DIYbanter - View Single Post - Digital Replacements for Fried TVs and VCR

Robert Neville

wrote:

But if you buy one on ebay, can you use it without a subscription?
That's where I get confused. Why pay a subscription if you're not even
using it? How do they know you're using it? Or do you just pay a flat
fee whether you use it or not? Then again, why not just buy a dvr?
Sure if it blows up, you have to fix or replace it yourself, but isn't
that true of all electronics such as the tv, computer, phone, etc.

The subscription used to allow access to the guide data. No subscription, no
guide data, no recording by program name. You could still use it as a dumb
recorder. Whether they block that now as well I don't know.

The fee is not a lease fee and doesn't allow for free repairs after the warranty
period.