DVRs

does a Tivo still work as a DVR even without a Tivo subscription? i know the tivo can download listings, learn what you like, etc, and i don't care about all that, i just wanna be able to record a show that i already know about so i can watch it later -- like a vcr.
i guess a dvd recorder may be a cheaper option but i dunno about the reliability of rewritable discs. (plus they only hold ~2 hrs i think)
i found a tivo for $174. a good, sony dvd recorder for $110.

I was actually wondering the exact same thing earlier today. I'd love an answer to this question.

tivos do have the ability to be set manually....I have one of the original tivo's from when they first came out...

It was my dad's and the phone modem broke, and was put on the shelf for a couple of years. I finally got bored one night, and broke it open to discover the male end of a PCI connection on the main board, so I hit up google to discover there are Ethernet cards out there that allow you to get the guides and stuff via your broadband.

This tivo did already have the lifetime subscription though, so if you can find one w/ a broken phone modem cheap on ebay or something it might be worth picking it up.....

Either way you can use a tivo w/out the service. It's just a lot more hassle IMO.

here's what i found out only Series 1 Tivos can function without a subscription. Series 2 and above can still pause tv without service, but cannot manually record shows.

i decided to simply use my PC as a DVR. i know there's software for doing it, but i need to find a tuner card that has video-outs. i know the WinTV cards are popular but it looks like none have outputs, only inputs...

[quote98dcde5dd3="gnznroses"]here's what i found out only Series 1 Tivos can function without a subscription. Series 2 and above can still pause tv without service, but cannot manually record shows.

i decided to simply use my PC as a DVR. i know there's software for doing it, but i need to find a tuner card that has video-outs. i know the WinTV cards are popular but it looks like none have outputs, only inputs...[/quote98dcde5dd3]

No TV tuner cards have outputs. You have to get a video card that does that.

Why dont' you spend around $200 for a dvd recorder that has a HDD?? That way you dont' have to worry about rewritable media. It's all there on your hdd.

That's what I did, I think a dvd-r w/o a hd is worthless.

i ordered a factory refurb Series 1 TiVo from eBay. got it in the mail and it refused to boot at all.
emailed the company who was selling them and they sent me a second unit. this one boots up, asks for my area code and zip code, calls a number, downloads and proccesses some data, and then says it needs to make another call (i think to get listings) and gives me a long list of numbers to choose form. no matter which number i choose on this screen (i tried 4 or 5) as soon as i hit Select, the tivo reboots and comes back to the "welcome to tivo" setup screen.
emailed the company again and amazongly they are gonna send a third unit. i decided i'd crack open the first one (the non-booter with the dead harddrive) to see what was up. well, some genius at phillips had simply not plugged in the drive... so it boot sup now, but it has the SAME problem. reboots everytime it tries to make the second phone call.

these are basically pcs, so i thought i'd copy/paste this post from the tivo forum i found, see if anyone might have a clue...