Transfering from DVR and VHS to DVD

[RGrannus]

I have an Optimum DVR and Sony VHS/DVD player. The DVR is nearly full.
I know you can get another DVR to extend capacity, but only once, and
if you move you have to take a new DVR from Optimum.(It's happened to
me) I've been transfering to the VHS without problem.

I'd like to transfer from DVR to DVD and VHS to DVD. Is this possible
with an ordinary DVD recorder, or do I need to get a particular type
(know of a good model)? Do you just buy more disks for the recorder
as you fill them up, like a VHS? Any type of disk? I have a
relatively new system but it's not Hi-Def and not set to digital. I
assume the Optimum technician set it that way because of the VHS. So
I'd set it Cable input to DVR to VHS/DVD player to DVD recorder to TV.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gordon Burditt]

I have an Optimum DVR and Sony VHS/DVD player. The DVR is nearly full.
I know you can get another DVR to extend capacity, but only once, and

You can get another DVR indefinitely, although eventually you might
have to get another warehouse to store all of them and some kind of giant
switch to connect to the right one.

if you move you have to take a new DVR from Optimum.(It's happened to
me) I've been transfering to the VHS without problem.

The basic idea here is:
connect output of the source device (DVR, live TV, or VCR) to the
input of the destination device (DVD recorder). Press PLAY on the
source device and RECORD on the destination device. STOP both when
the show is over. I'm sure you've done this plenty of times with
the VCR.

It is possible you will run afoul of copy protection restrictions.
Chances are what devices you use won't matter much here.

The connection you use will determine the quality. In decreasing
quality:

- HDMI/DVI (not sure if this is possible, mostly due
to copy protection paranoia) (digital)
Does any DVD Recorder have a HDMI *input*?
- Component video (red/green/blue video jacks, red/white sound) (analog)
- S/Video cable (analog)
- RCA cable (red/white/yellow jacks) (analog)
- RF modulator (ick!)

I'd like to transfer from DVR to DVD and VHS to DVD. Is this possible
with an ordinary DVD recorder, or do I need to get a particular type
(know of a good model)?

Figure out what *outputs* you have, then get a DVD recorder with
the same type of *inputs*, and a corresponding cable.
If your TV is analog, you want your DVD recorder to have analog
outputs (possibly along with digital ones).

Some DVD recorders also have a hard disk. This feature comes at a
price but it makes it a lot easier to arrange stuff before you
record it on the DVD. I use an old DVR/DVD recorder. It's analog,
so the tuner and time-and-channel recording no longer works. It
allows editing and has a fairly large hard disk, so I can transfer,
for example, all the episodes of a series, trim off junk at the
beginning, end, and commercial breaks, and put them in order, then
transfer them to individual disks.

Do you just buy more disks for the recorder
as you fill them up, like a VHS? Any type of disk?

You probably want DVD-R or DVD+R disks (record *once). I don't
think the extra cost of DVD-RW disks gets you much benefit in
re-using them, assuming you are planning to archive shows essentially
forever. You record on them once, possibly in several parts, but
once you fill it, you're stuck with what's on it.

Which of DVD-R or DVD+R do you want? Ones which your recorder can
record and (*all*) your players can play (the answer is decidedly
*NOT* always "both" for any old equipment you might have around. Some
might do both but one at a lower speed). It's not a matter of which
is "better", it's a matter of which square peg fits in a pentagonal
hole. Also investigate which type of disks cost more - lately they
seem to be the same. With really new equipment, it may not matter.
Read the manuals for your equipment.

Panasonic DVD/DVR recorders have the alternative of DVD-RAM disks,
which can be thought of as mini-hard disks. Record, delete,
re-record, edit, etc. repeatedly. Sure, they eventually will wear
out if you re-record often (so do VHS tapes, for both recording and
playing). Also, their capacity is limited to that of a DVD. They
also cost a lot more than regular DVD+/-R blanks.

