Is There Any Way To...

[TalonStrike]

Digitally record my TV shows and not have to pay some crappy subscription charge or other ridiculous fees associated with Tivos and DVR's?

 

[TheStu]

Local channels? Yes, you need a TV Tuner and antenna for your computer and then software to capture/record it.

As for anything past local channels, you need a cable/satellite subscription.

 

[TalonStrike]

I don't get it. With a crappy old VCR, I can record any show on any channel with no crappy subscription fee. Why in the world is no digital device capable of this?

 

[Jeff7]

SageTV (pay for the software one time) had a free channel guide, which you could use to record TV shows, and do scheduling and all that Tivo-type stuff. It was pretty decent software, so of course, it's gone now: They've apparently been bought by Google, and SageTV as a product is gone, though there may still be alternatives out there.

 

[Humpy]

Digital camcorder.

 

[Newbian]

I don't get it. With a crappy old VCR, I can record any show on any channel with no crappy subscription fee. Why in the world is no digital device capable of this?

Because the money is there to get people to pay for it and how they make most of the money.

 

[PrinceofWands]

There are plenty of pvr tv tuners out there. Have to find one that will work with your setup (cable, satellite, etc) and you'll need a reasonable system to avoid bogging down or filling up.

 

[DaTT]

You guys in the USA have to pay to record on to your PVR's? At the risk of sounding like someone on this board, I don't get it.

 

[BabaBooey]

HTPC

 

[HAL9000]

I don't get it... Since when are there subscriptions for DVR's...?

 

[ElFenix]

You guys in the USA have to pay to record on to your PVR's? At the risk of sounding like someone on this board, I don't get it.

the cable company rents the box to you

 

[HAL9000]

the cable company rents the box to you

Can't you get one without going through a cable company. Over here you just go down to your local [INSERT NAME OF ELECTRONICS SHOP] spend £100 or something and get a DVR...

 

[Vic Vega]

Yes you can buy your own appliance style DVR or build your own... we invented this stuff, of course we have it.

 

[HAL9000]

Yes you can buy your own appliance style DVR or build your own... we invented this stuff, of course we have it.

OK then the OP is a fool.

 

[ElFenix]

Can't you get one without going through a cable company. Over here you just go down to your local [INSERT NAME OF ELECTRONICS SHOP] spend £100 or something and get a DVR...

you can buy a tivo but then you have to rent a cablecard from the cable company and you have to pay tivo $20 a month for their guide service (or $500 for lifetime service).

 

[HAL9000]

you can buy a tivo but then you have to rent a cablecard from the cable company and you have to pay tivo $20 a month for their guide service (or $500 for lifetime service).

What about any other manufacturer of DVR.

 

[ElFenix]

What about any other manufacturer of DVR.

they're not at all common.

maybe one of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR51...2227865&sr=8-2

 

[FoBoT]

cable and satellite encrypt their signals
you can dvr unencrypted signals all you want
but you can't dvr the encrypted signals

so if you have cable or satellites, you have to use the DVR that can decrypt the cable/satellite channels, so you have to use the one from your cable/satellite provider, you can't use your own dvr

in the US you have basically two choices
1- pay for cable/satellite and get lots of channels for a fee
2- get free OTA channels, not much selection and deal with reception issues, but lower cost/off brand/PC based recording solutions work


i guess there is #3, steal stuff from the interwebs

 

[HAL9000]

they're not at all common.

maybe one of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR51...2227865&sr=8-2

Really? Wow, they are absurdly common over here.

 

[olds]

My BIL was just telling me about a satellite service from Canada that costs a couple of hundred for the box but programming is free. I asked if it was Canadian programming but he didn't know. Makes no sense.

 

[HAL9000]

My BIL was just telling me about a satellite service from Canada that costs a couple of hundred for the box but programming is free. I asked if it was Canadian programming but he didn't know. Makes no sense.

Yeah you can buy a satellite receiver and a satellite and pick up free satellite channels...

 

[FoBoT]

they aren't common because they aren't that useful (they can only record OTA/free channels)
most people that want to take the trouble to record something are into TV enough to pay for a TV service, ie cable/satellite (and they use the cable/satellite DVR or pay for TIVO)
or they are 'technical' enough to just record it on their PC (but again, only the free channels, which are not really what people want to record, other than the main legacy networks)

 

[HAL9000]

they aren't common because they aren't that useful (they can only record OTA/free channels)
most people that want to take the trouble to record something are into TV enough to pay for a TV service, ie cable/satellite (and they use the cable/satellite DVR or pay for TIVO)
or they are 'technical' enough to just record it on their PC (but again, only the free channels, which are not really what people want to record, other than the main legacy networks)

Fair enough, how many free channels are there in the US?

 

[Bignate603]

Fair enough, how many free channels are there in the US?

Depends where you live. In major cities there can be quite a few.

In my area we have 31 different channels, where I grew up it was only 5 or 6. That being said, out of those 31 channels we only really watch a few of them.

 

[HAL9000]

Depends where you live. In major cities there can be quite a few.

In my area we have 31 different channels, where I grew up it was only 5 or 6. That being said, out of those 31 channels we only really watch a few of them.

OK fair enough, there are about 50 in the UK, the only real reason to subscribe to a subscription TV service here is sports or film channels (although you do get a couple from freeview [which is what our digital TV service is called])