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October 27, 2004

Subscription free PVR?

I have been looking for months trying to find a PVR/DVR that does not require you to pay a monthly fee. I don't want or need the features that Tivo or Replaytv offer. The only one I found that looks any good is the RCA DCR-7005n. Unforunately, this unit is no longer in production and has several firmware issues. So that's out. So my question is, is there anything out there that is just a bare-bones PVR, with perhaps the free GemStar guide? Are there any new PVRs coming to the market anytime soon?
-- Ted

October 27, 2004 in DVR

Answers

The monthly guide subscription fee is the blades for the razor, esp. with the massive rebates going on now.

You could build a computer in a small-form-factor case, install Freevo or Myth, and get the Zap2It feed gratis -- at least until Zap2It changes their mind. But even buying the parts will probably set you back as much as buying a TiVo and getting the "lifetime" subscription, and that's not even taking into account the time you spend putting it together and installing the OS/software [though KnoppMyth purports to make the OS/software installation nearly automatic].

http://freevo.sf.net/
http://www.mythtv.org/
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html

Posted by: Britain W. at Nov 2, 2004 4:56:06 PM

Well, there are the Pioneer and Toshiba TiVo units that include TiVo Basic and don't require any additional subscription.

There are others - a number of DVD Recorders are also DVRs, recording first to a hard drive and then transferring to DVD.

Posted by: MegaZone at Nov 2, 2004 5:16:48 PM

HELLO, PLEAS SEND ME YOUR PRODUCT AND MAGAZIN FOR ME
THANKE YOU

Posted by: ALI GOUDARZI at Nov 2, 2005 9:52:16 PM

Found this discussion in my search of an easy fee-free DVR solution, and I'm glad to say I've found it. While the DVD recorders that had Tivo Basic are now out of production, Panasonic has a good line of DVD recorders that let you schedule recordings to be saved to the hard drive. Check out the Panasonic site and look for the DVD recorders; they even have product videos. Even right now, Sears has a sale on the ERS20S which gets you a DVR for $170! Hope this helps!

Posted by: Jonathan Salvador at Jan 30, 2006 1:25:04 AM

Panasonic E80H, E85H, E95H all subscription free. I've had the E80H for a few years now (80gb) and its great. Also has a built in DVD-R for going direct to DVD or HDD to DVD. Not all the features of tivo but still A+. Uses Guide+ programming which is free and built into most TV carriers.

Posted by: Mark at Jan 15, 2007 4:41:24 AM

I have the E85H and it's not that great. Doesn't record to -+RW. Only expensive DVD-RAM. And as far as I can tell my cable company, Mediacom strips out the data stream for TV Guide On Screen. On Screen sucks. Why they don't have a system where you can download it online is beyond me. I suppose it might be a bandwidth thing. Can't wait to get a dish and find one of the old DVR's with Free Tivo. With my luck I'll get that and that won't work either.

Posted by: Daniel Middleman at Feb 26, 2007 2:11:14 PM

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