So, still living in the past, we’re a 2 VHS household. But that can’t last forever, so I’ve been thinking DVR and I need some edumacation. We get our cable signal from a VERY small local co. called Countryvision run by a family out of their garage. No Comcast, no Dish Network, etc. We don’t use a cable box, just the tuner on the TV. So, what are my options for a DVR in that situation? what have you got and how do you like it?
Comcast for me Denny.
I used it for the first time a couple weeks back to record Brewmasters. Works great…I can fast-forward through all the commercials which is a plus. I don’t watch very much TV but the wife wanted it so I agreed to get it.
Makes life alot easier as I can record and watch when I have time. I can get you the price breakdown if you’re interested.
Ron, I can’t get Comcast or anything but the cable I already have. Not even decent satellite reception. I guess what I really want is a digital version of my VHS decks.
I presume you’ve contacted your current service provider and asked them if they could offer some alternatives.
How about this outfit.
Denny, I think you might need something like Tivo
Thanks, Ron, I’ve checked into that before but no service where I live. Euge, I really don’t want to pay a monthly fee like Tivo. Yeah, I know I’m being difficult!
Good luck. We just get over-the-air programming and just try and find a DVR that’ll support that 
Well, Denny if you have an extra PC laying around you could install something like MythTV. All you would need to do is buy a tuner card and they’re fairly cheap.
I’ve been using Snapstream Beyond TV on my Windows machine hooked up to the TV for years now for over-the-air TV. It supports many tuner cards with ATSC & QAM. The guide is free, and there are no monthly fees. Netflix looks really good this way also.
Yeah, that’s something else I’ve considered, but a place to put it is the problem. I have a pretty difficult set of circumstances to deal with, but I really appreciate all the suggestions.
I know you said your provider is a pretty small outfit, but would they not have some options for you. Surely some of there other customers would be interested in a DVR too?..
They might at least have the contacts and the volume buying power to get their customers a set-top cable box. I don’t believe (but I’m not positive) that your provider would need any infrastructure upgrades. After all, a DVR is essentially just a hard drive and video card.
My DVR has 2 tuners in it, so that I can watch one program and record another, or record 2 programs and watch something else I’ve already recorded.
I just sent my provider an email so we’ll see what they say. I’m kinda skeptical, though.
There are several computer based options. Euge mention MythTV which works great but requires you to run Linux. Linux scares some people. You can also run MS Media Center on on Vista or Windows 7 but it also requires a TV Tuner card. A third option is Apple TV if you’re a Mac dude.
There are many options for Digital Video Recorders. The trick is finding one with a hard drive so you don’t have to by a never ending supply of DVD-Rs. Another feature of many of these is they come with built-in NetFlix and Pandora and stuff like that. Amazon has a resonable selection to get a feel for what’s out there: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_38?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=digital+video+recorder+with+hard+drive&x=0&y=0&sprefix=digital+video+recorder+with+hard+drive .
I use Media Center at the moment because it came with the PC which also has a HD/NTSC TV Tuner Card in it. We play the video back on the big screen with a laptop that has a HDMI port on it.
Paul
I have a DVD recorder at the moment, but I’m looking for a solution that doesn’t require me to buy DVDs. I do use the recorder for stuff I want to keep, but for everyday watch it once and delete it stuff it’s not a good solution. OTOH, that will take erasable DVDs.
Hey Denny, I left my DVR in Ohio. I can give ya a website, and some simple instructions, so you can download pretty much anything you ever wanted to watch. Fact is, I hardly ever watch a television broadcast at all anymore. The day after the show airs, I download it, and watch it at my leisure. Leftme know if you’re interested.
sure, weaze, post the website & instructions… inquiring minds want to know
Yeah. It isn’t Hulu or something like that is it? 
If I could watch Iron Chef America, Chopped, and Throwdown whenever I wanted to, I’d be a happy guy! Those are what keep me from getting bored while I’m on my treadmill.
Check out DirecTV. If you have a clear view of the sky towards the southwest from where you are you should be able to see the satellite. They offer some great new subscriber deals, including DVRs. I’ve tried many services and DirecTV is my hands-down favorite.
WARNING!!! Once you’ve DVRed you’ll never watch TV in real time again.
Chances are, if you got a DVR from a cable supplier, you’d pay as much or more than you’d pay to TIVO each month. In addition, with TIVO, you could keep the service you have, exactly as it is now.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the Food Network shows are available from any legitimate online source (Hulu, iTunes, etc.).