If you're doing digital-to-digital DVD recording, there may be no
quality settings. With analog, there usually are. After you get
your DVD recorder, try out the different qualities and see which
setting you like, trading off quality vs. the recording time per
disk. I get decent quality (non-HD digital TV converted locally
to analog with a converter box) with 4 hours/disk. 6 hours/disk
was a bit much. 1 hour/disk chews up a lot of disks with little
gain in quality over the 4-hour setting. If you record a lot of
action sports and don't want the ball disappearing, you may need
more quality. Try it yourself.

I have a
relatively new system but it's not Hi-Def and not set to digital. I
assume the Optimum technician set it that way because of the VHS. So
I'd set it Cable input to DVR to VHS/DVD player to DVD recorder to TV.

If some of your devices have more than one input or output (my
analog TV has 3 inputs, plus the RF input which is no longer useful)
selectable via the remote control I'd recommend slightly different wiring:

/------------------------------------\
cable box -> DVR ------------------> DVD Recorder -> TV
\-> VHS/DVD Player--/ /
\-----------------/

Using a setup like the above, you can do things like:

Transfer a VHS tape to the DVD recorder *AND* simultaneously watch live
TV or from the DVR.

Transfer a recording from the DVR to the DVD recorder *AND* simultaneously
watch a DVD or VHS tape from the player.

If you are willing to move the DVD Recorder input cable around depending
on whether you want to transfer from VHS or the DVR, you can get almost
as much flexibility.

> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rod Speed]

RGrannus wrote:

Thanks for the information. Now all I have to do is pick a DVD recorder,
which seem to range from $60 to several hundred dollars on Amazon.

I dont bother with DVDs anymore, keep stuff on 2TB hard drives used in a
docking station now. Much cheaper than DVDs. 2TB is the best $/GB currently.

gordonb.d2...@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) wrote

I have an Optimum DVR and Sony VHS/DVD player. The DVR is nearly
full. I know you can get another DVR to extend capacity, but only once, and

You can get another DVR indefinitely, although eventually you might
have to get another warehouse to store all of them and some kind of
giant switch to connect to the right one.

if you move you have to take a new DVR from Optimum.(It's happened
to me) I've been transfering to the VHS without problem.

The basic idea here is:
connect output of the source device (DVR, live TV, or VCR) to the
input of the destination device (DVD recorder). Press PLAY on the
source device and RECORD on the destination device. STOP both when
the show is over. I'm sure you've done this plenty of times with
the VCR.

It is possible you will run afoul of copy protection restrictions.
Chances are what devices you use won't matter much here.

The connection you use will determine the quality. In decreasing
quality:

- HDMI/DVI (not sure if this is possible, mostly due
to copy protection paranoia) (digital)
Does any DVD Recorder have a HDMI *input*?
- Component video (red/green/blue video jacks, red/white sound)
(analog)
- S/Video cable (analog)
- RCA cable (red/white/yellow jacks) (analog)
- RF modulator (ick!)

I'd like to transfer from DVR to DVD and VHS to DVD. Is this
possible with an ordinary DVD recorder, or do I need to get a
particular type (know of a good model)?

Figure out what *outputs* you have, then get a DVD recorder with
the same type of *inputs*, and a corresponding cable.
If your TV is analog, you want your DVD recorder to have analog
outputs (possibly along with digital ones).

Some DVD recorders also have a hard disk. This feature comes at a
price but it makes it a lot easier to arrange stuff before you
record it on the DVD. I use an old DVR/DVD recorder. It's analog,
so the tuner and time-and-channel recording no longer works. It
allows editing and has a fairly large hard disk, so I can transfer,
for example, all the episodes of a series, trim off junk at the
beginning, end, and commercial breaks, and put them in order, then
transfer them to individual disks.

Do you just buy more disks for the recorder
as you fill them up, like a VHS? Any type of disk?

You probably want DVD-R or DVD+R disks (record *once). I don't
think the extra cost of DVD-RW disks gets you much benefit in
re-using them, assuming you are planning to archive shows essentially
forever. You record on them once, possibly in several parts, but
once you fill it, you're stuck with what's on it.

