Advantages of a Digital Video Recorder

There was a time not too long ago when VCRs (Video Cassette Recorders) were the only way to record your favorite television shows. With the dawn of the 21^st century, however, and the rapidly advancing technology that it brought with it, we all knew it would be only a matter of time before VCRs would give way to the DVR (digital video recorder).

And when they were first introduced onto the consumer market, digital video recorder boxes were heavy, bulky, and rather expensive. Though the general public realized the potential for such a device, they were hesitant to run out and purchase a digital video recorder for several reasons.

1. New Technology. When brand new technology like a digital video recorder is first introduced into the mainstream public, it is always met with a great degree of skepticism and criticism. With the attitude of "if it's not broke, don't fix it", consumers were quite hesitant to replace their reliable old VCR with a brand new, modern age DVR; especially without some idea of the expected lifetime of such a machine.

2. The Price. As stated previously, the price tag on these Digital Video Recorder machines were far too high for the average family to purchase. Especially with VCRs available as low as $20, the price simply wasn't justified.

However, once people started using the new technology of a Digital Video Recorder, the general public soon found out that these are actually many times better than their old VCR. But what exactly makes the DVR better than the VCR?

1. Storage. Storage is perhaps the biggest advantage when it comes to using a Digital Video Recorder over a VCR. Instead of buying large, bulky tapes that will only hold a couple of hours worth of video, your favorite movies and TV shows will now be stored on the Digital Video Recorder's own internal hard drive.

2. Scheduling. With A VCR, you can schedule a certain time for your machine to start recording and another time for it to stop recording. With a Digital Video Recorder, however, not only can you set the start and stop times, but you can schedule specific dates, configure your DVR to only record brand new episodes of your favorite shows, and much, much more. Furthermore, you don't even have to be near your DVD to record your favorite shows - instead, you can set a recording schedule right from your cell phone, or even start and stop recording immediately!