Are DVD Recorders useless with Digital Cable?

[mrjspoons]

I have Time Warner and have had the 8000HD for several months. Yeah, it is erratic, but I have usually been able to improve the peformance blips by unplugging and re-booting. I just bought a Panasonic DVD recorder/VCR, thinking I was helping to consolidate my family's equipment. After a lot of time with various manuals, I learned the ugly truth - that Time Warner does not "support" any of the options mentioned in the manual for the 8000HD - like archiving programs, use of S-VIDEO connections, etc. In short, I can't record from the cable box to the DVD-R/VCR.

Has anyone found any workarounds or other brilliant ideas regarding this?

My TV (Sony WEGA KV30HS420) does have "monitor out" jacks, but that signal is not compatible with the DVD-R/VCR either.

[summerfun]

Not sure if your SA8000HD is the DVR or not, you don't say, but the SA8300HD DVR outputs are active, although they are SD of course.

Not sure why you are recording to a DVD? Is it just to record shows and then replay later or do you want to archive? If it is the former, the DVR will do all that much easier without needing the DVD burner and of course it records in HD, which a DVD cannot.

[mrjspoons]

I do have the DVR. I want to archive programs on DVD yes.

So you can hook up a VCR or DVD-R to the 8300HD DVR?

Not sure if your SA8000HD is the DVR or not, you don't say, but the SA8300HD DVR outputs are active, although they are SD of course.

Not sure why you are recording to a DVD? Is it just to record shows and then replay later or do you want to archive? If it is the former, the DVR will do all that much easier without needing the DVD burner and of course it records in HD, which a DVD cannot.

[RickNeff]

I have a Toshiba and a Panasonic DVD recorder with Time Warner Cable. Since the Toshiba also has a hard drive, I don't have the TWC DVR box however. The non-DVR boxes have the S-Video ports active. So, I can record to the HDD or DVD without any problems.

As was mentioned, I believe the newer DVR box has the S-Video outputs active.

[russellj]

I have a Panasonic DVD recorder and a TWC Pioneer HD box and can record DVD's just fine through s-video. I usually use a DVD-RW and record a Hi-def show from the local networks that I get from TWC while I watch another show on Satellite.

[summerfun]

I do have the DVR. I want to archive programs on DVD yes.

So you can hook up a VCR or DVD-R to the 8300HD DVR?

Yes, the S-video and composite SD outputs are active on the SA8300HD DVR but not on the SA8000HD DVR. You can go in to any TWC office and switch out for the 8300 for no cost. Just call ahead to make sure they have one. They are in short supply and high demand.