So, for many years, I have kept a VCR around to look at old family videotapes. Since I don’t have the time to watch much TV anymore (two kids, 4 and 7) I don’t bother recording TV shows - Netflix has been providing my entertainment needs.
However, with the World Cup final being tomorrow, and me having another engagement right during that time, I have realized that having something to record TV programs would be a good thing once in a while.
Is there any DVR system that is equivalent to the good old-fashioned VCR? Here is what I would expect it to do:
Hook up to the cable box, so that I can record shows coming through the cable box. Perhaps be able to record one show while I am watching another.
Be able to record a show when I am not home.
Be able to record a show to a DVD so that I could save it and watch it on a DVD player.
No monthly fee: I buy it, buy the DVDs if I want to save something to a DVD, but I don’t have to pay $x per month to subscribe to some service. One thing that is out of the questions is giving more money to my cable company!
Is there anything that does what I want? Or do I need to join the 21st century and change my whole approach to home live tv recording devices?
Yes, I have Macs at home. I’m going to read about EyeTV, but how would I set it up in my situation? I have a DSL modem upstairs in the “office”, and the Airport Extreme (Apple wireless base station) is also in the “office”. The iMac is hooked up via Ethernet cable to the Airport because we don’t move it around. The laptop, of course, can be used anywhere.
The TV is in another room altogether.
Would I have to buy a Mac Mini and set it up under the TV? Or would EyeTV mean I have to watch the recorded TV shows on the laptop or the iMac?
I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea of getting a Mac Mini for under the TV, I could also use it for iTunes videos beamed through wireless, and for Netflix “watch now” videos. But my first thought would be a cheaper option, something that would replace a VCR. I would prefer to watch the recorded shows on the TV if possible.
My brother-in-law swears by EyeTV, too, but we have not gone there yet. My best advice to you is to NOT get an LG DVR - they suck. Apparently some DVRs listen to the “Do Not Record” signal coming from stations better than others; the LG DVR has big problems recording from multiple stations, which sort of voids the whole point of our buying a DVR.
First of all, how do you get your TV signal?
If it’s cable, then you just split your cable signal. and run it to the EyeTV tuner, which is near your Mac. If it’s OTA (Over The Air), then you just get a tuner which can receive ATSC, and use an antenna.
You don’t need a dedicated Mac, but it gets to be a little more complicated if you want to watch what you recorded on your TV, and not on the Mac.
My wife has an (old) 20" iMac G5, and we use that to watch what she recorded (last night - Futurama).
beowulff: The TV signal goes to the cable box, and there is a video cable from the cable box to the TV. The cable box is under the TV in the same piece of furniture. The Macs and the wireless base station are in another room, upstairs. Where would I put the EyeTV tuner?
Cat Whisperer: are you saying that I just look for any item at Best Buy or Fry’s that says “DVR”, and choose one of those?
Why not just get a Tivo? It can do everything you’ve indicated you want, and more? Also, you can purchase a lifetime membership, meaning that you never have to pay for the service again. I think it’s $99 if I remember correctly. I’m on my third Tivo (upgraded twice), but I haven’t paid their service fee since I set up the original box years ago. I don’t use it much anymore because I’m not really a TV watcher, but it still comes in handy from time to time. It connects directly into my cable, and I get program updates wirelessly via my home network. I have downloaded programs from my Tivo to VHS tape in the past, so I presume it wouldn’t be a problem to download to DVD.
Tivo’s a fantastic product. The only problem for me is I now watch what little TV I still do watch online, so it’s seldom used, except to rummage through the recordings from all the season’s passes I’ve set up every few weeks or so.
I don’t know if it will tune the cable, but I use one of these with C-Band satellite.
It has a timer like a VCR to record a program to hard disk. I edit out the commercials of those I want to keep and burn to a DVD.
