NudgeCast 5/20/09

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Thoughts on Cablevision's new DVR plan, among other things.

Download the mp3 here.

Happy To Rent?

I was always raised that it was better to own than to rent. Why pay monthly for something you don't own, and never will? Many rules have an exception, and when it comes to DVR's, I'm happy to rent.

How can this be? Well, the last DVD/VCR I bought from Wally Mart for $60 barely lasted 6 months anyway (it was a cheap unit, but nothing had a digital tuner in it yet, so I expected it to last a year, and it still fell short of expectations). My DVD Recorder before that for $100 only had a longevity of a year- barely. My previous combo deck didn't make it much past a year, and that ran me $140. When it comes down to it, my television recorder is costing me around $10 monthly.

From Optimum my Scientific Atlanta 8300HD is costing $9.95 monthly. This is the same price the rest of the gear has run me anyway. For that same price, I'm getting a box that can record in HD, has dual tuners, and a channel guide- all tricks that none of the previous boxes can match. Also, if the box goes bad without physical damage, as all my previous ones did, I just exchange it for a new one.

In the meantime, my Philips DVR cost me $289. At that rate, we're talking that it will take me two and a half years to recoup the cost of that box. Sure, it works fine, but it was a significant outlay, and the most expensive recording box I've ever had. I'm glad I got it working with the analog cable feed to maximize its use. However, compared to the $10 monthly for another DVR, it's looking even more expensive.

Cable DVR's are the one time I'd rather rent than own, and gladly pay the monthly fee.

Jonas

The Golden Age of Television Recording

I got my first VCR back in '83, and it used heavily for years thereafter. Now, I could record and watch TV on my schedule, not the networks. It must have been essential because when it broke back in '93 for the final time, it got replaced within the week- much faster than anything else that broke in those days. However, the possibilities really opened up when I acquired a second machine a few years later. Now I could seriously timeshift as I could record in one room, and watch in another. While two VCR's did seem a little excessive, they were well worth it, especially when I could watch a movie on DVD on a third machine, and record two feeds simultaneously.

Needless to say, all of this recording led to piles and piles of videotapes. I'm not an archiver, and watch 99% of things once, and don't watch again so I rerecord the tapes. It was still a challenge to keep multiple episodes straight, and be able to watch them in order, and I frequently complained when there were other things on the tape. I'll easily admit that under this plan, I did lose content I had taped, and in those days, the episodes weren't online on the network's website or Hulu.

For the last few years, I had my difficulties in keeping one recording machine working at the house. First, my combo deck died, then the DVD recorder that replaced it barely lasted a year, and then after a first foray into a DVR, my bargain DVD/VCR was not a bargain. After a pile of failed machines, I decided to spend the bucks, and got a good DVR, the Philips 3575.

Over the last several months, I've been pleased with the device. Finally, a machine that could timeshift all the shows I wanted, record and playback simultaneously (I needed two VCR's to do that feat), and keep it all neat and organized on the hard drive, ready for viewing. Want to timeshift an entire season? Finally, it was possible without breaking a sweat. Clearly the DVR was the best device to get the job done.

When I was getting my new cable system, I toyed with not getting a DVR, but the Philips works best with an OTA signal, and I got the Optimum folks to toss their DVR into the price (for the year at least...), so now I have two DVR's. While it may seem even more excessive than my two VCR plan of last decade, I have to say this is the best it has ever been in terms of TV recording around my house.

The Optimum DVR, a Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD, has a few tricks that the Philips can't match. The first is that it can record in HD if the program is available that way. This feature alone has me recording more of my regular shows from the local channels on the 8300. Add in a channel guide, and it's a breeze to use. No longer do I need to look up the exact times, or figure out how to switch stations when a show ends at 9PM, and the next one starts on another channel at 9PM. The box does all the work (although I do miss the first few seconds sometimes). Another benefit of the channel guide is that the recordings automatically get labeled with the titles. The final benefit is that the 8300 has dual tuners, so it can record two programs simultaneously, and even playback a third. Now this is serious timeshifting!

The only real downside to the 8300 is that the content is contained to the box. Apparently there is a way to send it to a VCR, but it sounds too labor intensive, and not worth the effort as the recording would have to be done in real time. Other than that, this machine is a winner.

So, putting it all together, for the first time, I can now record three video feeds simultaneously, something I've never been able to do before. This makes just about any timeshifting scenario possible, and I'll not watch many commercials any more. If you haven't taken the plunge for a DVR yet, I speak from experience that I've done it twice now, and it's clearly the way to record. Clearly, this is the "Golden Age of Television Recording."

Jonas