Can a satellite DVR be used on cable as a regular DVR??

Question

I am looking to buy a stand alone DVR that has NO service fees. the only ones I can find are for satellite . Can I hook one up to cable and user it as just a plain DVR?

Answer 1

No, you cannot use a satellite DVR without the satellite service (which includes the DVR charge anyways)  It's not compatible with the cable signal, and won't work anyways unless you have a valid subscription with the satellite provider.

They DO make DVD-recorders which contain a hard drive, so you could use this as a DVR - but it'll basically only be as "smart" as your old VCR was.  You won't be able to tell it to record a show by name because it won't have any schedule guide to look at.  This means you'll have to manually tell it when, what channel and for how long to record.