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I was thinking that, since you can record stuff on TV with a VCR without any fancy equipment, then you could also do it with a DVR without a cable or satellite box. I have basic cable. Now, I'm being told that I'd have to upgrade my service to get a cable box to hook it up and pay at least $50 extra a month. That sounds crappy to me...I don't want to upgrade and get 100 new channels that I'll never watch.
Is there any way to hook it up without a cable or satellite box?
don't think so. You need their box with the built in DVR. I'm surprised they wanted 50.00 more. I pay I think about 7.95 for the box.
I'm sure that 7.95 fee just covers the monthly rental fee for the DVR, not the actual digital service itself. If it DOES cover the digital service, you've got one hell of a good deal there. But I think the extra $50 the OP is speaking of refers to the additional cable package that includes digital service. Basic cable itself is very cheap. But our digital service alone, minus phone and internet, is $85. Throw in the phone and internet and our monthly bill is over $130. This stuff ain't cheap, that's for sure.
I ended up getting TiVo and it seems to be working out so far (no big issues on its first day). I was really surprised that it's only about $13 a month. I can definitely handle that. My cable company was trying to charge me about $70 extra to upgrade for 100 extra channels that I'd never watch. If I want to watch a movie, I'll get Netflix, thank you. I don't need all those bizarre, racy cable movie channels. Of course, it wasn't totally cheap. The TiVo box was $300
I not stressing out too much, though, I'll probably keep it for ten or more years. I have a habit of hanging onto things until they completely fall apart.
A DVR is just like a VCR. The "Digital" designation simply means that it records in a digital format (hard disk) instead of analog (videotape).
As you've already discovered, a TiVo will work just fine with basic cable.
I've been running a DVR in the form of a Windows Media Center PC for 4 or 5 years. It will do everything the TiVo does, plus store and play all my music, catalog pics from my digital camera, give me access to my DVD collection with the press of a button on the remote, access to virtually any online audio/video... I can even run Flight Simulator on my widescreen TV.
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But I think the extra $50 the OP is speaking of refers to the additional cable package that includes digital service. Basic cable itself is very cheap. But our digital service alone, minus phone and internet, is $85. Throw in the phone and internet and our monthly bill is over $130. This stuff ain't cheap, that's for sure.
