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Pioneer DVR-810H DVD Recorder/TiVo (Progressive Scan, 80GB Hard Drive - MPN: DVR810H)
Description: The amazing DVR-810H is a videophile?s dream: TiVo service, an 80GB hard drive, advanced viewing and recording features... and the list continues. This machine will forever change how you find, watch, and record video.The DVR-810H comes wit.... Read More Description: The amazing DVR-810H is a videophile?s dream: TiVo service, an 80GB hard drive, advanced viewing and recording features... and the list continues. This machine will forever change how you find, watch, and record video.The DVR-810H comes with TiVo Basic Service included, with no startup cost or monthly fees. Pioneer is the world?s first company to offer this powerful combination. Setup is very simple, and finding and scheduling your favorite shows is a breeze.With the built-in 80GB hard drive you can record up to 80 hours of material?off the air, cable, or satellite, or your home movies?for short-term storage and viewing. You can actually control live TV: pause it, reverse it, play it in slow motion. You can even watch a recorded program from the beginning, while the recorder simultaneously finishes the recording. With the DVR-810H, there?s just no going back to the old way of watching TV.And those shows and other content you want to keep for a longer period of time? Burn them onto a DVD-R (permanent; can?t be erased) or DVD?RW (can be erased/written over many times). The DVR-810H features up to 18x record speed, so you?ll be able to dub a 1-hour program to DVD in basic EP quality mode in just over 3 minutes. (DVR Version 2.0 4X Media.) You can even record content to the hard drive while dubbing different content from the hard drive to a DVD. It?s fast and easy, and the content remains in a digital state throughout, so the quality level is very high.The DVR-810H features PureCinema 2:3 Progressive Scan for a more film-like presentation when watching movies; a 9-bit/27MHz video DAC for a truly superior picture; Faroudja Directional Correlation De-interlacing, or DCDi, for a smoother, more natural picture; and a sophisticated noise reduction circuit which can achieve an amazing 6-10dB of noise reduction.The DVR-810H also features Dolby Digital and DTS Digital surround sound outputs, plus CD and MP3 compatibility. Minimize |
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| Date Reviewed: 12/06/2003 |
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Strengths: Excellent DVD burn results on -R,-RW. All functions of a TIVO with full subscription otherwise limited if you just just keep the free basic TIVO 3dayer feature.
Weaknesses: No feature to edit commercials on TV programs before burning to DVD. Unit must always be on or in sleep mode with large external fan on back it's quite loud especially at night.
Summary: Easy setup. Slick hi-tech look with blue and red lights depending on mode. Only 15hrs of hard drive recording at high resolution with the 80gb drive. The 120gb unit would be better choice for those who need more space. Will update this as I play with it somemore. So far, it's great.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/20/2004 |
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Strengths: Very easy to use, dvd burn quality is great, integrated Tivo excellent
Weaknesses: Can't manually start and stop recording, memory gets eaten up quickly by highest resolution
Summary: Overall, the system is great, and I'd highly recommend it, UNTIL someone comes up with a system that will edit out unwanted material. This is my biggest complaint. The system records blocks of time according to the program guide (in my case DirecTV), which often includes lots of stuff you don't want before a program begins and commercials. Ideally, you should be able to manually control the start and stop, or be able to edit before burning.
91% of People (20/22) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/03/2003 |
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Strengths: TIVO in XP mode is near DVD quality. Makes recording and watching TV easy and fun. Reocrd and watch recorded programs at the same time. Plays DVD-R and DVD-RW well.
Weaknesses: Will not play SVCD or VCDs.
