Best Non-Subscription DVR?

ngc5194 asks: "I'm thinking about joining the 21st century and purchasing a Digital Video Recorder. However, I DO NOT want to subscribe to any services. I understand that this will limit what my DVR can do, and I'm fine if it just acts like a solid-state VCR. Given the constraint above (no subscription services), which would be the best DVR to purchase and why?"

If you're worried about artificial limitations....

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

I understand that this will limit what my DVR can do, and I'm fine if it just acts like a solid-state VCR.

Then go with mythTV. Anything else will limit you in some way.

Other options...

[Mizled]

If you don't want to go the *nix route (MythTV) then there is always BeyondTV http://www.snapstream.com/ [snapstream.com] for Windows. It's a one time fee for the software and will act as a Media Center PC just like MythTV. Either option will work fine...I have found MythTV has a little more setup involved. If you don't want to build a DVR then I'm not sure if there are many options available to you.

Missing Information...

[BandoMcHando]

It would be helpful to know what country you are talking about, as this will affect lots of things...

eg here in the UK we have freeeview, which is just a brand name for free-to-air terrestrial digital television, and many DVR/PVRs over here are built with this in mind.

But I have no idea what the situatuion is with non-subscription television services in other countries

Plenty of choice out there

[Snospar]

I use a MythTV [mythtv.org] box which was fairly hard to get working but is simple to use. It can change channels on my Sky Digibox so I can record shows automatically using the built in TV guide. I can archive recordings to DVD or play back DVD's on the same box. It cost around £400 (GBP) to build 2 years ago, with a lot of the money going on a Hauppauge PVR-350 [hauppauge.co.uk] card and a small form factor case.

I've also bought a Pioneer DVR for my father in law, the DVR-540HX-S with 160GB hard drive [amazon.co.uk], this was much the same price and does almost as much as the MythTV box including controlling a Sky box. It's also quieter and lacks the initial setup complexity of the Myth box (meaning less support for me!).

If you want total simplicity go for the prebuilt DVR - for total control it has to be MythTV

Re:If you're worried about artificial limitations.

[PseudoThink]

As a Windows user, I used GB-PVR (http://www.gbpvr.com/ [gbpvr.com]) for 18 months with great success. Just recently switched to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, and am loving that too. It requires a bit more video card, though.

Re:If you're worried about artificial limitations.

[spagetti_code]

box may not looks so good in the living room

Wrong [silverstonetek.com].

and particularly price

I can build one for ~ USD500 - 600. Admittedly without the gorgeous silverstone case.
Not as cheap as a DVR, but no subscription. And much
more functional.

Re:If you're worried about artificial limitations.

[WarJolt]

The downside of MythTV is typically you need a spare PC lying around to get it running. But there are plenty of upsides. It's free as long as you have the hardware. I have a plextor convertx m402u which works with mythtv. You can use supported capture card. Someone has to write a v4l driver for the device, but there are a bunch. If you have cable or antenna you can record one show per tuner device. You'll need a linux system to run the backend, but there is a windows frontend for it. The backend saves all the shows and captures the video. The front end is where you view the video. All you do is connect to the backend with a network. This is a lot of work to setup, but onces it's setup it gives you the freedom of having a portable DVR on your laptop connected wirelessly to a backend DVR sitting in a closet somewhere. It's definately not for everyone.

Plenty of nice-looking HTPC cases out there

[KlaymenDK]

Regarding the article, at www.mythic.tv they sell ready-made MythTV boxes so you don't need mad linux skills. The "Dragon" comes in a Silverstone case whose beauty, I suppose, is debatable (but it's not exactly ugly). But there are plenty of nice-looking HTPC cases out there, you can even find some that look not too far from a SlimDevices Transporter.

Just so you know...

Dreambox

[huha]

If you don't need HDVT capabilities, you might want to try the dreambox series by dream multimedia (http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/index_eng.php [dream-multimedia-tv.de]).
They run Linux and the top-of-the-line model even features interchangeable receivers in case you'll ever need to switch from cable to sat or vice versa.
The box is not quite cheap, but it's a nice thing to have if you don't want to set up a PC for this stuff--it just does what it's supposed to do.
The only problem I've been having is the menu structure, which is--as most of the time with utterly complex gadgetry--way too crowded to be even somewhat intuitive. Luckily, there's a web interface, allowing you to configure and organize movies from your PC.

Re:If you're worried about artificial limitations.

[catdogven]

You can try out http://www.gbpvr.com/ [gbpvr.com], it's a very nice dvr software for windows. It's not open source, but it's freeware. I use it at home, and i'm very pleased with it. You may have to play a little bit with the codecs, to get it working right with your tuner card.

Re:If you're worried about artificial limitations.

[jasonwea]

I'm sorry but I've got to ask the question: How many years since the last time you used MythTV? I find MythTV very easy to use[1].

It's slow and clunky

I run a shared backend and frontend on my Athlon 2000 server which has 3 tuners. When I have 3 recordings active it takes a couple of seconds to start playing a video but other than that..

uses an odd format

My DVB-T recordings come out as bog standard MPEG-2 files. If you're using analog tuners, there are tools available to transcode the Nupple format. mythtranscode even comes with MythTV and has a GUI frontend called MythArchive that can even burn video DVDs.

and has a god-awful interface

I'm running the MePo Theme [comcast.net] on my frontend and I love it.

It's so ridiculously focused on TV that you have to go up 5 levels of menus, then down 5 more, to look through the other videos you have available.

This is a gross exaggeration. See the screenshots linked to above. "Media Library" contains "Watch Recordings" which is for TV recordings (third screenshot) and the next item down is "Watch Videos" which lists all my XviD, VIDEO_TS, etc files as they are laid out on disk from my file server (which happens to be the same box).

And to get back to the TV programs? Yep, just as many steps.

Press the back button twice (once to leave Videos, again to return to Main Menu). Or if you have spare keys on your remote, you can bind buttons to jump straight to whatever screen you want.

[1] Yes it is harder to setup than some other solutions and there's far more configuration options that can be a bit confusing (hint: defaults are generally fine).

If you can get your tuners working (I'll assume DVB tuners) in Xine or similiar or even just scanning correctly (tzap, scan), it's an apt-get and 10 minutes of configuring your channels and playing with some preferences to suit your taste. There's many howtos out there on how to do all this.

</rant>

Edit: I forgot the obligatory "I know I'm going to be modded down for this" :)

Re:If you're worried about artificial limitations.

[knorthern knight]

Analog TV goes off the air in the USA Feb 17, 2009 and Canada Aug 31, 2011. North of the Rio Grande, you'll be using an ATSC TV set. In the USA, and in major Canadian cities, the old NTSC TV stations are already being double-banked with digital ATSC (in many cases HDTV) equivalants, so digital is a reality now. ATSC tuners can pull in PSIP [thesoundcompany.net] data. To quote from the website...

PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) PSIP is a standard set by the ATSC that provides a methodology for transporting DTV system information and electronic program guide data. It allows broadcasters to identify themselves when you tune their channel. It can be information such as call letters and channel number. It can also convey up to 16 days of programming information. Consumer receiver manufacturers can use PSIP data to display interactive program guides to aid navigation of channels in the DTV receiver.

Re:Clarify your question

[Kemahsabe]

I have a Toshiba RD-XS32 with 80GB HD and DVD player/recorder. Paid $250 for it a year ago. I use it primarily as a solid-state VCR although it has many other functions. It will pause live TV. I can record a program, edit out the commercials and save it on a DVD. I've transferred video from a video camera (analog or digital) to the HD, then edited the result and saved it to a DVD. Works for me. Does more than I'd ever want or need and I don't have to pay a subscription.

Oh Oh, Read Me!

[Anonymous Coward]

For a stand alone digital VCR here is the best solution.

Go here http://justdeals.com/Items/gs_ptv100 [justdeals.com]? and get yourself a series 1 Tivo. $60

Buy a big IDE hard drive from newegg.com $50 - $??

Buy some DIY software from http://www.9thtee.com/tivo-instantcake.htm [9thtee.com]. $20

The Series 1 Tivo does not require a subscription to work. You can schedule recordings for a channel, time, and duration. So now you have a piece of hardware built just for recording TV without a monthly fee. In the future if you decide to subscribe and get all the cool Tivo features, you can.

Re:DVR cable box

[demon]

Except [phil-schwartz.com] for [battellemedia.com] the [deepjiveinterests.com] fact [davehitt.com] that [lincolnsblog.com] they [toscano.org] really [xent.com] suck [tivocommunity.com]...

Some pitfalls of rolling your own

[jbarr]

MythTV, BeyondTV, SageTV (my preferred), Windows Media Center, and any of a number of PC-based solutions are available to provide subscription-free DVR capabilities. But it doesn't come easy. Just be aware that Satellite companies and Cable companies are not making it easy for roll your own users. If you have local OTA or analog cable signals, it should be a no-brainer to set up the channels and the inputs, but if you use set top boxes (STB) you introduce some complexity that goes way beyond Joe Sixpack's capabilities. You need a way to control the STB's, so you either need to use IR blasters or serial/USB control which varies from STB to STB.

If you want a completely compatible DVR, then you really need to go with one supplied from your Cable or Satellite provider. Of course, that goes against your "no subscription" requirements. You typically have to pay a subscription, and you cannot typically "do anything" with the recordings other than watching them (like transcoding to an iPod, burning to DVD, etc.) But you do get 100% compatibility. And if you want to record HD content, be prepared for disappointment. Unless you use a cable or satellite provided DVR, you WILL NOT be able to record most Cable or Satellite HD content without their proprietary DVR's. There really is no exception to this (in the consumer-level price range.) If you have local broadcast HD content or unencrypted HD content over cable (satellite encrypts it all) you will NOT be able to (inexpensively or easily) roll your own HD DVR for recording. The excellent HDHomeRun [www.silicondust] box does a fantastic job of providing recordable content to such PC-based DVR's but it requires "clear" signals--no premiums, unless your cable company inadvertently leaves them unencrypted. And though HDHomeRun is an excellent product, it's certainly not Joe Sixpack-friendly.

I have an amazing SageTV setup that the wife just LOVES, but I dread the day when I have to switch from cable to DirecTV (which may be sooner than later) because of the technical tweaking and changes I'll need to make to accommodate multiple DirecTV receivers. And, of course, we will NOT be able to record HD. That will have to be done with a DirecTV HD DVR.

For me, it was all about features, so we weer willing to incur extra cost, but if it's about the cost, then you really need to assess which is more economical. So, calculate how much it will cost you to build a subscription-free setup, and then amortize that cost over say, two or three years, and see which is cheaper, the home-built subscription-free DVR, or a subscription.