DO I NEED A DVD RECORDER WITH A DIGITAL TUNER IF I HAVE BASIC CABLE (no cable box)?

Question

I have WOW! cable(no cable box) and when I had my old dvd recorder, I could put the cable cord from the wall into my dvd recorder and then connected another cord from my dvd recorder to my tv and I also connected the rca cables from my dvd recorder to my tv. I was hoping to setup my new dvd recorder the EXACT SAME WAY.

PLEASE JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW WITH SIMPLE RESPONSES

1. According to the information I mentioned above, do I need a digital tuner to record the basic cable I have? (I don't care if I watch what Im recording)

2.According to the information I mentioned above, will I be able to get and record more channels than I now have with my basic cable because of a digital tuner? (I don't care if I don't, I just want to know)

Answer 1

the tuner in a DVD recorder works the same as a tuner in a TV set. IF the DVD is cable ready then it will work without the basic cable box. However off-air digital tv, ATSC, is totally different than cable digital. Some TV and DVD tuners are dual purpose digital tuners and are cable ready, and some are ATSC (off-air) only.  If you chose one that has the dual tuner, you should be able to get some of the cable digital programming, but not premium channels or PPV. those still require a cable box.

Answer 2

1.It should work without a tuner but Im not intirely sure

2.I don't think you will be able to get more channels with an antenna