No more DVR :( too expensive

[hsmamato2]

also.... the tivo seems simpler for my needs....I have been payong for sat. service for 10 years simply b/c of the dvr.....
don't want hard copies of things, just want to record and watch when it's convenient!

 

[kiki02]

What about another option LIKE tivo, no monthly fees?

Are there other units you can buy that 's a dvr but w no monthly fee?

 

[bettymae1121]

DH set up a computer just for the TV and there is a program we use that turns the PC into a DVR, the signal from the ariel antena is routed thru the computer. Not as easy to use as a DVR but better than $90 a month for cable! We have a wireless keyboard to control the computer from the couch.

We also have Netflix and Hulu Plus to round things out, since we have the computer hooked up to the tv we don't need a Roku box.

 

[kellia]

I LOVE our DVR! But, I hate the expense. With the dvd recorder, can you record more than one channel at a time? Also, does it have a menu with programming on it, or do you have to put in the channel and time like we used to with a vcr?

If anyone has a dvd recorder, what brand/model? Thanks!

I could get rid of cable with no problem, but since Comcast is our only option for internet (dh works from home and needs it) it wouldn't save any money if we dropped the internet/phone/cable package.

 

[Nayan]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned and should be if you're looking to get rid of your cable DVR. Depending on what kind of cable package you have you could lose a number of channels if you ditch your box. For instance, I don't have a DVR (I did at one time) but I do have a cable box. I receive over 200 channels, most all of them HD but some like locals which you need a converter box to receive. Even with Tivo and a Cablecard I would still lose a number of channels because of the encryption. Especially some sports channels. Make sure you look at what you're getting now compared with what you will probably lose if you get rid of the box.

As far as other DVR-type equipment Channel Master makes a good one but it is for mostly OTA and basic cable with QAM.

 

[timmac]

I use an option similar to what bettymae mentioned above, though perhaps a bit more hardcore extreme.

Although, rather than just OTA antenna, I'm using my cable provider via a cablecard. In a nutshell, I'm running a Windows 7 media center machine, attached to a WinTV-HD external cablecard adapter. The initial hardware costs out of the way, I'm paying $4/month for the cable card on top of my base cable costs. No $20+ a month for an HD DVR box, not even a monthly fee for tivo. It also serves as my DVD/Bluray player, emulates any number of video game consoles, does netflix, hulu, and so on. It's definitely one of my favorite toys

 

[hsmamato2]

and.... what I'd like to do is run a tivo,using an OTA antenna...is this do-able?

 

[brymolmom]

We dropped cable and satellite a couple years ago. We get neflix streaming for $9 a month. We purchased a $100 antenna and a$450-ish computer that we hooked to the TV - we use Windows Media Player to record like a DVR. At this time we can only record one show at a time but plan is to buy another card to do another one in the future.

We likely 'made back 'what we spent on the setup in about 5 months. And love the less than $10 a month bill now.

We don't miss a thing! If you are not avid sports watchers - I don't think anyone would miss it.

 

[Nayan]

Yes you can do Tivo with OTA.

 

[runwad]

We dropped cable and satellite a couple years ago. We get neflix streaming for $9 a month. We purchased a $100 antenna and a$450-ish computer that we hooked to the TV - we use Windows Media Player to record like a DVR. At this time we can only record one show at a time but plan is to buy another card to do another one in the future.

We likely 'made back 'what we spent on the setup in about 5 months. And love the less than $10 a month bill now.

We don't miss a thing! If you are not avid sports watchers - I don't think anyone would miss it.

Yes it's always the sports watcher in the house that negates getting a less expensive option. That would be my DH. I'm tired of paying the cable bills too. Me and the kids could just watch what little we watch on line on the network sites. Now if anyone knows a non-complicated way to get the sports, I'm all ears.

 

[Nayan]

Yes it's always the sports watcher in the house that negates getting a less expensive option. That would be my DH. I'm tired of paying the cable bills too. Me and the kids could just watch what little we watch on line on the network sites. Now if anyone knows a non-complicated way to get the sports, I'm all ears.

It depends on what sports and where your teams are. You can get season packages for MLB, NHL, NBA, MLS, but if your team is in your local market (I live in Central Florida, so most all my teams are considered local by the respective sports) they will be blacked out so no sense in getting the packages. I am the sports nut so cable isn't going anywhere .

 

[tink576]

I use a panasonic HDD recorder. There is a hard drive built into my dvd player and I use that as a dvr. Absolutely love it! It's a couple years old though, but well worth it.

 

[lovemymac]

If you have a computer or an apple tv 1 or 2 or iPad with tv out cables I highly recommend installing xbmc. I didn't think I would use it at first but with all the add ons you can get sports of almost every kind if your into that. W are movie lovers and I love that I can get all my old classic tv shows I grew up watching and no one shows anymore but I can also watch anything new that is out usually within an hour or so after its aired.

It's a free program and well worth the 10-15 minutes it takes to get set up the first time. I love it and the best part is no cable or satellite bill every month. No cable or satellite going out when the weather gets bad. Only thing I don't get is local weather but I can see that on the Internet and I am going to put up an outdoor antenna just to get locals since we are in tornado alley.

I will say that you need good Internet to use the xbmc. Because slow Internet does not stream videos well.
That is my opinion.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[4GoofyCrew]

We just got a DVR this summer...finally! We were still using our VCR! WOW, what a difference, wish we had done it years ago.

We have the Charter bundle and the DVR is free with our package.

 

[DawnM]

Yes, lifetime of the UNIT. So, if your Tivo has issues or dies, you lose the membership.

Dawn

I've been studying options...thanks to this thread I like the dvd recorder,but I think the tivo option sounds GREAT.....
any opinions? I think tivo is what I want,since I don't care about the recording capabilities....but then,am I stuck with a tivo subscription...kind of like that old satellite subscription?
I guess that's my big question..... I'd like to be more independant of subs.....but again,how is tivo service? if you get lifetime,is it really lifetime?

 

[kiki02]

We just got a DVR this summer...finally! We were still using our VCR! WOW, what a difference, wish we had done it years ago.

We have the Charter bundle and the DVR is free with our package.

Wait, what's a CHARTER BUNDLE?

 

[DawnM]

cable TV, cable internet, and cable phone service.

It is not cheap.

Wait, what's a CHARTER BUNDLE?

 

[DawnM]

And how much is your package? And is it a teaser rate or the rate you will have forever?

We just got a DVR this summer...finally! We were still using our VCR! WOW, what a difference, wish we had done it years ago.

We have the Charter bundle and the DVR is free with our package.

 

[hsmamato2]

I use a panasonic HDD recorder. There is a hard drive built into my dvd player and I use that as a dvr. Absolutely love it! It's a couple years old though, but well worth it.

how do you know what/when to record on this?

 

[hsmamato2]

well,I bought and tried out a cute little antenna that that isn't ugly...it works!!! I couldn't get ABC with it though I think the station is farther away, but we get like 15 channels..... perfectly clear!
But when I proposed dropping the sat. to DH,he said it was a bad idea surprised me,he said 37.00 a month is not that much..... SO I want to work on him,I don't think we'll miss anything doing it ourselves...
My big worry is ds2 and animal planet shows....I think I can get them all streaming, either through amazon or hulu,etc.
TO me,37.00 is 444.00 I could use for something else.....and the OTA channels looked better than the sat. channels!
ANyone here watch animal planet streaming? ds LOVES Tanked,animal cops,hillbilly handfishing.....