Thread: OTA DVR? ANY GOOD ONES OUT THERE?

My TV watching is strictly OTA and FTA. I would like to be able to record OTA tv. Would like 2 tuners, so I could watch one record one at the same time. So far I see Sony and Magnavox out there. Would like any hands on experiance input. Thanks in advance. Is this even a good idea yet?

Al

You can add TIVO and the Channelmaster 7000.

TIVO charges a monthlly fee, but does have a good interface and a long look ahead guide.

The Channelmaster was designed by Echostar and is essentially a DISH 612. Expensive, but very well thought out and no monthly fees.

Keep an eye out on craigslist.

I just saw a TiVo HD with lifetime service on craigslist for $300, the price of the lifetime subscription itself.

Other HD TiVos are going for less than $100 but these require the monthly subscription.

Originally Posted by AJV

I would like to be able to record OTA tv.

Al

Single tuner, but cheaper than other options.


brite View BV980H Digital Antenna HD DVR with 320GB (BV-980H) from Solid Signal

I use TiVo for OTA. They work great. The best thing to do is watch for a deal on a used one with Lifetime service.

Originally Posted by mike123abc

I use TiVo for OTA. They work great. The best thing to do is watch for a deal on a used one with Lifetime service.

The one they just announced is cable only. No analog or ATSC tuner, just QAM and cablecard.

I have a TIVO Premiere, but I think it only has a single OTA tuner. Multiple cable tuners though.

Originally Posted by jayn_j

The one they just announced is cable only. No analog or ATSC tuner, just QAM and cablecard.

I have a TIVO Premiere, but I think it only has a single OTA tuner. Multiple cable tuners though.

The old Premiere does 2 OTA (2 cable or 1 each OTA/Cable) at the same time. The new Elite just does up to 4 cable at once. It looks like they traded out their 2 OTA tuners for 2 more QAM tuners. Also interesting that they dropped analog cable too. It would make a great FIOS box.

I was waiting for the Channel Master 7400 to come out, but Im starting to wonder if it will ever happen. So now Im looking into TIVO. But I cant swing the lifetime service right now and I read conflicting reports on what TIVO will do for you without service. Some say its just a tuner with no recording capabilities while others say you could do old fashioned timer recordings which would be fine with me till I get another job. Im dying to get a tuner for my old HD ready CRT. The little DTV Pal just isnt cutting it and 69 bucks for a Premier sounds like one way to get HD back. Any other inexpensive solutions out there?

For the TIVO, it really depends on which one you get. The older ones will do time based recording without a subscription. The newer Premiere units are just a brick. They will not allow the box to work at all without a subscription.