Which DVR Should I Get? - Comments Page 1

Thank you for exposing the fake Satallite TV for PC and all the scam sites attempting to sell free tv from all over the world for 30-50.00, I was researching this and your review was great. Thank you! JT

I'd be interested to hear your DVR suggestions for those Luddites out there (like myself) that don't use cable, and are content with pulling the major networks HD signal in from a roof top antenna.

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you're using over-the-air TV, then you should probably get one of the non-TiVo units that has no monthly service fee, such as the Pioneer, Toshiba, or Sony units I mentioned.

A few months ago Verizon had a special for 99.00 a month (plus taxes) for a year for my HD TV, computer and telephone. Included was the DVR which you speak of. It is a fascinating device and it took a little while to understand and to use all the functions it has.

I hope that after one year, it doesn't cost me more than $10.00 more a month- which you said you paid- as I would like to continue using it. It makes recording programs so simple and if something goes wrong with it, I DON"T OWN IT!

I recently switched from a SD Tivo to AT&T's HD DVR. All I can say is - I want my Tivo back!!

You have no idea how well a DVR can work until you use a Tivo. The AT&T/Motorola box has some nice features like being able to watch your recorded programs on any cable box in the house, not just the DVR box, and it can record/watch up to two HD and two SD programs at one time but the UI is terrible, you can't prioritize the shows you record, the searching is slow and did I mention the UI sucks.

Oh, do I second (and third and fourth) Bob P! I LOVE Tivo... it's basically a religion with an altar and a holiday (Super Bowl Sunday) and everything! My original rocked. My second one was even better, Now I live in a house serviced by Uverse. I apparentluy have to use their recorder network for all my tv's... which not only denies me the alphabetical listing of upcoming shows Tivo featured... it doesn't let me delete, record, pause live action, etc. FROM ANY UNIT OTHER THAN THE MAIN ONE. Blecch. I love you Tivo. We'll always have Paris. (Oh, no, wait... I saw her video on my computer. Ignore last comment.)

Seems like the cable and satellite providers are trying to keep stand alone DVR off the market. I'm finished with satellite and cable, but still watch some off-the-air TV. Would like to replace my clunky VCR, but VCR's are so cheap and DVR's are so high that I may just get another VCR. When my current (analog)TV's go out, I'm not replacing them either. Current programming is that bad, and DTV is just another rip-off.

I've had a Replay TV DVR for several years. They had a "Commercial Advance" feature which, when enabled, automatically skipped commercials. Because of this, they were sued by the networks and went broke defending themselves and eventually went out of business. It's still the slickest DVR around and I've opened the case and replaced the old 40 gig hard drive with a 250 gig drive for almost unlimited recording!

I have standard def DVR service from DirecTV. It's a great convenience, and cheap, at about $5-6 a month. You just lease the box. (When I signed up they were out of stock on HD DVRs and when they became available they wanted to charge me $300 up front since I was an existing customer by then.)

Speaking of over the air HD (as jfdoylejr did) I was glad to hear about those standalone non-Tivo DVRs, which were either nonexistent or ruinously expensive or had monthly fees--I forget which--when I put up my antenna.

I get over the air HD through a rooftop mounted Channel Master 4228, which doesn't require a rotor and delivers 45 digital stations clean and clear. I use a K-World 115 and proprietary software: great captures, but it's like programming an old VCR. I'd be interested on your take on HD capture card/PVR software combos.

What is the purpose of TiVo's monthly fee? If you buy a DVR, doesn't it have a hard drive to store the videos? I don't see the need for them to charge the fee.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The fee for the value-added services, such as the search and scheduling functions.

I've had a Panasonic DVR for years. It really made a difference in my TV watching routine. Besides a hard drive, my unit also has a DVD drive so I can record programs onto a DVD for "permanent" use. It also allows me to connect my Laserdisc player and VCR to it so I can copy that material to DVD as well.