Comcast DVR to Mac [Archive] - BARF - Bay Area Riders Forum

The_Phantom

01-22-2008, 01:04 PM

Has anyone ever downloaded DVR content to their laptop or computer? I'm trying to burn the Super Bowl so we can watch it after the super bowl sunday ride. We've got comcast at home. I'd invite everyone over but I dunno if my roommate would want a big super bowl party on sunday afternoon and my place is small & trashed so I'd have to clean and make room for everyone, not gonna happen. Anyway, here's what the back looks like:

http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/images/dct6412_bigview_3.jpg

I've pretty much got all the connections on my mac it's just a matter of buying the right cable.

sburnhamh

01-22-2008, 01:53 PM

I'm not a Mac tech, so this may not be useful, but:

Just having the same connections on the Mac may not be the answer, as they could just as easily be output jacks, and not input.

If they are input jacks, there should be video capture hardware and software, so you would just use whatever you had for that.

I could just be completely wrong too, I haven't worked with many DVRs, and don't know if they have an option to simply download/upload the actual data file.

For the Mac gurus, knowing the model of the Mac you are trying to get the file onto may be useful too.

The_Phantom

01-22-2008, 02:19 PM

I have a macbook pro. So far from what I've read they recommend a USB or Ethernet cable. But I can only record live TV when I hook up the computer. I'll do more research when I get home.

RS250 Chester

01-22-2008, 07:05 PM

I've downloaded DVR content to a PC, but it was from a ReplayTV DVR.

Contact comcast to see if its possible, not all DVR companies make that feature possible. That's why ReplayTV DVR's were so popular, as they were easily hacked, compared to TIVO.

Also, just because the equipment has a USB port, it may not be enabled. For example, my Dish Network DVR has a USB port, but they only allowed customers to enable the port a few months ago, after you pay a fee to Dish Network.

Also, if you are able to get the content on your Mac, you probably have to run some programs to make it playable/burnable.

Check out the AVS forum and see what people are doing, I'm sure there's a way, but it usually involves some work.

HeavenzJai

01-22-2008, 07:27 PM

Comcast won't be able to tell you (trust me). Check AVS, they had a how to before, but I think it was PC only. The newer boxes should have a activated Firewire connection (old ones may not since it wasn't approved during that time).

From what I heard, the reason why you "can't" copy content from DVR to computer is digital rights mgmt (DRM).

Sane_Man

01-22-2008, 09:05 PM

If you have a USB TV input device (they have them at Fry's for about $75). You connect the yellow composite video on the rear of your DVR, to the TV device. Hitting play on your DVR, and record on the TV device, you can record the game in real time on your Mac.

The_Phantom

01-24-2008, 03:22 PM

The_Phantom

01-24-2008, 04:19 PM

Sh'wing! Fry's rules they have a tuner for 70 bucks basically same as eyeTV only it's for windows but since I have parallels it might work there. Needs to do more :nerd research.

So does anyone have one of these (an USB HDTV tuner)?

Sane_Man

01-24-2008, 04:23 PM

I found this eyeTv (http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/hybrid/product1.en.html) crap but it's $149, the good thing is that it will come with the software I need to convert the media into some sort of format that will play back on my mac.

SaneMan thanks for that suggestion. I bet there's something cheaper out there. I'll check Fry's web site 'n see if there's anything comparable for less.

At Fry's:

If you had a PC, this would work for $35.
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5282367?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

This will work for the Mac for $74:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5445919?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG