Looking for a DVR recorder

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 10-17-2005, 10:46 PM

Does anyone make a stand-alone DVR that you could use in place of a VCR? I really don’t want to rent a recorder from the cable company, or pay for a subscription service like TIVO, but they’re the only ones I’ve seen.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

chuckg · 10-18-2005, 12:12 PM

I feel silly sending YOU advice!

I just bought a Panasonic DMR-EH50. It's got a 100 gig hard drive, plus a DVD burner. There's a great feature I've never heard of before: TV Guide! It "downloads" an 8-day TV schedule over the airwaves, and displays it on-screen. (I don't do cable or satellite)

You can do all the expected things: record, edit, chapterize, and will do time-slip, record one, watch naother, etcetera.

Image quality is quite good.

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 10-20-2005, 08:04 PM

Quote:

I feel silly sending YOU advice!

Just goes to show, no one is an expert at everything!

Thanks for the tip, I hadn’t thought of the DVD recorders with hard drives. From my preliminary looking around, it appears the problem is going to be finding one in black.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Arman · 10-22-2005, 10:25 AM

I heard this will not work with satellite. Which DVR of this kind (other model/brand?) will work with DirecTv/satellite?

Steve Schaffer · 10-22-2005, 08:09 PM

The only models that will work with satellite are those marketed by the satellite companys, Dish and DirecTV respectively.

I have an HD-DirecTivo and a Pioneer DVR/DVD recorder. I can download stuff from the HDTivo to the Pioneer's DVR, edit out the commercials and such on the Pioneer, then burn them onto dvd. I've made very acceptable dvd copies of HBO's Rome series this way. Editing the Pioneer's DVR recordings is very quick and easy and the transfer to dvd can be done at high speed if any but the top pq selection is made for the dvd.

**HTF Ads**

Chris Gerhard · 10-23-2005, 08:24 AM

Assuming you want something for analog OTA or analog cable, this is just my opinion, but I would buy TiVo or ReplayTV and pay for a lifetime subscription. The product is just so much better than the other DVRs, that the small price difference is worth it. If you don't care about convenience or missed recordings then there are less expensive options than TiVo or ReplayTV. I own several DirecTV TiVos and an older standalone TiVo and ReplayTV all with a lifetime subscription. The TiVo hardware is very inexpensive, sold at break-even or a loss and the modest profits TiVo makes comes from the subscription.

I don't recall the last time I have seen someone that owned a TiVo or ReplayTV state a dumb DVR used like a VCR is a better deal. I would mow my lawn with a non-power manual push mower before I would use a dumb DVR over a TiVo or ReplayTV.

Chris

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 10-23-2005, 03:28 PM

Great info, Chris Any idea what a life-time subscription costs? It has to be with a DBS provider, right? Does that “lifetime” subscription let you change providers?

I see this thread had been moved. Pretty embarrassing to be here as long as I have and open a thread on the wrong Forum! :b

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Chris Gerhard · 10-23-2005, 07:46 PM

Wayne, no DBS provider offers a lifetime subscription for DVR service now. DirecTV did when I purchased my first DVR in October, 2000 and at that time it cost $200. If you want to use a DVR with a DBS company, as mentioned earlier, you are better off to use one provided by the service provider. For use with analog cable, a standalone TiVo currently offers a lifetime subscription for $300 and the PVR can be found very cheap or possibly even free. For digital cable, I would never recommend a TiVo or ReplayTV but instead think the best option is to get the PVR from the cable company. TiVo should have digital cable PVRs soon but I am not sure of the timing.

Chris