Adding features to broadcast TV

The Tivo DVR brings DVR and vido on demand capability
to broadcast TV.

In the past week I’ve written about how you can save hundreds of dollars a year by dropping cable in favor of free broadcast TV. If you have a HD compatible TV, all you need is an antenna. If you have an analog TV, a converter box will give you outstanding video (though not high definition).

But cable and satellite offer more than large number of channels. They increasingly offer digital video recorders (DVR) and video on demand services. And those are features (especially the DVR) that are hard to give up once you get used to them.

The good news is that you don’t have to give them up when switching to free broadcast TV. True, you’ll have to pay for them, but it won’t cost nearly as much as you’re paying for cable.

One of the best solutions involves turning back to the company that pioneered DVR technology: TiVo.

The Tivo TCD652160 HD DVR can receive and record two HD channels at once, storing up to 20 hours of high definition TV (a higher capacity model is available or you can purchase an external drive to expand capacity). This DVR also allows you to purchase videos from Amazon video on demand, or to link up with your Netflix subscription, where higher end plans offer thousands of on-demand videos. Other on-demand services are supported as well.

When you use a TiVo DVR, you won’t need an analog converter box – it supports composite video, S-VHS, component video and HDMI output. You’ll only have a problem if your TV does not have any video input, in which case you can get an external modulator (but seriously, if your TV is that old a TiVo is probably overkill anyway).

This DVR lists for $299 but has a street price under $250. You’ll also need a service plan for $12.99/month, $129/year, $299 for 3 years or $399 for the life of the machine..