# Copying shows to computer



## elorahd (Oct 18, 2003)

Sorry if this has already been answered or is taboo:

I'm going away for the weekend to my sister's and would like to take some shows with me on my computer cuz my sister hardly records anything on her unit and the whole family fights over two tv's. I just bought a used Samsung SIR-S4080R. Is there any way to copy some shows to my laptop without doing some major hacks?


----------



## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

Nope


----------



## SteelersFan (Sep 7, 2004)

You could take your Tivo with you and hook it up to a TV. Then watch the pre-recorded shows.


----------



## jtlytle (May 17, 2005)

If you have TiVo ToGo then you can transfer some shows to your laptop and watch it.


----------



## spudly (Sep 19, 2001)

elorahd said:


> Sorry if this has already been answered or is taboo:
> 
> I'm going away for the weekend to my sister's and would like to take some shows with me on my computer cuz my sister hardly records anything on her unit and the whole family fights over two tv's. I just bought a used Samsung SIR-S4080R. Is there any way to copy some shows to my laptop without doing some major hacks?


The answer is no although technically that is untrue. You could copy the programs to VCR and then hook up the VCR to your PC and capture.


----------



## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Or directly capture on the PC.

With DirecTV TiVos, there is no TiVoToGo, and doing network trasnfer does require hacking.


----------



## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

I know little about this but, out of curiosity, can you not hook up the RF output on the back of the Tivo into a capture card on a PC and capture video this way?


----------



## Dkerr24 (Oct 29, 2004)

Yes, you can definitely use the RCA out to a PC video capture card, but the process would be at 1x speed.

Much faster to hack the DTivo and transfer an hour show in mpeg2 format to the PC in about 4-6 mins.


----------



## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

jtlytle said:


> If you have TiVo ToGo then you can transfer some shows to your laptop and watch it.


Not available with a DTivo.


----------



## jtlytle (May 17, 2005)

ttodd1 said:


> Not available with a DTivo.


Sorry, my mistake.


----------



## elorahd (Oct 18, 2003)

There are two usb ports on the back of my unit. What are they for?


----------



## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

Future use. [that will never come from DTV]


----------



## LostCluster (Feb 11, 2002)

Nothing. They are "reserved for future use" that hasn't come, and it looks like it never will.


----------



## elorahd (Oct 18, 2003)

How would I directly capture to my PC?


----------



## elorahd (Oct 18, 2003)

Can I use Tivo ToGo with my Directv with Tivo DVR? What is it exactly? Software you install on your computer? And how do you connect the unit to your home network?


----------



## ForrestB (Apr 8, 2004)

TivoToGo doesn't work with DirecTivo's


----------



## Dkerr24 (Oct 29, 2004)

elorahd: Without hacking your DTivo with the zipper script, the only thing you can do is connect a pc with a video capture card to your DTivo using the RCA jacks and select "Save to VCR".


----------



## elorahd (Oct 18, 2003)

Well, that would work for me. I have a laptop, though. No capture card. I do have an s-video jack on the back. Could I use that? or would I need to get a modulator/adapter thing?


----------



## dagap (Dec 5, 2003)

The svideo on your laptop is probably only an output.

You could get a cheap USB capture device to record stuff onto your laptop. That what I do when my sister calls asking for last week's episode of House that she missed. It's a pain, imo. Capture at 1x and then burn to a DVD.

Better would be a standalone dvd recorder. Press play on the Tivo and "record" on the DVD recorder. Still 1X but easier. On my Christmas list.


----------



## katbug (Oct 3, 2003)

dagap said:


> Better would be a standalone dvd recorder. Press play on the Tivo and "record" on the DVD recorder. Still 1X but easier. On my Christmas list.


This is how I do it. It's nice too that with the DVD player/recorder you can insert chapter markers at the beginning of commercials and at the end of them, then hide those chapters. That way you don't have to have the DVR FF through commercials show up on screen. Definitely worth the $$ to have one! I've used ours A LOT!!! Perfect companion to the DVR! :up:


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Furthermore, after capturing to a DVD using a standalone DVD recorder you can then rip it to your PC, make some edits and reburn (providing it has a DVD burner).


----------



## IminMs (Sep 10, 2006)

Are you wanting to take the shows for you to watch or leave them there for everyone to watch after you leave?


----------



## gilliane (Jun 3, 2002)

Dkerr24 said:


> Yes, you can definitely use the RCA out to a PC video capture card, but the process would be at 1x speed.
> 
> Much faster to hack the DTivo and transfer an hour show in mpeg2 format to the PC in about 4-6 mins.


How do you do that? I currently capture at 1x using a capture card, but doing it faster would be really useful


----------



## wscannell (Dec 7, 2003)

Look for the "Zipper" in the Underground forum. This will get you the hacks that allow shows to be transferred.


----------



## jeffbat (Oct 26, 2002)

DVD Recorder hooked up to your TIVO is the best solution. That way you can easily take progrmas with you and play them on Laptop, DVD player etc. Best Buy and Circuity City will have DVD recorders on sale for around $60 on Black Friday.


----------



## treo700wx (Nov 15, 2006)

elorahd said:


> Sorry if this has already been answered or is taboo:
> 
> I'm going away for the weekend to my sister's and would like to take some shows with me on my computer cuz my sister hardly records anything on her unit and the whole family fights over two tv's. I just bought a used Samsung SIR-S4080R. Is there any way to copy some shows to my laptop without doing some major hacks?