Which of DVD-R or DVD+R do you want? Ones which your recorder can
record and (*all*) your players can play (the answer is decidedly
*NOT* always "both" for any old equipment you might have around. Some
might do both but one at a lower speed). It's not a matter of which
is "better", it's a matter of which square peg fits in a pentagonal
hole. Also investigate which type of disks cost more - lately they
seem to be the same. With really new equipment, it may not matter.
Read the manuals for your equipment.

Panasonic DVD/DVR recorders have the alternative of DVD-RAM disks,
which can be thought of as mini-hard disks. Record, delete,
re-record, edit, etc. repeatedly. Sure, they eventually will wear
out if you re-record often (so do VHS tapes, for both recording and
playing). Also, their capacity is limited to that of a DVD. They
also cost a lot more than regular DVD+/-R blanks.

If you're doing digital-to-digital DVD recording, there may be no
quality settings. With analog, there usually are. After you get
your DVD recorder, try out the different qualities and see which
setting you like, trading off quality vs. the recording time per
disk. I get decent quality (non-HD digital TV converted locally
to analog with a converter box) with 4 hours/disk. 6 hours/disk
was a bit much. 1 hour/disk chews up a lot of disks with little
gain in quality over the 4-hour setting. If you record a lot of
action sports and don't want the ball disappearing, you may need
more quality. Try it yourself.

I have a
relatively new system but it's not Hi-Def and not set to digital. I
assume the Optimum technician set it that way because of the VHS. So
I'd set it Cable input to DVR to VHS/DVD player to DVD recorder to
TV.

If some of your devices have more than one input or output (my
analog TV has 3 inputs, plus the RF input which is no longer useful)
selectable via the remote control I'd recommend slightly different
wiring:

/------------------------------------\
cable box -> DVR ------------------> DVD Recorder -> TV
\-> VHS/DVD Player--/ /
\-----------------/

Using a setup like the above, you can do things like:

Transfer a VHS tape to the DVD recorder *AND* simultaneously watch
live TV or from the DVR.

Transfer a recording from the DVR to the DVD recorder *AND*
simultaneously watch a DVD or VHS tape from the player.

If you are willing to move the DVD Recorder input cable around
depending on whether you want to transfer from VHS or the DVR, you
can get almost as much flexibility.



Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

 

[RGrannus]

Thanks for the information. Now all I have to do is pick a DVD
recorder, which seem to range from $60 to several hundred dollars on
Amazon.

On Aug 10, 10:12 pm, gordonb.d2...@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) wrote:

I have an Optimum DVR and Sony VHS/DVD player. The DVR is nearly full.
I know you can get another DVR to extend capacity, but only once, and

You can get another DVR indefinitely, although eventually you might
have to get another warehouse to store all of them and some kind of giant
switch to connect to the right one.

if you move you have to take a new DVR from Optimum.(It's happened to
me)  I've been transfering to the VHS without problem.

The basic idea here is:
connect output of the source device (DVR, live TV, or VCR) to the
input of the destination device (DVD recorder).  Press PLAY on the
source device and RECORD on the destination device.  STOP both when
the show is over.  I'm sure you've done this plenty of times with
the VCR.

It is possible you will run afoul of copy protection restrictions.
Chances are what devices you use won't matter much here.

The connection you use will determine the quality.  In decreasing
quality:

        - HDMI/DVI (not sure if this is possible, mostly due
                to copy protection paranoia) (digital)
                Does any DVD Recorder have a HDMI *input*?
        - Component video (red/green/blue video jacks, red/white sound) (analog)
        - S/Video cable (analog)
        - RCA cable (red/white/yellow jacks) (analog)
        - RF modulator (ick!)

I'd like to transfer from DVR to DVD and VHS to DVD. Is this possible
with an ordinary DVD recorder, or do I need to get a particular type
(know of a good model)?  

        Figure out what *outputs* you have, then get a DVD recorder with
        the same type of *inputs*, and a corresponding cable.
        If your TV is analog, you want your DVD recorder to have analog
        outputs (possibly along with digital ones).

