How to record any TV - advice please

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worthiph

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#280549 22-Dec-2020 10:12

I find it very confusing all the different options for TV recording. I have:

Samsung smart TV
Vodafone TV
Sky box & dish

What would be best so we can record anything we want?

There's Freeview recorders, HD recorders, PVRs, TiVo etc etc etc

Advice for my setup would be much appreciated!

davidcole

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#2625407 22-Dec-2020 11:34

What does anything we want mean?

Broadcast tv? MySky and/or the vodafone tv box (and appropriate subscriptions) allow for recording. The VF tv, is more like an ondemand type service, but has the same principal.

Streaming content off the smart tv and/or vodafone tv. Never going to happen, not without something to remove the copy protection on HDMI and feed it into something.

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fe31nz

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#2625677 23-Dec-2020 00:48

You seem to be looking for an off the shelf box to record with, and there is no ideal one that will do everything. I use a Linux PC and freeware MythTV software and have for along time had it set up nicely so that I can record Freeview DVB-T and Sky DVB-S2, but to do that sort of roll your own setup you do need to put in a fair bit of work. The big advantage of my setup is that I am not stuck with recordings that are encrypted and and can only be used on the box that recorded them - if I need a bigger hard drive or to give my mother a copy, I can just move the files around as I like. I move files to my laptop MythTV setup when I am away on holiday, and if the holiday accommodation has a fast enough Internet connection I can just use MythTV on the laptop to play recordings directly from home. And I do not have to put up with the stupid rules that Freeview impose on all Freeview certified boxes to make it hard for you to skip the advertisements. MythTV can skip over ads in moments - I would hate to ever do without that. With any proprietary box, you have to expect that if the box ever becomes a hardware casualty, you will lose everything you have recorded.

scuwp

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#2625713 23-Dec-2020 08:55

Most things are also now available via streaming and on demand services. We gave up recording programs some time ago and haven't missed it. There it no 1 stop solution for everything AFAIK. You will need different methods depending on the source and device.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Groucho

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#2625776 23-Dec-2020 11:09

scuwp: Most things are also now available via streaming and on demand services. We gave up recording programs some time ago and haven't missed it. There it no 1 stop solution for everything AFAIK. You will need different methods depending on the source and device.

Does anyone know if Prime TV on-demand is available via an Android app for non-Sky subscribers?

rugrat

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#2625840 23-Dec-2020 11:26

Groucho:

Does anyone know if Prime TV on-demand is available via an Android app for non-Sky subscribers?

Sky Go. Don’t have to be a Sky subscriber to use it.

davidcole

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#2625924 23-Dec-2020 14:22

rugrat:
Groucho:

Does anyone know if Prime TV on-demand is available via an Android app for non-Sky subscribers?

Sky Go. Don’t have to be a Sky subscriber to use it.

Are you sure. Sky go is the subscribers app.
Sky sport now or neon are the options for non subscribers

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worthiph

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2625948 23-Dec-2020 15:05

davidcole:

What does anything we want mean?

Good questions. The main one actually is programmes available through Vodafone TV that can't be recorded. You don't know which these are until you try to record. I guess that is for copyright reasons.