Any OTA DVRs that do not have monthly subcription payments?

jmc

jmc

Active member
#1
#1
Last time I check around ( a fair while ago) all the blackbox digital DVRs
forced you to subscribe to a payed monthly service. (in USA)

Still that way? I just want a simple blackbox that record over the air shows
just like my old VHS tape recorder did. I have yet to find such a thing.

I don't mind plugging an external tv antenna into a few hundred dollar blackbox.
But I'm not going to do that with my $2500 pc just to record a few tv shows.
(Florida, thunderstorm capital of the world)

My last "old pc" died from swollen capacitors.

Hmm, I also have stacks of old hard drives... 13G,320Gig,500G,750G.
Not sure if they are worth the trouble to try to put to use with piecemeal storage or not.


Thanks,
jmc
 
Dan203

Dan203

Senior Developer
Staff member
#2
#2
Channel master makes one. Haven't used one myself, but it's gotten ok reviews. You can either buy one with a small 16GB SSD for $250 and add your own drive or get one with a 1TB drive for $400.

Also it's not subscription free, but TiVo has a Roamio OTA now for just $50 + service. At $15/mo it would take about 2 years before you caught up to the price of the Channel Master.
 
jmc

jmc

Active member
#3
#3
Dan203 said:
Channel master makes one. Haven't used one myself, but it's gotten ok reviews. You can either buy one with a small 16GB SSD for $250 and add your own drive or get one with a 1TB drive for $400.

Also it's not subscription free, but TiVo has a Roamio OTA now for just $50 + service. At $15/mo it would take about 2 years before you caught up to the price of the Channel Master.
Click to expand...
I'll look into those.

The monthly fee thing is a real "poke in the ribs" for me tho.

On the bright side... I would not have to buy the Big Bang Theory boxset each fall.

Thanks!
jmc
 
L

lew

New member
#4
#4
You can buy a used tivo, with lifetime service, on ebay for far less then the $250 the channel master seems to cost.
 
jmc

jmc

Active member
#6
#6
lew said:
You can buy a used tivo, with lifetime service, on ebay for far less then the $250 the channel master seems to cost.
Click to expand...
Thinking I've just read something about the "lifetime service" being tied to the device (not you).
So if the device dies or you change it the "lifetime service" is gone!

If correct... not acceptable.

jmc
 
unitron

unitron

New member
#7
#7
jmc said:
Thinking I've just read something about the "lifetime service" being tied to the device (not you).
So if the device dies or you change it the "lifetime service" is gone!

If correct... not acceptable.

jmc
Click to expand...
Yep, that's why they call it "Product Lifetime Service".


Being attached to the unit gives the unit some resale value.

And if you get hit by a bus the rest of the family can still use it when they get back from your funeral.

Not sure what you mean by "...or you change it...", unless you mean getting a newer TiVo.

In which case you can keep the older one to service a spare TV in another room, and if you're recording OTA you don't have to worry about the CCI bit the cable companies love to slap on stuff, so you can copy shows from one TiVo to the other.
 
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