Way OT – Which DVR?

[Ysabel Kid]

I did it to myself and have no one to blame but myself! Over the course of the last two years I purchased two inexpensive DVR’s to use at home. One never worked correctly, and the other worked for about 6 months before puking out. I was just too cheap to pay big bucks for one, but I am tired of buying VHS tapes for programs I want to save – and I save quite a bit from the “History Channelâ€

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I'll make a run at it ...

what DVR do you recommend?

I've got both Tivo's and cable company provided DVRs. The Tivo was the first to market with a DVR back in 1998 I believe and I still have one of those originals. If you have cable, then chances are your cable company provides a DVR box option. These are typically from Scientific Atlanta or Motorola. In my opinion, the Tivo has the best user interface. However, the cable company leased DVRs are less hassle to deal with and often incur a monthly charge that is less than what you can get from Tivo. If you have cable and have never used a Tivo, you won't know what you're missing with the interface and you can do many of the basic things a Tivo can do but for a smaller monthly fee ... say $8/mo typically. Further, there is no big purchase up front for the cable rental as there is with a Tivo for the box. To go Tivo you will have to shell out $200 - $500 depending on the box and then at least $12/mo. That's tough to do in the face a a reasonable rental charge for a cable company provided DVR.

You will be missing a few things on a non-Tivo DVR that are patented and protected. For example, double buffering ... which means you can have two tuners caching two shows and flip between them while retaining historical video in the cache for both. Hard to explain, and if you don't know what it's for ... you won't miss it. I do know what it is and therefore I miss is dearly. There are other examples and generally the Tivo interface is very well regarded compared to cable. Cable, in some cases, comes with advantages of its own though. One example is PIP while viewing the guide or Now Playing list ... not to be found on a normal Tivo.

Another example of a Tivo advantage is the guide information itself. My cable company only keeps 3 days worth of guide info in the DVR whereas a Tivo strives to keep two weeks worth. If I see an ad for a show I want to record and it's more than three days out from the current date, I can't set it to record on my cable DVR. I have to wait until it appears in the guide information to be able to search by name for it to set the recording. I could set a manually recording perhaps, but that reduces the convenience substantially.

come February next year, the old rabbit ears are a thing of the past. Not a problem, I have cable – right?

Right ... being on cable protects you from the change. The change, specifically, is that the local stations must cease using certain analog spectrum for their over air delivery. That spectrum is being reallocated and auctioned and will probably end up being for advanced high speed wireless services. The frequencies are in highly coveted bands that are not as readily attenuated by the materials used in man-made structures.

did not include a “tunerâ€

[alnitak]

YK,

There was another thread on this several weeks ago.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... highlight=

I actually have a DVR that is not a TiVo or cable one, and I don't find it limiting at all (and can watch a different channel than I am recording). It also allows me to create DVDs and transfer from VHS to DVD, which the TiVo and cable ones won't.

I have the FIOS one for my wife (for convenience of recording her shows and viewing); I have my independent one for more advanced functions. If it were me, I would not get hooked on the TiVo one and the upfront expense and monthly charge.

[Windjammer]

Is a DVR the same thing as a DVD recorder? I am also confused about some having a tuner and some do not. I'm wanting to buy one also.

I'm on cable, but I don't have a cable box. I have a flat panel HD LCD TV.

There is no Circut City or such like within 50 miles of me. Guess I should drive in and talk to them.......I don't know what to buy.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I actually have a DVR that is not a TiVo or cable one...

Which one? Just curious. You are, in your post, specifically talking about dual tuners ... which most DVRs have today. What, exactly, you can and can't do with your dual tuners is sometimes DVR brand dependent though. Most dual tuner DVRs that are not a Tivo can't do "dual buffering" with them because of a patent that Tivo has on that function.

I do agree though, Tivo is a hard pill to swallow in light of the less expensive route of rental of the cable company units. You really should only think about Tivo if you're wanting the advanced stuff ... like being able to transfer your recorded shows to your PC or being able to schedule your recordings remotely over the Internet, etc.

Is a DVR the same thing as a DVD recorder?

No they are not the same thing. However, there are DVRs that have DVD recorders built into them. This allows you to put some (non-copy protected) shows that you record onto DVD for future viewing. Most standard definition (SD) programming does not have the "copy flag" set and is thus free to be put to DVD. However, more and more high definition content (HD) are coming with the "copy once" or "copy never" flags set which will prevent them form being put to a DVD in their HD form.

I am also confused about some having a tuner and some do not.

