Stand alone DVR

[ajpoe]

My brother asked me if there was such a thing as a stand alone DVR. I have Tivo so i've never looked for something like this. He just wants the simplicity of recording cable to a HDD, watch it and then delete it. He doesn't even care about a guide or anything. He just wants to set recording times like a VCR. We know we can build a computer to do this job, but he wants something small like a DVD player to just use in his bedroom. He'd like to spend $250 or less if possible. I found a Pioneer DVR/DVD recorder in that price range but it only burns to disk and lets u watch from the start of a show via memory buffering. It also only has 6 hours max per disk and he'd rather have up around 20 hours total to work with. The only unit by Pioneer that has a HDD in it jumps the price up to $800. Are there any simple stand alone boxes out there like a VCR that use HDD?

[Shane Martin]

A cheap 40 gig Tivo for $100 would do the trick. Can buy one direct from Tivo for $100 with free shipping and a 30 day guarantee.
http://www.tivo.com/2.1.1.asp
He'll have to pay the monthly fee for the service though but that's no biggie.

[ajpoe]

Yeah, he didn't care about the features of Tivo and was wondering if there's something like a VCR where he would't have to subscribe to any services.

[Andrew Pratt]

There was a JVC DVD recorder that had a hard drive in it and was set up similar to what he wanted but it was discontinued. Most of the DVD recorders that use DVD-RAM offer features closer to Tivo but you're limited in length of recording time..though you can resue the discs. As shane points out though a cheap Tivo is likely your best option.

[ajpoe]

Thanks guys. I suggested that he just suck it up and get the Tivo too. Most people don't realize how great it is until they've actually used it.