Posted: 12/2/2009 1:48:10 PM EDT
| How did I live without them? Seriously, I consider a DVR to be a benchmark of civilization at this point. Especially since I watch precious little television. I consider it to be a particularly useful tool for a sparse TV viewer. If you do not have one, I assure you, when you get/use one, you will consider it as essential as the air that you breathe. |
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Quoted: I want one that is programmable and can be used same as a VCR, but doesn't use "programming service".  I've seen them at Walmart, but have no clue how to use it with cable without having to pay Comcast for DVR. And yes, before we moved and I had my own cable, I would have Top Gear on my sister's DVR and watch it there. Life was good.  |
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Quoted: How did I live without them? Seriously, I consider a DVR to be a benchmark of civilization at this point. Especially since I watch precious little television. I consider it to be a particularly useful tool for a sparse TV viewer. If you do not have one, I assure you, when you get/use one, you will consider it as essential as the air that you breathe. I got rid of cable TV in 98 and never really saw any TV except watching football out in the bars. Two years ago my wife got it when we moved in together. Boy are you not kidding! Those shows are nearly 50% commercials now! I don't watch it anyway but I can't even sit on the couch reading a book while she watches TV. At least with the DVR you can fast forward through all that nonsense! |
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Quoted: I've had digital cable for several years, but have never bothered to get DVR. Now that I've got 50" of 1080p... I'm thinkin it's time to get with the program...  Look, there are a lot of things I do not listen to these guys about, like anything involving women, movies ("Hey Navy SEALS with Charlie Sheen is great"-freekin' idiots), or cooking that does not involve BBQ, but they are 110% right on this, get it tomorrow. |
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DVR > Fire
My brother got it right in his new place. Two DVRs (hiz & herz) that are connected to every display (umm, eight of them) in the house. He turns on any screen and brings up his DVR, pauses the program and heads to the shitter or the mud&blood room, and unpauses the program to continue watching. Wife can record everything she wants, he can record everything he wants. Sadly, he doesn't watch too much TV but with his DVR he can watch hunting shows that he hasn't seen before 24/7 if he wants to. |
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I want one that is programmable and can be used same as a VCR, but doesn't use "programming service". I have one like that, and it wasn't too easy to find at the time. Sorta worry sometimes that it will die and I can't replace it with the same type of thing. |
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I've had digital cable for several years, but have never bothered to get DVR. Now that I've got 50" of 1080p... I'm thinkin it's time to get with the program... Look, there are a lot of things I do not listen to these guys about, like anything involving women, movies ("Hey Navy SEALS with Charlie Sheen is great"-freekin' idiots), or cooking that does not involve BBQ, but they are 110% right on this, get it tomorrow.
Great... yet another thing that this new Hi-Def TV is going to cost me money on! It's turning into a MONEY PIT I tell ya! First the TV, then the home theater, then the PS3. And now DVR! What's next??? 
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I want one that is programmable and can be used same as a VCR, but doesn't use "programming service". Do they have such a thing? Cause that's what I'd like too. Don't really want to mess with the sweet cable deal I have going. (No, it's not free... but it's CHEAP!). |
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Quoted: We'd be lost without our DVR. HH Same here. Nothing since the advent of cable/satellite has changed my TV-watching more profoundly. While traveling and in a hotel and/or at family/friends' homes without DVR, does anybody else miss a bit of dialogue and start fruitlessly hunting for the skip-back button?  Guilty, many times.   |
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i don't do commercials anymore................if i'm watching a program live i'll pause it, go do something else and come back in 30 minutes where i can fastforward through all the bullshit.
and it's a damn good thing too, that free credit report . com motherfucker was about to reeeeeeeeeally piss me off. |
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Quoted: You can get a part time job with all the extra time saved from not watching &^%$ing commercials!Quoted: Quoted: I've had digital cable for several years, but have never bothered to get DVR. Now that I've got 50" of 1080p... I'm thinkin it's time to get with the program... Look, there are a lot of things I do not listen to these guys about, like anything involving women, movies ("Hey Navy SEALS with Charlie Sheen is great"-freekin' idiots), or cooking that does not involve BBQ, but they are 110% right on this, get it tomorrow.Great... yet another thing that this new Hi-Def TV is going to cost me money on! It's turning into a MONEY PIT I tell ya! First the TV, then the home theater, then the PS3. And now DVR! What's next??? |
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You can get a part time job with all the extra time saved from not watching &^%$ing commercials!
