# Best method to move shows from 501 and edit commercials and burn to DVD



## westfield60 (Jan 4, 2006)

I just got the Dish Network 501 DVR. So far everything is fine and recording is easy. I've recorded quite a few shows already and filling up the hard disk quite fast. I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't have editing features to edit out commercials.

So my question is, I would like to move my recorded shows off the unit (to save them from being lost by any sort of DVR failure and secondly to clear up some space on the DVR disk). Ideally I would like to edit the commercials out and then burn them to a DVD. 

So can anybody recommend the best method to do this.

I've considered some options but not sure what is the best.

1 - Purchase a DVD Recorder with a hard disk and move the shows from the 501 DVR to the hard disk of the DVD recorder and then edit out the commercials and then burn to DVD. The only drawback with this is that the DVD recorders that come with a hard disk cost upwards of $300 and I hesitate spending that much especially since I've heard that the new generation of DVD players/recorders may be coming out later this year (blue-ray, HD etc), so I'd hate to spend that money now only to have to purchase a new unit 6-7 months down the line. Anyone shed some light on this option? Any comments would be appreciated.

2 - A second option is to Purchase the Dazzle unit from Pinnacle Systems and move the shows to my PC and then do the editing there and burn to a DVD on the PC. The only problem I can think of this option is first will it work? and secondly will the quality degrade once I move to the PC? I'd hate to produce DVD's that look like VHS tapes. Right now the shows look excellent on the 501 DVR and that is how I would like to have them end up on the DVD.

I thank you in advance for any insight, information, advice or wisdom you guys might be able to shed on this. How are other people saving their shows from their DVR's?

Thanks
James


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

:welcome_s westfield60
You can normally set the capture quality on video capture devices. I've been slowly emptying my 501 by capturing the content on a PC and burning it to DVD. One caveat is that this is satellite transmitted programming - so the original stream being played can be less than DVD quality. If you have captured movies from PPV or a movie channel the quality will be better.

My wife bought me a cheap DVD Recorder this Christmas because by dubbing process was running too slow for her taste.  Some people have done straight playback to a DVD recorder without HD then ripped the DVD into their editors to remove commercials. If your DVD recorder handles RWs well you can reuse the transfer disk.

Discussing the transfer of content directly from the hard drive is a violation of this forum's rules. We won't go there.

JL


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## westfield60 (Jan 4, 2006)

Thanks James for the quick response.

I like the idea of burning it directly to DVD and then dump the contents to my PC and do the editing there. Sounds like a good idea.

Can I ask about your "cheap" DVD recorder. I've read so many reviews on these and they really vary as does the price. The prices really vary all the way to 70 bucks to almost $700. I'm afraid of buying a cheap unit and then having wasted disks. What has your experience been with this unit. 

Thanks


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Very limited. I burned a RW that didn't read in any other unit then I tried a +R disc that worked fine in all my players (including PC). I have not yet tried a third disc.

As noted, it was a gift. It's an $80 RadioShack unit. I have not done a transfer from the 501 yet (it's located in another room). One thing I did (just for grins) was set my ATSC/HD tuner for 480i output and recorded some downconverted OTA HD. That worked fairly well. The other test was dubbing my wedding video to DVD. Did I say who gave me the DVD recorder?  My wife suggested that test. 

JL


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## westfield60 (Jan 4, 2006)

Cool. Thanks James. 

I think the cheapie DVD solution is the best solution to hold me over until the next generation units come out. 

If I spend about $100 on a unit now and get some use out of it, I won't feel so bad having to replace it later this year.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

It works - I use the record on the PC with a Hauppage WinPVR250, then edit / burn DVDs from my PC. I do it often enough that I ran cables over the ceiling with wall jacks at each end.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

I have found the easiest way for me is to just dump directly to my DVD recorder and use the pause button on the remote to stop the recording when a commercial comes up. Then hit the jump forward button on the PVR to cue up the next segment of the show, then just hit the record button again on the DVD recorder. This edits out your commercials and your done in one step instead of 2 or more. True you need to pay attention or you end up with a commercial in your recording but after awhile you get a feel for when a commercial will be coming up and you can set mental timers or real ones to get you back in time to get the next commercial.

Use the SVHS connector if you have one on your recorder for a slightly crisper signal quality.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

James Long said:


> I burned a RW that didn't read in any other unit then I tried a +R disc that worked fine in all my players (including PC). I have not yet tried a third disc.
> 
> JL


James,

You might want to check the vendor's web site to see if there is a software upgrade for your recorder. When I first got my Philips DVD recorder (well over a year ago) most of the +RW discs made on it would not play well on other DVD players. DVD +R (finalized discs) sometimes would have a problem too. After several software updates every disc that I make now plays well on other DVD players.

If there isn't a software upgrade available for your recorder you might want to try a different brand of recordable media. When I first got my recorder I found that many (cheap) brands did not work well. I found that name brands (like HP, Sony, and Maxell) worked better than others.

For those of you that are asking how do you upgrade the software on a DVD recorder since they don't have a phone line, here is how you do it: You download the upgrade file from the vendor's site and burn it to a CD using the CD burner on your PC (you can use Nero, NTI CD maker or any other CD burner software). You then put the CD in your DVD recorder, it verifies it to make sure that it is the correct version for your machine and then it upgrades the software. That is all there is to it. Many (name brand) DVD Player makers also provide software upgrades for their machines that usually make the machines "more compatible" with DVDs made on other home machines.


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## primey (Nov 24, 2003)

I have a laptop with a DVD R/RW and I have stuff on my DVR I would like to record to DVD. The question I have is it possible to move the stuff over from DVR and Burn to DVD R/W on the laptop? I was just wondering I thought about purchasing a DVD-R, but if I could go the laptop route it would be nice any suggestions.


Primey


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Threads merged.
Primey - please see above for coments.

JL


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