Worse than "next best" is that the FCC has allowed a plan to proceed where content owners will, at will and when they feel like it, SHUT OFF all non HDCP connections. Yes, we are talking about content provided by sat and cable. As presented to the FCC, the shut off of all non-HDCP connections would occur for select content, not necessarily all. So, yeah, corporate Big Brother is effectively gonna come in to your home and essentially disconnect all your analog outputs whenever they feel like, just cause they can--NO WAIT--because our government has given its blessing to do it. This news was well covered at the time (a month or 2 ago?) and CNET also ran the story. Do a Google search and see for yourself.
Of course non of this address the Fair Use provision (allowing recordings and copies of such recordings for personal use--and the precedent is for 3rd party devices such as VCR's DVD recorders, etc. not for limiting Fair Use to only DVR's) and it seems the FCC could not care less about Fair Use or the notion that the consumer ought to have the ultimate authority as to which output he or she wishes to view or record the content.
I have a few of my NON-DVR Dish boxes connected to DVR recorders (DVD RAM and internal HDD) that act as a DVR (my Panny DVD Recorders). Yes, I do record HD content (the PQ is so much better than the SD Dish channel) to my Panny DVD recorders using, obviously, my analog outputs. Watching back in SD is fine for our uses for it, like CNN, the local news, etc. That is just one example of Fair Use and analog outputs being active to allow me to exercise my right to 3rd party recorders without having to pay Dish for another DVR unit or some such other solution.