How to Get DVR Without Satellite or Cable TV Service

In these trying economic times, many people are canceling their satellite and cable TV service to save money. However, if you disconnect these pay TV subscription services, you may miss the digital video recorder (DVR) that comes with them. A DVR is a very convenient recording medium that uses a hard drive instead of tape or disks to record digital media. Fortunately, there are many ways to get DVR at home without expensive cable or satellite television subscription service. To take advantage of these options, you will need a high quality antenna that can pick up free-to-air digital and HDTV signals. In some cases, you may need to install an amplified indoor or rooftop outdoor antenna. Once you've got your antenna installed, you can begin exploring your DVR options.

TiVo

TiVo is a DVR subscription service that will work either with your cable TV service or with an antenna. The TiVo Premiere, TiVo's basic high definition standalone DVR, can record up to 45 hours of HD programming. The TiVo Premiere XL standalone DVR can record up to 150 hours of HD programming. The TiVo Premiere XL also is THX certified for better audio quality and comes with a premium backlit remote control with a slide-out keyboard. Using TiVo DVR, you can pause, rewind, fast forward and record live free-to-air television. There is a monthly subscription fee to access the TiVo guide service. You can reduce the monthly subscription fee by paying more upfront for the TiVo HD DVR and service. For example, if you choose the TiVo premiere, you can pay $99 upfront and $19.95 per month for the subscription, or $299 upfront and $12.95 per month. The higher upfront fee and lower monthly subscription option will save you a lot of money over several years. TiVo also supports a wide range of streaming Internet apps such as YouTube, Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon Video on Demand, Pandora Radio, Picasa, Twitter and Facebook. To access TiVo's DVR features, you must connect the TiVo DVR into a live phone line. To access web services, you must connect your TiVo DVR to your DSL or cable modem with an Ethernet connection or install an optional wireless adapter to connect it to your wireless home network.

Computer DVR

If you don't want to pay monthly subscription fees for a DVR scheduling service, you can use your home theater PC (HTPC) as a DVR. For best results, your home theater computer should have at least a dual core processor over 2 GHz, 2 GB or more of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive and a high-end graphics card with at least 250 MB of video memory. The more processing speed, memory, video memory and hard drive space your computer has, the better job the computer will do at displaying and recording free-to-air HDTV signals. You will also need a digital PC TV tuner. Some HTPCs come with this type of tuner; however, if you want, you can install a separate tuner. There are both internal and external tuners. You can install an internal tuner in a desktop computer, but the external tuner is best option if you have a laptop. Also, if you plan to watch TV on an HDTV, your computer will need an output that will allow you to use the TV as a separate monitor.

You will also need DVR software to record the TV programs on your hard drive. If you have Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate or Windows 7 Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional or Enterprise, you have Windows Media Center. Windows Media Center will function as DVR software with many internal or external TV tuners to record free-to-air television programs on a computer hard drive.

If not, you may be able to use the software that came with your PC TV tuner to record free-to-air TV programs. There are also other free TV programs for PC, such as MythTV, an open source DVR software program that will run on Windows, Mac OS or Linux. However, MythTV is not for the technologically impaired. SageTV Media Center also runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It costs $79.95 and is much easier to install than MythTV. Another option is SnapStream's Beyond TV DVR software, which runs under Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Other Standalone DVR Options

If you choose a DVR other than TiVo, you will need to look for certain features. The standalone DVR must have a ATSC digital tuner to pick up free-to-air television signals. It should preferably come with a free television guide service for scheduling recordings. It must also have a hard drive with adequate space for storing recorded programming. Other optional features, such as the capacity to record programs in high definition and a DVD recorder for burning programs to disk, may be helpful. Take care to read the product description, since many standalone DVRs are surveillance DVRs not meant for home television recording.

In the past, standalone DVRs for TV recording have been produced by companies such as Pioneer. Many of these have been discontinued but can be purchased used or refurbished. Take care when purchasing one of these units, as they require a TV guide service for recording to function properly. If the guide service has been discontinued or is no longer free, you may not be able to use the standalone DVR unit. For best results, purchase a new unit with a warranty from a seller with a good return policy.

If you can't get a standalone DVR without a subscription, your best choice is to buy a DVD recorder or VCR with an ATSC digital tuner. You can then record TV shows to tape or burn them directly to DVD disks for later viewing.

For more information, read How to Use a Computer Monitor as a TV and How to Increase Digital TV Signal Strength.

Sources:

"Digital video recorders." ConsumerReports.org