Tomsic wrote:
So, lightning struck a friend's house recently and fried most of the
electronics inside including two TV sets, their digital converter
boxes, a telephone answering machine, VCR and a clock radio. One of
the TVs is fixed; the other was replaced with a flat screen type and
we tossed the VCR. It's time to convert to digital.

The question is how should we set up the system so my friend can
record TV shows when he wants. He likes to record shows late at
night and when he's not around and then play them back when he has
time. The VCR worked great; but it doesn't make sense to use tape
any more. What black box should he get to connect to the TV to do
the recording that can be programmed to just record and play back --
no cable, no subscriptions or extra monthly services although I might
convince him to get DSL internet service (he still uses dial up).

TV recording/playback is the essential thing though.

I have TV tuner cards in my computer to do that job. Most come with the
software, but I personally use BeyondTV, which I like for the commercial skip
feature.