On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:08:21 -0700, wrote:

[1] I spent about 10 years without owning a TV and survived.

I have to agree with Jeff,

Something is wrong. This is Usenet and nobody ever agrees with
anyone, especially me.

I lived the first 18 years of my life
without a TV, and claim it has not distorted my personality, thus you
do not NEED a DVR.

Nicely done. What convinced me to get a TV was:
1. The price. It was free.
2. I was bribed to proof and edit some training videos on Unix.
3. I felt culturally deprived. Friends would mention movies and
actors. I had no idea what they were talking about.

However, you DESIRE a means of recording TV
broadcasts. That can be accomplished by three methods - VCR, DVR
(either stand alone or a computer running something like Myth-TV), or
DVD recorder.

The limiting factor on home made DVR construction is the noise of the
fan. I've built various no-fan schemes in the past. They worked but
all had their limitations and complications. These days, it's easy
enough with SBC (single board computah). I have a DVR integrated into
my DirecTV receiver, which makes an external DVR a marginal
improvement.

It's been over 10 years since I used a VCR for time-shifting. At that
time you set the time it should start and stop recording and tuned it
to the channel. Perhaps things have advanced since then.

Yep. I can connect to the DirecTV web pile and search the program
guide using the user interface from hell. When I find what I want,
usually more by luck than by intent, I can command my home DVR to
record the show. DirecTV sends the commands to the DVR via the
satellite. Also works via my iPhone. There are also some built in
algorithms for recording regularly scheduled shows (e.g. Mythbusters)
and automagically discarding ancient recordings to make room. There's
also an ethernet connection and associated PC program, that allows
playing shows on a PC that are stored on the DVR, or copying the show
from the DVR to the PC. DRM is epidemic, but not too horrible for
home use. I have plenty of complaints and improvement suggestions,
but basically, it works and does roughly what I want.

Certainly with the switch to digital broadcasts you must either have
a separate converter box, or a recorder that incorporates an ATSC
tuner. Using a recorder (VCR, DVR, or DVD) that records the signal
without any analog conversion is preferable - the data stream is
compressed using the MPEG-4 algorithm.

That's how the built in DVR works.

A quick search for VCRs with ATSC tuners brought up a number of them,
all incorporating a DVD recorder. Typical prices were in the
$250-$300 range; a bit rich for my wallet.

The DirecTV DVR cost me nearly zero when I first signed up about 5
years ago. I've replaced it twice for $100 each time. There's a
$5/month charge for the DVR, which is mostly to pay for the program
guide.

It also brought up the
TiVo TCD746320 Premiere DVR at under $80, but that requires a monthly
subscription, something to be viewed with caution. And it brought up
the brite-View BV-980H Digital Antenna HD DVR for $200, no
subscription required. With a 320 Gig hard drive it can hold up to 39
hours of HD programming, or 450 hours of SD programming. That's
equivalent to 75 VHS tapes.

I have a VCR that will record 1280 hrs of security camera stuff per
tape. Duz that count?

I have an old Tivo 2 DVR with a lifetime subscription. NTSC video
only and useless for satellite or cable. It's going on eBay when I
have time to make sure it works and it's updated. I also has a
Philips something DVR and DVD burner combo. Plenty of DVR's but
nothing that's better than the one built into the DirecTV receiver.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS