My Sony VHS does not go past 2008

[N. Abstentia]

I would still like a digital machine that could just sit there attached to the TV and turn itself on, record an over-the-air show and shut itself off.

I'm nearly positive that any DVR will do that. Mine does I know..but I don't shut it on/off, it just stays on. All I have to do it tell it what show to record and it's done. I can also tell it a time frame to record.

[Worf101]

My Time Warner DVR/Cable box has an option to "record program to VCR" but it's of course NOT High Def. But I've still a VCR in the basement, maybe oneday I'll pull her out and go from there.

Da Worfster

[Hyfi]

I'm nearly positive that any DVR will do that. Mine does I know..but I don't shut it on/off, it just stays on. All I have to do it tell it what show to record and it's done. I can also tell it a time frame to record.

First of all, your DVR was not free or $50. You continue to pay for your direct tv which in turn pays for the DVR. The DVR you have will not work without the Direct-TV service the same as the ones from any cable provider.

I have several PCs but do not wish to leave one running all the time to record a weekly show. The old crappy Tivo will work without a service but the new HD Tivo will ONLY work with a paid TV service.

There have been a few standalone DVRs and I am assuming more to come. There should be no reason a DVR can't be produced and sold to work for OTA with manual programming. All they need to do is replace the tape with a hard drive.

I appreciate all your input but none of it was helpful for my problem.

If you can point all of us to a DVR that works just like a VCR and does not need a paid service to operate, by all means clue us in. I don't have cable, direct tv or fios and plan to stay that way until there is no more OTA tv. I am aware of two on the market now and one coming in the spring.

How about you?