Summary: Can be had for as low as $700 including shipping online. I really like this unit. Comes with Tivo basic service for free. Tivo Plus lifetime subscription is $299.00. I upgraded to Plus for the extra features. Recording TV with this unit is a breeze as you can use it like a VCR for timed record, VCR+ mode, or all Tivo modes. I like the season pass feature of Tivo as well. This is my first Tivo type unit and I am pleased with the quality of the picture in XP mode. Recorded video can be copied to a DVD-RW or DVD-R for replay on a standalone DVD player. Also can pass through Video Camera to DVD-R/-RW.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/05/2004 |
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Strengths: Burns DVD-Rs very easily, Free ethernet network connection, TiVo!, Nice MP3 CD-R/DVD-R support
Weaknesses: Can't remove commercials, Subscription fee is too high, Won't display JPEGs on a CD-R or DVD-R
Summary: I love it! The only reason not to buy one of these is the price. I was able to connect over the my broadband network connection without paying for any drivers, just had to use a supported USB-to-Ethernet adapter, freeing up the need for the phone line. Picture quality a the lower bitrates could be better, but it is good enough.
90% of People (26/29) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/11/2004 |
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Strengths: Great integration between DVD player and Tivo
Excellent "hi-tech" appearance (neat-o display and lights and brushed-aluminum case)
External display clock that synchronizes with every dial-in
Weaknesses: A few minor picture quality issues that I can live with, but are still there (on SP quality, there is a "shimmering" that sometimes moves across the image for a second or so)
Very pricey
Summary: This review will compare the Pioneer 810H-S to the similar Toshiba SD-H-400, which is also an integrated Tivo/DVD Player, but does not record DVDs. I have owned both units.
If you have the cash, I would not hesitate to run out purchase the Pioneer 810H-S. Conversely, I WOULD hesitate to purchase the Toshiba SD-H400 and would consider stand alone options instead of this Toshiba integrated unit.
My rationale: The Pioneer is without a doubt the neatest and easiest configuration that you can find that will incorporate Tivo functionality with DVD playback and recording. This may not be a compelling enough reason for you to purchase this unit over a separate Tivo Series 2 + DVD recorder or the Toshiba SD-H400, but I do not regret my purchase decision (and recent sale decision of the Toshiba). And, in the final analysis, when considering anything involving consumer electronics in this category of devices, "compelling" reasons have more to do about emotional purchase decisions rather than a significant difference in features.
But, feature difference should be considered so please humor me while I babble onward....
Other folks have pointed out that purchasing a Pioneer 810H-S involves paying a convenience factor of +$100 to have an integrated solution over buying separate components, and they do have a point.
But if you are used to the Tivo experience, this unit continues the Tivo paradigm to a fully integrated DVD experience. My wife has been able to pick up the remote for the Pioneer and operate the DVD player/recorder with out any issue due to her familiarity with the Tivo interface. She still gets frusterated with the use and menus of our stand-alone DVD player that we have in another room.
The Toshiba SD-H400 gets low marks in the category of integration, as when you use the DVD player, you exit the Tivo interface and enter Toshiba's DVD menu options. So, on this note, the Pioneer is far more elegant.
And, the Pioneer will give you a few important non-supported "features" that the Toshiba SD-H400 current lacks that were deal breakers for me: hard drive upgradeability and the 30-second skip feature. Currently, the Toshiba lacks these "features" that all series 2 Tivo's have.
I am not a purist on the picture quality so I have to say that the PQ of the Pioneer is great or good enough by my view. But, if you are purist, then I would advise reading and considering the countless posts on this topic on the web or at Tivocommunity.com. My guess is that the level of activity that most people have would sufficiently distract them from rendering any later concerns on PQ that they might have, even at this price. Bottom line: It isn't a matter of concern in my opinion and you won't care either as you have more important things to worry about.
The Pioneer looks neater, and so has a coolness factor that surpassess the Toshiba.
And, you only "lose" one feature by going the Pioneer 810H-S route, rather than purchasing a stand alone Series 2: At this time, the Pioneer unit only has the "classic" Tivo channel guide that is also the only guide option for Series 1 Tivos. Stand Alone Series 2 Tivo's have the option of viewing a grid guide that is more usable, but slower, as well. But you gain DVD playback and burning and it is likely that this grid guide will be added via a software upgrade in the future.
