I am wondering if anyone out there has a DVR but does not have cable? There are some shows that my husband and I like to watch that either have changed days/times that we are not able to watch any more because of our evening schedule (DS bedtime, etc.). We would like to be able to watch them later on evenings when there is nothing on that we care to watch or the weekends.
I LOVE the DVR service - so easy to see the list of shows you missed. We have tried using the laptop to watch online, but sometimes by the time we get around to watching, the episodes are no longer available and the shows we like are more the type to watch in order.
We got rid of the DVR (and the extra charge of it) when we got rid of cable over 2 years ago. Just wondering if anyone out there has a DVR without cable? Or knows of any online sites that have shows available after they might have "left" the network site?
@ M. C - We have tried hulu in the past. But when they started charging we kinda looked elsewhere. I know we would pay extra for a DVR, but just wondering where that extra money might be best spent. The online TV sounds like a great feature, but I don't think we could afford to add $80 to our monthly budget...
Thanks so far!
We do have a VCR in our bedroom that we could use, but were interested in the "automatic" recording and maintenance of a DVR. We DON'T have cable so there aren't stations like TNT/TBS/USA that show our favorites in syndicate. We HAVE tried network (ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX) websites, but after a few weeks, they are no longer available on the network sites.
Might look into netflix or hulu more this weekend.
We cancelled all cable/sat and used a TiVo box. It's about $13 /month and works just like the DVR recording the shows that you get over the air. It worked perfect for us. You can find the actual boxes on some daily sites, or on Craigslist, or buy directly from TiVo.
To record with a DVR you have to have either cable or satellite. So if you got one again, you'd also have to have one of those services.
Netflix costs under $9/month and can be watched on either the TV or the computer. Our daughter has a Wii, which allows us to watch Netflix on our TV.
We used to have cable, which got too expensive. Then we went to satellite--had their cheapest program--and realized that they always had the same stuff on over and over and over. Now we are with Netflix. We don't care if the movies or the TV shows/series are old. Since we never watch regular TV, we've never seen the shows. So to us, they're all brand new.
We actually looked at Hulu.com through our Netflix. I thought it was still a free service; turns out you have to pay. Never did find out how much, because we already pay for Netflix; we're not interested in paying for two of them.
We haven't looked into any other services because right now, we're happy with Netflix. We can watch what we want to watch at any time.
JUST FYI~ those posting saying you must have cable or Sat TV to DVR are wrong wrong wrong. You absolutely do not. I DVR every singe day without it. There are ways if you research it and get the equipment!!! You might need a computer savvy person in your midst, but once it is set up it is as easy as anything else!!!
We decided to go satellite free after 20 years. Hubby did his research. Most of what we were DVR'ing was the regular channels (CBS, NBC, PBS, ABC, etc that we could get over the air with a digital tuner in our newer TVS built in).
So with is research we determined with a computer tower made for this, a big antennae on the roof, and the Xboxes we already had all over the house (they are considered Media Extenders), this would work.
We dropped sat dish and now have the over the air channels, can DVR 2 shows at a time just as we did with Sat dish, and it records to the hard drive of this Media Computer tower. We interface with it thru our four different Xboxes on each TV, and also have Hulu+, Netflix and Amazon Prime (mostly for the shipping and discounts but the added benefit of the shows is nice). We pay about $25 a month for all of the services instead the $120 we were spending. Its all High Def tv channels.
It was an outlay of money as a start up set up, but after about 7-8 mos of no big Sat Tv payment, it was paid off in essence.
We LOVE our system, no big Sat Tv bill each month, worrying about snow or rain fade, etc. We still get to record shows and we do not really miss the few channels we had before (like Food Network, etc). we are so busy, that there is plenty of regular TV for us to watch and enjoy!
Try Boxee Box. It's new so it might not work in your area but it loads to the cloud an you can watch it.
Isn't that Tivo?
Hulu Plus is our cable that and Netflix - can't go wrong less than 20/mo and we watch what we want when we want (mostly). There are a few shows I miss like Rizzoli & Isles but overall well worth it.
Have you tried Hulu.com or HuluPlus.com?
I saw an interview with a company named Aereo that is online TV. $80 for a year subscription, free DVR, etc. They have been up and running for a few months, and are expanding to future cities soon. Madison WI is on the list.
https://aereo.com/plans
Yes, we had a digital antennae installed on our house and used Tivo to record our favorite shows.
DVR records what is broadcast through cable or satellite service. If you don't have a service, there is nothing to record.
Why don't you just buy a VCR and record some shows that you can't see? They are certainly cheap. You can look for some of the stations that run older shows in syndication and record those.
We have a DVR and Dish Network. To get basic service it's only19.99 a month...much better than $80!
I have heard that you can go to the site of the show (NBC,ABC,FOX) and watch the actual program online. Have you tried that?
