How to burn a Blu-Ray disc with HD TV Program Content?

I have a new Dell but I didn't bother to get a Blu-Ray burning drive. I have
a laptop (2008 with Vista). Now I'd like to be able to save some things from
my HD DVR (cable) permanently to disc. Is this possible? I'd prefer a method
that was rather painless but I realize the powers that be have probably made
this difficult. I don't need to copy movies from blu-ray discs. At least not
yet!

For example, suppose I want to keep one of the fantastique game finishes in
the current March Madness basketball games? Or an entire game? Or a classic
movie on Turner Classic Movies?

If I could just play the DVR program into my laptop is there some external
device I can buy to burn a blu-ray disc and preserve the crisp HD content?
If not, perhaps burning a DVD with "Standard Definition" resolution might be
acceptable. At least it would be better than VHS.

I burn music cd's all the time. With video, I understand there's something
called an iso file and something else needed but otherwise I'm a newbie.

--
Peter Greenstein
http://www.wakefieldjazz.com/

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

Wow, thanks so much for the response. But ouch! $199. Probably worth it,
though.

Is there any cheaper way to do this? It would be great to have an HD copy of
programs from TV, but maybe "Standard Definition." Right now it would be
good enough if I could burn something with my computer to a DVD in quality
which would be way better than VHS.

Strangely, my DVR from Comcast (probably made by Motorola) has a USB output,
but somebody tells me that has been disabled.

peter




"Iowna Uass" <> wrote in message
news:...
> http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
>
>

"Peter Greenstein" <> wrote in message
news:incvgj$35f$...
> Wow, thanks so much for the response. But ouch! $199. Probably worth it,
> though.
>
> Is there any cheaper way to do this? It would be great to have an HD copy
> of programs from TV, but maybe "Standard Definition." Right now it would
> be good enough if I could burn something with my computer to a DVD in
> quality which would be way better than VHS.
>
> Strangely, my DVR from Comcast (probably made by Motorola) has a USB
> output, but somebody tells me that has been disabled.
>
> peter
>
>
>
>
> "Iowna Uass" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
>>
>>
>
Not sure of the model of DVR you have, but here is a link to firewire
capture from a motorola box on windows.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=403695

If you are willing to give linux a try, mythbuntu will do that as well. Give
mythbuntu a google.

I wouldn't even waste time burning to blu ray. That format will be dead in a
few years.
Digital is the way to go. Get a 2 terabyte network drive and a media
extender and say goodbye to blu ray disks.

"Iowna Uass" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> "Peter Greenstein" <> wrote in message
> news:incvgj$35f$...
>> Wow, thanks so much for the response. But ouch! $199. Probably worth it,
>> though.
>>
>> Is there any cheaper way to do this? It would be great to have an HD copy
>> of programs from TV, but maybe "Standard Definition." Right now it would
>> be good enough if I could burn something with my computer to a DVD in
>> quality which would be way better than VHS.
>>
>> Strangely, my DVR from Comcast (probably made by Motorola) has a USB
>> output, but somebody tells me that has been disabled.
>>
>> peter
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Iowna Uass" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
>>>
>>>
>>
> Not sure of the model of DVR you have, but here is a link to firewire
> capture from a motorola box on windows.
>
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=403695
>
> If you are willing to give linux a try, mythbuntu will do that as well.
> Give mythbuntu a google.
>
> I wouldn't even waste time burning to blu ray. That format will be dead in
> a few years.
> Digital is the way to go. Get a 2 terabyte network drive and a media
> extender and say goodbye to blu ray disks.
>

Thank you Iowna SO much for this! It is a little out of date (2004) perhaps,
and I have a new Dell machine with Windows 7, but I hope this will work. My
Comcast DVR is a standard Motorola unit I think.

How many hours of HD will a 2 terabyte drive hold? I'd like to archive
sports, like football, basketball and track & field (Olympics). For me DVD
discs still have the advantage of permanence and portability over a drive.

peter

>
> Thank you Iowna SO much for this! It is a little out of date (2004)
> perhaps, and I have a new Dell machine with Windows 7, but I hope this
> will work. My Comcast DVR is a standard Motorola unit I think.
>
> How many hours of HD will a 2 terabyte drive hold? I'd like to archive
> sports, like football, basketball and track & field (Olympics). For me DVD
> discs still have the advantage of permanence and portability over a drive.
>
> peter

1 tb will give approx 120 hrs of HD.

DVD may be portable in the sense that you can play in most, DVD players out
there, but I have disks that are no longer readable that were recorded less
than 10 years ago.

With portable drives that fit in the palm of your hand and thumb drives of
64 gb, you have other options to bulky disks.

If you google firewire capture, you'll find other resources for windows
capture tools, however, if you are serious, I would create a dual boot
system using mythbuntu and use that for your capture.
The resulting output can be played in any tv that supports mpg or mp4 files

http://www.mythbuntu.org/

You'll still have windows 7 for all your other stuff.

"Iowna Uass" <> wrote in message
news:...
> 1 tb will give approx 120 hrs of HD.
>
> DVD may be portable in the sense that you can play in most, DVD players
> out there, but I have disks that are no longer readable that were recorded
> less than 10 years ago.
>
> With portable drives that fit in the palm of your hand and thumb drives of
> 64 gb, you have other options to bulky disks.
>

Can I depend on an external HD to last 10 years? It makes me a little
nervous to store EVEYTHING I want to keep on one device that is used quite a
bit.

I've got old VHS tapes of sports and they've lasted over 10 years, but I've
hardly ever played them. If I only access a DVD once in long while maybe
they should last indefinitely?

peter