Copy-protected TV

Hi guys,

I'm new to your forums and am looking into the problems of copying protected DVD, TV, etc. I ran across another stabilizer that some people were talking up. I have no experience with this, but hope it might be helpful. At least these guys have a Florida address! But just a PO box

http://www.stardevelopment.com/

 

bobbyrae,

I recently joined the forum myself and have been looking into the same thing as you. After doing a good deal of reading and then asking a few questions I decided to go with the Dimax Grex. According to their website the Grex will let you copy, capture, & view any protected video content. I e-mailed them with a few questions and after receiving a reply I ordered the Grex on 10/26/07. Have not received it yet. I'm certainly not the person to ask technical questions nor am I making a recommendation here, but as for me it seems like the way to go. Hope this is of some help.

www.xdimax.com

 

I recommended the Dimax way back at the beginning, been gone awhile but am glad to see some you have gotten it and tried it.

Here is something interesting for Ipod users to record TV/VHS/DVD. I does not recognize protection and supposedly will record anything. Will work with Ipod/FlashDrive or External USB. I really like the sound of this one.

http://www.irecord.com/

 

...and as I search, I continue to find more interesting stuff.

Here is stablizer for about $40. I am talking about their model 200. They (clearpix Media) operate in NH, have a regular street address, AND offer a free 15-day trial! I have ran across a couple of message boards where people have claimed good success, but nothing like the support I have seen here for GREX. One comment said the stablizer worked for NTSC, but not PAL, which I don't find surprising at all.

http://www.checkhere22.com/stabilizer/

 

I'm interested to hear if anyone else here has tried the Clearpix video stabilizer. It's half the price of the Dimax and if it produces excellent quality than this might be one to look into.

 

I recently received my Grex and have tried several times to record copy protected TV. Each time the recording stops prematurely. The most I can get is an hour and a half even after adding extra recording time. I checked settings on DVD recorder. It's not the recorder. Has anyone else had this problem and or know how to solve it ? I've had a running dialouge with Dimax support but so far they haven't been much help.

 

DannnyBre - I've been using the Grex for over a year w/o any problem. I've been able to record for as long as needed. Since the Grex is left "on" all the time, the auto-shutdown sounds like it could be related to the recorder's setting? Have you tried switching the recording mode to long (extended) play (beyond 2 hours) to see if it still shuts down? Have you experienced this problem before getting the Grex?

 

rescuedog

Thanks for the tip, it worked. I really appreciate it. I dropped the recording mode down to LP and it recorded the entire movie. I'm going to continue to make adjustments and see if I can find a comprimise because the video quality does suffer a bit. There are 8 modes on my recorder. Also going to add s-video cords. That should help. DVD recording is a bit new to me so my knowledge in this area is limited. Thanks Again.

 

DannnyBre - glad it was resolved. I rarely use LP settings because it affects picture quality - that is, unless I'm recording the news or some informational content where picture isn't important. SP (Standard Play) 2 hours should be adequate for most movies w/o sacrificing quality too much. In my opionion, there isn't a big difference between HQ & SP settings, so I use SP to get the most out of it. - BTW: I just tried the Grex on another system and it worked ok too.

 

I just purchased a Sony VRD-MC5 DirectDVD burner.
I have two DIRECTV HD-DVR's. One is a HR20 which the VRD seems to record everything fine and I also have a HR21 which I seem to have VRD-compatibility issues.
When I go to record a PPV on the HR21 I get a "cannot record copyright protection" message. Then I went to record a show off of TNT and it gave me the same message. If I turned off the burner and then back on the shows from TNT recorded. It may have been a TNT HD channel I was trying the test. With the PPV the intro recorded but went into protection mode as soon as the movie started showing. I do not get this with the HR20. The HR20 recorded a PPV Channel. DIRECTV says it should record and even though they say it may be a problem with the DVR they will not replace. Would the GREX solve my issue? Thanks.

