Questions about a DVR ...

[purbeast0]

well i know the basic principle of a DVR. its basically like a TIVO w/out the simplicity of the TIVO service which you have to pay montly for. (atleast i think thats the basic idea). and with that, i have a few questions.

i am thinking of getting one for my gf for xmas because she loves these spanish novelas that are on all day and even at night, and since she works retail she has wierd hours and misses the shows often. this is where my questions lie.

1. How simple is a DVR to use? She knows how to use a computer, a dvd player, so she's not completely illiterate to electronics, but she is not one that is fascinated by electronics or all these features of DVD players or something like that.

2. What is the typical price for one of these, if i want a basic one that can record like 20 hours or so, maybe more? Quality of the picture is nothing to her, as far as saving it at a better quality or something like that.

3. Can these hook up with any old cable service and hook into the coaxial cable of a TV? Or how do these even hookup to the tv. Her TV has typical a/v stuff yellow,red, white cables on them, as well as coaxial. no component or svideo.

I think thats about it, if i have more ill post them. thanks.

 

[austin316]

your best bet without a doubt is to get the DVR through the cable company, especially if its time warner (theres have dual tuners).

most require you to have digital cable, which I'm guessing she has in order to receive the spanish stations.

 

[FoBoT]

i have the one that Dish Network provides. it is just like using a VCR , simple and easy. we can record something like 80 or 100 hours of programs

they just have standard RCA jacks

 

[dabuddha]

I have mine through Comcast. Works great!

 

[purbeast0]

it is cox cable. but don't the ones you get with the cable company cost montly? i was really trying to just get her one and have a one time fee, instead of having to pay a bill for it every month. and she lives with her mom right now but isn't going to be there for probably more than a year, so i want to be able to get her something she can take with her also.

and im pretty sure its digital cable but im not positive.

 

[Hammer]

i have mine through time warner. i love it.

 

[kami333]

So why not a Tivo?

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: kami333
So why not a Tivo?

cause like i said in my previous post, i don't want to have to pay a monthly fee for it. i want to just do it all at once and not worry about having another bill to pay. from what i thought, i thoght that DVR's don't require a monthly service fee, while tivo's do.

 

[spacelord]

There aren't many good choices these days for a DVR which doesn't have a monthly fee or a lifetime activation fee. Although I think there are some models floating around, but not sure of all the features.

She would probably learn to love the DVR. My wife had not idea what the ReplayTV was when I bought it, but after she learned how to navigate through it and set up recordings.. like me, she can't imagine watching TV without it. Women usually don't care about audio / visual components.. for example, they seem perfectly happy with a 20" TV, but when I mentioned buying a second Replay she was like "Hell yeah!!"

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: kami333
So why not a Tivo?

cause like i said in my previous post, i don't want to have to pay a monthly fee for it. i want to just do it all at once and not worry about having another bill to pay. from what i thought, i thoght that DVR's don't require a monthly service fee, while tivo's do.

You are going to pay someone somehow. If you want simplicity because she's not technically inclined then you want TIVO. There is simply no comparison to the season passes and ease of use. Tivo is what you buy the non technically inclined, cable DVR's are just digital DVR's and they cost as much as a Tivo does really. You want one time fee you want MythTV, but it's ANYTHING but user friendly, as in how well does your gf know linux?

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Tivo does require a monthly fee (except the units with free basic service). DVR would be rolled into your cable bill but may not have all the cool features of TIVO. I never wanted to get a TIVO because of the fees so I got the toshiba DVD player with basic TIVO built in. It's so awesome not having to use a VCR anymore. I would like the other benefits of the full TIVO package but I don't want to spend $299 or 12.95 per month.

Oh one more thing. Whatever you get, make sure you can watch one program while recording another. You can't do that with TIVO if you have digital cable or satellite.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

DVR's are easy to use, just like a VCR. Though are you sure you want her to record that many TV shows. All she'll be doing is sitting around on her ass watching Mexican Soaps and eating bon-bons.

 

[purbeast0]

lol thanks for the replies .

someone mentioned that you can get a tivo unit with free basic services. what exactly comes with that basic service that is free? i had always assumed that tivo had a monthly fee no matter what.

and is the $300 the price for the TIVO + Lifetime access? or is that ONLY the lifetime access fee?

 

[axelfox]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
it is cox cable. but don't the ones you get with the cable company cost montly? i was really trying to just get her one and have a one time fee, instead of having to pay a bill for it every month. and she lives with her mom right now but isn't going to be there for probably more than a year, so i want to be able to get her something she can take with her also.

and im pretty sure its digital cable but im not positive.

Pay the 299 lifetime + price of hardware = one time fee

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
lol thanks for the replies .

someone mentioned that you can get a tivo unit with free basic services. what exactly comes with that basic service that is free? i had always assumed that tivo had a monthly fee no matter what.

and is the $300 the price for the TIVO + Lifetime access? or is that ONLY the lifetime access fee?