On newer flat panel displays ... if it's specifically called a Television (TV) it will likely come with at least an ATSC tuner for tuning over the air digital broadcasts. If it is a TV with a connection for a cable input, it probably also has a QAM tuner for decoding digital cable channels. If it also has a CableCard slot, then is may also be able to decode encrypted digital channels. If it's called a "display" or "monitor" it will likely not have a built-in tuner and will require an external cable box.

Looking at the various inputs and checking the manual will usually tell you what types of signals a particular unit can tune ... if any.

[Ysabel Kid]

Now my head hurts!

Seriously though - thanks for the explanation. During lunch today I also stopped by the local "Best Buy" and got a first hand edcation. Rimfire you'll be happy to know the guy there pretty much duplicated what you said (I chalk this up to what OI said in his post).

I was mistakingly calling a DVD recorder a "DVR". A DVR is a device with a hard drive - TiVo or the like. The DVD recorder is basically a VCR that records to DVD's (-R/RW and/or +R/RW). What I had before - that did not work - was no-name DVD recorders. They play DVD's fine, but the record function puked shortly after I got them.

I'll probably go with another DVD recorder - just a nice one - this go around. Consolidate and redeploy the home units. Thanks for your advice - wish me luck!

(oh, and if you stop by to help me install this - on the day I get it - I'm really going to freak out! )

viewtopic.php?t=6087

[alnitak]

You really should only think about Tivo if you're wanting the advanced stuff ... like being able to transfer your recorded shows to your PC or being able to schedule your recordings remotely over the Internet, etc.

For those features, it's true that TiVo is good for that. However, with my DVR/DVD Recorder I just burn what I want to DVD (+ or -) or DVD RAM and then watch it on my PC (if I'm, say, on an airplane). I don't see much need for remote scheduling, with the ability to schedule up to two weeks in advance or 'all' of a particular series, by time, etc. but YMMV. I do, however, like the edit ability of the DVD Recorder, creating chapters, adding descriptive text, deleting scenes, high-speed dubbing, etc. It's been invaluable for transferring VHS, home movies, TV shows, pictures, etc. to disk for archival and sharing purposes. If I want to get fancier, I use the Vegas s/w on the PC. Mine's a few years old (Panasonic or Sony...I forget), so it doesn't have HD or dual density capability, and only is an 80 GB drive. Probably time for a new model and move this one to the bedroom.

YK -- if you're not going to go the rent-a-box from the cable company route, I highly recommend the combo DVR/DVD Recorder. Get the biggest hard disk you can find and make sure it has enough connection options on the back (HDMI, component, S-vid, etc.). Also, do not get a DVD Recorder/VHS combo ... just one more thing to break, has less features, and generally only made by lesser quality companies (like Samsung, RCA, etc.). Something I found helpful over the years is establishing a price point. Generally, on a component basis, $200 and less are the cheaper manufacturers; $350-600 gives you good quality and features by reputable makers; $1,000 or more are for the hard-core afficiandos. I used to be in the latter group (I once spent >$10k on stereo equipment!!), but now tend towards the middle group. I NEVER buy from the low-end group.

Of course, once you go that route and with HD, you now need an AV receiver and 7+1 sound too. Break open the wallet!

[Ysabel Kid]

Of course, once you go that route and with HD, you now need an AV receiver and 7+1 sound too. Break open the wallet!

Whoa now - anything I do here breaks into the "gun fund". I have my priorities, don't you know!

[Texican]

All good info - except I'd like to add that HD signals can be received with rabbit ears. About 15 HD off-air channels are available here in Houston.

TiVo rocks. They do have a HD Tivo offer with lifetime service but it'll set you back close to a grand. It's good through June, I think.

[BenT]

I've had a dishnetwork dvr for seven years now. Besides the news can't tell you the last time I watched something LIVE. I record everything and watch it at my convinience and skip the commercials. I also have dvd recorder . I save pay per view movies on my dvr. If I want to save them for future play I record them to dvd. Mostly movies for the kids. Plus the ability to pause the T.V. while watching.

[bj94]

One more tidbit- if you have analog TV's and/or VCR's and you get your signals from an antenna, then you won't have any signals to receive after next year. BUT you can get add-on tuner boxes that will let your old analog TV still work, and in fact you can apply to the goverment for a coupon that will partly pay for the tuner box.

The goverment is forcing the local networks to stop using certain frequencies and transmit digital signals on other frequencies, so you need a different tuner to pick up the digital signals. The goverment will then sell the frequencies that are freed up and make a lot of money from it, so they can afford to subsidize purchase of tuner boxes. If you have cable or satellite dish, that particular change won't affect you because the cable companies and satellite companies still want money from their customers that only own old analog TV's.

Also note that the DIGITAL signals that your local networks will be transmitting do not require High Definition TV's to watch, they can be watched on standard def. TV's using the appropriate tuner.