Digital Video Recorders

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Bill Henry-

Bill Henry-

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Our ten year old VCR died, so it’s time to upgrade to a DVR.

We have Comcast Cable, and according to the semiliterate gnome on the phone, we can “rent” a DVR for about $10.00 month. Sounds good except …

Here’s the problem: We have two TVs. The one with the fancy OnDemand Box is upstairs in the bedroom which we only use while we’re in bed waiting to conk out. The current broken VCR is downstairs which my wife uses primarily to record “Regis and Kelly Lee” and some stupid cooking shows. I would like to simply substitute a hard drive DVR for the antique VCR. I only want to be able to record and playback TV shows; so I don’t need a DVR that will record onto DVD media.

However, (and this is fuzzy because I don’t think I got through to the Comcast ‘Disservice Representative’), I do not think that Comcast will supply me with a ‘stand alone’ DVR recorder. Rather, I get the impression that they will merely exchange my current OnDemand Box for one that has a DVR recorder built in. THAT means that I have to move the Box downstairs which I don’t want to do, or record “Regis” upstairs which I don’t want to do, either.

Question #1: Does anyone have Comcast with separate OnDemand and DVR boxes?

I have been online looking for DVR tuners which do not require both purchasing the box and a monthly subscription like TiVo. It seems like there used to be a bunch (like Phillips, Sony, Panasonic, etc.) but it appears that the only one now available is from Moxi. But Moxi is somewhere around $800 and I don’t want to shell out that much especially since the TV/internet technology is changing so rapidly.

Question #2: Does anyone have a stand-alone DVR (without DVD capability) that doesn’t require a monthly subscription?

I hate the thought of having to be humiliated once again by the Radio Shack clerks and their condescending attitudes.
 
I don't think there is such a thing as a DVR service from a cable or satellite company that doesn't have a monthly fee, if not overt, hidden somewhere. Dish Network has the best DVRs including several models that will serve 2 TVs (2 SD or 1 HD + 1 SD) allowing viewing of recordings from either TV. There is no rental fee for the first box but there is a $6 DVR fee. Dish's on demand is not the same nor as robust as Comcast's.
 
You should be able to get DVR in addition to the on-demand box that you already have. Many people I know have multiple DVRs or a combination of DVR and cable boxes.

As for boxes that don't require a subscription, that's a tough one. Cable companies don't like to let 3rd party boxes work in their systems. The FCC compelled them to make this possible, which is why we have cable card. However, cable companies hate this and will make your life #### to get one and make it work. I've read many stories about people having to try 4-5 cards before they could get it working.

Not only that, but some newer cable systems require 2-way communication to be fully functional. It's my understanding that cable cards are only 1-way at the moment.

Given that, TiVo has (or had) boxes that you could buy with a lifetime subscription for a one time fee. This may be a good option. However, I suspect that you may be boned by comcast somtime in the future.

You're probably better off renting from the cable company. When cox rolled out DVRs for us a few years back, they would only last 3-6 months before dying. The nice thing about renting is that you can just get it replaced if something goes wrong.
 
I'm on Directv. So we got the dvr through them.

I was poking around Dell's site for DVRs but not clear on how they'd work. I think you have to pay for a service to use the dvr features, so renting doesn't sound too bad since the technology will probably be improved before you end up paying off the credit card :)

Our DVR has a 320 gig HDD. built it has a SATA port and I was told that a terra byte drive would plug right in and then the default "save to" drive would be the one on the SATA port.

When calling tech support I really have to write my questions down first so that I know what to ask for. Luckily the hold time gives me plenty of time to write stuff down. :(
 
Tivo is still very much alive.

The current DirecTV DVRs have a 1TB hard drive, but they struck another deal with TIVO recently. Brand new DirecTivo boxes will be coming out very soon (within months), as DTV's new top of the line model.

I wouldn't watch TV without the benefit of a DVR. (We have been using them here ab out 7-8 years, with DTV) It's a real time saver!

The cable companies usually want to have control of their subscribers, which is why they have you rent the box from them which descrambles the encrypted signal. Some cable companies are still transmitting an analog signal for basic cable, but you'll soon see that go away as they add more HD channels to compete with DTV (and Dish Network, and FIOS). When this happens, you'll need a cable company box to decode the signals and to change the current channel. You can use a basic box to record what you are watching, however.

Many companies will cut you a deal for boxes after the first one, for a much lower price. With many companies, the DVRs are also networkable. For example, you could record a show on the Living Room DVR but watch it on the Bedroom DVR.

Mike
 
So with my dish I would need two dvr subscriptions. Could I connect the DVR with my computer and watch it on that monitor? (It's a 22" Digital monitor, better res than the tv that has been moved upstairs.)
 
Bob Doyle said:
So with my dish I would need two dvr subscriptions. Could I connect the DVR with my computer and watch it on that monitor? (It's a 22" Digital monitor, better res than the tv that has been moved upstairs.)
Click to expand...

To the monitor, not the computer, if it's HD, then HDMI to DVI adapter and separate audio connection, mini or RCA. I don't know about DirecTV's SD boxes connecting to VGA or DVI. You have to have a video in card like in entertainment centers to go directly into the computer and then it would be SD only. If you have DirecTV, you really should rent their DVRs - I think they just have one DVR fee per account with just the box rental for the second DVR.
 
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