DVD recorder with digital tuner recommendations?

November 9, 2009 5:50 PM

I don't have cable or satellite, don't want cabe or satellite, but I want to be able to do timer recordings of TV shows to DVD. I believe this requires a DVD recorder with a digital tuner. Where do I find a good one for $150 or less? And setup tips and/or traps to avoid greatly appreciated as well.
posted by Dolley to Technology (8 answers total)

Your question is a bit tough to understand for me. Maybe some clarification would help. You seem to want to record TV shows to DVD... the hardware for that is not terribly difficult, but where I run into confusion is that you want to do it ... without getting cable or a satellite? Where would the source of the TV shows come from?
posted by frwagon at 6:17 PM on November 9, 2009

Frwagon: I believe Dolley means OTA (over the air) broadcasts.
posted by sharkfu at 6:30 PM on November 9, 2009

I'm not sure if there are DVD recorders with digital OTA tuners (do they exist?) or if you would just a separate OTA tuner and use it as a video source for the DVD recorder, but the AV Science forums would probably have recommendations. There is a DVD Recorder subforum under Video Components.

Don't forget that any HD digital OTA shows can only be recorded as standard definition video because of the limitations of the DVD format.
posted by sharkfu at 6:35 PM on November 9, 2009

Sharkfu's suggestion would work well, directing an ATSC tuner into a DVD recorder... I was able to find a Toshiba (model DR570) that looks like it would do what you're looking for -- it's $159 (a bit above your range, but close). It claims to do timer-based recording, and does have an internal OTA tuner.
posted by frwagon at 6:41 PM on November 9, 2009

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for or how techie a project you're willing to undertake, but I've always been smitten with the MythTV project.
posted by jessamyn at 7:37 PM on November 9, 2009

AVSforum is a wealth of information. Check out these threads:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1167350

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1167098

The Toshiba DR570 didn't exist a few months ago, so it looks like the market has finally back around and filled this niche.

Personally I have an old Pioneer HDD + DVD recorder model that I'm still using on analog cable, and a Tivo for digital OTA. Love both!
posted by intermod at 9:23 PM on November 9, 2009

It doesn't have to be a DVD recorder... there are DVRs that record broadcast.
posted by IndigoRain at 9:48 PM on November 9, 2009

If you have a fairly recent personal computer, you can get OTA tuners with software fairly inexpensively. On the Mac, there is El Gato's EyeTV for approximately $150. I'm sure there are even less expensive choices on PCs. The software usually has some kind of program guide for setting recordings. You can then burn DVDs of shows you want to save.

If you have recordings on your PC that you want to watch on a TV, why not use a Media Player instead of burning DVDs? For example, Western Digital makes the popular WD TV Live, which joins your local network to find media on your computer's hard drive, which it plays on your TV. That costs about $120.
posted by conrad53 at 1:32 PM on November 10, 2009