# Leaving Dish to Direct- Anyway to Save 6 Years of Archives?



## LaserMark4 (Nov 27, 2005)

Making a change seems right at this point in terms of $$$ savings for a couple of years (enticing offers to change over) as well as my new motorhome is fully set up with Direct units throughout.

So my predicament-- is there absolutely NO way to utilize all my Dish content going forward? I have a killer collection of music video concerts that I've worked hard at archiving and enjoy immensely. If I bought say a VIP622 on Ebay, will it run just my Dish external hard drive archive material without being connected to Dish's actual service?


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## Tulsa1 (Oct 15, 2003)

Nope


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

DVD-R, and start burning...


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## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

coldsteel said:


> DVD-R, and start burning...


This works well, it just takes a lot of time because there aren't any quick solutions.


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## Tulsa1 (Oct 15, 2003)

It's also not HiDef video or audio


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## bnborg (Jun 3, 2005)

Tulsa1 said:


> It's also not HiDef video or audio


Capture it on your PC. I have an Avermedia DVR card. It will capture HDMI, Component, S-Video and Composite. Note, it will not let you capture HDCP protected material.


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## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

HD PVR is a High-Definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

If they are SD that's another thing. The HD PVR capture can be easily turned into a form of Blue-Ray on DVD. A Dual layer DVD can hold around 2 hours of video at good quality.


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## LaserMark4 (Nov 27, 2005)

Sorry- dropped off the radar this week. 

Appreciate all the info and tips-- I was assuming I was screwed to capture this via hardware. But I definitely am checking out the HD PVR and Avermedia DVR direction via PC. Makes sense..... only a LOT of time for sure. 

Is Direct just as proprietary and exclusionary in transferring material as Dish? Looks like it makes sense to "capture as you go" from now on so you don't end up in a dead end alley over time and can't take anything away if you change vendors.


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## LaserMark4 (Nov 27, 2005)

Ahhhh, I got it. HD PVR.....bypass the sat DVR completely and go directly to permanent status and storage.

Nice!


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

LaserMark4 said:


> Sorry- dropped off the radar this week.
> 
> Appreciate all the info and tips-- I was assuming I was screwed to capture this via hardware. But I definitely am checking out the HD PVR and Avermedia DVR direction via PC. Makes sense..... only a LOT of time for sure.
> 
> *Is Direct just as proprietary and exclusionary in transferring material as Dish?* Looks like it makes sense to "capture as you go" from now on so you don't end up in a dead end alley over time and can't take anything away if you change vendors.


To answer the bolded question, with directv you can not even transfer eSata units between dvrs. The unit is paired with the dvr it is connected to so that content can't be viewed by another unit unless you have MRV enabled and then you can access those recording from another unit.


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## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

LaserMark4 said:


> Ahhhh, I got it. HD PVR.....bypass the sat DVR completely and go directly to permanent status and storage.
> 
> Nice!


 Read the link i posted it captures 1080i if you feed it 1080i, 720p if you feed it 720p.
Nope you still need to capture to a computer. It comes with software to convert to DVD that works OK. I used it with a Q6600 Quad core and now with a Intel I7 based computer.

I just put the caps on a external USB drive and play them back on a WDTV Live Plus to the TV when desired. The Plus also streams Netflix. I'll be dumping the premiums.


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## DJ Lon (Nov 3, 2005)

LaserMark4 said:


> Making a change seems right at this point in terms of $$$ savings for a couple of years (enticing offers to change over)...
> 
> ...So my predicament-- is there absolutely NO way to utilize all my Dish content going forward?


I feel you. I switched to D* last week and I have a 1TB, a 750GB and a 500GB chock full of HDNet Movies & Cinemax stuff ('cuz it was free) that are lost as well.


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