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Finally, relief for the VCR-weary

By Riley Gay

If you’re like most folks who own a TV, somewhere along the way you no doubt got yourself a VCR in order to record your favorite shows and watch them when it was more convenient.

The promise was that you’d finally be able to enjoy television on your own terms; watching just what you wanted to watch, when you wanted to watch it.

The unfortunate reality is that, like most folks, you probably use it only to view prerecorded movies from your neighborhood rental outlet, because setting it to record the shows you want, and then finding them among all the others on the tape, is just too complicated.

Thanks to an innovative technology, though, that whole process has gotten a whole lot simpler.

Although the digital video recorder, or DVR, has been around for a couple of years now, it is just beginning to come into its own as a popular consumer item.

Alternately known as a PVR  (personal video recorder), it doesn’t use magnetic tape like your VCR does but has its own hard drive, just like a computer, that stores the movies and programs you choose to record.

Data is stored in digital format, so the result is vastly improved sound and picture quality as compared to programs recorded on analog videotape.

But there’s much more to it than just that.

In addition to normal recording and playback functionality, a DVR will let you perform many tricks a VCR won’t, such as the ability to pause live TV, for those times when the phone rings just as that crucial moment in the game or program you’re watching approaches.

And, if the commercials don’t really interest you, with these units you can easily zip past them.

Better still, selecting which programs to record and setting them up couldn’t be easier. You can choose something to record from the onscreen program guide, or just “tell” it what you’re looking for, either by title, actor, director or topic, and let the DVR do the rest.

There are several manufacturers from which to choose when making your DVR buying decision, but first you need to be aware that there are actually two distinct components to consider:

The hardware (the DVR itself) and the service that allows it to search for and schedule programs and perform all of its other magic.

Which DVR you purchase largely will depend on which service you choose, so that’s probably a good place to start when making your buying decision.

There are currently two different companies that provide these services, TiVo and ReplayTV. Each has its own idea of how your DVR should function.

ReplayTV will simply record whatever programs you schedule it to record. Or you can ask it to search for and record programs by giving it a specific topic or keyword. Generally, though, with ReplayTV you only get what you ask for.

TiVo, on the other hand, will not only record what you tell it to, but will also record what it intuitively thinks you’d like to see, based on your previous preferences.

You can “train” TiVo by using buttons on the remote control to enlighten it about your likes and dislikes. After a while, TiVo will find and record programs that match your personal viewing preferences, all on its own. 

To use the programming features in TiVo, however, you’ll have to pay a subscription fee. You can choose to pay a monthly $9.95 charge for your TiVo service or you can opt for a lifetime fee of $249 that will let you use the service for as long as you own your DVR. ReplayTV doesn’t charge a fee for its service, but the DVRs themselves are somewhat more costly, making the choice of services more or less the same.

If you select TiVo as your service provider, your DVR hardware choice will be between Sony and Philips.

ReplayTV is used exclusively on units made by Panasonic. All of these manufacturers offer units that are similar in price and features. Each makes recorders that will let you store from 20 hours to 35 hours of recorded programs, with the higher capacity units costing slightly more.

Some models even have a setting that will allow you to increase these capacities by opting for a slightly lower recording quality. And you can conserve your available disk space by putting your old VCR to good use. Any of these DVRs will let you easily transfer to videotape whatever programs you’d like to save.

You can find these units at area electronics stores such as Ultimate Electronics, Circuit City and Best Buy, ranging in price from around $200 to $400.

If you look around, however, you may be able to take advantage of one of the many promotions and price breaks to be had in this highly competitive market to help lower the cost of your initial investment.

Both TiVo and ReplayTV get their programming information by making a scheduled call using a phone line connected to the DVR.

But there’s no need to install a second phone line, as the call is usually very short and is placed late at night to avoid tying up your existing phone line. This also allows the service to update the unit’s software component and to add new features as they become available.

Another DVR service, which you’ll find being used with DVRs manufactured by Sony and RCA, is Microsoft’s UltimateTV.

Included along with the basic programming and recording functions in UltimateTV is a Web component that allows for limited interactivity with some TV programs, along with email and chat capabilities, through an onboard 56Kbps modem hooked up to your phone line.

You can opt to purchase your digital video recorder as a stand-alone unit or bundled with a DirecTV direct broadcast satellite (DBS) receiver.

Setting up the DirecTV satellite TV service requires mounting an 18-inch dish antenna outside your home, but will provide you with a good all-in-one entertainment solution.

If you’re already set up with a cable company or other TV signal provider and choose to purchase a stand-alone recorder, both TiVo and ReplayTV will probably work with your existing company’s program schedule.

You’ll want to check with your cable operator to make sure, though, before making your purchase.       

If you are currently thinking about making the switch to a satellite TV system, one other DBS provider that you should check out in this market is DISH Network.

Although it doesn’t offer a stand-alone DVR, DISH Network does package a proprietary dish antenna and receiver with built-in DVR functions and programming software, and is sold at most area Sears stores.

Whichever combination of hardware and service you choose, installing a digital video receiver in your home promises to let you see and enjoy TV in a whole new way.

Neighbor Riley Gay is Wrangler’s director of technology services.

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