Help, Need software or hardware to download TV shows

[splat55]

Hey Guys...gals...and all who are here. I am very new to this forum....but believe me, I used the search and just couldn't find what I need. All I am trying to do is download TV shows to my hard drive....to take with my and view later. I've been looking all day, and maybe I haven't been looking in the right place. There seem to be a ton of sites that you can go to and watch an episode of your favorite show...and there are tons of software on all the free sites that you can download to watch web TV broadcasting...but all I'd like to do is download TV shows to my PC. Also, has anyone found a reasonable way to use the USB on the back of Dish Network receivers to copy shows that have been recorded on the hard drive of the reciever to another drive....besides the Pocketdish or what ever it's called? Any help here would be really appreciated. I'm thinking about buying an Archos 5 or 7....but if I can find a way to download programming for a little less $$.

[drfsupercenter]

OK, lemme understand your question here.

You want to download TV episodes from websites that show them, such as hulu.com, or YouTube (ssh, there definitely aren't copyright-infringing episodes on YouTube!!)?

If so, check out DownloadHelper for Firefox. I have that addon and it's a neat little thing that will show a download option when you're watching Flash videos, etc. And with YouTube, it will show all the different options available, such as the normal FLV, or high quality mode format 18, etc.

If you're talking about recording shows from your TV, well, you would need either a TV tuner for your computer or a DVD recorder. (Stay away from DVRs - due to copyright protection those don't let you copy the content on your computer unless you hack them... and if you got a DVD recorder you'd be back to square one LOL)

--EDIT--

OK, I just cannot get my DownloadHelper to work with Hulu.com. But rest assured, it DOES work on about 90% of streaming video sites, including YouTube.

[splat55]

Hey man....thanks for answering.....I appreciate it. Okay, let me disect your answer. Yup....you were right on....I'd like to download tv episodes to my PC....then transer them to a flash drive or burn to DVD and take them with me when I go out of town and play them on my DVD player that also has a USB for flash drive. So, is there only that one software that you mention for Firefox? I primarily use IE...of course I could go with Firefox if I had to, but do you know of any such free software for IE.
I've never been to Youtube except a couple of times to watch electronic installation guides people have posted.....and never been to Hulu at all. I've been to other websites that have tons of shows that allow you to watch episodes of TV shows and most major TV networks allow you to watch pre-run episodes on their websites....but I've not seen a way to download from those sites....so first, it sounds like I need a software...and second, I guess they have to allow downloading..is that right? Any software for IE that I can use that you know of, or do I need to go with firefox.
Second, Yeah, my other question was based on my DVR......since it has a USB on the rear, I thought there must be some way to download to flash or my PC some of the shows I already have recorded on the DVR hard drive. That would be an easy way to get the shows I want. I know that Archos makes a number of electronic goodies and I've looked at the Archos 5 & 7....and they have a docking station that you can hook up to your DVR. With a software they include on the 5 or 7, you can schedule your Archos to download any show at the time aired directly to your Archos....and to your DVR at the same time if wanted. But I haven't been able to get an anwer from anyone as to whether or not you can download shows that have already been recorded to your DVR using the Archos...another mystery about the unit....and they never seem to answer emails. So, are you saying a DVD recorder could do it....skipping the DVR....kind of like an old VCR did? Any other suggestions? Thanks.
Brian

[drfsupercenter]

If you use IE...

Replay Media Catcher is a good one. But it's not free. The free trial only lets you record up to 2 minutes - BUT, what you can do is right-click in the program to get the stream's URL, then feed that URL to something free, such as mplayer.

As far as the DVR... those USB ports are "service ports". If it's a TiVo, they ARE hackable, but I don't know how. If it's a DVR from your cable/satellite company, forget it... those things are so strict it's impossible to use those USB ports to transfer stuff (Which is exactly why I don't like DVRs!)
What you could do though is just buy a DVD recorder, and use the "Copy to VCR" function on your DVR. (You know, you plug the RCA cables into one of the outputs, and it plays it through with no on-screen display, so that you can record it to a VHS or DVD and it'll look decent)

[blutach]

I'm sorry, but the content on TV shows is copyrighted - even if it is free to air.

We can't discuss that here - see rule 6.



Regards