Some DVD recorders also have a hard disk.  This feature comes at a
price but it makes it a lot easier to arrange stuff before you
record it on the DVD.  I use an old DVR/DVD recorder.  It's analog,
so the tuner and time-and-channel recording no longer works.  It
allows editing and has a fairly large hard disk, so I can transfer,
for example, all the episodes of a series, trim off junk at the
beginning, end, and commercial breaks, and put them in order, then
transfer them to individual disks.

Do you just buy more disks for the recorder
as you fill them up, like a VHS?  Any type of disk?  

You probably want DVD-R or DVD+R disks (record *once).  I don't
think the extra cost of DVD-RW disks gets you much benefit in
re-using them, assuming you are planning to archive shows essentially
forever.  You record on them once, possibly in several parts, but
once you fill it, you're stuck with what's on it.

Which of DVD-R or DVD+R do you want?  Ones which your recorder can
record and (*all*) your players can play (the answer is decidedly
*NOT* always "both" for any old equipment you might have around.  Some
might do both but one at a lower speed).  It's not a matter of which
is "better", it's a matter of which square peg fits in a pentagonal
hole.  Also investigate which type of disks cost more - lately they
seem to be the same.  With really new equipment, it may not matter.
Read the manuals for your equipment.

Panasonic DVD/DVR recorders have the alternative of DVD-RAM disks,
which can be thought of as mini-hard disks.  Record, delete,
re-record, edit, etc. repeatedly.  Sure, they eventually will wear
out if you re-record often (so do VHS tapes, for both recording and
playing).  Also, their capacity is limited to that of a DVD.  They
also cost a lot more than regular DVD+/-R blanks.

If you're doing digital-to-digital DVD recording, there may be no
quality settings.  With analog, there usually are.  After you get
your DVD recorder, try out the different qualities and see which
setting you like, trading off quality vs. the recording time per
disk.  I get decent quality (non-HD digital TV converted locally
to analog with a converter box) with 4 hours/disk.  6 hours/disk
was a bit much.  1 hour/disk chews up a lot of disks with little
gain in quality over the 4-hour setting.  If you record a lot of
action sports and don't want the ball disappearing, you may need
more quality.  Try it yourself.

I have a
relatively new system but it's not Hi-Def and not set to digital.  I
assume the Optimum  technician set it that way because of the VHS. So
I'd set it Cable input to DVR to VHS/DVD player to DVD recorder to TV.

If some of your devices have more than one input or output (my
analog TV has 3 inputs, plus the RF input which is no longer useful)
selectable via the remote control I'd recommend slightly different wiring:

                /------------------------------------\
cable box -> DVR ------------------>  DVD Recorder -> TV
               \-> VHS/DVD Player--/                  /
                                   \-----------------/

Using a setup like the above, you can do things like:

Transfer a VHS tape to the DVD recorder *AND* simultaneously watch live
TV or from the DVR.

Transfer a recording from the DVR to the DVD recorder *AND* simultaneously
watch a DVD or VHS tape from the player.

If you are willing to move the DVD Recorder input cable around depending
on whether you want to transfer from VHS or the DVR, you can get almost
as much flexibility.



Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

 

[Jeff Jonas]

I dont bother with DVDs anymore, keep stuff on 2TB hard drives used in a
docking station now. Much cheaper than DVDs. 2TB is the best $/GB currently.

I can't deny your logic, for all my computer backups are now
disk-to-disk since I have no other media available
for backing up 0.5 to 1 TB.

But there are drawbacks and perils to that strategy
- if the drive breaks, EVERYTHING is lost.
If a DVD is damaged, only that volume's lost
and it's reasonable to make more than 1 DVD of everything
due to their habit of going bad anyway.
- DVDs have an advantage: they can be taken to other people's houses
and played on their PC or player (depending on file format).
I would not risk transporting today's high density disks:
they crash too easily.

