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Leonard asked us:
I watch TV and DVR a lot of shows. Is there some type of product out there like AT&T or Time Warner have, a DVR for consumers?
There are a few DVRs for consumers, but unfortunately, they really are few. The Nuvyyo Tablo can record over-the-air TV and stream it to various devices including Chromecast and AppleTV. It will not come cheap, it costs $220 and requires a $5 a month subscription to work, but it has a nice user interface and it plays nice with devices you may already have.
If you want a more traditional solution, the ChannelMaster DVR+ has been around for years, it’s a little more expensive at $250, but you won’t have to pay for a subscription to continue to use the service.
There are a few DVRs for consumers, but unfortunately, they really are few.
The main strike against the ChannelMaster is that it’s not a fully self contained product, it requires that you bring your own hard drive, if you want WiFi, that’s an extra module too, if you don’t already have an antenna, you will need to get one. Considering all streaming sticks seem to be able to bundle in WiFi at a total cost of $40, it seems kind of strange that a much larger device that costs a lot more will require you to pay extra for WiFi support.
The other popular option is trying to access content online, it’s not always as straight forward as it should be, sometimes it’s actually easier to get it from illegal sites than it is from legal ones, but there are more and more ways to view content online these days without having to put on an eye patch and setting a trusty bird on your shoulder first.
Hulu has a lot of annoying and very repetitive ads, but they also do tend to keep a good library of current episodes, even if you’re not a subscriber.
A lot of the network’s own websites allow you at least partial access to shows if you don’t have a cable subscription (or don’t want to put on that eye patch and borrow a friend’s subscriber number).
TiVo Roamio is another interesting choice. The device costs $49.95 for the OTA-only (Over-The-Air) version with a one year commitment for DVR service at $12.50 per month. Depending on which model you get, it will accept input from digital cable, Verizon FIOS, or over the air with an HD antenna, which is where we presume you are.
The OTA-only version holds up to 500 hours of recording. The $200 model that also supports digital cable and Verizon FIOS doubles that for 1000 hours of recording. TiVo Mini is a $149 remote viewing box that lets you have whole-house DVR viewing and control.
And of course there are apps for your smartphones and tablets. TiVo is one of the oldest and most widely recognized names in DVR software and that’s a big reason to always give them a look.