Do you watch shows when they air, or DVR them now?

[sandiegoinexile]

VCR

.....glorified VCR that you have to program manually. The only advantage is if you want to record something for permanent keeping, or to record and watch somewhere else..... A DVR is much more versatile especially since you can start watching something even while the end of the program is still recording.

Exactly. I have multiple VCR because I do not always want to watch the program on the TV where the lone DVR is located. It's crazy to spent $8-10 a month for each of the 6 TVs ($60X12=$720 A YEAR!). Then again, I am one of the few that never had a blinking 12:00 and was able to set/program/schedule. Plus I can toss a tape into my suitcase when headed out of town and have something to watch during downtime or while visiting family.

You can also find decent VCRs at most thrift shops these days. I bought one from Goodwill (with remote!) for 7.99 while traveling in Florida for a week. I had brought a couple tapes from home, a short coax, and some RCA cables. I was able to watch programs I wanted and also record some things to watch later on. I just left the 7.99 VCR behind.

 

[JayR]

Since you mentioned the Grey Cup, I have to ask: Are you in Canada?

No. I'm stateside. I'm just a fan.

 

[JayR]

Re: VCR

If you record a lot of shows then a DVR is the way to go. A DVD recorder is basically just a glorified VCR that you have to program manually. The only advantage is if you want to record something for permanent keeping, or to record and watch somewhere else. But I've had one for 3 years and I've only used it once or twice. A DVR is much more versatile especially since you can start watching something even while the end of the program is still recording.

Exactly. I have multiple VCRs because I do not always want to watch the program on the TV where the lone DVR is located. It's crazy to spend $8-10 a month for each of the 6 TVs ($60X12=$720 A YEAR!). Then again, I am one of the few that never had a blinking 12:00 and was able to set/program/schedule. Plus I can toss a tape into my suitcase when headed out of town and have something to watch during downtime or while visiting family.

You can also find decent VCRs at most thrift shops these days. I bought one from Goodwill (with remote!) for 7.99 while traveling in Florida for a week. I had brought a couple tapes from home, a short coax, and some RCA cables. I was able to watch programs I wanted and also record some things to watch later on. I just left the 7.99 VCR behind.

YIKES!

It is crazy to spend so much when I don't record as much as most people. I have no problems programming a recorder. One DVR is enough for me.

 

[fybush]

I still have a couple of functioning VCRs here, but they haven't had the "record" button pressed on them in a couple of years now; they're purely for playing back archival stuff (and, slowly, getting it all dubbed to DVD.)

When on the road, I use a Magnavox (Funai, really) H2160MW9 DVR/DVD recorder. It has a 160 GB hard drive, a DVD recorder and ATSC/NTSC tuners; pretty useful for recording local newscasts and IDs (on the HDD) that get dubbed to DVD later on.

At home, it's the Time Warner Cable HD DVR. I wish it had a somewhat larger hard drive in it, and when that elusive free time arrives, I might replace it with a dedicated computer with a tuner card, enormous hard drive and something like Myth TV, but for now it gets the job done, and looking a lot nicer on the big HD display than the 240 or 300 lines of resolution I might get from VHS, to boot. I make a lot of use of the DVR functionality - at this very moment, for instance, I'm watching the start of an 8 PM show while it's still recording.

(That which gets saved, gets burned to DVD by dubbing from the TWC box to one of the Magnavox boxes.)

 

[gregg75]

So they are including DVR ratings. How do they weed out the ones who record a program
AND NEVER WATCH IT......or wait 2 years later? I guess they just count who is recording
and ASSUME they will watch it.

If a store sells a dozen eggs but only 10 are eaten, 12 eggs were still consumed????

 

[sandiegoinexile]

Live, Live+3, Live+7

So they are including DVR ratings. How do they weed out the ones who record a program
AND NEVER WATCH IT......or wait 2 years later? I guess they just count who is recording
and ASSUME they will watch it.

My understanding is that the DVR'd program has to be started. That doesn't mean the viewer watched the program in its entirety (or FF'd through it). There are ratings for "Live+SameDayDVR", "Live+3Days", and "Live+7Days".

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/1...an-program-ratings-during-premiere-week/67489

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/1...awaii-five-0-top-premiere-week-rankings/67519

 

[LKellerIII]

Re: Live, Live+3, Live+7

So they are including DVR ratings. How do they weed out the ones who record a program
AND NEVER WATCH IT......or wait 2 years later? I guess they just count who is recording
and ASSUME they will watch it.

My understanding is that the DVR'd program has to be started. That doesn't mean the viewer watched the program in its entirety (or FF'd through it). There are ratings for "Live+SameDayDVR", "Live+3Days", and "Live+7Days".

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/1...an-program-ratings-during-premiere-week/67489

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/1...awaii-five-0-top-premiere-week-rankings/67519

That makes sense. Just because your TV is tuned to a show as it airs doesn't mean you're actually watching it anyway - what with distractions; kids arguing, the dog barking, the spouse talking, etc. If anything, DVRs allow you watch the show more completely because you can go back and see what you've missed...though I don't imagine too many people rewind to see the commercials they've missed.

 

[BlueWanderer]

Usually as they aired. Although, the shows I watch are repeated many times during the week. Sometimes, I record on rewriteable DVD-RW discs with a DVD-recorder set on 2-hr speed for best quality. I know it's a glorifier version of a VCR but the discs are space savers unlike VCR tapes. DVD-R discs are usually trash when it comes to recording anything off of the tv.

I've noticed it's getting harder to find rewriteable discs in regular stores now than a few years ago. I suspect it's the popularity of DVRs that is mostly to be blamed.

