VCR Replacement

OK the only replacement for a VCR is tivo or etc...dig recs.
The idea I had b4 i go to the science forum that i used to visit is:
(I want to share it with my buds here 1st b4 i forget it is:
Flashdrives/thumbdrives-- you can watch your shows in the bedroom while the wife watches her show in the tv room--swap thumbdrives like videotapes--what-a thumbdrive 4gb will hold 2-4hours of video-same as vid-tapes. All we need is the PC-less device..

Only problem is that a 4 gig thumb drive costs a lot more than an 8-hour tape for your VCR!

In theory though, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. The bandwidth needed to transfer compressed video is well within the write speed limits of a thumb drive - even one running on a slower (V1.1/1.2) USB port.

The only stumbling block would be the high cost of the thumb drives. (Though the 1 gig ones are pretty cheap these days, and that should be enough to hold an hour or two at least. Just like the first VHS tapes did.)

Funny that DVD-RW never took off as a home recording medium though... I thought that was going to be the VCR killer, not the DVR. Eh - shows how good I am at predicting the future!

Adam

What are you going to play it through? If it's still a PC based device, why not just use a network and share the drive? There's even inexpensive networked drives now so you leave them on and not a pc somewhere.

i thought they were already here

My buddy told me that his DVD/hd player had a usb port and he can plug his usb2 thumb drive and watch Divx movies and look at jpegs

i checked some specs and it seems the case

and with this you can forget about the thumb drive

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=318

and here is the Dvd with usb player

http://svp.co.uk/products-solo.php?pid=1962

hope this helps

karl

Not a bad idea but I think the future will bring networked TVs where the data is stored on a central computer and can be streamed to any TV on the network via wireless. To some extent this is already a reality.

Well I was kinda thinking about a box (electronic device) sitting by the tv that really has nothing to do with PCs or the internet (just like a VCR)
I don't want a computer in my entertainment center (it's already crowded up enough with junk!)


This just for portability reasons. For the stuff you want to keep theres the ole DVD recorder.
Just have 1 thumb drive for each recorder (for affordability until prices drop)
Anyone remember the video player Spock used on Trek playing the kids parents under the infuence of the big bad 'angel' guy? (I believe that was the one)
Thats the device I wanna build:)

Yeah I wonder why the DVD-RW didnt take off better?
How many times can you re-record on a -R/W?
Does the quality degrade over time?

Karl- The D-link looks cool:)
I cant tell though if you can record a show from one tv (sat-box) and play it back ,say, the next day watching it from another tv in another room?
(having 2 D-link boxes of course- one for each tv)
I really dont want or need networking and routers in my house if possible.
(I'm just funny that way:D )

What I'm looking for basically is a stand-alone digital video recorder that takes the analog video and audio signals turns them into digital and sends them to a memory stick or flashdrive that can be removed from the unit to be viewed later on another dvr (same type) on another tv.

Just like a VCR but uses small solid state removable memory devices instead of large magnetic tape cassettes.
Anyone heard of anything like this?


<edit> I hink I've found something..
If anyones intersted:
http://psp.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=psp&cdn=gadgets&tm=5&gps=70_374_938_572&f=1 0&su=p284.7.420.ip_p284.5.420.ip_p445.92.150.ip_&t t=4&bt=1&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.hsc-us.com/Consumer2/easyrecorder2/index.html
Now I have to go out and buy 2 of these and 2 psp's. damn! money that I could be spending on my projector!! Oh well maybe I can stay with my vcrs for a little while longer:)
<edit#2--
WOW those psp's are expensive--forget that! I'll keep on looking
Thanks You-All

(if anybody's interested) I think I'm going to replace my VCRs with DVD-RAM recorders. Its not solid state but at least 5 or 6 little discs are a lot better than having big VHS tapes cluttering about.
--Hey-back on topic:o

PS- any opinions on the DVD-RAM?

Why don't you just get a good TV Capture card and record video/tv onto a computer harddrive and then save it to your flash drive. :confused: Make your PC a DVR... :D

'Cause I don't want a PC in my ent. center.
Just stereo, TV and ps2. no more room..;)