Might buy a DVR

[IluvKingLouis]

Wondering if anyone can recommend a reasonably priced DVR. I don't need any bells or whistles.

Just realized my favorite Sci-Fi author has a book being made into a mini-series! But it's going to be on Thursday nights when I have another commitment.

I've haven't owned a recording device since our VCR pooped out 10 years ago.

 

[richmond282]

After much research, I bought my DH a Tivo. I bought a used Series 2 off of ebay for about $60 I think. The monthly fee is about $12 or $13 through Tivo. We have not had any problems or issues with it at all. It works great.

 

[disneymayz]

Do you have cable or satallite? If so do they carry them. I have comcast and they charge about 14/month. But if something happens to it they replace it.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I should have mentioned we have neither cable or satellite.

I'm looking for something that's very simple and does what the good ole VCR use to do! (but without the annoying tapes).

Thanks for the replies!

 

[secretpantssam]

I'm a big fan of Tivo. I've had mine for a few years and I can't watch tv without it anymore....I can never remember when shows are actually on live!!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Huge fan of tivo.

We have the Directv/Tivo/Hughes dual satellite DVR that we upgraded at weaknees.com so it now has a monster hard drive. You can buy those off of ebay if you have directv since directv went to its own awful dvr (completely anti-intuitive) a few years ago.

We also have two other standalone tivo units, one in the basement and one in the kids playroom-the kids can't watch anything that I don't set up in tivo-it's very good about screening.

Supposedly Tivo and Directv will be announcing a hi def directv/tivo dvr, it's supposed to come out this month, but so far, nothing. We're not upgrading to hi def until it comes out. If it's not out by the end of the year, we may dump directv and get the hi def tivo unit that works with cable.

Tivo's that good.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I really don't want to subscribe to anything....(heck, that's why I'm on the budget boards ;-) )

And not being hooked to cable or satellite, I just want a little box that will record.

Looking to spend between 70-150 w/out subscribing to any service.

Sorry for being so difficult!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

They're all subscription based.

You might want to consider buying a VCR; most of them are very programmable now.

eta: You can set your computer up to record tv shows, but it's more difficult and involved than I'm willing to figure out, esp. with the Tivo. But I think it's free. You'll just have to google around to find out what component you may need to add to your computer to make it work as a digital tv recorder...

 

[JB2K]

After much research, I bought my DH a Tivo. I bought a used Series 2 off of ebay for about $60 I think. The monthly fee is about $12 or $13 through Tivo. We have not had any problems or issues with it at all. It works great.

Or, you might be able to find a TiVo with Lifetime Service attached -- they're legal and TiVo-approved (and the price for the lifetime service alone runs $350-$400).

If you don't need a lot of bells and whistles, the Series 2 is the way to go...

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I might not be right but I do believe you have no choice but to subscribe. We have Direct TV so we have a DVR. I am not sure if you can record off of the regular TV like you could with a VCR. You record TV through the cable or satellite company. I have never heard of it any other way. Also you are leasing a DVR/TiVo. I have been told by numerous companies that even if you buy it at Walmart you are technically leasing it. Thank is why I recomment through the cable/satellite company. They usually have great deals and will replace it if necessary.

 

[secretpantssam]

If you don't want to get any service, there are DVD recorders that have hard drives in them which work basically like a VCR. You just set the time to record and it saves things. No bells and whistles. I have a few at work, they're all Panasonic, which work really well. But I think they might be out of your under $150 price range. There are probably cheaper brands out there, but that sounds like what you need.

 

[rcraw45425]

We have a DVD recorder by Toshiba, but yeah, they're out of the $150 range I think.

 

[tara32]

We have a DVD recorder, and its great. Thats what you need if you aren't going subscription-based. You can program any show when you arent going to be home and no prob.
Make sure it has a hard drive, obviously. (Some don't).
They have come down a lot in price, I think one can be had for $150, but your best bet is prob in the 200$-250$ range if you want a brand name.
We got ours for $299 (pioneer) but it was a door crasher and quite a few yrs ago ..

 

[mickeymaker2003]

If you go the Tivo route and have over-the-air reception, you will need to do one of these two things:
1. Buy a HD or Series 3 Tivo (they have digital tuners in them)
2. Hook up a converter box to the Tivo.

My personal choice would be to go find a Toshiba RS-TX20 or RS-TX60 and hook it up to a converter box or regular cable. They all came with lifetime free basic service (you can record by time and channel without having a subscription so you never have to pay Tivo). You would not be able to do season passes or wishlists or anything fancy, but it will do what you need. They also have a built in DVD-recorder so you can burn your show to DVD to keep them forever (but you can't easily edit out the commercials in the recording). They also play DVDs, so you wouldn't need a regular DVD player hooked up to that TV. I have two of these and love them

PS. I hate the remote from the Toshiba SD-H400 and it won't record (it just has a built in DVD drive to play movies, and won't burn disks). I thought I'd mention that would be another option if you don't want to pay for service and don't care if you can burn DVDs.

 

[mamilovesdisney]

I bought an Archos 504 media player a few years back and it has a docking station that works as a dvr and it is portable so you can later take it with you. Maybe you can get a used one on ebay. I really do love mine. I payed 300 for it new back in the day.

 

[minnie1928]

Tivo used to sell lifetime subscriptions, but I believe the only way to get that now is by purchasing an older unit on Ebay that has already had the lifetime subscription purchased for that unit. I have a lifetime subscription for Tivo (best $200 I EVER spent!) and when my unit fritzed out about 2 years ago, I bought a huge hard drive from weaknees.com and upgraded my recording capability without changing my subscription status.

One comment about the DVRs that you lease from your satellite/cable company...a friend of mine had one through Verizon (I think). Anyway, for one reason or another she had to swap units. Her DH arranged the whole thing without telling her about it until afterwards. The problem was that she had the season finales for all her shows on it...and she hadn't watched them yet!

 

[mackeysmom]

I have a Samsung DVD-R130. I think it was under $150 and works great.

I've never used the advanced features (creating titles, etc.), but for basic "recording from the tv" purposes - it is very easy to use. Just set it up like a VCR.

Hope that helps

-- Laura

 

[squirrel]

I bought a Sony DVD Recorder after Christmas last year. It's great. I looked into the PVR's as I have sattelite, but they were $600 up here. This cost half that.

It has a large Hard Drive and I have taped Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and many more children's shows. It allows me to select what ones I want to make a copy to a DVD and even gives me a few different menus to choose.

I'm so glad I bought this, more options. I can record shows for my parents and then make them a DVD to watch when they want at their house.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I'm so glad I bought this, more options. I can record shows for my parents and then make them a DVD to watch when they want at their house.

OH! I love this feature!

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

 

[squirrel]

I would get one with a hard drive as then you can save it and record it to the DVD when you want and add more than just one show.

I have mine set up so that it will copy 2 hrs in 12 or 13 min. I could make the DVD hold more than 2 hrs but it will take a lot longer to copy (4hrs).

I'm sure it will cost more than the $100 but you will love it! I have a daycare and have given each of the children Playhouse Disney DVD's that I made.