[AT] OT... sort of

[Steve W.]

Larry Goss wrote:
> I saw a report concerning DVD conversion from VHS and digital video
> cameras that suggested that it is better to buy cheaper equipment for
> this process than to go "high end"  An El Cheapo DVD burner from a
> big box store will not have all the safeguards built into it that
> impede the process.  They specifically recommended spending no more
> than $100 for a unit.
> 
> So I bought an El Cheapo unit from Cicruit City before they went out
> of business.  It will take ANY input you can hook to it with
> off-the-shelf patch cables, and it burns anything to a DVD regardless
> of the format of the original.
> 
> A friend of mine was trying to burn double-sided DVD's -- but he
> didn't buy double-sided disks!  His wife, an HH Gregg salesman, nor
> I, could convince him that he HAD to buy double-sided disks to get
> the length of program recorded that he was hoping to get.
> 
> Larry
> 

The big Gotcha with video is all the different copy protection schemes
out there. Some of them are REALLY nasty.

There are many machines that can have this stuff bypassed but it is
usually only the lower end gear that anyone bothers to play with. Who
want to fry part of a 4-500 dollar unit doing testing?

There are also MANY firmware updates for PS drives that shut off the CP
signals. It gets real fun sometimes.

-- 
Steve W.