 

[Rod Speed]

Jeff Jonas wrote

Rod Speed wrote

I dont bother with DVDs anymore, keep stuff on 2TB hard drives used in a
docking station now. Much cheaper than DVDs. 2TB is the best $/GB currently.

I can't deny your logic, for all my computer backups are now disk-to-disk
since I have no other media available for backing up 0.5 to 1 TB.

But there are drawbacks and perils to that strategy

Nope.

- if the drive breaks, EVERYTHING is lost.

Nope. Just have more than one 2TB drive.

If a DVD is damaged, only that volume's lost

Just as true of 2TB drives.

and it's reasonable to make more than 1 DVD of
everything due to their habit of going bad anyway.

You can do that with 2TB drives too and plenty of the docking
stations allow two of them so you can copy them trivially too.

- DVDs have an advantage: they can be taken to other people's houses
and played on their PC or player (depending on file format).

You can do that with the drives too.

I would not risk transporting today's high density disks: they crash too easily.

More fool you. I get them using the postal system and not one of them has arrived dead.

 

[RGrannus]

On Aug 11, 11:58 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:

RGrannus wrote:
Thanks for the information.  Now all I have to do is pick a DVD recorder,
which seem to range from $60 to several hundred dollars on Amazon.

I dont bother with DVDs anymore, keep stuff on 2TB hard drives used in a
docking station now. Much cheaper than DVDs. 2TB is the best $/GB currently.

Do you have any problems interfacing the docking station with the
video comonents (DVD/VHS and TV)? The docking stations I've seen had
USB or some computer-type connector. Video equipment (at least mine)
doesn't have computer-type connectors. Do you use a connector
adaptor?

gordonb.d2...@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) wrote
I have an Optimum DVR and Sony VHS/DVD player. The DVR is nearly
full. I know you can get another DVR to extend capacity, but only once, and

You can get another DVR indefinitely, although eventually you might
have to get another warehouse to store all of them and some kind of
giant switch to connect to the right one.

if you move you have to take a new DVR from Optimum.(It's happened
to me) I've been transfering to the VHS without problem.

The basic idea here is:
connect output of the source device (DVR, live TV, or VCR) to the
input of the destination device (DVD recorder). Press PLAY on the
source device and RECORD on the destination device. STOP both when
the show is over. I'm sure you've done this plenty of times with
the VCR.

It is possible you will run afoul of copy protection restrictions.
Chances are what devices you use won't matter much here.

The connection you use will determine the quality. In decreasing
quality:

- HDMI/DVI (not sure if this is possible, mostly due
to copy protection paranoia) (digital)
Does any DVD Recorder have a HDMI *input*?
- Component video (red/green/blue video jacks, red/white sound)
(analog)
- S/Video cable (analog)
- RCA cable (red/white/yellow jacks) (analog)
- RF modulator (ick!)

I'd like to transfer from DVR to DVD and VHS to DVD. Is this
possible with an ordinary DVD recorder, or do I need to get a
particular type (know of a good model)?

Figure out what *outputs* you have, then get a DVD recorder with
the same type of *inputs*, and a corresponding cable.
If your TV is analog, you want your DVD recorder to have analog
outputs (possibly along with digital ones).

Some DVD recorders also have a hard disk. This feature comes at a
price but it makes it a lot easier to arrange stuff before you
record it on the DVD. I use an old DVR/DVD recorder. It's analog,
so the tuner and time-and-channel recording no longer works. It
allows editing and has a fairly large hard disk, so I can transfer,
for example, all the episodes of a series, trim off junk at the
beginning, end, and commercial breaks, and put them in order, then
transfer them to individual disks.

Do you just buy more disks for the recorder
as you fill them up, like a VHS? Any type of disk?

You probably want DVD-R or DVD+R disks (record *once). I don't
think the extra cost of DVD-RW disks gets you much benefit in
re-using them, assuming you are planning to archive shows essentially
forever. You record on them once, possibly in several parts, but
once you fill it, you're stuck with what's on it.

