Does anyone know why you can not just buy a DVR player in a store?

[LUNCH]

I mentioned this in a different thread.Anyhow, as far as I know in many other countries you can just buy a stand alone DVR player in a store,but in America it seems one has to go through a Pay-TV company to get one.Since DVRs are also good for those that do not even have Pay-TV,I'm wondering what's going on.Anyone should just be able to buy a DVR for themselves just like they can purchase a VCR or DVD player for example.Does anyone know the reason?

[Brad]

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[LUNCH]

So if a company like Sony being just one example wanted to sell a DVR player over the counter,they would not be able to?After all they would be making money too.Does this mean stand alone DVR players are banned in the states?It's a little confusing, for me at least.

[RockyF]

Standalone DVR's are not banned in the US, they just generally don't sell that well. Somehow you have overlooked Tivo, which does include a service fee, but in my opinion is well worth it. It's funny you mentioned Sony, as they did make a standalone DVR at one point. I personally have one of each (although I have the previous TivoHD, not the most current model.)

[robyrob]

i don'ty even remember where I bought mine, i think it might have been Target or WalMart, but it was several years ago.

its a Toshiba, the hard drive isn't as big as current ones.

have you looked on Amazon, Tiger Direct, NewEgg, etc? there's tons available out there

[Tubehead]

i got oncoupleyears ago i love itcoast 15 dollors a month its wellworth iti like taping two showsat the same time. i relcenty had to take it back keeped messiingup onme. i go t mine thurcomcast. i alsol ikeyou ccan fast fowardthur commericasl and passe i also like youcan put it on live and puse it . pluse ilove getting on demond. itsawesome i higlyreocmedi t epsicaly if you watch lots of tv shows

[Nyan]

Really? If you're with DirecTV, you can buy their DVRs through Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Dish Network is the sat company with a stranglehold on their box availability, I'm really hating my current one with the dual tuner, it's so flimsy.

[treky]

I got one a few years ago; I sent for it on-line; I forget what site. It's from RCA.

[ajgenard]

As an A/V enthusiast, I've observed several possible reasons contributing to the demise of both DVD recorders and harddrive DVRs (ones that don't require subscription fees).

(1) These units never sold well to the general public ever since they were introduced over a decade ago.

(2) They couldn't be made simple to operate like VCRs and regular subscription DVR. The average person just found them too complicated.

(3) The overwhelming majority of them had really poor overall quality. An outright terrible class of products. Most have not survived more than a year of operational life.

(4) Marketing for them was doomed from the beginning. How can any manufacturer possibly compete with cable companies when it comes to advertising?

(5) Some have speculated that cable/sat companies really pushed for ending production of such units. Given the absurd level of power those crooks have and their disgusting business ethics, it wouldn't surprise me if it's true.

These days, independent TV recording for personal use is left in the hands of hobbyists. After using several units for years it's easy to see how this class of products ultimately disappeared. Most would make you regret spending the money but when you get a hold of a good one it's magic. Magnavox was the last company producing standalone units for the US. Just a few months ago they announced they were ending production of their MDR515, a combo device that was basically the only unit left that could record digital OTA signals. It very quietly marked the end of an era. I have one of these units that I use almost daily. You can still buy them on Amazon and a few other places around the web but they now cost nearly $500 for a new one since production has ended. For anyone interested in these, I suggest looking for factory refurbished models.

It's truly a shame this is a dead market in the US. Many people recorded TV broadcasts with VCRs for 20+ years and they still have them. Almost nobody will have the content on their Comcrap DVR 5 years from now, let alone 30 years. Then again TV has turned into utter sh*t so really what have we lost?

[TVFactFan]

My DVD-R does me just fine lol

[noveel]

You can do the same with a USB TV tuner and lots of space.