The Options in Digital Video Recording

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

26 Mar 2008 09:05 AM

We were sitting around one weekend evening watching America's Funniest Home Videos, a program that we consider a family program. The raciest part of that show might be the accidental hit to a father's groin by a wayward baseball. The show was on at 7 p.m., a time when I imagine most kids are still awake; at least mine are. Maybe you can see where this is going.

The host was about to announce the $10,000 winner when the program went to commercial. The screen went blank of a 100th of a second and then was immediately blasted with scary imagery promoting a new horror movie called Shutter. I immediately shouted "Cover your eyes!" Fortunately, the kids didn't see anything, but the imagery was enough to give me nightmares.

This sparked a discussion about digital video recording. I have to admit that it also sparked a discussion about getting rid of the television altogether, but that is the subject for another blog. Digital video recording (DVR) would allow us to record shows beforehand and play them back sans commercial or download the shows through the Internet. As of December 2007, about 20 percent of U.S. households had some sort of DVR.

DVRs generally record or download in high definition, so you will need to make sure that you have a high definition digital television to take advantage of this technology.

There are DVRs that are issued by your cable or satellite provider as well as units that you can buy yourself. Some choices give your more programing options and better performance. Prices vary widely. Here are the options.

Tivo

Cable company-supplied DVR

Satellite company-supplied DVR

Home theater PC

Apple TV.

Check back here in the Computing Blog for more information on these choices in DVR technology, including the pros and the cons, pricing, etc.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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