You need a DVR. In Part 1 of this series, we explored some of the options out there. Now what? It's time to look at what's available within each of the three main categories. If you've decided that you like the simplicity of going with your local cable or satellite provider, here's a breakdown of the top three companies offering integrated services so you can check out what they have to offer as far DVRs go.

Cable

Cable is a convenient, and popular, viewing option. There's no need for extra equipment (such as a satellite dish or extra tuners for different televisions in the house) if all you're interested in is your basic cable service, but there are drawbacks in going with cable when considering DVR service.

First, you'll need to subscribe to digital cable. This will require a tuner box for every television set that you want to use DVR service with, instantly excluding one of the reasons people prefer cable over satellite. An example: you want a DVR in your bedroom and living room. You'll need two digital tuner/DVR boxes.

While their promotional line is "no extra fees" don't be fooled: there really are extra fees. Digital cable service costs slightly more than basic cable because you have to add the tuner box onto your bill, and the digital cable/DVR box costs a little more to rent a month than the standard digital cable tuner would. Never forget that "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch!"

A quick check with the three main cable providers (Time

Warner, Cox, and Comcast) showed that they each offer the same basic DVR services, such as an SD-DVR or an HD-DVR. But remember, if you opt to go with the HD-DVR, recordings take up more hard drive space which means you can save fewer programs.

With digital cable, it's a little different. It comes into your house encrypted, which is why you need a digital set-top box from your cable provider, to decrypt the signal. Most of the channels over 100, including your pay per view and specialty channels, are digital. So what does this have to do with dual channel recording? Here's the bottom line. Your DVR has the ability to record two analog channels simultaneously. Or, one analog and one digital, but it doesn't have the capability to record two digital channels at one time, because it has to decrypt the incoming signal.

How big of a drawback this is depends on your viewing habits. If the bulk of your interests fall on the digital only channels, this will be more of a negative for you than someone who primarily watches channels below 99 (typically analog channels are 1-99, with digital beginning over 100).

One final note that concerns cable subscribers. The claim of dual channel recording capabilities can be deceptive, and the reason why can get a little confusing. Basically, television signals are coming into your home in two different formats: analog and digital. With analog signals, the information isn't encrypted. All you need to do is "plug and play" which means when you subscribe to your basic cable service, you just need a TV and a coax cable.

---

Is an integrated DVR not quite right for you? Take a Deeper Dive into Today's DVR Options.