JOE29

I'm about to jump into the DVR thing to record mainly sports games for the up coming seasons. So i'm going to need a DVR because of my work schedule. Are there any of them that are compatible with Comcast cable?
Tivo possibly?

Dogg

Assuming Comcast has/supports cable cards, then yes, a Tivo would work.

You could also use a computer/HTPC.

Mr. Salty

Comcast offers its own DVRs. The one I had from them was pretty decent.

JOE29

Yes that true. But it's 17.95 extra a month for as long as you have it. Add up the cost if you have one for a few years. You're paying for a DVR several times over, and over depending on how long you have it.

Spiky

Well, Tivo has an upfront cost, PLUS $15/month. (or just a higher upfront cost) Just to warn you.

Tivo is far superior. I'm not sure about recent Comcast offerings, years ago they were all sh**. They may have improved a bit. I currently use Tivo just for OTA recording and it is great.

Mr. Salty

As Spiky said, you're going to be paying a monthly fee pretty much either way. But ask Comcast whether they have any deals that might waive the fee or lessen it for a while.

cseyer

There is another option which is a SiliconDust HDHomeRun setup. Some up front cost but no monthly fees, can record TV using Windows media center and send live/recorded tv to many different devices like Xbox, connected Bluray/SmartTV's, computers, android devices, etc. Its a little clunky to setup, needs a cable card from your cable company.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-006-_-Product

JOE29

Well, with the monthly fee either way, I guess i'll be trying the Comcast DVR. I'm not happy about the cost every month, but with the others having a monthly cost too.... Where's my VCR at?

Mr. Salty

Again, ask them if they have some sort of deal to offer to get the cost down. As crappy as Comcast can be, when I had them I found their customer retention department more than willing to pile on discounts.

MLBFan24

I had the same thought as well just last week (after renting my cable DVR for the past 2.5 years). I was thinking, why haven't I just bought a TIVO?

I noticed the upfront cost and monthly rate, which didn't make financial sense to me (yes, TIVO hardware is better than my rented DVR. There's no debate there).

I was willing to purchase the lifetime subscription, until I noticed it was $700 total. Nevermind. Sure, I might be paying more with my rented DVR in the long run, but $700 upfront is a big commitment for a TIVO.

JOE29

Thanks for your input everyone. I will try and get some kind of deal.

Mr. Salty

And remember, that's the lifetime of the TiVo. If and when the hard drive dies you start over from scratch.

I hated paying the rental fee on cable DVRs, but at least when there was a problem I got a brand new piece of equipment at no cost to me.

But I cut the cord. Currently I'm using a Channel Master DVR + over-the-air DVR, which uses an external hard drive. There's also no fee for the guide data, but if course it doesn't work with cable.

Spiky

No, you can replace hard drives and keep the lifetime on the box, just like replacing in a computer. And every so often they have deals where you can transfer lifetime to another box, usually when they upgrade the product line. They did it with the Premiere-Roamio upgrade.

Another positive, although not real great, is that they will probably eventually offer a $99 lifetime to those that have had their box a while. So, you've probably already paid $300-400 after years of monthly fees, so they are willing to give a discount on lifetime. But it works out as a rent-to-own type of deal.

soundman2

Since you don't have currently have any dvr or set top box - I am assuming you have basic cable. Anyway an easy option is to have over the air antenna and a dvr ( you can still keep your Comcast cable)

Here is what I have and it works great. For a little over $300 life time NO fee [You recover cost in 18 months of renting dvr]

http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Pape...rds=tv+antenna

http://www.amazon.com/Magnavox-MDR53...x+dvd+recorder

Magnovox is very easy to use - has 320GB hard drive and a dvd recorder. (I have a 500GB one) It upcoverts to 1080i and quality is pretty good

I still have my basic Comcast cable that I use in other rooms. I was recording straight from Comcast cable (QAM tuner) - but jerks decided to scramble basic cable so went the antenna/cable route. I am NOT paying comcast or anyone other company for that matter any more money.

mkdt1985

If you want to go premium and if it's available in your area you could try the X1 DVR service. It's just as advanced as Tivo with an html5 hd interface with internet apps like pandora. It also has a cloud based storage service so you can watch your recorded shows outside of the home on your phone.

Sorry I can't post a link yet.

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