Is there a way to transfer the movies I record on to my television satellite box to my computer?

Question

The satellite box I use is from direct TV & it has a USB port on the front of it. Is there any way for me to take the files I record onto the box and move3 them o my lap-top or a portable drive? If so How?

Answer 1

You have to use a video capture device connected to your computer. There are PC cards that will do this, or you can get a device similar to PInnacle's "Dazzle" that will plug into a USB port on your computer. Then you connect the output of your DVR to the video capture device and play the show you want to transfer. The USB connections on your DVR are for connecting the AM-21 OTA tuner and other future uses. Eventually DirecTV will update the software to allow easier transfers.