DVR - What to buy and what can it record

[Sojourner]

Sling Freestream has over 400 live tv channels as well as on-demand, ad based, but it includes 10 hours of DVR. I assume the DVR is only for the live tv.

Hmm, sounds like a no-brainer to sign up for this. Couple questions, though:

• Is that 10 hours of DVR per month (in perpetuity), or just a one-time signup bonus?
  
• Does the DVR allow you to skip any and all ads, without restrictions?

 

[GenXguy]

Hmm, sounds like a no-brainer to sign up for this. Couple questions, though:

• Is that 10 hours of DVR per month (in perpetuity), or just a one-time signup bonus?
• Does the DVR allow you to skip any and all ads, without restrictions?

I don't yet have it on my account yet, which was pre-existing, but my understanding is that you have 10 hours of DVR available ongoing, so you just need to make sure you have space available in order to record. You can't pay to upgrade to more hours without subscribing to their subscription plan.

I read that you can skip through commercials after a live TV program has finished recording to the DVR.

 

[rk911]

...That said, I don't see how one could easily DVR an on-demand show. Better off trying to find the TV show or movie on DVD/Blu-Ray and purchase that.

You likely can't but that was my point. Older series and movies are usually retained for a period of time so if you missed it when first released there is a good chance it'll still be in that service's library. If it disappears altogether from the service then, as you pointed out, your local library, Amazon, eBay or Craig's list, etc. for the DVD's may be your only choice.

 

[BubbaChris]

On a semi-related note, a few years ago I was looking up a school buddy and found he led the team at Intel that does HDCP products. And that typically means you can’t record from HDMI.

It was fun seeing my friend who went from a trade school environment receive a technical Emmy.

Best regards,
Chris

 

[pc95]

No longer produced, bought a Channel Master DVR+ in Sept 2015 mostly for NFL and OTA live TV with dual tuners. Best $300 I spent. The unit is still going strong. It has some minor problems, but at 10 years and likely into the 10s of 1000s of minutes saved - I still enjoy it. Too bad Channel Master farmed out their brand to substandard subsequent units. Perhaps DVRs are better now, but no need to purchase. You can still buy one off ebay - only if you're looking for broadcast OTA tv recording (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX ...).

 

[GenXguy]

That reminds me. Before I built my SageTV PVR system for tuning/recording cable back in 2004, I had purchased an iLO DVR DVD recorder from Walmart, maybe $150, not sure now. I only kept it a few days. I remember there were glitches in the video playback. This is from the old analog cable and OTA days. I checked eBay, and there are some of those for sale on there. I'm glad it had issues that made me return it because the SageTV experience was so much nicer.

 

[dandan14]

You may want to look into Tablo -- but it is made for OTA signals -- not to record streaming.