Media player that plays subtitles visibly AND can be used to record off tv

UngratefulWhelp

Hi,
I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of a reasonably priced media player which I can use to watch movies, both subtitled and otherwise, off a hard drive and also record TV via a timer.

I know SkyPlus would be easier for the latter, but I just have ordinary cable and no intention of upgrading. There is the odd thing on BBC/Channel 4 that I'd like to record, but I can't, so inevitably end up missing it.

As for the subtitles, the NBox I have at the moment shows them quite poorly. Not a bad little yoke for 30 quid off eBay, but the remote has stopped working, which is apparently a regular feature with them.

Thanks.

subway

first, what type of tv signal do you receive?
then, look for a received that supports that signal, the higher end ones should also support recording to usb and playback of various formats.

looking the other way round, a media centre type box that also records tv, i think theres a going to be a dissapointing selection, as even the very high end boxes are usually output only to keep cost down

aFlabbyPanda

I thought dreamboxes can do this no?

subway

id say the higher end ones can, as its a tv tuner first of all.
i have a dreambox 500s and it doesnt even have usb.

and then it depends again on what signal the OP is receiving as dreambox only produce DVB boxes.

aFlabbyPanda

true, just checked with a buddy who has something similar http://goo.gl/WLyKd and it does allow him to stream via usb & over his lan. pricey though. i'm guessing that you could get cheaper SD models though.

subway

pricey enough alright!

until the ungratefulwhelp comes back and tells us what signal he has its very hard to advise. he says its just ordinary cable so its probably UPC basic 17 channels?

UngratefulWhelp

subway wrote: »

pricey enough alright!

until the ungratefulwhelp comes back and tells us what signal he has its very hard to advise. he says its just ordinary cable so its probably UPC basic 17 channels?

That's right. Sorry, I wasn't aware it made much of a difference. If it comes down to it, the recording is of secondary purpose than watching movies with a clear subtitle display.

Just thought it'd be possible to do both -feed the signal through the box like I used to do with the video recorder.

UngratefulWhelp

Actually, if it were possible to break the purchase into two separate devices to keep costs down, I'd be entirely open to that idea too.

subway

ok, well then, for a media player, the ATV2, jailbroken and running XBMC is the box of choice for now. if you have a decent internet connection it also has great add-ons for things like liveonlinefooty, icefilms and so on (i would have thought we cant discuss these but there is a huge thread over on soccer with detailed instructions so it must be ok )
that comes in at around 80-100 euro if you buy second hand i believe and, while there are a few steps to complete to get it up and running, its a relatively straight forward setup

if you have internet access, you can also set it up to access 4od, rte player, tv3 player etc etc which might negate the need for a pvr altogether

subway

when it comes to recording off the tv, you have to remember that you are wathing tv on a signal that is welllllll past its sell by date.
no one is developing hardware that works with an analog signal anymore, tvs have the tuners by default but (afaik) all new pvr hardware contains only dvb(s/c/t) tuners

if you want to record off analog, you may have to go back in time and buy something like this http://www.ebay.ie/itm/LG-RH177-80-GB-DVD-HDD-Recorder-DVD-Player-/290653535134?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_DVDPlayers_Recorders&hash=item43ac4cfb9e