What do I need to know about DVR's?

Question

There are a few television shows I would like to watch at night, but I need to try to be in bed asleep by 9:30 pm. As such, I'm considering a DVR so that I can watch these shows during the day while I'm doing housework, or early in the evening when there's nothing else I want to watch.

I'm assuming that just like most electronics there are different levels of quality and options. My main questions are:

Do DVR's record on an internal drive? If so, are there models that have an ability to record on to a DVD or CD?

If there are models that record onto a DVD, do they also act as a dvd player for pre-recorded dvds?

If so, is there a good model that won't cost me more than $200, or am I going to have to spend considerably more?

If I can't playback prerecorded dvds, how much can I expect to spend on a basic DVR so I can watch House (all right, and a few others)?

Answer 1

I have had so much experience with DVRs and i can tell you that you need look no further than Philips. if you buy the right model (look at link) you can record onto an internal hard disk then keep it or burn it onto a dvd using the disk drive. But the feature i like the most is the time shift, the box will record every thing on screen in a temporary memory drive which allows you to pause live TV for up to 3 hours or you can just rewind you program if you have to leave suddenly. it means you never miss even a bit of your favorite show. you can also set it to record your late night programs into the permanent memory so you can watch them the next day. If there is a program you want to keep you can either leave it on the hard disk and just play it when you want or send it to burn onto a recordable DVD. The dvds that it burns usualy play back on any dvd player, at least i have never had a problem.

Hope this helped.

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Answer 2

Do DVR's record on an internal drive? If so, are there models that have an ability to record on to a DVD or CD?

- Nearly all DVRs have an internal hard drive to which they record to. There are very few that have DVD burners and those that do add a layer of digital rights management to prevent you from using the DVD in anything other that the original DVR/DVD player.

If so, is there a good model that won't cost me more than $200, or am I going to have to spend considerably more?

- You are going to spend more. If you already have a satellite or cable provider they might have a DVR option for a small fee per month. They provide you with the DVR and prevent you from recording to DVD or any other media. Remember it is in their best interest to force you to BUY a show on a physical DVD than it is for them to allow you to make your own personal copy.

- A typical Tivo will be about $150 + service contract. If you buy the Lifetime contract at $400 you do not have to ever worry about monthly service fees. In about 4-5 years your Lifetime subscription will have paid for itself and the Tivo. I have owned my Tivo for 8 years. It paid for itself 5 years ago.

- The Tivo / DVD was made by Humax but has been discontinued. The new Tivos do have a transfer option to let you move a show from 1 Tivo to another or to a PC for editing and then DVD burning. The software is about $30 more to convert Tivo video to DVD on a PC.

Answer 3

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