I have the same samsung tivo unit----Great choice  The answer to your question is very simple.(SlingBox AV ) Watch your tivo anywhere in the world from your notebook or your Windows mobile pda.It gives you full control over your receiver with perfect video stream.add video recording software to you notebook pc and your set.
Ive used the setup for over 3 months now and its flawless :up:
no URLs  just type slinbox in your search 
enjoy


----------



## Dkerr24 (Oct 29, 2004)

A Slingbox is great IF you have access to a broadband connection. But if you are headed to a remote area without internet access, it's pretty worthless.


----------



## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

katbug said:


> This is how I do it. It's nice too that with the DVD player/recorder you can insert chapter markers at the beginning of commercials and at the end of them, then hide those chapters. That way you don't have to have the DVR FF through commercials show up on screen. Definitely worth the $$ to have one! I've used ours A LOT!!! Perfect companion to the DVR! :up:


standalone dvd recorder with hard drive is even better.. (though maybe you're recording onto rewritable DVDs?) Much easier to edit the recordings, and you can quickly remove the commercials from the recording so you save space on the resulting DVDs.. (you said "hide" the chapters, it sounded like they were still taking up disk space) That means more episodes/DVD.. space savings more important than cost savings, with DVD-Rs around $.20/each at MOST nowadays..

(Best Buy Black Friday deal -- 100 pack DVD-Rs for $4.99)


----------



## treo700wx (Nov 15, 2006)

Dkerr24 said:


> A Slingbox is great IF you have access to a broadband connection. But if you are headed to a remote area without internet access, it's pretty worthless.


Agree   A broadband connection would be of need or you would suffer in a remote area.Thats when the recording software on your notebook pc with slingbox connection in home become one.They work very well together saving your fav tv shows for those road trips or the remote area stays.I have over 30 hours of tivo through slingbox to my notebook saved now :up: From that point I can burn to dvd getting outstanding picture,sound guilty.
When it comes to the stand-alone dvd recorder.Great choice also f,sure but once again going back to my first post.Sling gives you more-example....I can watch my tivo live anyware in the world on my notebook giving accsess to the shows I may have record the day before.I live in VA taking the flight to Fl burn a Dvd in the airport of the show i missed during the flight  You can not go wrong..heck I can even watch my tivo on my treo 700 wx pda at 29 fps in stereo sound with the sling box to tivo combo.


----------



## Athenian (Jan 14, 2004)

JimSpence said:


> Furthermore, after capturing to a DVD using a standalone DVD recorder you can then rip it to your PC, make some edits and reburn (providing it has a DVD burner).


This is just what I came here today to ask about. Office Depot will be selling the Lite-On LVW-5005X for $50 (after rebate) this Friday and it looks very attractive. If I can save to DVD then using Studio on the PC to delete or hide the commercials, I'm definitely interested.

Is anything else required?


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

My LiteOn 5045 allows me to hide chapters on the unit itself. I assume the non hard drive version can do the same. The problem is that the hidden chapters may only stay hidden if the DVD is played on the same unit. But, I have also ripped the DVD to a PC and then use a DVD authoring tool to really strip the commercials.


----------



## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

Athenian said:


> Is anything else required?


Nope. As long as you have the capable software on your PC to rip/edit/burn a DVD then you are all set. Oh, you will need the cables between the DVR and the standalone DVD recorder.


----------



## Athenian (Jan 14, 2004)

goony said:


> Nope. As long as you have the capable software on your PC to rip/edit/burn a DVD then you are all set. Oh, you will need the cables between the DVR and the standalone DVD recorder.


Well, I did a bit of experimenting with this today and I can see possibilities. Unfortunately, my DVD authoring software won't let me burn anything more than 60 minutes. I saved a 2-hour program to DVD, edited out the commercials and now I can't get the program back onto CD. What kind of program do I need to burn at different qualities from a PC?


----------



## John T Smith (Jun 17, 2004)

Look in the TOOLS area at http://www.videohelp.com


----------



## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Athenian said:


> Well, I did a bit of experimenting with this today and I can see possibilities. Unfortunately, my DVD authoring software won't let me burn anything more than 60 minutes. I saved a 2-hour program to DVD, edited out the commercials and now I can't get the program back onto CD. What kind of program do I need to burn at different qualities from a PC?


The quality of recording to a CD is lacking and they don't hold much video. You should burn to a DVD. Unless your reply had a typo and you meant DVD and not CD. Anyway I use a program called WinAVI which is used to convert various formats to other formats including DVD. This program will then interface with a DVD burning program for the actual burning. In my case Nero.


----------



## robinderp (Nov 29, 2006)

Is there any way to set-up a series of shows to play one after another so that you can batch record to a standalone DVD Recorder?


----------



## SteelersFan (Sep 7, 2004)

robinderp said:


> Is there any way to set-up a series of shows to play one after another so that you can batch record to a standalone DVD Recorder?


The only way I know of is to use the Merge function in TivoWebPlus, but that would involve hacking your unit (if your unit is hackable).


----------



## Jerry_K (Feb 7, 2002)

The USB ports do work in a limited fashion (will allow network connectivity) if you hack, and use an adapter.


----------

