R or DVD-RW without a huge loss in video quality.

Now here are some good points:
Fantastic ease of use, for a Tivo unit.
A top notch DVD Player, I mean this unit really shines in this area, using the Faroudja video chipset.
Buit like a tank
Tweekable, you can actually drop a much larger hardrive in these units.
Cool display
DVD Burning with limitations, but hopefully some decent software upgrades can fix this!

Posted by: PHANTOM

aragorn - I think that pioneer only provides the burner. And it is a standalone burner at that. It has nothing to do with the Tivo. The information is passed to it by Tivo codec. I am sure someone can step in and explain it better, but it is in other posts as well. Tivo would be the one that would need to upgrade the ability to cut it up. Or to make better compression. I am unsatisfied with only 14 hrs on extreme as well. There arent many shows I tape that are 1 hr or less. So I am SOL when it comes to the burner.

The tivo part is great tho. I just punched in Ritter, John. Can't beleive all the stuff that came up.

Posted by: stockmd

Can you record 2 programs at the same time??

Posted by: Peter000

quote:
Originally posted by stockmd
Can you record 2 programs at the same time??

No.

Posted by: Peter000

quote:
Originally posted by Aragorn
I am just glad I found a few places where I can tweek this thing, because it is in need of it.

When you say "tweek" what do you mean? The hard drive size only? Or are there others that you've discovered?

Posted by: bedelman

quote:
Originally posted by PHANTOM
aragorn - I think that pioneer only provides the burner. And it is a standalone burner at that. It has nothing to do with the Tivo.

I don't see it as a standalone burner at all (depending on what was meant by the term "standalone")

Although the unit is marketed as a DVD recorder with TiVo, I find it to really be the other way around -- a TiVo unit with a DVD recorder.

The DVD burner can only burn content that has already been encoded and handled by the TiVo subsystem. It seems that it's primary burning capability is to be able to archive programs that have been recorded by the TiVo subsystem. There's no way to burn anything to DVD unless it first goes through the TiVo subsystem.

Posted by: Aragorn

Bob: that being said, I understand what your saying. But in simple terms, this unit does not do that part very well. It is a top notch Tivo unit and DVD Player it does those parts very well, and as Phantom pointed out, it is below par as far as a DVD Burner goes and I agree with him on that point. For instance I recorded BattleStar Galactica and in High mode and tried to get it on a DVD-RW well the first episode is 2hrs and 9 min and the second is 2hrs and 4 mins, which really sucks then I have to put it on 2 DVDs. So since most of us are shelling out over $700 bucks for this unit, Pioneer should allow you to do some minor editing so you can fit stuff on just one DVD.

Pioneer 810H fine points:
Great Tivo Player
Great DVD Player
Good CD Playback
Built like a Tank and looks Cool

Draw backs:
Sucks as a DVD Burner
Should have firewire only if there were more editing features.

Well from that standpoint I am keeping mine because there is more to like about this player than there is to dislike and I plan on dropping a bigger hardrive in mine soon.

Bottom line if you really want to do good editing and professional looking stuff, use a PC or Mac with good software. Some stand alone units are good but nowhere as good as Mac or PC running the right software.

Posted by: Peter000

quote:
Originally posted by Aragorn Bottom line if you really want to do good editing and professional looking stuff, use a PC or Mac with good software. Some stand alone units are good but nowhere as good as Mac or PC running the right software. [/B]

I agree that you'll get better results on a Mac or PC, but I just would like acceptable 2 hour results on a DVD. It's close now, but not close enough. :) It just takes too long for me to do all the stuff on a PC; I just want the convenience of automated menu creation, etc. Editing out commercials would be fantastic, but just being able to record a few minutes over 2 hours would be fantastic. A little more padding. :)

Posted by: Bob Eller

I purchased the Pioneer DVD burner with TIVO last month...love it!

I had a DirecTV combo unit and wouldn't want to part with the ability to record two shows at once. In order to burn from my DirecTV unit I run a video/audio cable from the DTV out to the Pioneer inputs....after you've recorded the prgm to the Pioneer hard drive it's a simple matter to dump it to DVD.

Did I mention that I LOVE this unit?

Bob

Posted by: PHANTOM

Bedelman - What I was saying by "Standalone" (and maybe I used the wrong term) is that the Pioneer drive does not encode the data. All it does is burns it. The TIVO software encodes the data and uses the burner to copy it to DVD-r. The Pioneer unit is in fact Standalone because it may as well be a separate unit - IE: the signal is converted to analog before pushing to the dvd to record. (Or so explained someone in another post). I am not sure of the logistics of it, but it sounds about right to me in keeping with Tivo's policies and all.

Yes it is a Tivo with a DVD or a DVD with Tivo or whatever you want to call it. Bottom line is the DVD part sucks. And We all know you are very happy with yours. I just don't understand how come you always defend the tivo as it is - as if it is god in its current form. Seems like you dislike any opinions that are other than positive about it. Is there some reason for this??? Do you have vested interest in said company?

Posted by: Aragorn

Peter000 I totally agree. I mean they should let you go over 2 hours on High setting. Hell with a VCR if a show as over 2 hours you could still use the SP setting ;) Peter iMovie on the Mac is a breeze to use and even Sony has the GigaPocket which is a recorder with some simple editing features which allows you to get a 2 hour + movie on a DVD-R or RW.

Posted by: bedelman

quote:
Originally posted by PHANTOM
And We all know you are very happy with yours. I just don't understand how come you always defend the tivo as it is - as if it is god in its current form. Seems like you dislike any opinions that are other than positive about it. Is there some reason for this??? Do you have vested interest in said company?

I don't feel I need to defend anything. I'm just stating my opinion as you have with yours. I have no association with TiVo whatsoever -- I don't even own a single share of TiVo stock.

I've never said I have disliked any opinions. In fact, I've encouraged people to form their own opinions by going and looking for themselves at the Pioneer units in operation. After all, your opinion is your opinion as my opinion is my own.

I don't think I have ever questioned your opinion as to why you're so adamant of how poor the unit is (like you've now brought into question my opinion). Do you perhaps have a vested interest in a competitor?

I'm happy with my 810H as it currently exists. It fills the need for which I purchased it. Sure I see room for improvement (there's always room for improvement as nothing is "perfect"), but it certainly doesn't "suck" as some folks have stated.

Posted by: Aragorn

PHANTOM: to say the Pioneer DVD Part sucks is a tad off base. As a DVD player alone, the player holds its own. Example a $2000 Denon 5900 which is a top notch all around player especially on video, the Pioneer looked just as good. The Video proccessing is top notch, the transport is excellent, as a Tivo unit it is superb. Now for the grim part, as a DVD Burner it has way too many limitations. But if I compare my PC using Gigapocket and my Mac G5 using Final Cut Pro 4 and DVD Studio Pro 2 any standlone DVD-Burner sucks. Also when talked to Pioneer last night they said this unit is a Tivo Player first and then a DVD Player second with a DVD burner thrown in too boot. Now all they need is to throw in some good editing features and this unit will be fantastic on all ends of the spectrum!!!! I ask you this, what other Tivo Players/DVD Players/Burner combo units are out there to compare too? I mean if this unit was just only a burner I could see you making a fair comparison.

Did I mention I love mine also!! I am a tweeker also and I am installing a new 200gig hardrive, will let you know how that goes. My gripe in general is that all Tivo or DVD Burners "should"come with a standard 160gig hardrive, because lets face it video takes up space so why put space limitations on these units and editiing limitations also.

PHANTOM: Don't get me wrong, I do agree this unit as a DVD Burner needs swift kick in the ass and more editing features to really have it work well.

Posted by: PHANTOM

Bedelman - Touche. No harm meant by my comments. And no, I do not work for a competitor. Or else, I would not have bought a Tivo.

Aragorn - I was not commenting on the DVD playback, really just the burning capabilities.

Posted by: damagi

quote:
Originally posted by Aragorn
But if I compare my PC using Gigapocket and my Mac G5 using Final Cut Pro 4 and DVD Studio Pro 2 any standlone DVD-Burner sucks.

comparing a standalone unit like this to final cut pro is like comparing a bicycle to a motor cycle. yeah, they do kinda the same thing, but they are in totally different leagues. now, if you want to be accurate, compare the 810 to other standalone dvd recorders on the market, especially their editing functionality.

