TiVO Series 2 - burn shows to DVD?

January 5, 2005 8:42 AM

TiVo to DVD: I've got a TiVo Series 2 which I've had for about 8 months. According to them, I could burn shows onto a DVD using the "Save to VCR" feature. Has anybody tried this? Were you satisfied with how it worked?
posted by contessa to Technology (14 answers total)

"Save to VCR" is just like normal play, except that it throws a title card on the front, and when you press buttons that normally would bring up the on-screen display, it shows an icon that means "stop doing that".

I've never been very impressed with functionality, but it does the job. Whether the output is to VCR or DVD, it should have the same results.
posted by smackfu at 8:49 AM on January 5, 2005

[some more stuff]: I had been toying with the idea of getting a second TiVo - the one with the builit-in DVD burner - but if I can buy a decent standalone DVD recorder for roughly the same price or less, without the cost of another lifetime TiVo membership, that seems the better way to go. I've got about 40 hours of programming on my 80-hour box right now that I can't bear to part with (Good Eats episodes, if you must know), and while HDD space isn't really an issue for me, it would be nice to have some shows in a more portable medium.
posted by contessa at 8:50 AM on January 5, 2005

I'd like to imagine that contessa is actually Barefoot Contessa, trying to hoard all of Alton Browns episodes....
posted by TuxHeDoh at 8:58 AM on January 5, 2005

I just got a standalone DVD recorder for Xmas for the same purpose. It cost about $150 at Walmart (brand: Ilo) and does the job great. I don't bother with "save to vcr," I just play the show and hit record. Not sure what STVCR gets me other than the title, which I don't care about. I'm using a Series 1 DirecTivo.

I haven't tried it yet, but I assume I could do the same thing with live programming, as the recorder allows you to set up timed recordings, a la VCRs.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:03 AM on January 5, 2005

It may be helpful to note that TivoToGo is going to support transfers to DVD...which compared to stupidsexyFlanders' solution seems like an awfully round-about way of getting shows onto a DVD.

Then again, I'm all about the round-about.
posted by Loser at 9:15 AM on January 5, 2005

Not sure what STVCR gets me other than the title, which I don't care about.

The other thing it gets you is that you have to hit a button twice to stop playing the recording, so if you forget you're doing a recording (or someone else comes into the room and tries to use the TiVo) it's marginally less likely that you'll blow the recording.
posted by kindall at 9:16 AM on January 5, 2005

A few things, contessa:

If you buy a second TiVo and register it on the same account, even if the first has lifetime, you'll only be charged $6.95 a month, nearly half price. Lifetime costs the same.

TiVo has a new feature called TiVoToGo, which lets you transfer shows to your computer, for burning to DVD, watching on the road via laptop, whatever. The rollout is expected to take a few weeks, and so far it's PC-only, but seems pretty sweet.

Once you've done that, you can sell the old TiVo (to a friend, or on eBay) and generally reclaim the cost of lifetime service-- 80 hours with lifetime for for about $300 for the most part. The "Lifetime" status applies to the TiVo Box, ownership is transferrable. Then, since you're willing to drop the money on a new unit, you've got a $300 start, either for the box, or getting your lifetime service back.

Lastly, though they seem way overpriced to me, Food Network is selling DVDs of Good Eats. I bet you could find these on half.com, then delete them from your TiVo, get TiVoToGo and you'll be rolling.
posted by sdrawkcab at 9:17 AM on January 5, 2005

TivoToGo uses all kinds of icky DRM, though, while hitting-play-and-then-pressing-record doesn't. There might be MacroVision issues going to a DVD recorder but you can get a signal booster box to counteract that (mine is made by Sima and I got it on Amazon for $40 -- it struck me as sort of a gray-market thing for them to be selling, but they're common in electronics stores, too) if necessary.
posted by bcwinters at 9:51 AM on January 5, 2005

contessa - One caution, the DVD burning TiVos can only burn shows that they recorded. They can play shows from other TiVos on the network, but because of "codec/compression" issues, they can't burn them.
posted by revgeorge at 10:22 AM on January 5, 2005

I've burned a few programs using different DVD burners and a Series One TiVo. I like that the Save to VCR function gives me the window with the synopsis of the program before it starts playing and then keeps me from accidentally rewinding or doing something to mess up the recording.

Of course, it will depend on the recorder whether you can edit the DVD afterwards. The first one I bought (Cyberhome) let me insert chapter markers where I wanted them so I could cut out commercials, but the DVD+Rs wouldn't play on any of my other DVD players so I returned it.

I now have a Panasonic and it inserts chapter markers every 5 minutes and won't let me edit the DVD-R discs at all. It also accepts DVD RAM but I don't know anyone who can play those so I need to return this as well.
posted by whtsherbkt at 11:06 AM on January 5, 2005

Here's a trick to make the on-screen progress bar disappear more quickly when using "Save to VCR".
posted by kreinsch at 11:22 AM on January 5, 2005

Thank you everybody, so much!

revgeorge: I didn't know that about the DVD-TiVos. Very glad to find out before I took the plunge!

sdrawkcab & luser: Didn't know about TiVoToGo, either...that might actually be a good secondary option for when I get a DVD burner for my PC.

stupidsexyFlanders: what you're doing is pretty much exactly what I was thinking of doing -- it's good to hear that it's working well for you.

TuxHeDoh: now that you've revealed my true identity, I have no choice but to terminate you...
posted by contessa at 11:24 AM on January 5, 2005

Doink. My bad. I meant Loser.
posted by contessa at 11:37 AM on January 5, 2005

that was confusing for a minute, because I am luser, too (2 accounts), tho I only use ssf now.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:29 PM on January 5, 2005