 

Just picked up a Sony RDR-VX555. It is an extremely capable unit. It can record on EVERY form of DVD including dual layer. The 1080i upconversion really brings older movies and TV on DVD to life. The direct transfer mini-dv to DVD feature is incredibly simple. As said in many horrible reviews of the unit, it has very aggressive macrovision detection. I believe this, along with a high level of sophisticated features has led to a huge influx of "used" units on the internet. This machine functions beautifully and is packed with features and can be had for less than 50% of retail. Now to the point. A few days ago I ordered my Grex unit. My goal (besides putting home movies on DVD) is to be able to record digital broadcasts from premium networks. I didn't hear anything for a couple days. Today I got a shipment notification with tracking from Dimax. They now track in Israel and when it transfers to a U.S. carrier. I think this company listens to thier customers and has beefed up their service dept. I will post my experience with performance after I receive the Grex.

 

Well it took about two weeks for the Grex to arrive. I HIGHLY recommend this unit. The unit I got does not have any "modes". I simply place it in the video input line from the source and it works. So far I have copied commercial DVD, VHS and premium broadcasts from my DVR. The unit functions perfectly and works for any source I throw at it. I am extremely pleased and it is worth every penny. After shipping it is just shy of $100. It is noteworthy that before I got the Grex, my Sony would not copy ANY of these sources due to copy protection. I should also say that after using it for a while now, the Sony RDR-vx555 is a fantastic unit and people who write negetive reviews of it probably couldn't figure it out. The thing has like 8 recording modes and will "feed through" the source being copied. It then outputs it to HDMI in upconverted format (If you choose) and you can watch while you record.

 

I suspect that your Grex really does have modes. Part of their website explains the method of changing modes. Earlier I mentioned the Sony VRD-MC1 would not record from certain VHS tapes of B/W movies. Evidently some signal that the Sony requires is missing from those tapes. But I was able to put them on DVD with my Presidian PDR-3222 recorder. Cheapo made by Funai.

 

got my clearpix 200 works great have poloroid dvd hard drive doesn't say protect stops some jumps and fuzz got in a week

 

i posted about clearpix 200 i used on Disney so far my tapes are going bad so want to save them.

 

How old are the tapes that are going bad? I have some from the late 1980's that still are OK. I doubt that the home-burned DVDs will last any longer than do the tapes.

 

I just recieved a Grex from xdimax.com so I thought I'd jump in and offer my review. Shipping was a pain in my keester, the tracking number never even showed any record of the shipment until the unit was delivered, all in all it took three & a half weeks from the time I ordered until I finaly recieved the unit. However, the unit does perform as advertised, I've recorded several movies from HBO & PPV plus a few from VHS with no problems whatsoever. There are DVD recorders though that don't seem to recognise broadcast flags at least. My old panasonic dmr es15s recorded anything off of cable and my mothers magnavox mwr10d6 did as well. I even tried using my mothers magnavox as a bypass unit like the grex and worked beautifuly. So if you don't mind the super long wait, the grex is well worth the money, if not you may want to look into said models of the panasonic or magnavox;^]

 

I have some of the last Sima GoDVD! Copy editors that were made. They work great. If you are interested in getting some information on purchasing one for yourself, please send me an note, and we can get the information to you.

Thanks,

Mike
ms4259@gmail.com

 

I've been doing the research on how to copy copy-protected VHS's to DVD and the consensus seems to be either the SIMA GO!DVD or the Grex dimax DVD Red PRO. So now I'm stuck - which is the better unit to get? Thanks.

 

You may not have a decision to make, after all.

When I last looked for the Sima about a year ago, it appeared they had been completely pulled from the U.S. market.

Oddly enough, Best Buy was still carrying them, like they hadn't got the notification.

Also, in some cases, like mine, the Sima wouldn't work with my newer Sony DVD recorder.

The only reason you can buy the Grex is that you're ordering it from Israel.