Guys - just got my R15 DVRs hooked up - first time DVR owner/user. My wife went from skeptical to addict in about 30 minutes - tossing her beloved VCR to the curb.

Question - are these things always running or something? Sounds like a fan is running even if they are turned off.

It is not a big deal or annoying, just curious as to what it is.

thanks

 

Hard drive?

 

I cant go to sleep without one of my PC fans running... its too quiet.

 

ahhh..that makes sense.

Thanks.

 

Yup, that thing is always chugging along. Our DVR is in the great room behind glass doors in an entertainment center, so we really don't hear it unless it's silent in the house.

 

Well I'll ask. Do I need a subscription or something to use a DVR? Or it is a just a VCR with a HD instead of a tape? Can I just record my basic cable?
I have friends that have Tivo & they need to pay for it.
I ask cause I was looking at an HD tuner from Sony, & it had a 250G DVR built in.

 

You need a subscription. Usually about $5/month.

 

The noise could be either the HD or the fan. More likely the fan. Many DVRs never truly turn off and they can get really hot, so the fan is constantly running.

As for whether or not you need to pay a fee, it will depend on what you are using. I believe that anything with a guide service will have some fee involved. There may be some out there that you can use just like a VCR without paying any subscription fees.

Edit: If you're talking about the Sony DHG-HDD250, then there is no subscription fee. It uses an OTA guide system. It also only has one tuner, so you can only record one channel at a time.

 

The R15 runs hot to begin with, the fan will run most of the time.
Keep it well ventilated.

In the setup-setting menu you can see what the temp of your unit is.

 

On Time Warner you need to subscribe to it ($5.95/mo here), plus you need digital cable since the boxes have your settings programmed in (usually a card).

If you hooked it up to your TV without a cable card, you wouldn't receive any channels.

 

Yeah that's the 1. I only have basic cable with no box.

 

You'll need to do some more research. I just did a quick search to get that info and it seemed like it was used to record OTA signals. Not sure if/how it works with cable.

 

I'm not sure what cablecard has to do with this. I have TW cable with their DVR and have no card. The "subscription" fee is more of a hardware fee, which includes the programming data.

Eidt: If you're talking about using the Sony with TW, then nevermind what I just said

 

FWIW Windows Media Center will allow you to record TV from any source, OTA, Cable, Sat....with no fees.

 

IMO always leave the DVR on. Never turn it off. Mainly because the damn thing is stupid.

For instance, say I have my Motorola box off. It starts to record at 8:00. At 8:15 I come in and start watching TV. At 8:30 the box is done recording and since it had to turn itself on to start recording it turns itself off while I'm in the middle of watching something.

My Tivo Series 1 didn't even have an on/off switch. It was just always on and that was fine with me.