NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Notebook Forums › Dell Home (Inspiron, XPS, Studio) › Best way to record TV to DVD from my Dell XP Media Center laptop?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Best way to record TV to DVD from my Dell XP Media Center laptop?

post #1 of 6
4/12/07 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 
I got the E1705 with XP Media Center and the Angel USB TV Tuner. Well, I discovered you can record TV or cable TV shows to hard drive from Media Center from the Live TV option. But there are multiple problems!

If you have multiple files of recorded shows, where are they stored?
How can I burn a dvd that give links to mutiple files and has a menu for them?

Media Center just does not cut it! You record one show and then it doesn't seem to show you where the file is! And then when you burn a cd or dvd it seems to be only for that file!

Is there software out there that I can buy that would show TV from antenna or cable and enable recording, and after recording it helps you manage the files and create cd or dvds with menus and links to show files or links to sections within your show?
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 6
4/12/07 at 11:15pm
The default MCE directory for recorded content is "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV" and they are recorded in DVR-MS format.

As for putting lots of videos on one DVD I've always used Nero Vision, you can make some very nice looking (although quite simple) menus and have multiple files with Nero Vision reducing the quality to whatever is needed to fit everything on the disc (though I often add everything without compression to a image then shirt it later with DVD Shrink). There are many other apps that can do this too, perhaps some that a free (if you don't have Nero already).

What I havn't done though is try and go straight from DVR-MS to DVD, not sure if Nero or others will accept it, may have to convert to somethign else first. Should do though as DVR-MS is just MPEG2...
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 6
4/12/07 at 11:33pm
Thread Starter 
Hey thanks for the advice. What is the best program for doing all this? I don't mind paying for it as long as it's $100 or less. $150 would be steep!

How much is Nero Vision?

You can't just leave DVR-MS on a dvd to view it? Will this format play on a regulr dvd player too?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 6
4/12/07 at 11:41pm
Well Nero Vision has a trial version so you could give that a go first.

if you just burn the DVR-MS files to a DVD then (if it even fits, those files can be HUGE) not only will it just be a load of files on a DVD without a menu but it won't play on most standalone players (there are some that can play normal files on disc but are far from common). To play on standalone players the files need to be in VOB format, this is what Nero Vision (and others) do as well as add menus etc.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 6
4/13/07 at 12:03am
Thread Starter 
How do I search and find all the other types of software that do this?

Do I just Google - "Video editing software" or what?

You seem to be an expert on this. Have you been doing this for long?
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 6
4/13/07 at 12:11am
'dvd authoring software' is the search you want.

I'm by no means an expert in authoring DVDs, certainly havn't produce any retail DVD movie quality menus (though I have never tried either). Just found Nero Vision to do what I want so have stuck with that...
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Notebook Forums › Dell Home (Inspiron, XPS, Studio) › Best way to record TV to DVD from my Dell XP Media Center laptop?