Well, I'm tired of missing Mythbusters because I need to wake up at 7:00 every morning, and before I start hammering people for their old crap VCR and VHS casettes, I was wondering: does anyone know of a inexpensive Digital Video Recorder?

They seem to be less commonly available than DVD-R setups (which would also work, though it'd be less convenient since you'd have to buy DVDs). Really, all I want is something that can record an hour or two of video footage each night, so I can watch it the next afternoon.

TiVO is basically the exact opposite of what I need--my father owns it, and it barely uses any of the functions, and I certainly don't need the monthly subscription fee. No subscription systems, please, just something I can buy once and forget it until it breaks. I don't need to stream the footage to my PC or my nonexistent PSP or anything that fancy--just record it and save it for later, like an old VCR.

Any suggestions?

Are you okay with possibly turning your PC into one? I know exactly what you are talking about, I have been wanting one too...basically, a VCR with a hard drive instead of tapes. I also don't need all the guide data, subscriptions, etc, I have been looking for a bare basics DVR too...Companies like TiVo don't consider that some of us prefer function over bells and whistles...

BUT, I did come up with a solution that works for me at least. If you don't mind spending a little for a quality TV tuner card for your PC, from Hauppauge, ATI, or other manufacturer, they all come with basic DVR/PVR functionality, and if you don't mind watching them on your PC, it works. If you get the right models, you might even be able to get HD QAM signals over your cable, depending on the cable company. The TV Viewing programs that come with the TV Tuner cards usually have basic recording features, and if you want more, you can download third party programs that have more TiVo type functions. They simply don't make bare bones DVRs, so people like us will either have to fork over for a TiVo subscription, or find another alternative that does what we need it to. I suggest exploring the possibility of turning your PC in an HTPC by adding a tuner. I have had very few complaints with mine, and I don't have anything close to a top notch high end PC, and after the cost of the Tuner itself, it hasn't cost me a dime.

Is that the same as a hard drive recorder? You can get them in the UK from £45 on sites like ebuyer.

they are exceedingly hard to find here though. Stores like Best Buy and Circuit City carry the TiVos, and you can get DVR functionality if you subscribe to digital cable, but, most stores here simply don't have a basic hard drive recorder type DVR. Its like wanting a compact car, but the only dealers in town carry nothing but SUVs...

i paid about 70 at Wal-Mart for my RCA DVR recorder... its a combination dvd player and recorder and I love it... Maybe you could try something like that?

I might end up getting a DVD-R player, and simply leaving a single DVD-RW inside for a long period of time (as long as its useable).

As davious said, DV-R are near impossible to find (due in part to a lawsuit filed by Cable Broadcasters, I think), and those that are available are mostly the sort designed to allow streaming to the PSP or use flash memory or other weird stuff.

I'm familiar with video cards with built-in tuners, but frankly, I'd like to avoid more modifications to my PC (furthermore, my PC and my main TV set are in different rooms--bedroom and living room, respectively).

Seems like DVD-R is the only option...you can get them off NewEgg for around $70, which is more or less what I intend to pay for one. Basically, it's either a DVD-R, or a new game like 'Mass Effect'.

Anyone have any model recommendations?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16882676090

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I actually checked out reviews on Cnet for that particularly model...unfortunately, they were pretty abysmal, otherwise I would have picked it up (I have good luck with Samsung products, but I'm not going to chance it).

There are some other models that have better feedback, though they are marginally more expensive.

I've seen both good and bad feedback on it. For example on newegg out of 5 user reviews there are 3 excellent, 1 good, and one poor. The poor review was based on the disc not playing in other dvd players, which of course was the user not finalizing the discs. But I hear what you're saying though