$300 for only

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
lol thanks for the replies .

someone mentioned that you can get a tivo unit with free basic services. what exactly comes with that basic service that is free? i had always assumed that tivo had a monthly fee no matter what.

and is the $300 the price for the TIVO + Lifetime access? or is that ONLY the lifetime access fee?

Read my posts here.

Buy this off eBay for around $250 shipped, NO MONTHLY OR LIFETIME FEES!.

Of course the catch is it only comes with Tivo Basic.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: purbeast0
lol thanks for the replies .

someone mentioned that you can get a tivo unit with free basic services. what exactly comes with that basic service that is free? i had always assumed that tivo had a monthly fee no matter what.

and is the $300 the price for the TIVO + Lifetime access? or is that ONLY the lifetime access fee?

Read my posts here.

Buy this off eBay for around $250 shipped, NO MONTHLY OR LIFETIME FEES!.

Of course the catch is it only comes with Tivo Basic.

thanks i checked out the tivo basic thing.

i have question though. what exactly is 'vcr style recording' as opposed to 'smart and automatic recording'. basically i just want her to be able to look at the tv guide thing and be able to click on what she wants it to record, thats about it. and she won't be recording it every day either, so the 'season pass' thing isn't really necessary. the basic service actually seems like it will be just fine, i just would like to know the difference between those two recording types.

EDIT: OH wow! that Toshiba tivo thing is ALSO a DVD PLAYER!:Q

that right there will probably be my purchase thanks alot!

 

[purbeast0]

anyone else?

 

[rahvin]

vcr style recording is say record this time, this channel. Season passes say record this show and it uses intelligence. For example if I set up a season pass for Stargate SG1 I can tell it to only record new episodes, I can tell it to keep them for a week, a day or till I delete them and if the station changes the timeslot TIVO will automatically adjust the recording to get the show.

A Tivo can be had for around $50, and the lifetime subscription is $299. This comes with HMO so you can view pictures and music from the internet.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...54881&type=product

BB has it right now for 199 with a 100 rebate, if you watch for christmas specials you could probably hit that $50 price.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: rahvin
vcr style recording is say record this time, this channel. Season passes say record this show and it uses intelligence. For example if I set up a season pass for Stargate SG1 I can tell it to only record new episodes, I can tell it to keep them for a week, a day or till I delete them and if the station changes the timeslot TIVO will automatically adjust the recording to get the show.

A Tivo can be had for around $50, and the lifetime subscription is $299. This comes with HMO so you can view pictures and music from the internet.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...54881&type=product

BB has it right now for 199 with a 100 rebate, if you watch for christmas specials you could probably hit that $50 price.

thanks for that, thats actually not a bad deal at all. i was also looking into the Toshiba HD-S400 that other people recommended. its pretty good that it has a built in DVD player as well, which is another plus. however, i can't find any places (bb or cc so far) that sell it. i would like to go in person to check it out before i go and look around for a deal online or something.

that $200 price though is not bad. 40 hours seems like plenty. i think it mainly will be used for the basic service (at first atleast) because it seems like that is enough for what i want it to do for my gf. just the tivo + dvd player in one is pretty neat though, which is kind of pushing me torwards that toshiba one.

 

[rahvin]

The one I posted does not have tivo basic. Tivo basic only comes with the dvd-tivos.

 

[BornStar]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: rahvin
vcr style recording is say record this time, this channel. Season passes say record this show and it uses intelligence. For example if I set up a season pass for Stargate SG1 I can tell it to only record new episodes, I can tell it to keep them for a week, a day or till I delete them and if the station changes the timeslot TIVO will automatically adjust the recording to get the show.

A Tivo can be had for around $50, and the lifetime subscription is $299. This comes with HMO so you can view pictures and music from the internet.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...54881&type=product

BB has it right now for 199 with a 100 rebate, if you watch for christmas specials you could probably hit that $50 price.

thanks for that, thats actually not a bad deal at all. i was also looking into the Toshiba HD-S400 that other people recommended. its pretty good that it has a built in DVD player as well, which is another plus. however, i can't find any places (bb or cc so far) that sell it. i would like to go in person to check it out before i go and look around for a deal online or something.

that $200 price though is not bad. 40 hours seems like plenty. i think it mainly will be used for the basic service (at first atleast) because it seems like that is enough for what i want it to do for my gf. just the tivo + dvd player in one is pretty neat though, which is kind of pushing me torwards that toshiba one.

CC has never carried the SD-H400 and BB has stopped. It would appear that Toshiba is stopping production. It's too bad you didn't have this brainstorm a couple of months ago when you could have gotten it for $100 AR.