Which of DVD-R or DVD+R do you want? Ones which your recorder can
record and (*all*) your players can play (the answer is decidedly
*NOT* always "both" for any old equipment you might have around. Some
might do both but one at a lower speed). It's not a matter of which
is "better", it's a matter of which square peg fits in a pentagonal
hole. Also investigate which type of disks cost more - lately they
seem to be the same. With really new equipment, it may not matter.
Read the manuals for your equipment.

Panasonic DVD/DVR recorders have the alternative of DVD-RAM disks,
which can be thought of as mini-hard disks. Record, delete,
re-record, edit, etc. repeatedly. Sure, they eventually will wear
out if you re-record often (so do VHS tapes, for both recording and
playing). Also, their capacity is limited to that of a DVD. They
also cost a lot more than regular DVD+/-R blanks.

If you're doing digital-to-digital DVD recording, there may be no
quality settings. With analog, there usually are. After you get
your DVD recorder, try out the different qualities and see which
setting you like, trading off quality vs. the recording time per
disk. I get decent quality (non-HD digital TV converted locally
to analog with a converter box) with 4 hours/disk. 6 hours/disk
was a bit much. 1 hour/disk chews up a lot of disks with little
gain in quality over the 4-hour setting. If you record a lot of
action sports and don't want the ball disappearing, you may need
more quality. Try it yourself.

I have a
relatively new system but it's not Hi-Def and not set to digital. I
assume the Optimum technician set it that way because of the VHS. So
I'd set it Cable input to DVR to VHS/DVD player to DVD recorder to
TV.

If some of your devices have more than one input or output (my
analog TV has 3 inputs, plus the RF input which is no longer useful)
selectable via the remote control I'd recommend slightly different
wiring:

/------------------------------------\
cable box -> DVR ------------------> DVD Recorder -> TV
\-> VHS/DVD Player--/ /
\-----------------/

Using a setup like the above, you can do things like:

Transfer a VHS tape to the DVD recorder *AND* simultaneously watch
live TV or from the DVR.

Transfer a recording from the DVR to the DVD recorder *AND*
simultaneously watch a DVD or VHS tape from the player.

If you are willing to move the DVD Recorder input cable around
depending on whether you want to transfer from VHS or the DVR, you
can get almost as much flexibility.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

 

[Rod Speed]

RGrannus wrote

Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
RGrannus wrote:

Thanks for the information. Now all I have to do
is pick a DVD recorder, which seem to range
from $60 to several hundred dollars on Amazon.

I dont bother with DVDs anymore, keep stuff on
2TB hard drives used in a docking station now.
Much cheaper than DVDs. 2TB is the best $/GB currently.

Do you have any problems interfacing the docking
station with the video comonents (DVD/VHS and TV)?

No, because I capture stuff using a PC.

The docking stations I've seen had USB
or some computer-type connector.

Yes.

Video equipment (at least mine) doesn't have computer-type connectors.

Quite a few do support USB.

Do you use a connector adaptor?

No, because I capture using a PC most of the time.

The set top box does have a USB port and I normally captured to a USB
stick and then moved what was on that to the docking station using a PC.
I dont use that to capture anymore, I have just rebuilt that PC completely
so it can capture everything broadcast itself and so dont need to use the
set top box when I am recording all the 3 channels the previous PC could
do simultaneously and needed to record another, usually just for the
overlap between programs etc.

You could just use a DVD-RW for the immediate movement
of say VHS to DVD and then use a PC to move the stuff
from DVD to a 2TB hard drive in a docking station.

gordonb.d2...@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) wrote
I have an Optimum DVR and Sony VHS/DVD player. The DVR is nearly
full. I know you can get another DVR to extend capacity, but only
once, and

You can get another DVR indefinitely, although eventually you might
have to get another warehouse to store all of them and some kind of
giant switch to connect to the right one.

if you move you have to take a new DVR from Optimum.(It's happened
to me) I've been transfering to the VHS without problem.

The basic idea here is:
connect output of the source device (DVR, live TV, or VCR) to the
input of the destination device (DVD recorder). Press PLAY on the
source device and RECORD on the destination device. STOP both when
the show is over. I'm sure you've done this plenty of times with
the VCR.

