What Did We Do Before the DVR?

A recent survey by Leichtman Research Group indicates that one in five homes now has a DVR. I get that. I don't know where I'd be without mine. I never would have been able to keep up with Lost and I never would have enjoyed Desperate Housewives if TiVo weren't recording it while I was tuned to Sunday Night Football.

I even find myself trying to press rewind on the car radio when I miss the name of a song because I've gotten so used to rewinding live TV.

But now that the DVR has arrived, I expect more from the category. My old TiVo only records standard-def programming, which is like watching movies on VHS after you've gotten used to HD DVD. I'm on my second DVR from Time Warner Cable for high-def recording and this one is going back to the shop just as the first one did. I can't get a clean feed from the HDMI output and the box constantly locks up on the high-def channels. I'll check out the latest version of HD TiVo, which took a much-needed price plummet from the $800 first-gen box to $300. Now let's work on beefing up the storage capacity to more than 20 hours of HD.

 

I'll get a peek at Digeo's Moxi box next week at the CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association) show in Denver. The company has been supplying some cable operators with high-end DVRs (unfortunately not mine) and plans a high-capacity consumer box for retail later this year. Maybe that will be the DVR of my dreams, although it may be priced out of my league.

DVRs are all about giving consumers choice. We can choose what we want to watch when we want to watch it. Now I'd like a lot more choice when it comes to DVRs.--Rebecca Day

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