TV & Home Theater

[HenryR]

Regarding the post where it said  I did not have my red, yellow and white plugs connected correctly. I went back and looked at my notes which were in a previous post about how I had it set up, and it has been  connected the same way as you wrote. It still would not record.

Regarding the last post. I called Comcast before I received  your post. They said something similiar to you. It seems I have to rearrange my connections and cables every time I want to record TV, and then rearrange them again when I want to watch TV. They said to:

1) remove HDMI cable from TV and cable box

2) Put in coaxle cable from the cable box RF out to the VCR "input" or "in"

3) connect a coaxil cable from vcr out to TV in

I make sure the TV is on channel 3 or 4 whether I watch TV or record TV.

I hope what they say works.!

So I have to rearrange cables and connections everytime I switch from watching TV to recording TV, then rearrange them again when I switch from recording TV to watching TV.

[eliteinstalls]

To hear someone say they have to rearrange their cables everytime they wish to record is nuts, and to hear it from your cable company is absurd.  I own my own custom home theater installation company and I can tell you right now they are giving you the run around.  If you do not have any installation companies in your area I would suggest getting a quote from Best Buy for what should be called a connect 3.  I would be able to set that recorder to record without you EVER needing to switch cables in about 15 minutes if that!  Your cable box should output from HDMI, COMPONENT, and COMPOSITE outputs at the same time.  You are ONLY concerened with HDMI from the cable box to the TV.  And COMPOSITE (red, white, yellow) from the cable box to the LINE IN on the recorder, and then another set of COMPOSITE from output on the recorder to an AV input on the TV.  YOU SHOULD NOT BE CHANGING CABLES EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO RECORD, THAT IN ITSELF SHOWS YOU THAT ANYONE AT YOUR CABLE COMPANY IS PURELY IDIOTIC AND HAS NO CLUE AS TO WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!  *end screaming....sorry*

[mstng87gt Trusted Contributor]

^ I would listen to what he says because its correct.  Its nice to have an installer on the site.

[HenryR]

I had bought the TV and DVD recorder at Best Buy last January 2009. I called Best Buy a few days ago about installing things correctly, and they said it costs $100, which I think

is outrageous. Then I checked with another company and they wanted even more.

So that is why I wrote to this forum, since I did not want to spend $100.

What would the previous poster charge? I live in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay area.

[HenryR]

To all posters. Please remember that my DVD Recorder is not high def, but the TV and cable box are high def. This causes problems. I have been able to play DVDs and tapes, but  unable to  record DVDs or tapes. My DVD model number is listed in my opening post.

[SlappyMcgee]

Did you see my suggestion on the first page of posts? 

[Entropy]

My opinion:

RF cable from cable system into cable box RF input

HDMI cable from cable box to TV

Composite video cable from cable box output to DVD recorder

Whatever the best available output from the DVD recorder is into another input on the TV

Some cable boxes may not do simultaneous output to the composite (SD) output and the HDMI output.  This is really a cable box issue if it doesn't support this, not Panasonic's fault.

Also, many cable boxes will enable Macrovision copy protection on analog outputs with a lot of content, resulting in you being unable to record anyway.  Again, not Panasonic's problem, but your cable provider's and NO they will not "fix" it as for them it's a feature required by many content providers.  Welcome to the wonderful world of DRM.

[eliteinstalls]

My charge for a basic connection is $99.00 as well.  However and not to take nothing away from BB, we go a little further than what is included in their package.  But a honest question to the OP would be.....For a lousy $100 bucks, wouldnt it kinda be worth it for your problem to be solved within an short period of time and the "real" money you spent for the equipment to be working CORRECTLY be worth it? 

[HenryR]

I dropped by the local Best Buy store and asked a TV saleman about this. His recommendation is:

Take coaxle cable out of "cable in" of Comcast cable box.

Put it in "RF In" of the Panasonic DVD recorder.

"

Need coaxil cable from "RF out of DVD recorder to "cable in" of the TV.

He said the cable box would be disconnected and would not be used anymore. He said I would still be able to view TV programs, and would change stations using the TV (Samsung) remote. (Is this true?)

I forgot to ask him if the HDMI cable should be plugged into the HDMI socket (or space) on the back of the TV. If not, I probably won't be able to watch TV in High Def. But if I do not disconnect that, I may not be able to record TV programs.

To the other poster. Yes, I appreciate the post you sent on page one. It gave me the Idea that I may need to disconnect the HDMI cable to be able to record. (Because my DVD recorder is not High def but the TV and cable box are high def). 

[eliteinstalls]

again, the basic of basic connections which is what they are gonna do, YOU DO NOT WANT TO ELIMINATE YOUR CABLE BOX...YOU WILL LOSE CHANNELS.......idiot sales kids...grrrrr