What ever happened to DVR's? We own one of these Philips DVRs and absolutely love it. But why can't you purchase one unless you get suckered into a monthly service fee or included with a far too expensive cable bill? What ever happened to DVR's? We own one of these Philips DVRs and absolutely love it. But why can't you purchase one unless you get suckered into a monthly service fee or included with a... » Read More What ever happened to DVR's? We own one of these Philips DVRs and absolutely love it. But why can't you purchase one unless you get suckered into a monthly service fee or included with a far too expensive cable bill? « Show Less
832598
TiVo killed the market. They won patent suits and now all DVRs that record to hard drives (as opposed to other media) are either built by TiVO or licensed by TiVO.
1919900
Thanks so much for the response! My husband suspected as much. The DirectV tech is coming back Sun. 1/1 to install the HD DVR receiver for the sum of $129 which includes running another cable (for $50). We question this extra cable thing and wonder if it will be necessary. I'll report the results. If the problem is not fixed, we will return the set as I refuse to watch a 'stretched out' picture!BTW, our 32' Sumsung (also new) in another room, already on the satellite DVR, does have that setting to enlarge and the picture is fine. HOWEVER, the blacks are too black (dark objects seem to run in together) even though I've tried all the adjustments. Any suggestions?Thanks again. Thanks so much for the response! My husband suspected as much. The DirectV tech is coming back Sun. 1/1 to install the HD DVR receiver for the sum of $129 which includes running another cable (for $50). We question this extra cable thing and wonder if it will be necessary. I'll report the results. If the problem is not fixed, we will return the set as I refuse to watch a 'stretched out' picture!BTW, our 32' Sumsung (also new) in another room, already on the satellite DVR, does have that setting to enlarge and the picture is fine. HOWEVER, the blacks are too black (dark objects... » Read More Thanks so much for the response! My husband suspected as much. The DirectV tech is coming back Sun. 1/1 to install the HD DVR receiver for the sum of $129 which includes running another cable (for $50). We question this extra cable thing and wonder if it will be necessary. I'll report the results. If the problem is not fixed, we will return the set as I refuse to watch a 'stretched out' picture!BTW, our 32' Sumsung (also new) in another room, already on the satellite DVR, does have that setting to enlarge and the picture is fine. HOWEVER, the blacks are too black (dark objects seem to run in together) even though I've tried all the adjustments. Any suggestions?Thanks again. « Show Less
228640
you can pay monthly, i don't know the price, probably 15???? or you can pay upfront, for the life of the unit, which is what i did, 500 if you dont have an existing tivo or 400 if you do, i did so it was 400 for life of the unit subscription. i don't know the cost of the new tivo subscriptions, there is a new model, probably more expensive. i just got Western Digital dvr expander, and hooked it up to my premier tivo for more memory, 99 here on amazon, very happy with it.
1147031
Probably not, Kelly, you will still need a cable card from TWC. The cable card should be far less expensive than the TWC DVR, though. Also, I found the TiVo to be much more responsive in channel selection than the Bright House DVR which it replaced. Waiting multiple seconds for channels to change was the frustration that prompted the investment in the TiVo.
1535081
I can't say I've had the problem, the picture thru my Charter cable DVR is amazing! I go to anyone else's house, and despite more costly tv's, no one has a picture to match it. I've got 1080P all the way even with my blue ray player.
1147029
It wont be free but the fee will be minimal. You will need to lease a cable card from your cable company, usually only a couple of dollars a month. With that the dvrs from twc and comcast are pointless.
1812169
Dear B. Cameron There are at least two reasons why you might want a DVD recorder with a built in tuner. 1. In my case, I don't have a TV with a digital (ATSC) tuner. I have a 2003 HD television with an analog (NTSC) tuner, and I receive my TV signal over-the-air via an outdoor antenna. When the digital transition occurred earlier this year, I had a limited number of choices if I wanted to keep my current TV and free OTA set-up: I could buy a converter box and have the digital signal converted to analog for my TV; I could buy an external digital tuner; or I could buy a DVD player with a built in digital tuner and get the best possible picture with a DVD player/recorder thrown in to boot. I chose the last option and bought the Toshiba DR560. My set-up has some drawbacks... like, if the DVD player breaks I get no TV signal while it's in the shop, and I can't record one program and watch another at the same time; but over all I'm happy with it because it is just what I need and no more. If you have a similar set-up and have questions of a more specific nature, I'd be glad to respond. 2. The QAM tuner should allow you to receive and record unscrambled digital cable channels directly, without renting a set-top box. Cable providers don't advertise this, and some may even insist that it isn't true; but they are required by the FCC to provide rebroadcasts of locally broadcast programs in analog, or in unencrypted HD digital format, so that customers are not forced to rent their digital-to-analog set top boxes. You will only receive unscrambled signals of locally broadcast programs in this way, and these may vary from locale to locale. I do not have any personal experience with this set-up, but if you are interested, there is a more in depth description at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAM_tuner. There may be other advantages to having a tuner included in the DVD recorder/player, but I wouldn't know `cause I'm not that well versed in the technology. Hope this was helpful.
