I’d like a hard drive recorder I can hook up to my TV. Something simple I can program to record TV programs when I’m not home. But not a Tivo – I don’t really care to pay for the monthly channel guide service, which I don’t really need. Does such a thing exist?
I’ve seen fancy dvd recorder-hard drive combinations (Panasonic, IIRC) at Best Buy. Again, that’s more than what I want/need.
Well, if you have an ATI All-In-Wonder video card for your computer, you can record TV programs onto the computer’s hard drive AND get TV listings without a subscription. The card even comes with a remote control that allows you to use your computer as a genuine entertainment system. You’ll probably need a 2 GHz computer to record at DVD quality, but most analog broadcasts aren’t that good to begin with, so VHS quality is usually enough.
I don’t have an answer, but I’m interested in what the cognoscenti have to say, so I’m subscribing to it.
–SSgtBaloo
Try your cable company. They might offer something for 10 bucks a month or so, which isn’t as bad as the Tivo charger since you don’t have to buy any hardware up-front.
Replay units used to have “free” guide data (you paid more up-front though), but they seem to have moved to the same pricing as Tivo.
If you can find a TiVo (on Ebay) that was originally shipped with version 1.3 on it, then it can be used as a dumb VCR (ie you have to tell it what channel and time to record), without a subscription.
There’s always Freevo, if you don’t mind DIY.
Also MythTV
TiVo has a lifetime subscription option for a one-time fee of $300.
Tivo offers a free 3-day-out program grid, or at least they used to. Of course, they offer(ed) the full subscription service temporarily, at no cost, so you can see what you’re missing. Which is a lot.
My grandmother wrote a book on a personal computer. She didn’t understand files, folders or the concept of saving. So, she used it as an elaborate typewriter, printing each page as she went, then deleting everything and starting with the next page. Using PVR technology without the program guide is a little like this.
Try the subscription service for a month or two; you’ll find it’s well worth the nominal cost. If not, there’s always the free 3-day grid to fall back on…
I’m not that up on TIVO except that it’s a hard drive recorder with a subscription service. Why do you need “subscriptions”. Why can’t you just use it like a hard drive VCR per the OP. What specific benefits does the “subscription” offer that you coudn’t get by simply entering the recording time and date like older VCRs ?
You can say, I want to record only new, non-repeat episodes of the Gilmore Girls, rather than, I want to record channel 9 on Tuesdays from 8-9 PM. Much easier. And the recorded programs will be marked with the title of the show, rather than just the timeslot.
TiVo and other subscription services offer the option of intelligent program selection. You can tell it to record any episode of, say, the Simpsons that airs on any of your cable channels. If you tune in halfway through a movie or series episode, you can tell it to record that movie or episode from the beginning, the next time it shows up on any channel. They can also suggest shows/movies that you might like, based on your viewing pattern, though i find that rather disturbing.
If you have an old computer lying around, you can build an HTPC (Home theater PC) fairly cheaply. I’ve built several. The least powerful was a 466MHz Celeron with a $20 Pinnacle TV card, but for HDTV broadcasts you’ll want 800MHz at the very least. (I’ve seen ATSC [HDTV] cards for a bit over $200. I have a MyHD card that was $250 2 years ago, and I’m sure the price has come down)
I’m a big fan of the HTPC, because with modest technical ability [installing cards and often free software] you can meet or exceed the capabilities of a wall full of AV hardware for the price of a single unit. I’d recommend reading the HTPC forum at AVS forums – but be warned, the readership is a mix of beginners and technofiles, and you might find yourself overloaded with info, and (IMHO) overly prissy high performance recommendations.
For casual viewing, the task is far easier and the hardware demands far less than they sometimes make it sound, especially if you can forgive an occasional dropped frame or less than audiophile level sound. If you have an old computer lying around, you may only need to add a $20 video card and freeware software (I’d also suggest a remote control/reciever and free GIrD software). You might want to add a larger hard drive (video takes up space, and the very lowest suitable PCs won’t be able to fully compress with the best codecs in real time) or some more memory (when the C466 was a mainstream system, lots of people had much less memory than they do today). Aside from that, and a little help deciphering the technogibberish of the settings menus (that’s where AVS comes in), it’s fairly trivial
The other forums at AVS also often have advice useful to a DIY’er
First, I call “bullshit” on this anecdote. [To the mod who will eventually slap my wrist - he stated this as a true story, not an allegory. I am merely saying that he should have identified it as the fiction it is.]
Second, there is no 3-day free guide data with Tivo. You either pony up 12.95 per month (or $300 for a lifetime subscription) or your Tivo goes into “boat anchor” mode after an initial seven-day “free-look” period. Boat anchor mode allows you to watch previously recorded programs, but will not record anything new until you get your account back in good standing.
If you can wait until next fall, there will be a couple of hard drive plug in devices on the market (like this ). They will require your TV to have a 1394 connection though. But if you can get a 1394 TV with built-in TV Guide (like this one ), then you essentially have a Tivo w/o the subscription.
Try EyeTV or Formac Studio DV/TV.
I’m planning to get the EyeTV when I upgrade to a DVD burner. Goodbye, television!
I’m planning to purchase a Prismiq recorder when they are introduced in a few months. This is a set top box that encodes the video as an MPEG file, moves it over your home network, and then stores it on your computer hard drive.
It is then viewable on your TV, your computer, any other computer on your network, and any TV on the network that has another Prismiq media player attached. I plan to buy one player/recorder and one player only unit.
The system can also play MP3’s and display digital pictures.
I just got my PC working as DVR using my ATI All-in-wonder card, it works fine…
I put a splitter on the cable going to my cable modem, connected it to my GFX card, and run a S-video cable back to my TV. There’s a remote that comes with it to control the video/TV functions.
My only complaints are the software that comes with the card is pretty ropey (but there are plenty of cheap/free alternatives out there, I’ll probably go for myHTPC http://myhtpc.net or ShowShifter www.showshifter.com), and you only get 125 channels (To get more you have to connect the card to the signal from your cable box and your IR/serial cable, to change channel, I have not tried this)…
Goodness, such language. My story is in fact true. If you prefer to disbelieve and categorize it as allegorical bullshit, feel free. In her defense, my grandmother was in her 80’s and had no computer experience.
The 3-day grid does seem to be a thing of the past. Too bad; that $13 subscription fee seems to be a huge hurdle for a lot of people. My apologies for the outdated info…
Also, take a look at the NVIDIA Personal Cinema. That’s what I am thinking of getting to turn my desktop computer into a PVR.
Not only that, you can tell it to record all shows with William Shatner in (unless there’s a Bug Bunny cartoon at the same time, in which case record that instead).
I paid my $200 subscription nearly three years ago and couldn’t be geekier 
Thanks to all who responded. I’ll look into some of the options mentioned. Though, I can’t believe the gizmo I’m imagining doesn’t exist – a cheap, simple, TV-top hard drive recorder. Maybe I should start looking for those angel investors…