Posted by: Aragorn

PHANTOM: no biggie, like I said I agree with you the the burning capabilities of this unit, that being said there isn't any other unit out there like this one yet, except Pioneers flagship model.

damagi: that is my point, it isn't a fair comparison to compare a all in one unit to a standalone DVD Burner unit because a all in one unit in most cases will do somethings better in certain areas and not so good in others. In this case it is the burning part that Pioneer is in need correcting, especially on the editing side.

How can you say it is accurate? To me accurate assumption would be to compare a Standalone unit to another standalone DVD Burner right? Or better yet a all in one unit to another all in one unit.

Posted by: stockmd

I own Hughes Directv-tivo which can record 2 programs at the same time.
If I get a standalone Directv receiver and I have the Pioneer 810 can I still record 2 programs at the same time??

Posted by: bedelman

quote:
Originally posted by stockmd
I own Hughes Directv-tivo which can record 2 programs at the same time.
If I get a standalone Directv receiver and I have the Pioneer 810 can I still record 2 programs at the same time??

No -- the Pioneer 810H (and other TiVo Series 2 units) only have a single tuner and MPEG encoder.

In fact if you're using the video input on the Pioneer specifically designed to accept input from either a VCR or a Camcorder, it won't record anything else at the same time -- again because there is only a single encoder.

Posted by: stockmd

Thnaks Bob ...but can I view a different channel on TV and record another Pioneer 810. ( I want to see Fox while I record CNN)

Posted by: bedelman

quote:
Originally posted by stockmd
Thnaks Bob ...but can I view a different channel on TV and record another Pioneer 810. ( I want to see Fox while I record CNN)

Yes, in a way.

The specifics depend on how you get the feed though.

I'm not sure how to do it with a satellite hook-up but with a cable hook-up where there's a cable box involved, you would split the cable and send one side directly to the television. The other side would then go to the cable box which feeds the TiVo. The TiVo then goes to the television using a different set of inputs on the television.

Posted by: stockmd

Thnkas . I have Direct TV and Tivo 1 . Its great to be able to record 2 programs at the same time or watch one and record another.
I think I will return my Pioneer DVR and wait for improvements.

Posted by: bedelman

The way the Pioneer and Series 2 units handle the incoming signal in regards of being able to watch one and record another is no different to the way it was handled by the Series 1 you already have. So if you can do what you want with the Series 1, you can do it with the Pioneer unit.

Posted by: mburton

quote:
Originally posted by Aragorn
Bob: that being said, I understand what your saying. But in simple terms, this unit does not do that part very well. It is a top notch Tivo unit and DVD Player it does those parts very well, and as Phantom pointed out, it is below par as far as a DVD Burner goes and I agree with him on that point. For instance I recorded BattleStar Galactica and in High mode and tried to get it on a DVD-RW well the first episode is 2hrs and 9 min and the second is 2hrs and 4 mins, which really sucks then I have to put it on 2 DVDs. So since most of us are shelling out over $700 bucks for this unit, Pioneer should allow you to do some minor editing so you can fit stuff on just one DVD.

Pioneer 810H fine points:
Great Tivo Player
Great DVD Player
Good CD Playback
Built like a Tank and looks Cool

Draw backs:
Sucks as a DVD Burner
Should have firewire only if there were more editing features.

Well from that standpoint I am keeping mine because there is more to like about this player than there is to dislike and I plan on dropping a bigger hardrive in mine soon.

Bottom line if you really want to do good editing and professional looking stuff, use a PC or Mac with good software. Some stand alone units are good but nowhere as good as Mac or PC running the right software.

how much recording times do DVD RW's have ( 4 hrs ?)

Posted by: bedelman

The amount you can fit on a DVD (-R or -RW) depends on the recording quality

Basic (EP) Quality -- 6 hours
Medium (LP) Quality -- 4 hours
High (SP) Quality -- 2 hours
Extreme (Fine) Quality -- 1 hour

Not everything you put on a DVD has to be the same quality level

Posted by: Agent86

Has anyone come up with a way to upgrade the capacity of these units yet?

- Agent 86

Posted by: Robert S

WeaKnees and PTVupgrade have been doing drives for a while now. One complication for the 810 is that its image is incompatible with MFS Tools. However, the 57's image works on the 810 and is compatible with MFS Tools.