Tunerless VCR-DVD recorders

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by centralradio

I figure that was one of the issues .I have one cable box with comp outputs but the other 5 small ones dont.I'm not going to give them another penny for 5 boxes with comp outputs.

That good I can get most of the show I watch for free download online.

Another alternative is to buy DVDs of your favorite shows from Amazon.com, et al. I like TV series from the '60s-'70s and have many of them now on DVD. If I did not have so many old shows on VHS already (I have perhaps 50+ such programs on tape now), I'd have put my VCR in storage long ago.

As to cable boxes with or without composite video outputs, I think the industry is trying its darnedest to do away with the ability to record from cable TV. This issue should have been laid to rest 39 years ago when Sony won a court case against MGM and other motion-picture producers, in which the latter were trying to have recording of TV shows and movies banned on the grounds that being able to record shows off-the-air was keeping folks from buying VHS tapes, and much later DVDs.

However, it seems as if the industry is trying, once again, to have recording of TV shows banned, and the elimination of composite video outputs from cable boxes is a step in that direction; so was doing away with RF tuners in new VHS/DVD players. What comes next is anyone's guess. Remember, cable TV is a business, and the industry will do anything and everything in its power to protect its bottom line, including if necessary keeping viewers from recording shows.

BTW, as far as modern DVD recorders being no good for anything much other than making coasters (!) is concerned, I think the problem may just be bad discs, operator error, or there may be something wrong with the recorder itself. I have transferred images and audio (mp3) files from my computer to CDs using a CD burner (the Brasero CD burner that is bundled with the Ubuntu operating system) and have had no problems to date.