Topic: DVR/PVR?

[Ice]

Curious. How many of you use a DVR/PVR? I'm finding more and more that the only shows I watch are on Monday night all at the same time and being able to record something and watch something else or set something to record a couple of shows either as they show or time shifted might be handy. Despite being a gadget guy... the family still has a VCR that hardly gets used.

We could rent a DVR from Cogeco for $17.99 a month but I'm wondering if there are other/better options. Thoughts?

[Leviathan]

Hi-def 2 tuner PVR from Shaw. I had a home built PVR but it didn't do HD and I wouldn't/couldn't go without a PVR.

[tenpenny]

I bought whatever box FutureShop sells for use with Rogers digital cable.  Motorola something.  I don't use it as a pvr, but the kids do.

[Ex-airbalancer]

I like a PVR just do not if it worth $20 a month
I have had a PVR free for the year from Bell, but it is up in Feb and I will send it back if I have pay for it
How do you find Cogeco , think of switching from Bell

[blur911]

Couldn't live without it now, rarely watch anything live except some F1.
Never see commercials.

[Dexer]

Question:

Can you still buy just a plain hard disk drive recorder that doesn't require some kind of subscription with your TV provider?

I don't currently use any kind of DVR/PVR for myself but I set up a couple for my elderly mother.

Several years ago (4 or 5) I bought her a cheap recorder from Walmart. It's a simple hard drive unit that is basically used like a VCR. It still functions. About a year and a half ago, I wanted to get her a similar unit but couldn't find one. I actually ended up buying her a Sony DVD recorder that has a built in hard drive. I works just fine because it can be used by simply recording to the the hard drive (I'm sure she has no idea how to even use the DVD recorder section).

I would like to get a similar unit for myself but I do not want anything that requires a subscription or activation. The aforementioned units that I got for my mother seem no longer available. I'm attempting to limit the amount and cost of services that I subscribe to. While I appreciate the convenience, the various service subscriptions can nickel and dime you to death (cell phone, internet, netflix, satellite radio, HD tv stations etc).

Can I just buy a DVR/PVR that I can plug in an use like an old VCR without renting or subscribing to something?

[Loudpedal]

We've got a PVR from Rogers.   Although we're not huge TV watchers, PVRs are to TV as highspeed is to the internet.   While not required, it takes the experience to a whole other level. 

You can always rent one for a few months, see if you like it and if not return it and go back to a non PVR world.   

[TopGun]

I used to listen to the Fan590 all the time about 5 years ago.  At that time, they constantly discussed how the PVRs would fail (they do generate a lot of heat).  Their advice was to rent them.

.....
How do you find Cogeco , think of switching from Bell

I was going to move away from Cogeco as they didn't have TSN2...which is key for racing as soon as football season roles around.  That looks like it has changed however.

[Ex-airbalancer]

I am just pissed at Bell again LOL
The internet speed is only 3.5mb/s and that the max where I am, I think Cogeco faster out here

[tpl]

We have a SD pvr and an HD pvr both rented from Rogers.   I'm with Loudpedal and Blur.  Could not live with most tv channels if I could not skip the ads.

[Leviathan]

Can I just buy a DVR/PVR that I can plug in an use like an old VCR without renting or subscribing to something?

Not if you want HD content.

[Ice]

Interesting comments! Thanks... I guess we'll go the HD DVR route from Cogeco and see how that goes. Looks like there is a promotion on so we'll see what that's like.

Cogeco is alright... They used to be horrible but we've had better service more recently and on the whole are fairly pleased. Very expensive to get a decent number of channels and HD but then I imagine everyone is.

Anyone tried Telus' TV service? I just heard about it the other day. It's not available in Ontario but still.

[Dexer]

Not if you want HD content.

No. I'm quite happy (now) with recording SD.*

It's odd that I could pick up a simple hard disk recorder at Walmart years ago but now I can't find one.

So does anybody make such a device for recording SD?


*My HD watching is 98% my blu-ray collection. The remaining 2% is Global which just started OTA High Definition transmission here last month. Oddly, it's still the only OTA HD station in Winnipeg but the others should come on board this year. Like I mentioned, I'm trying to cut down on the dozens of small subscription services that have been bleeding me a few dollars at a time. No one thing is that expensive but it's ten bucks for this, twenty bucks for that, fifteen buck for something else...Once the other Winnipeg stations come on board with HD, I should be able to get all the prime time stuff in high def free over the air and that's good enough...I don't need to be paying for all the specialty channels in HD

[The Mighty Duck]

Have you tried looking for the content you're missing online? Lots of the network websites will let you stream content for free after it has aired.

And failing that, it's certainly available from other sources. And really, if you're already paying for cable, is torrenting something really much different from using a PVR?

[dr_spock]

Anybody tried building your own with MythTV / LinuxMCE?

[tenpenny]

What does it cost to rent vs owning the pvrs?  I hate renting stuff, it always costs more.

[quadzilla]

The DVR/PVR is the only piece of electronics that haven't advanced or reduced in price like everything else, really sad.

The price of a Rogers PVR is $500 and comes with only a 160GB hard drive. When I can buy a netbook computer for only $300 (or less) that comes with a 250GB drive and a computer inside, how is this right?

Anyway....I also highly recommend getting a PVR. Being able to record two shows and watch another one that is already recorded is great. Watching live TV is so 80's.

As for costs, if you think you will be keeping the PVR, do the math vs renting. I haven't had any issues with mine and I've had it for a few years now.

[Leviathan]

Anybody tried building your own with MythTV / LinuxMCE?

I built a MythTV PVR using a Hauppauge PVR-350 card on a VIA Mini-ITX mobo with a Samsung 160GB drive. Worked really well & was very quiet but didn't do HD so I sold the tuner card.