Record TV without computer rant

[RandyL]

After a full day and night of shopping and researching here in the USA I'm exhausted and not happy. I am old though.

 

Remember the good old days when all you had to do to record your TV program to watch later on VHS? (Or BETA even) Well those days are gone.

 

I have 2 VCR's and 1 DVD/VCR that I can record on. Unfortunately the DVD side of the latter no longer can record. It can read disks. So I thought I could just go out and buy a new DVD recorder to record my programs on DVD just like my last unit through a straight coaxial connection.

 

This is no longer possible. They don't make DVD recorders with a tuner like they did with the old VCR's any more. Now if you want to record on a DVD recorder you have to have a set top tuner. This means you have to have a DVR or a HD tuner/converter.

 

There is no coaxial cable input in recorders these days so even recording in standard format is not an option.

 

With cable or satellite providers for a TV service this means you have to pay a monthly charge for those. There is no option to buy one outright without a service plan. With 4 TV's this amounts to about $45 to $85 a month depending on who you go with.

 

With TWC I'm already paying about $80 a month for just a standard format raw cable feed. No HD. No DVR. No Tuners.

 

It does not matter if I choose Direct TV or Dish Network once you figure in the all the hidden charges after the initial buy in period the price goes up.

 

All I wanted was the low end TWC package with 67 channels which used to be 75 chanels in standard non-HD format which I could record for everyday watching. Not even HD.

 

But now since you can't buy a VCR anymore it seems I have to buy in to multiple tuners through the providers which includes a monthly charge for the rest of your life.

 

It seems I can't record free TV on 2 TV's in standard format anymore unless I want to double my original price like I used to be able to do in the good old days of VCR.

 

I'm not willing to pay 3 months income just to record old "I love Lucy" episodes etc. I think the providers fooled the FCC to increase profits pleading copyright protection.

 

I'm mad as hell.

[Plastic Nev]

Next best bet Randy is trawl the second hand shops, see if you can pick up a working DVD machine that way.

Also is there not a chance of buying a new DVD RW drive to fit the original machine? Surely the drive itself may be just the same as a computer drive. I would be taking it apart if it were me, just to see if that were possible.

 

Nev.

[RandyL]

Maybe I should have a look inside. I could probably use it as a tuner for a dvd recorder but what a mess. As it stands now I can't even burn my camcorder movies to dvd since I don't have a recorder. My camcorder uses RCA cables to transfer.

[RandyL]

I had a look inside Nev. It's nothing like a PC burner. It has 4 some kind of ribbons coming from somewhere inside the drive through the under side of the burner. The connectors to the unit are soft. I managed to rip them off the unit by accident but was able to reconnect them. So I'm back to having a dvd player. It was worth a try.

 

My advice to anyone who has a dvd recorder is to save your old vcr's and maybe latch on to any you find. This way you can use them as a tuner for the new tunerless dvd recorders and record TV programs. Of course there will be no timer function though.

 

I still have 3 functional vcr's and plenty of tapes so for now I'll use those. I refuse to pay extra for a dvr service untill I absolutely have to.

 

I suppose the cable and satellite companies love the new laws. It surely fills their coffers.