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Quoted:
I've had digital cable for several years, but have never bothered to get DVR. Now that I've got 50" of 1080p... I'm thinkin it's time to get with the program... Look, there are a lot of things I do not listen to these guys about, like anything involving women, movies ("Hey Navy SEALS with Charlie Sheen is great"-freekin' idiots), or cooking that does not involve BBQ, but they are 110% right on this, get it tomorrow.
Great... yet another thing that this new Hi-Def TV is going to cost me money on! It's turning into a MONEY PIT I tell ya! First the TV, then the home theater, then the PS3. And now DVR! What's next???
Good point. But I'm gonna miss those wacky Geico cavemen! 
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My Mythbuntu DVR only needs a $20/yr SchedulesDirect subscription.
Comcast's $15/mo DVR can kiss my ass. 
I just bought a new 750gig HD to put in it, that should be about 115 hours of HD or 350 hours of analog (cable input, either basic without the box or using RCA and a IR transmitter to grab the cable box's output). Kharn |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I want one that is programmable and can be used same as a VCR, but doesn't use "programming service". Do they have such a thing? Cause that's what I'd like too. Don't really want to mess with the sweet cable deal I have going. (No, it's not free... but it's CHEAP!). If you have the most basic computer knowledge, you can pretty much build a DVR with most newer home PC's. Google MythTV, or home built DVR. No extra services needed. |
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I want one that is programmable and can be used same as a VCR, but doesn't use "programming service". Agreed, the Tivo programming service is a major rip off. If you are smart enough to program a VCR (i.e. if your IQ is above 90) then you don't have to pay $12-15/mo for Tivo to do it for you. I bought my 80 gig Panasonic DVR a few years ago and love it. It has TV Guide built in so you just select the show you want to record and it does it for you, automatically. It isn't high-def but it has HDMI and can upconvert to 1080i. And best of all, you don't have to fork over your hard earned cash every month to get it to work. Edit: my Panny is not sold any more. An alternative to building your home HT PC is to buy a TVIX. No Tivo subscription needed! |
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Mythbuntu info
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My Mythbuntu DVR only needs a $20/yr SchedulesDirect subscription. Comcast's $15/mo DVR can kiss my ass.
Kharn Info/linky please for the alcohol impaired? I have Charter, not Comcast tho. You'll need a <4yo computer and about $100 for a TV tuner to get started, not hard if you've put together your own PC before. The biggest issue I have is the program does not have a 'Override current recording immediately' button, so you have to go through all sorts of menus to cancel a recording if you want to use the Mythbuntu box as your TV tuner when all of your tuners are busy recording shows. Kharn |
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Not really, an SD DVR can grab all the basic cable programming your provider sends out (usually channels 1-80), plus use RCA or S-video to bring in the output from the cable box into an analog input. Neither's ideal, but they work. I also have an HD antenna to grab over-the-air broadcasts.
you are talking about HD DVR right? a SD DVR is just as worthless as VHS tapes Kharn |
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Quoted: ... I need to research if I can add an additional external HD to mine. Recording the HD channels seem to chew up the capacity fast- maybe it's my imagination. I have Dish Network DVRs (3 - 2 duals and a single) and I added the 1TB Seagate drive specifically recommended for my HD DVR –– LOVE the extra capacity for parking stuff long-term. |
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I want one that is programmable and can be used same as a VCR, but doesn't use "programming service". 2 closest commercially available hard disk based recording devices with no subscription DTVPAL DVR ~$300 at Sears. Dual tuner, does HD, but is for Over The Air (OTA) only Magnavox H2160MW9A ~$240 at Walmart, $150 refurbed. Single tuner OTA and Clear QAM tuner but SD only (also has a DVD burner built in) |
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Who watches live sports anymore? I can zip through a football game in about an hour and twenty minutes. If I had to, I could squeeze in 6 or 7 games on a Saturday. Mostly I record about 3 and watch them during the evening. During the day I have to avoid all places that may show live sports.
Only commercials I watch anymore are on live sporting events. I have three DVR's from DirecTV - a HR20, HR22 and HR10-250 (DirecTiVo). I feed the signals from all three to an HDMI matrix switch box which feeds both TV's in my house. With the Harmony remotes in each viewing area, it is extremely simple to control. |