TZUTC: -0500   
   MSGID: 376.canada@1:2320/105 28775b4d   
   REPLY: 1:396/45.29@fidonet 06624af6   
   PID: Synchronet 3.19c-Linux master/cb76b1463 Feb 20 2022 GCC 7.5.0   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.14-Linux master/cb76b1463 Feb 20 2022 GCC 7.5.0   
   BBSID: CAPCITY2   
   CHRS: ASCII 1   
   RM> [...] The unit will accept an external hard drive attached to it   
   RM> but I'm not sure how it decides what goes where. I'd have to look at   
   RM> the settings.   
      
   AA>My understanding is that the material recorded onto the   
     >external drive is encrypted and would only be accessible from   
     >another Bell branded PVR (if the encryption and format remain   
     >the same between PVRs)   
      
   That could well be to save people easily 'sharing' TV shows with others   
   who don't pay for the service.   
      
   AA>One salient difference he noted between the one he was   
     >currently using and the one they sent in as a replacement/   
     >upgrade, was that the new one does NOT support PIP (picture-in-   
     >picture) which he had grown fond of using.   
      
   My TV set is too old to support that sort of thing. I could easily   
   afford a newer one but haven't been bothered enough to do so up to   
   this point. Mine is an old tube type 29" Toshiba, a nice unit at the   
   time of purchase but ancient by today's standards. My living room is   
   small so a bigger unit isn't really required, although things like   
   sub titles when characters are mixing langages in TV shows are getting   
   so small they are near impossible to read..   
      
   RM> [...] the unit Only works with that one company so it   
   RM> becomes just an external drive after that. Hmm.. that   
   RM> said, the drive in it is a standard computer type hard   
   RM> drive so you could open the thing up and pull it to use in   
   RM> whatever you wanted if the video is stored in a standard   
   RM> format..   
      
   AA>Hmmm is right.  I wonder if the HDD could be salvaged to   
     >operate independently.   
      
   I think it would only be a problem if you were trying to save things   
   from the original PVR. Almost for sure you could reformat the drive   
   to use in/for something else.   
      
   RM>> My Stereo is fairly old, so getting digital music into it   
   RM>> is difficult unless I do it through the aforementioned CD/   
   RM>> DVD player which is directly wired into it.   
      
   AA>It doesn't have an AUX/IN ?   
      
   Not for a flash drive or other digital storage device. It has several   
   AUX/IN lines but they use 2 wire RCA jacks since it's for sound only.   
      
   RM> [...] What I could do is burn a music DVD and I can run   
   RM> the DVD player through the Stereo. I've done that before,   
   RM> just not used it often.   
      
   AA>Hmmm.. I've never tried putting music files on DVD and playing   
     >that.   My TV supports SD card media, but then it has to be   
     >photos only. However, an external USB with .mp3 or .wma are   
     >supported.   
      
   My VCR/DVD unit uses the TV to show menus and it supports all sorts   
   of formats. The nice thing about using a DVD for music is you can   
   have hundreds of MP3 pieces on a single disk.   
      
   AA>Not a real audio nut here either, but I always dreamed of   
     >having a more advanced set up with a Klipsch pair and dedicated   
     >amp (not just a commercial receiver).   
      
   That friend of mine with over 1500 classical music CD's was one to   
   buy amplifiers worth more than most pay for a full stereo. His system   
   was probably worth close to $15,000. My stereo was a cheap unit compared   
   to his but I do have a dedicated amp so you have to have separate units   
   for playing Cassettes and Records and even a Tuner for Radio use.   
      
   But I think most of my more serious dedication to music got pushed   
   aside when I discovered computers back around 1982..    B)   
      
   ---   
    * SLMR Rob  * CAUTION: Try this on somebody else's computer first   
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