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mandragoraSo the video (VCR in Americanese) gave up the ghost on Tuesday night, rather inconveniently just as I was attempting to swop the tape between SG1 and BSG. Yes, I know I can (and have in the case of SG1) download them, but I can't then seem to burn the downloaded programme to DVD in a format that my DVD player will play. Anyone got any idea what I'm doing wrong?
Anyhow, I decided that there was little point in even attempting to get the video repaired, especially as it's a format that's on the way out. But, I have a whole load of videos that I wanted to be able to play and I needed a recording medium off the TV. The solution? One combined DVD recorder/VCR, with recordable hard-drive, as well as recordable straight onto DVD, and that will also transcribe video recordings onto DVD. Oh, and it had to be multi-region, of course, so I can play all my region 1, as well as region 2, DVDs.
Did the research on Tuesday night, ordered it online Wednesday morning, had it delivered this morning. Very efficient. I didn't instal it until late this afternoon, because I'm presently working to a deadline (including working the whole of the weekend just gone, and am about to get back to work any minute now) and, God, but it's complicated.
First of all the automatic set-up didn't work, so I had to set it up manually. Which was, you know. so *much* fun! Most of my TV watching is by cable, and of course there was no indication which of the TV channels tuned into the new...thing is the cable channel, which is essential from a recording POV. Worked that one out by trial and error, though, sticking in a video to record, in the hope that I'd picked the right channel on the thing and that it would duly record the cable channel I had up on the TV. And it did. Hallelujah!
Same for recording to the hard drive. Have worked out how to directly record and how to set up the timer and checked that it would record the channel I wanted. Yep. Must say the resulting recording (and there are 6 different variants of quality to choose from - I went with standard) is fantastic. If only I could work out how to name the damn things for easy calling up. Oh, and how to access any but the last recorded programme. Sigh. But I think I've made my last ever video recording. DVD is just...yum!
Haven't tried recording to DVD as yet, because all the DVDs in the correct format I have in are DVD-R only and I'm not wasting several DVDs on testing it out, will wait until I've got some DVD-RWs in. Nor have I tried converting video to DVD. Not to mention all the bells and whistles - there are loads and it exhausts me even to comtemplate working them out. All of that will have to wait until I've got more energy. And time. Back to work.
But before I go - why the hell do 'they' have to make the instruction manuals so damn complicated? Who writes these things, anyway? Whoever they are, I'd be prepared to bet good money on one thing. They're all men.
Anyhow, I decided that there was little point in even attempting to get the video repaired, especially as it's a format that's on the way out. But, I have a whole load of videos that I wanted to be able to play and I needed a recording medium off the TV. The solution? One combined DVD recorder/VCR, with recordable hard-drive, as well as recordable straight onto DVD, and that will also transcribe video recordings onto DVD. Oh, and it had to be multi-region, of course, so I can play all my region 1, as well as region 2, DVDs.
Did the research on Tuesday night, ordered it online Wednesday morning, had it delivered this morning. Very efficient. I didn't instal it until late this afternoon, because I'm presently working to a deadline (including working the whole of the weekend just gone, and am about to get back to work any minute now) and, God, but it's complicated.
First of all the automatic set-up didn't work, so I had to set it up manually. Which was, you know. so *much* fun! Most of my TV watching is by cable, and of course there was no indication which of the TV channels tuned into the new...thing is the cable channel, which is essential from a recording POV. Worked that one out by trial and error, though, sticking in a video to record, in the hope that I'd picked the right channel on the thing and that it would duly record the cable channel I had up on the TV. And it did. Hallelujah!
Same for recording to the hard drive. Have worked out how to directly record and how to set up the timer and checked that it would record the channel I wanted. Yep. Must say the resulting recording (and there are 6 different variants of quality to choose from - I went with standard) is fantastic. If only I could work out how to name the damn things for easy calling up. Oh, and how to access any but the last recorded programme. Sigh. But I think I've made my last ever video recording. DVD is just...yum!
Haven't tried recording to DVD as yet, because all the DVDs in the correct format I have in are DVD-R only and I'm not wasting several DVDs on testing it out, will wait until I've got some DVD-RWs in. Nor have I tried converting video to DVD. Not to mention all the bells and whistles - there are loads and it exhausts me even to comtemplate working them out. All of that will have to wait until I've got more energy. And time. Back to work.
But before I go - why the hell do 'they' have to make the instruction manuals so damn complicated? Who writes these things, anyway? Whoever they are, I'd be prepared to bet good money on one thing. They're all men.