1787241
That's interesting. I wonder why it's called a DVR. I actually had the same question as Dennis, thanks for your reply.OK. I just got off the phone with tech at Archos and both the home and travel DVR do record from TV, VCR and DVD player. The main difference is the Home DVR dock is not travel friendly because of size/weight and there is no "s" plug on the travel dock.
300755
I just got a 199 offer on my roamio hd or 9.99 per month. keep in mind the lifetime is not transferrable; once your TiVo dies, it would cost you 149 to get a refurbed replacement.
495785
Yes, I still pay the DVR service fee, the only reason I bought from amazon was that this place I live already had a dish service dish and it's really rural and was going to take 3 weeks for them to come out and set up the equipment. I took a chance that the dish was pointed in the right direction and bought the receiver and Joey so I could get set up as soon as amazon got me the equipment. Luckily the dish it self was in fact already dialed in. Hope this helps.
718374
I have had excellent results with the CIB DVR, they are priced pretty cheap. They have internet & phone/tablet viewing capability also. Mine was $120 without the SATA Hard Drive, since I already had a hard drive, but they are not much more for one that includes a hard drive pre-installed.
1995764
You can buy a stand alone OTA DVR from other companies that do not require a subscription, and use the program guide direct from the TV stations. The guide will normally be only 4-12 hours into the future whereas Tivo will be a week or two. The OTA EPG guides can also have errors and many stations do not maintain them properly; many just show the name of the program and no other information, IF THAT. (The difference is quite noticeable.) Setting up recording is like an old VCR... you tell it channel number, time on and time off. It doesn't know repeats or if a showtime was changed, etc. With the Tivo, you can set up 'Season pass' where it will record the shows automatically, skip repeats and make adjustments for programming changes. It has very complete episode information and Tivo will 'learn what you like' then recommend shows for you. You get a lot for that $15 a month. I am currently using a standalone OTA DVR and I am considering going back to Tivo now that they have a better unit... it's worth it.
1615153
i would also love an answer to this question! i'm finding it impossible to find a dvd recorder that does not connect to a tv directly through a receiver box..........i'm way past aggravated w/ the whole thing! why can't they make products as good as they used to?
1524431
Keep in mind that this is a HDD and not really a DVR. The significant difference being you pay no monthly service charge renting the unit to a satellite company. I have had mine up and running for a couple of months now, and really like it. By it having a 1 Terabit hard drive, I doubt it very much you will run out of recording space. The significance between this HDD and a DVR, is that you can dub directly to a DVD. Also, the external jacks allow you to copy anything that will connect to it. So if you have old VHS tapes, you can convert them to digital to the hard drive, then copy to a DVD. A DVR cannot do this. This unit will allow you to receive both analog and digital TV reception because it has a built in tuner. Magnavox was the only one on the market that I checked into that was even close to buying. It was very easy to set up and get started using. I don't think you would be disappointed if you bought one, especially if you don't wan't to pay the crazy monthly cable fees.
1158602
I had almost the same set-up as you do. When I switched my bill went down 7 dollars. I had 2 dual dvr receivers, and a regular receiver. However, I switched back to them the same night. The joeys kept freezing, like every 2 minutes. I could record four shows on the one unit, but if you did not want to watch that show at the time you were stuck with the three other prime time channels in the group. If, you wanted to watch a different channel at this time, you had to take over a TV in the other room. I called them that night and went back to my old set-up the same week. I would say stay away from the hopper. I had almost the same set-up as you do. When I switched my bill went down 7 dollars. I had 2 dual dvr receivers, and a regular receiver. However, I switched back to them the same night. The joeys kept freezing, like every 2 minutes. I could record four shows on the one unit, but if you did not want to watch that show at the time you were stuck with the three other prime time channels in the group. If, you wanted to watch a different channel at this time, you had to take over a TV in the other room. I called them that night and went back to my old set-up the same week. I would say stay away... » Read More I had almost the same set-up as you do. When I switched my bill went down 7 dollars. I had 2 dual dvr receivers, and a regular receiver. However, I switched back to them the same night. The joeys kept freezing, like every 2 minutes. I could record four shows on the one unit, but if you did not want to watch that show at the time you were stuck with the three other prime time channels in the group. If, you wanted to watch a different channel at this time, you had to take over a TV in the other room. I called them that night and went back to my old set-up the same week. I would say stay away from the hopper. « Show Less
1202099
the Vudu app is on there, and I have a subscription, but for some reason the movies keep stalling saying there's an issue with the internet connection. Yet any other app I use, like Nexflix and Amazon, are fine. I never had trouble with Vudu on my old DVR, but it's unusable on this one.
941901
I never tried to go through a service after warranty. However based on the price of this item, repairing it wouldn't make much sense. By the time the warranty goes out, the value of the DVR is not even couple hundred dollars ...