So I would recommend that Tivo shoppers that are also interested in DVD playback really only consider two options:
The Pioneer 810H-S vs. a stand-alone Series 2 + a stand alone DVD player/recorder.
Furthermore, I would recommend that likely purchasers of the cheaper option (SA Series 2 + SA DVD player/recorder) consider this option only if there is interest in saving $100 at the expense of setting up separate units and making sure that everyone on your household is comfortable with multiple remotes and switching components (that is, is your lost time worth $100 to you?).
Hope these thoughts help. And please, no flames from Toshiba owners as these thoughts are my opinons only and I recognize that YMMV.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/09/2004 |
- catesr
from TX
- Member Since:
Dec 2004
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Strengths: Very easy to use. Tivo will change you life, and your wife's too.
Weaknesses: Can't do any editing of programs before sending them to dvd
Summary: If you are reading these reviews just stop here and order the damn thing. I too had a lump in my throat about it. And how I was going to explain it to my wife (not a techi person). But with in three days I lost control of the remote. She loves the on screen menus and the list of the shows of the next 14 days. The season pass is awesome. We live our lives, and then when we have time, we watch what we want, right then. And skip all the comersals. We can watch twice the shows, and then keep the good ones. It was really nice to tape arnold's girly man speech for me, and then show it to everyone ( I do stop it before the bush twins come out). On the picture quailty the unit receive program updates daily and one day it received a software upgrade. This upgrade greatly improved the lower res. On each show you record, you can change the res and if you are not going to keep the news, then record it in the lowest res and save the space, but if it's discovery then use the highest res. The DVD you record all have a menu to show what is on it, very cool and has sceens encoded every five minutes. I almost forgot the reason I first thought about it. It pauses live tv. Forget it save it to the drive and watch it tomorrow. Oh it will record a dvd and record a show and play back a third all at highest res.
still reading? Just order it!!! and you will be here telling everyone.
i don't watch tv, i watch TIVO
89% of People (8/9) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/02/2004 |
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Strengths: All the conviences of TIVo.
Record shows/movies directly to DVD discs so they can be erased from the hard drive to make more room.
Comes with TIVO Basic.
Weaknesses: Spendy.
TIVO Basic isn't that great.
Summary: If you have ever heard of TIVO and thought, that would be for me, then definately look into this. Not only do you get the greatness of TIVO, you also get the ability to burn the shows that you digitally record to the hard dirve onto a DVD. The process is amazingly simple. Just pop in a blank disk, click on the option that says record programs, then select the program you want to record and the TIVO will take care of the rest. It also comes with TIVO Basic which is like TIVO lite. It has some of the features but not all. If paying a service fee was scaring you away before, this is the option for you because it is totally free and still allows you to record movies. You don't get a wishlist with it though and you can't search for movies. The only way to record movies is if you know exactly when it is going to be showing - you have to enter a time frame for it to record. The only other option for recording with Basic is while you are watching a movie and you press the record button. Those are your only two options. Another downside to the Basic service is that you only recieve programming information three days in advance while with the regular service, you get 14 days of programming information. I would highly recomend this product to everybody. Not only do you get the greatness of TIVO, you also get a DVD player and burner built right in.
88% of People (15/17) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/03/2004 |
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Strengths: The ability to burn TV to DVD should have been done a long time ago. Also, the fact that this TIVO outputs Component Video and Optical Digital audio all the time is the best you can get.
Weaknesses: Support is only open weekdays, great for those of us with a JOB! Also, BE WARNED... you MUST have a phone line to set this up... very bad for those of use with only a cell phone!
Summary: Great features, looks great, sounds great. Its too bad that Pioneer has terrible support. If you have a TIVO, I would wait for another company to release a DVD-RW. If you don't have a TIVO, I would still recommend this, just make sure you don't have to call support. Personally, this will be the last Pioneer product I buy.
