Does anyone have a DVR without a subscription?
My parents have a cable/internet/phone package through their phone company.
Currently they have only basic cable and getting a DVR requires upgrading to the digital package and they just are not interested in getting that.
I do know that it is possible to get a stand alone DVR and just use it like the old VCR, but don't know much about them.
I have tried doing some research but I'm not really getting what I'm looking for.
We know she won't get all the functionality as she would with a subscription, but she probably won't use all that anyway.
Considering upgrading to get one from the cable company would be like $25/ per month, for a year's worth of that she should be able to get something...

Any suggestions?

It has been a while since I looked into them, I have since cut cable completely. However I remember Channel master as one of the names that stood out.

The main issue with most of the systems is that the user interface was not very in depth. They worked but they often did not give full details of the episode or in some cases dates it aired.

Tivo is very user friendly but they want to hit you with a subscription to support the guide information. They used to offer a lifetime subscription (on the box not the customer) as a one time cost.

The option that I looked at the most was a PC based system. You don't need a $2000 system to do this in fact some have done this out of spare parts bins. MythTV, SageTV XBMC are the software to run the show, then you just need a decent video card with HDMI in/out. You can pay for their subscription service for the guides or you can use many free guides online to tell your system what channel and when to record. The system will handle the rest from there.

I tried the XMBC on an old PC I had when we were tring to find a way to cut down our cable bill. It worked, but was kind of an awkward format for trying to use on a tv that is across a room. I think it would work well for something like a studio apartment where a normal computer/desk can be placed near the TV and controlled that way, but it would be a little tedius for a normal living room set up. Especially for older less computer literate people...

Before my Xbox One, I just used an old laptop I had and hooked it up the TV via an HDMI cable. It was a dedicated media PC. Since I left it folded up, it was pretty easy. Could also do the same thing w/ a tower and just use your TV as the display.

Oh, I forgot about the PC route; have (a long time ago) looked into that a bit
I could probably built one out of parts laying around, would just need a tuner to get the signal into the computer and a video card to get it to the TV.
Any other suggestions?
It seems from my research that Magnavox might make a pretty good stand alone box.