Expert: cleggsan - 11/9/2009

Question
I have been wanting to get a way to record my favorite shows because the job I just got has hours from 5:30pm - 1:30am. I would like to get some type of dvr or dvd recorder so I have a few questions. First off, I have what most people would call basic cable. It is just the line running from my wall to my tv and I get all the local channels and major networks but nothing more. I read that they have stopped making dvr/dvd recorders with tuners so I don't know how I am going to be able to use one? Secondly, most dvrs require some type of monthly subscription which looks like your paying for nothing more then the program guide to ease recording, is their anyway just to buy a dvr hard drive or dvd redorder with hard drive and record my own shows so that I don't pay each month, and if so why doesn't everyone just buy a dvr or dvd hard drive and not get service? It seems with the dvrs most companies have made it so you can only use it with service and not just use it like a hard drive, but with dvd recorders that have hard drives what's the point? What I want is something to record my shows while im gone, id like to set it to do it automatically, and would rather not have to record it straight to a tape or dvd like a vcr, I would like to have a hard drive like library of all the stuff I've recorded that I can flip thru and pick what I want to watch. I wouldn't mind some type of permanent storage option like the ability to burn to dvd but don't want to HAVE to burn it sraight to it. All in all just being able to easily record what I want and have a library to pick thru is more priority then being able to burn it to something. Sorry for the long entry, trying to give all info, thanks ahead for any help you can give.

Answer
Let me recommend this discussion:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060926122519AA73HPD

and here:

http://www.shopping.com/xPF-Sony-High-Definition-Digital-Video-Recorder-DHG-HDD2...

Maybe that will give you some ideas.  If you are very PC savvy you can devise your own program to record on the HD in the PC.  Adding a tuner and programming your PC for timed recording may be a task.  There are a few links that you can google for that will help you do this.

Hope this gets you started on your quest.  If you find a really neat solution, I would like to know about it, too!