If you want to be able to record one show and watch another live show, make sure the DVR is dual tuner. If you just want to watch something previously recorded while also recording, most should be able to do that. My dual tuner Tivo can record two shows while I watch a third that was previously recorded. The version I have requires the cable company to come out and plug in a cable card, but I think there are still some older ones for sale that work with a cable box. The cable card is actually easier once it’s installed.
Just so you know, Tivos can also show Netflix streaming videos on your TV, and Amazon, Youtube, etc. if you buy an adapter. I love mine.
If you already have cable, have you given a look to what your cable company offers? Before I cancelled cable all together having the DVR cost me I think a buck a month, which was completely worth it.
TiVo isn’t nearly that cheap. The monthly plan is $12.95, the one-year plan is $129, three-year plan is $299 and the lifetime plan is $399 (and that’s only the lifetime of the box and those numbers are on top of the actual cost of the box). The cost of it is what’s held me back from replacing my cable company DVR with a TiVo box.
What does Tivo do for me? I am interested in a device that records shows. Why would I need a membership for a recording device? I’m not against Tivo, I just don’t understand what the membership gives me. Can I use a Tivo without a membership?
Remember, my frame of reference is the VCR - I hook up a VCR to a cable box and record.
Thank you carnivorousplant. If it works with satellite TV, it would work with a cable box, I think. Right?
How do you have it hooked up? Satellite receiver to Recorder to Television?
I tried talking to a person once (I went in the office to pay my bill and ask questions about DVRs), but their explanations made no sense to me. Were you renting a DVR device from your cable company, or did you buy your own and pay $1/month so that it would work with your cable box?
I have satellite, and my DVR is integrated into the satellite box.
Satellite dish into box, box to TV.
I don’t have a DVD burner, but I did record something recorded on my DVR onto my VCR. The DVR output is just like the cable box output - stick it into your VCR, play the recorded program, hit record, and you’re done.
Yes, and far better than a VCR. Mine lets you set it up to record all new episodes of a show, or only one, or all. You go to the show on the on-screen guide, hit a button, and you get a menu, fairly simple, giving you choices. With mine you can even search for programs by name. I suspect Tivo is even better about this.
I have a cheap one that doesn’t let you do this, but you can watch a show you’ve recorded while recording another one - or watch a DVD too.
No one has mentioned the best feature. When you watch, you are actually watching a recording on a one hour loop (for mine.) Say I want to watch something more or less live, but need to walk the dog or finish the dishes. I set it up on that channel. When I’m ready, I can rewind the live show, while it is recording, watch from the beginning, and skip commercials. If the phone rings I can pause it and take up where I left off. You don’t have to time bathroom breaks to commercials. We hardly watch anything live - much better to watch a bit later and skip commercials. It is much, much faster to watch a lot of shows this way.
Our kids gave us one for Christmas, and we like it far more than I expected,
Basically take your VCR out, insert DVR where VCR was. The cable coming into the house plugs into the DVR, the DVR is connected to the tv.
Yup. You can also edit the commercials out before burning the disk.
Yup. Ours is not fancy enough to go get programs for us, like all the new episodes of a season of a show, but we can set a timed recording to record every weeknight (like Craig Ferguson) or every Monday (like Big Bang Theory).
I don’t think ours has that capability, but like Voyager said, you can loop the show you’re watching live so you can pause it or rewind it. I think quick record will simply start recording what you’re currently watching; you’d have to enter a quick program in to record what you were watching and switch to another channel.
I should probably explain better why our LG is a bad choice; there are shows that come on certain channels that our DVR simply won’t record because the originating network sends out a recording blocking signal. What usually happens is we get a couple of minutes of the show, then it just shuts off or we get a message that says, “Signal blocked at origin.” Other brands of DVRs are apparently programmed to ignore that signal and record in spite of it.
I have a Sony DVD recorder hooked up between the cable and the box supplied by the pay tv company. I can record direct to the DVD recorder or record on the box (as indicated by Pigs in Space above).
What I can’t do is record a pay for view movie and then record it to the DVD recorder.
