Is SVHS the best solution for me at this time?

[kook]

Currently I don't have HD - cable company has not rolled out yet (satellite not an option due to trees).

Depending on how ambitious I am, I *may* investigate into OTA HD this year...... but due to distance from stations and aforementioned trees, I'm not sure.


I want to record weekly TV shows from SD cable. Is SVHS the most practical way to go? Cost IS a factor, but a PVR that would be able to, in the future, record HD material, would be considered, assuming it's under $500 or so.

Anyone ever copy a DVD onto SVHS? Wondering how the quality compares..... I changed the EEPROM on my Apex VHS (not SVHS) so that I could copy DVD's onto VHS (it bypasses the Macro Vision copy protection).

thanks,

kook

[57U]

Regarding your point 2, I have copied DVD onto S-VHS (an unprotected DVD (Harry Potter) just to see). The quality was, of course not as good - Max 400 lines vs almost 500 for DVD.

Also, if recording an anamorphic widescreen DVDs you'd loose "more lines" since only a portion of the "screen" would be utilized, so instead of 25% loss, you'd be looking at almost 40% loss in quality. This doesn't look any worse than a good new VHS movie, however, you must realize you're dealing with lower quality than DVD.

Lastly, S-VHS only records analogue audio, so DD5.1 would be lost, you'd be limited to Pro-logic surround

[kook]

57:

Thanks for the info. What are my other options for under $300 USA?

[57U]

TIVO? Replay? Don't think there's anything else right now for that price.