Recording HDTV to laptop?

[Frazzy]

Just got my ASUS m50sv-a1 computer with 7200rpm drive. My satellite receiver in my house is a high definition with a recorder in it, and has the ability to access an external hard disc drive via usb 2.0.

If I paid dishnetwork their fee for activating this feature of accessing a hard drive for recorded programming, do you guys think I could somehow record the hd programming straight into the laptop and then take either movies or a discovery channel hd exclusive show with me travelling?

[Justin_W@XoticPC]

You would probably want to contact Dishnetwork and speak with one of there tech support representatives to see if this is something that's possible.

[Frazzy]

This is the reply I got from dishnetwork. I'm not sure I fully understand what they are trying to tell me. In the link at the bottom, I went to it and it said you can hook up literally any hd and transfer stuff back and forth. I will copy and paste that short paragraph that they give that information on.

Or is my other/only option to buy a tuner and record in real time what I wanted to take with me?

I just wanted to watch these shows on my new laptop while I travel if its possible. I am asking you guys if there is a way to do it and get high definition quality video programming loaded up?
************************************************

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

Thank you for your email. DVR content can be transferred to an external hard drive (EHD) to free up space on the receiver's internal hard drive. This feature allows for storage and playback of DVR content only. The following are required to activate this on the account:

• A one-time External Hard Drive Activation Fee of $39.99. This fee is per account, not receiver. Customers will not be charged this fee per receiver on account.

• An USB 2.0 external hard drive that is larger than 40GB but does not exceed 750GB. At this time we do not offer any external hard drive hardware. Customers are responsible for supplying and maintaining their own external hard drive.

The following stipulations were also reported by our engineering department:

Customers may connect the external hard drive to three different receivers. Upon the fourth connection, the receiver will prompt to format the hard drive error 866. DISH Network recommends not relocating the external hard drive.
DISH Network does not support hybrid external hard drives. Hybrid hard drives employ non-volatile flash memory in addition to traditional hard disks. Windows Vista is currently the only known software product to support hybrid hard drives.
Dual drives, RAIDs, or other drives that contain more than one physical hard drive are also not supported. You will be unable to transfer any recorded events from the external hard drive on to your laptop unfortunately. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

For more information concerning hard drive connectivity select the following link: http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dish_hd/external_hd/index.shtml.



This is the info from the link above.




More Space for Your DVR
DISH Network customers with ViP622TM or ViP722TM HD DVR receivers can now enjoy near limitless DVR storage with the addition of an external hard disk drive. Available at most electronics retailers, these devices connect to the set top box receiver via a USB 2.0 cable and allow customers to transfer recorded content off their DVR and on to the
external hard disk drive. From there, the program can be kept, watched or even sent back to the DVR.





• While most major manufacturer external
hard drives are compatible with the ViP622
& ViP722, a minimum 40GB and maximum
750GB drive is recommended.

• There is a one-time $39.99 activation fee
required that will enable this feature on
all ViP622 and ViP722
receivers on a customer’s account.

• For more information download the External
DVR Storage Feature Brochure here