DVD recorder - impossible to locate??

[arlene]

I have a new digital TV. Receive signal via antenna - no cable or satellite.
My old (analog) DVD recorder both recorded one channel while we watched another channel and also accepted programmed recording for the future.

Now I would like to buy a new DVD recorder with the same capabilities but I can't seem to find ANY!! Most allow recording only the channel you are watching. I assume it would need two tuners? Why could I not use the recorder's tuners to record and the TVs tuner to watch another channel?

Forgive the newbie questions - but can anyone suggest a brand that offers the tuner(s) and HDMI output that I had?

Thanks!

[MrBoylan]

Originally Posted by arlene

I have a new digital TV. Receive signal via antenna - no cable or satellite.
My old (analog) DVD recorder both recorded one channel while we watched another channel and also accepted programmed recording for the future.

Now I would like to buy a new DVD recorder with the same capabilities but I can't seem to find ANY!! Most allow recording only the channel you are watching. I assume it would need two tuners? Why could I not use the recorder's tuners to record and the TVs tuner to watch another channel?

Forgive the newbie questions - but can anyone suggest a brand that offers the tuner(s) and HDMI output that I had?

Thanks!

I don't know of any DVD recorders that have two tuners built-in, either analog or digital. What brand and model is your old DVD recorder? I have a couple of older analog DVD recorders that let you watch one recorded show while recording a different live channel (Panasonic and a Pioneer) - courtesy of their built in hard drives, but neither of these allows you to record one channel while watching another, unless of course you're switching over to the TV tuner to watch the other channel.

But even this function (watching a recorded show while recording something new on a different channel) is pretty much impossible to find in a DVD recorder these days because there are virtually no DVD recorders on the market today with a built-in hard drive. It was the hard drive that allowed you to watch one recorded program while recording another. It's not possible to do this on a pure DVD recorder because DVD drives do not support simultaneous read and write to/from different sections of the DVD (while hard drives do).

While you can still use your old analog DVD recorder today, by adding a digital converter box, recording things this way is a little tricky because you have to program both the DVD recorder and the converter box to come on at the right time on the correct channel (or you have to leave your converter box on and tuned to the correct channel). The DISH DTVPal converter boxes do include built-in guide with a timer function that allows you to turn the converter box on and tune it to the correct channel for external recording.

Also, speaking of DISH DTVPal, they also make a device that does exactly what you want - it's called the DTVPal DVR and it allows you to record two different digital channels at once or record one channel while watching another live channel. *BUT* it does not have a built in DVD recorder, so if you want to keep any of the recorded shows, you'll need to play them back on the DTV Pal DVR and record them on your old DVD recorder using its line input.

It's actually a neat little device, works perfectly with over the air high definition and DTV signals (not cable or satellite, despite the fact that it's made by DISH Network), and it only costs $250. You can read more about it (and order one) at www.DTVPal.com. Tivo makes something similar but it requires you pay $14/month for the Tivo service. The DTVPal has no monthly service fees.

Let me know if you have any other questions and let me know more details of your DVD recorder because I wasn't aware they sold one with dual tuners and I'm curious which one it is.

-CB