 

[MattParker]

When Tivos and other DVRs update program guides and other material in the box, they also upload actual viewing data. Ratings are reported for shows watched within 24 hours and shows watched within seven days. If you watch after that, your viewing is not counted.

Whether you fast forward through commercials on a recorded show or go to the bathroom during commercials on a live show is a chance the advertiser has to take. It's their job to get your attention. Actually, fast forwarding is better for advertisers because you have to pay attention while the commercial goes by.

 

[landtuna]

Actually, fast forwarding is better for advertisers because you have to pay attention while the commercial goes by.

You must not be in advertising.

If fast-forwarding works in DVR's like it works in my VCR's: (a) there is no sound, (b) the picture is virtually unwatchable for content and (c) you've already seen it 1,000 times and could care less.

I'd say the advertiser is very concerned and is anxiously awaiting the day when commercials cannot be bypassed.

 

[1st of 5]

I have a question pertaining to your DVRs. Are you able to make duplicate copies of whatever you recorded on your DVRs, or does the DVR encode that "anti-copying" signal that prevents making copies? I still use a VCR because I find a great many almost new (and sometimes new) VHS tapes of all types (movies, TV shows, music videos, etc) and copy them onto DVD. Just like a VCR, if you want the best quality universal playback on any DVD player, use only the 2 HOUR speed. You will discover, usually at the most inconvenient moment, that your 6 hour EP VHS recording will not play as well as it did when 'fresh' and only gets worse with age. And most 6 hour EP mode VHS tapes will not play on any other VCR except the one it was recorded on. This applies to DVD/DVR recorder as well, because your current machine has a built in self-destruct device and its replacement may not play your 6 hour homemade DVD. As for the commercially produced 6-8 hour DVDs, they are what they are, comercially produced on professional industrial grade equipment and not your Chinamart pricebuster bluelight special.

 

[MattParker]

Tivos (depending on the model) allow copying to VCRs or DVDs. They also allow shows to be transferred to PCs or to portable media devices. My last VCR has been in the attic for several years but I regularly transfer shows to my smartphone to watch on airplanes.

I'm surprised so many people here are still using VCRs, especially since analog TV broadcasting and analog cable tiers shut down. You'd have to use a digital to analog converter and either pre-set the converter to the channel you want or have some way to program the converter to change to the correct channel (if you want to record more than one show on different channels).

VCR picture quality is decidedly inferior to Tivo (and yes, the picture is watchable during fast-forwarding with many commercials designed to hook viewers during fast-forwarding plus offering other features in commercials for Tivo users).

 

[Robnoxious]

My DVR is Usenet newsgroups to pick up shows I've missed or want to see. I don't even have to use a FFwd button since all the commercial are stripped off all ready.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I watch what I can live and either TiVo or VHS the rest. (Is VHS a verb?)

In the case of "Chuck" I have to TiVo. I have to go back and see stuff I missed too many times. Same for "30 Rock". So even though it was live I didn't see it live.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I wonder how many people even own VCR's anymore since most shows and movies are on discs.

Until a decent OTA DVR is available I will continue using VCRs.

My TiVo, despite what I was told, will not work for OTA. It's just as well because one VHS went bad and I had to use the TiVo to replace it for cable (which I had to get not just because of DTV's problems, but so I could set the channel). Another VHS is on its last legs but keeps bouncing back. I bought a replacement for the other one, for OTA, but the place I got it no longer had any more when I went back. I should have just bought two when I had the chance. Another VHS that went bad recovered and I use it for OTA. Since VHS can't change channels on its own, I keep the TVs on different channels (neither available on cable). And by the way, all the VHS units are combined with receivers, so I can use each one as is. No separate converter box needed for OTA.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Family Guy

Another one I can't watch live.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Until a decent OTA DVR is available I will continue using VCRs.

Tivo?

I guess I should have been more specific. Tivo has a box that will work OTA but there is a perpetual monthly subscription fee to use it. My VCR's are a ton cheaper than the Tivo box and don't require a subscription. Yes, the Tivo is digital and my VCR's are analog but the PQ for use as a time-shifter is inconsequential. If I want to record something permanently I use the computer and burn a DVD.

To save money I bought the lifetime package. Of course, the TiVo has to last eight years for me to actually pay what the Radio Shack guy said I would.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Until someone manages to come out with a Tivo-like thing that stores everything on nice, reliable, fail-safe analogue removable storege, my VCRs will continue to be a prominent fixture in my equipment racks.

"I wonder how many people even own VCR's anymore since most shows and movies are on discs."

Wonder no longer. I have three.

Six. Four that work. One I can't set so it's not currently in use. Another I might be able to get the tape out of but I just haven't tried. Too dangerous, really, although it is currrently unplugged.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Comcast claims that their DVR will hold "up to 60 hours" of hi-def programming, but I don't think mine holds anywhere near that. Perhaps I have an older model, or something.

Mine SAYS 80, but it filled up much faster than I expected. I'm constantly getting warnings if I add shows or save them for later.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Yes, many older VCRs had an LP (long play) 4-hour mode. My Zenith VCR/DVD player in storage only offered SP (2 hours) and SLP/EP (6 hours). The sound would be in Hi-Fi with any speed at least. The SLP/EP picture looked iffy on playback, as late as 2008. I had to record Super Bowl XLII with it on analog cable channel 6, since the machine obviously didn't include a digital tuner, being made in 2003. Naturally, Super Bowl XLIII and Super Bowl XLIV were recorded directly from the simulcast of WVIT-DT (NBC) for the first and WFSB-DT (CBS) for the last game, with the DVD recorder and no videotape.

Since you mentioned the Grey Cup, I have to ask: Are you in Canada? If so, aren't their analog stations still on the air there? ???

I have tapes that record 8 hours. Still not enough. Now what I should do is cut down on computer time and watch those tapes.