Just The Basics

I’ve been disappointed with my first two DVD recorders. I don’t recall the first one. It started giving me problems after about a year. I stepped up a notch to a nicer Panasonic. I don’t recall the model number. It was DVD Ram, which had some nice features, but again, after about a year it started acting up. Even if they had not given me problems I still would not have been happy with either.

I like the good old days of the VCR where you just through in a tape and hit record. It would record over what ever was there without pestering me. There was no formatting. The remote control had a mute button and a previous channel button, which neither of the DVD-R remotes had. The DVD-R remotes were more geared towards someone who is going to record and save the recording. You know, it had all of the chapter and title features on it. In more than 2 years with a DVD-R I never used any of those features once.

I record maybe 2 hours of TV a week max. I don’t want to save any of it. I’m actually shopping for a VCR now. What I would like to get is a DVR that acts like a simple VCR. I built a DVR with an ATI TV Wonder card but found the 3 or 4 different software interfaces I tried out to be overly complicated to use. Its not that I couldn’t figure it out, I just found them to be poorly designed. They seemed to be more concerned with the cool look of the interface and less concerned with the usefulness of the interface. Perhaps it is because I’m a software designer that I am overly critical of poorly designed interfaces.

So before I buy a VCR I thought I would look at DVRs. I don’t want to subscribe to a service like Tivo and I don’t want to lease a machine from my cable company. Being completely new to the world of DVRs, can I get one that does not require a service for scheduling. I basically want something with a simple interface that I can tell it to record channel 9 every Thursday from 8:00PM to 10:00PM. Just like the old VCRs. Can anyone recommend anything before I revert back to the technological equivalent of caveman and go by a VCR.

Thanks,

Greg

Re: Just The Basics

Just so you know, I'm sure blank VHS tapes will be around for a bit longer, but they're no longer being made (as of 12/23). So, I don't think I'd be investing in a VCR.

Why do you not want to get a DVR from your cable company for $5 - $10 per month?

Re: Just The Basics

Yea, I know that the VHS is on its way out. In fact, I was amazed I could even find a new VCR deck. Mostly what I have found are refurbished models on Overstock.com. They run about $50 each. The last VCR I bought lasted 10 years and the VHS tapes do pretty good, considering how much I use them.

In my area the DVR adds closer to $20 a month to the bill, but it is not even available to me at the level of service I use. I currently pay $16.95 a month for basic cable (about 14 channels). To get the DVR I would need to increase the level of service and then add on the cost for the DVR. It would more than quadruple what I pay a month for TV. Plus there is the whole idea of leasing something that I could just buy. Back in the day everyone leased their phones from the phone company. It didn't take long to figure out what a rip-off that was.

Greg