How do you record TV shows these days?

[Infi-del]

My mother still uses a VCR to record her "Soaps" and Dr. Phil and all that crap onto VHS Tapes. Problem is, when she goes out of town for a week one tape won't cut it. She has basic cable. Is there such a thing as a DVR that doesn't require a subscription? Basically like a 200GB recording device that I can just run a set of RCA cables into and program it to record at a certain time on a certain channel? Or am I gonna have to get her some stupid subscription to a Tivo or something like that? I appreciate any advise. I don't really watch much TV nor do I have any need to record it... so my knowledge on this subject is about 15 years out of date.

 

[dustyzz]

Short answer is yes you can buy a basic DVR without a subscription service, however the feature sets on those devices is extremely limited... google "DVR" for more info.

 

[Alanp]

Cable company should be able to offer you a DVR, I don't know what they charge but it should be fairly minimal $5/month?

 

[cobra4246]

I second what Alanp says the cost is not much

 

[moonwilson]

My DVR costs me $5 a month through the cable company. It's well worth it. Once you have a DVR, you'll never want to watch TV without it again.

 

[Planterz]

Many shows are available thru Hulu, or you can torrent them through thepiratebay.org quite often, if they show's popular enough. That's how I've been watching stuff like Deadliest Catch and Ultimate Fighter the past few months since my TV is piratically dead. Of course, about an hour ago I just bought a 42" HDTV, so I'll be back to DVRing stuff like I used to. DVRs are great. Set and forget. No tapes to change, no worrying that you forgot to set the timer, no worries about time zone or DLS changes. Well worth the cost. The only danger is recording so much stuff that you might not have bothered recording/watching otherwise.