It is possible you will run afoul of copy protection restrictions.
Chances are what devices you use won't matter much here.

The connection you use will determine the quality. In decreasing
quality:

- HDMI/DVI (not sure if this is possible, mostly due
to copy protection paranoia) (digital)
Does any DVD Recorder have a HDMI *input*?
- Component video (red/green/blue video jacks, red/white sound)
(analog)
- S/Video cable (analog)
- RCA cable (red/white/yellow jacks) (analog)
- RF modulator (ick!)

I'd like to transfer from DVR to DVD and VHS to DVD. Is this
possible with an ordinary DVD recorder, or do I need to get a
particular type (know of a good model)?

Figure out what *outputs* you have, then get a DVD recorder with
the same type of *inputs*, and a corresponding cable.
If your TV is analog, you want your DVD recorder to have analog
outputs (possibly along with digital ones).

Some DVD recorders also have a hard disk. This feature comes at a
price but it makes it a lot easier to arrange stuff before you
record it on the DVD. I use an old DVR/DVD recorder. It's analog,
so the tuner and time-and-channel recording no longer works. It
allows editing and has a fairly large hard disk, so I can transfer,
for example, all the episodes of a series, trim off junk at the
beginning, end, and commercial breaks, and put them in order, then
transfer them to individual disks.

Do you just buy more disks for the recorder
as you fill them up, like a VHS? Any type of disk?

You probably want DVD-R or DVD+R disks (record *once). I don't
think the extra cost of DVD-RW disks gets you much benefit in
re-using them, assuming you are planning to archive shows
essentially forever. You record on them once, possibly in several
parts, but once you fill it, you're stuck with what's on it.

Which of DVD-R or DVD+R do you want? Ones which your recorder can
record and (*all*) your players can play (the answer is decidedly
*NOT* always "both" for any old equipment you might have around.
Some might do both but one at a lower speed). It's not a matter of
which is "better", it's a matter of which square peg fits in a
pentagonal hole. Also investigate which type of disks cost more -
lately they seem to be the same. With really new equipment, it may
not matter. Read the manuals for your equipment.

Panasonic DVD/DVR recorders have the alternative of DVD-RAM disks,
which can be thought of as mini-hard disks. Record, delete,
re-record, edit, etc. repeatedly. Sure, they eventually will wear
out if you re-record often (so do VHS tapes, for both recording and
playing). Also, their capacity is limited to that of a DVD. They
also cost a lot more than regular DVD+/-R blanks.

If you're doing digital-to-digital DVD recording, there may be no
quality settings. With analog, there usually are. After you get
your DVD recorder, try out the different qualities and see which
setting you like, trading off quality vs. the recording time per
disk. I get decent quality (non-HD digital TV converted locally
to analog with a converter box) with 4 hours/disk. 6 hours/disk
was a bit much. 1 hour/disk chews up a lot of disks with little
gain in quality over the 4-hour setting. If you record a lot of
action sports and don't want the ball disappearing, you may need
more quality. Try it yourself.

I have a
relatively new system but it's not Hi-Def and not set to digital.
I
assume the Optimum technician set it that way because of the VHS.
So
I'd set it Cable input to DVR to VHS/DVD player to DVD recorder to
TV.

If some of your devices have more than one input or output (my
analog TV has 3 inputs, plus the RF input which is no longer
useful) selectable via the remote control I'd recommend slightly
different wiring:

/------------------------------------\
cable box -> DVR ------------------> DVD Recorder -> TV
\-> VHS/DVD Player--/ /
\-----------------/

Using a setup like the above, you can do things like:

Transfer a VHS tape to the DVD recorder *AND* simultaneously watch
live TV or from the DVR.

Transfer a recording from the DVR to the DVD recorder *AND*
simultaneously watch a DVD or VHS tape from the player.

If you are willing to move the DVD Recorder input cable around
depending on whether you want to transfer from VHS or the DVR, you
can get almost as much flexibility.

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