# Can you buy a generic DVR? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736 "2011-07-03T17:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/1 "2011-07-03T17:54:48Z")
I’m paying way too much for what I get from my satellite, so I want to go back to cable. I called the only cable service available in my town, and their DVR is 15 bucks a month to rent, with no option to buy. And googling around, I find that TIVO doesn’t work with this brand of cable. Is it possible to buy a DVR that just works like a VCR, i.e. no program guide, no monthly fee, you just enter the start and stop times and the channel you want to record, and it’s up to you to get them right? Preferably one that lets you swap hard drives in and out when they get full, without a lot of hassle? Or can anyone recommend a video capture card that would let you use your PC for this? I tried one about ten years ago, and it didn’t work well at all, but maybe they’re better now? ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/2 "2011-07-03T18:00:13Z")
Of course there are such DVRs, tons of them. Of course, they’re not integrated in any way with the cable service. So you have to set up recordings like the old VCRs. I have one to re-record recordings from my cable DVR, or to just record right off the cable feed. Note that if your cable DVR is also providing HD service you may not get the same quality recording with your own DVR. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/3 "2011-07-03T18:07:44Z")
When I last looked for a standalone DVR, there were surprisingly few. One that’s available from Amazon is the Magnavox MDR513H/F7. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/4 "2011-07-03T18:24:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When I last looked for a standalone DVR, there were surprisingly few. Same here. I get a lot of hits on google, but most of them are either a few years old, or end up talking about some form of TIVO. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/5 "2011-07-03T18:30:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When I last looked for a standalone DVR, there were surprisingly few. Same here. I get a lot of hits on google, but most of them are either a few years old, or end up talking about some form of TIVO. And I appreciate the response, but I stopped buying anything from Magnavox 15 years ago. A month-old TV stopped working just as the store I bought it from went bankrupt, and Magnavox wanted me to pay shipping (like 60 pounds) both ways for a refurbished replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/6 "2011-07-03T18:41:36Z")
Wait, 60 pounds? I assume that means you’re in the UK. In that case, there are a few more available on [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) than on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). For example, there are several models available from Humax. But you said that you last tried to look for a video capture card ten years ago. Things have changed since then. For one thing, (some versions of) Windows 7 support video recording directly. Whereas when I built a PC nine years ago partly to record TV, I needed to buy software separately to do this. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/7 "2011-07-03T18:52:45Z")
Magnavox MDR515H and Magnavox MDR-513H can record to a hard drive or dvd, you can time delay just like a vcr and not have to burn to dvd. can use dvd rw media as well. some difference between models such as hard drive size. scan the channels (NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners) into the machine and you then operate it much like a vcr. records in SD. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/8 "2011-07-03T20:04:17Z")
The DVRs listed above are intended for broadcast, not cable recording. For several years now, almost every cable system in the US has been encrypting non-broadcast channels (mostly at the request of the content providers). Only a DVR that accepts a ‘CableCard’ (like Tivo) has the ability to decrypt and record these signals. Another problem area is access to ‘Video on Demand’ which may not be available and cannot be recorded. You can sometimes do better with boxes you attach to a PC, but ease of use is a big issue. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/9 "2011-07-03T20:33:22Z")
There are DVRs made by Toshiba, Pioneer, Magnavox, and Panasonic. I use a Panasonic model which even has HDMI output. As pointed out, you’ll still need the cable converter box to get all the cable channels. Comcast provides two for free (I recall they call them DTA boxes), but you can get more for a pretty small charge. Without the converter box, you may still get some basic over-the-air channels but not all. So you connect the cable to the DTA and then from the DTA to your own DVR. This is not the primary reason why I have my Panasonic DVR. I just want to be able to save off some of my cable DVR recordings into a format that I can watch without the DVR, such as on my computer. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/10 "2011-07-03T20:35:46Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The DVRs listed above are intended for broadcast, not cable recording. > > For several years now, almost every cable system in the US has been encrypting non-broadcast channels (mostly at the request of the content providers). Only a DVR that accepts a ‘CableCard’ (like Tivo) has the ability to decrypt and record these signals. the Magnavox units have a QAM tuner and can record cable. you are correct that they won’t record an encrypted signal. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/11 "2011-07-03T21:29:44Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > the Magnavox units have a QAM tuner and can record cable. > > you are correct that they won’t record an encrypted signal. The point is that on most US cable systems, the only unencrypted QAM channels are the ones that carry the local broadcast signals - along with the shopping, educational and local gov channels (which few care to record). ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/12 "2011-07-03T21:52:45Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The point is that on most US cable systems, the only unencrypted QAM channels are the ones that carry the local broadcast signals - along with the shopping, educational and local gov channels (which few care to record). Yeah, but in that case you just put the DVR between the cable box and the TV. The drawback to this is that you can’t use the tuner on the DVR to change channels or program recordings on specific channels. In my case with DirecTV, if I want to schedule a program to be recorded when I’m away, I just setup the DirecTV box to Autotune at the specified time. On the DVR it receives the signal from the DirecTV box on channel 3, so after programming the DirecTV to autotune to the program, (which is simple and only takes a couple seconds) I just program the DVR to record at the given timeframe off of channel 3. I haven’t used a cable service in ages, but I would imagine they also have some sort of autotune function. If so, the setup should work the same way. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/13 "2011-07-03T21:58:53Z")
(Too late for ETA) If not, you could still do it by just leaving your cable box tuned to the channel you’ll be recording from, and program the DVR the same as above. The only problem with that is that you can’t simultaneously pre-program multiple shows on different channels. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/14 "2011-07-05T00:46:57Z")
I guess I have a pretty reasonable deal. The DVR cost $500 (I bought it from Best Buy, but it had my cable company’s name on it). They do not rent. But it has so far lasted nearly three years so I am ahead of someone paying $15/month. It claims to record 200 hours of low def, but I have tested it and it is more like 135 hours. But, and this is a big thing for me, I can program the recording over the web. I don’t think a generic box would allow that. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/15 "2011-07-05T01:20:21Z")
there is an overhead for each recording, lots of recordings use up more space than the actual time for the shows. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/16 "2011-07-05T05:23:11Z")
I have a Windows media center pc with a cable card in it. I use it with digital cable. The way it works is that there is a separate IR transmitter attached to the IR receiver that accepts commands from my Media Center remote control. So, when I use the guide and tell it to change the channel, the commands from my remote control are picked up by the media center IR receiver which then triggers the separate IR transmitter to send a signal to my cable box to change the channel. Works slick. The media center computer is also hooked up to my home network so I can stream things to any computer in the house. It also has access to all of my photos and mp3s. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/17 "2011-07-05T05:45:51Z")
> [@Nunavut\_Boy](#): > > I have a Windows media center pc with a cable card in it. I use it with digital cable. The way it works is that there is a separate IR transmitter attached to the IR receiver that accepts commands from my Media Center remote control. So, when I use the guide and tell it to change the channel, the commands from my remote control are picked up by the media center IR receiver which then triggers the separate IR transmitter to send a signal to my cable box to change the channel. Works slick. The media center computer is also hooked up to my home network so I can stream things to any computer in the house. It also has access to all of my photos and mp3s. My old Dish box used those infrared things to actually make the VCR record shows. Does nothing like that exist anymore? (It wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t.) ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/18 "2011-07-05T16:15:51Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I guess I have a pretty reasonable deal. The DVR cost $500 (I bought it from Best Buy, but it had my cable company’s name on it). They do not rent. But it has so far lasted nearly three years so I am ahead of someone paying $15/month. It claims to record 200 hours of low def, but I have tested it and it is more like 135 hours. But, and this is a big thing for me, I can program the recording over the web. I don’t think a generic box would allow that. I’ll bet that you live in Canadia? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-buy-a-generic-dvr/587736/19 "2011-07-05T16:18:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@Nunavut\_Boy](#): > > > > I have a Windows media center pc with a cable card in it. I use it with digital cable. The way it works is that there is a separate IR transmitter attached to the IR receiver that accepts commands from my Media Center remote control. So, when I use the guide and tell it to change the channel, the commands from my remote control are picked up by the media center IR receiver which then triggers the separate IR transmitter to send a signal to my cable box to change the channel. Works slick. The media center computer is also hooked up to my home network so I can stream things to any computer in the house. It also has access to all of my photos and mp3s. > > My old Dish box used those infrared things to actually make the VCR record shows. Does nothing like that exist anymore? (It wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t.) I don’t understand your question, as the post you quoted described “those infrared things” being used by **Nunavut Boy** ’s media center PC. (Unless if you’re asking if such things exist in VCRs, in which case the answer is no, as very few VCRs are sold any more.)