I want a DVR but NOT DirectTV/TiVo svc..and NOT TV tuner in my PC..?

Question

I looked through past answers before writing this. I do NOT want to get DirectTV,TiVo or any sort of subscription service. We don't have cable because we don't want to pay for it. However, there are times when there's something onair opposite something we're watching or I can't be home when it's on. I have an old beatup VCR but it's not usable in this situation and since it appears to be a dying format, I'd rather not invest in a new one. Can a DVR be used to record broadcast "over the air" (NOT cable) television? If so, how?

Also I saw the question suggesting the TV tuner within your PC. I could do that as last resort but I don't really want to have to haul the computer over and line in to TV to watch it, I'd rather have separate standalone unit that can stay by the TV.

Answer 1

Try Amazon, there are standalone electronics out there for your situation.

Answer 2

What you really want is a DVD recorder with a built in hard drive.  The hard drive functions as a DVR.  And then when you want to keep something you can immediately copy it to the DVD.  These cost more than a recorder which only makes DVDs and you often have to buy them online at Circuit City or Best Buy (or like stores) since they do not carry them in the store.  Some of the reasons why they do not carry them in the store are probably the price and the profit.  They make money selling Tivo boxes and DirecTV/Dish Network DVRs from the companies that sell those products.

Make sure you get one with analog and digital tuners so you are ready for the switch to digital coming to broadcast TV in February 2009.  For the US it needs NTSC and ATSC tuning.

Answer 3

a DVR is for cable telivision only. You would have to have a cable company do that for you. You do know that in feb. of 09 all tvs will have to be digital. I can't really explain how DVR's work, and i'm not sure what you mean by "over the air" but a DVR won't work unless you have cable or those companies that use the Dish to work. like Direct TV or Dish network.

Answer 4

walmart has them, and they have the digital converter ,also.the converter is around $40,but you might not like the price of the dvr,how about a dvd recorder.