It is quiet (no noise as I've heard from other reviews), it completely eliminates other remotes (I went from 4 to 1, it will control my Sony TV and my Harmon/Kardon reciever for 6.1 audio). Finally, it looks good (blue and red leds are pleasing).
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| Date Reviewed: 02/23/2004 |
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Strengths: Easy to use
Greatly simplifies/improves television viewing
Weaknesses: Setup up is (unavoidably) complicated
Need to record programs at highest settings to get adequate picture quality
Summary: The best all in one solution for "time-shifting" your television viewing and archiving television you want to keep.
I did a lot of research before buying to figure out what "appliance" (TIVO, DVD recorder, DVR, etc) would satisfy my needs. I came to the conlusion that this Pioneer model (or the more expensive Pionee model with a larger hard drive) was the only thing out there which would allow me to easily select programs in advance for recording and also make it eas for me to transfer some shows to DVD.
You can buy a standalone TIVO at a much lower price, but then you would have to connect that machine to a VCR or DVD burner in order to archive the stuff you want to keep. You can do that, but then it just takes up more space in your entertainment cabinet AND any recording you do to a VCR or DVD burner would have to be done in real time -- an hour of programming would take an hour to record.
With this Pioneer there is no need for an attached VCR or DVD burner and it can burn to DVD-R or DVD-RW at 2 times speed (1 hour of programming takes 30 minutes)
Also, the Pioneer functions as a pretty good DVD player, so you don't need that component either.
Really, its the best all in one solution.
Note, I have read a lot of reviews where people complained the picture quality was bad --
Maybe I'm easy to please-- I don't have a huge television (21 inches). If I had a high definitiion wide screen television it might be a problem. On mid sized tvs its really not bad at all provided you record shows at "fine" or "extreme" quality. This gives you only about 20 hours of space on the Pioneer's hard drive, but remember you can always offload the stuff you want to keep to DVD-R or RW. So that seems fine. (And I wouldn't recommend the more expensive Pioneer with the larger hard drive -- you won't really need it)
THis thing has an MSRP of $1100 but you can find it online for around $700. Keep in mind you will need to purchase TIVO service which costs eaither $12 a month or a $299 flat fee. If you are serious about this, the flat fee is the way to go.
If you have a wireless (B) network at home you will also need a Linksys Wireless USB router. Turns out this thing is out of the box compatible with the Linsksys USB router versions 2.6 or 2.8 --- Linksys currently sells a version 3.0 Wireless USB adabter but you can find the 2.6 or 2.8 version on eBay for about $60.
If you don't connect this to your network, you can always plug it in to a phone line.
One of the things I really liked about this Pioneer is that the box contains ALL the cords you will need to set up.
Set up was a little complicated and took the better part of an afternoon, but you are asking this thing to do an awful lot so I think that's probably the nature of the beast.
Now that I have it set up it works flawlessly.
I've also heard people complain about the fan that is inside this unit -- the unit ALWAYS is on so by default that fan stays on. I can't really hear it myself, though. Maybe some units have noisier fans than others?
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| Date Reviewed: 09/03/2005 |
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 Review the product (DVR-810H DVD Recorder/TiVo (Progressive Scan, 80GB Hard Drive)) you recently purchased Strengths: EASY TO INSTALL AND OPERATE...DVR WITH TIVO IS ESPECIALLY EASY TO OPERATE....SOLID
Weaknesses: ONE, BUT A BIG ONE, THE FAN IS TOO NOISY. WAY TOO NOISY.
Summary: I LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PIONEER UNIT EXCEPT THE STUPID, LOUD FAN. SINCE IT IS IN MY BEDROOM, I HAVE TO UNPLUG IT AT BEDTIME, SO I CAN SLEEP. TOO BAD, COULD BE A 5 STAR IF NOT FOR THE LOUD FAN.
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