Up next in 10
The Top Five Broadcast TV DVRs in 2023
36K views
Nov 17, 2023
I'll compare the TiVo Edge for Antenna, Tablo, AirTV, HDHomeRun, and other DVRs so you can pick the one that is best for you. Ten reasons you need a DVR if you watch Broadcast TV: https://www.disablemycable.com/blog/reasons-you-need-a-dvr/ The best DVRs for broadcast TV: https://www.disablemycable.com/dvr/ Detailed reviews for each DVR: https://www.disablemycable.com/dvrs/
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hey, this is Brian from Disable MyCable.com
0:03
And today I'll be ranking the five most popular digital video recorders, DVRs for broadcast TV
0:11
so that you can buy the one that works best for your situation. Now, before we begin, let me say that I won't be talking about the Amazon Fire TV recast
0:20
since that has been discontinued. And just note, these DVRs do not record from streaming services like Netflix
0:28
They only record from a broadcast TV antenna. And if you do have a broadcast TV antenna
0:36
I would highly recommend getting one of these boxes because they do a lot more than just record TV
0:43
I have a whole other article on the benefits of these boxes. Again, check the link below for why I think everyone who watches TV using an antenna
0:52
should get one of these. Okay, let's begin. coming in at number five are the what I call the generic DVR converter boxes. So I have one here. It's from
1:08
Mediasonic. It's called Homeworks. These are, these come in various brands that are not well
1:17
known. They use, you know, common chip set so the user interface is pretty similar to each other
1:24
These are very low cost, $30, maybe $40. Now, no, there's no internet or Wi-Fi required
1:35
which is another benefit if you just don't want to mess around with that. You just plug in your hard drive, plug in your antenna
1:42
then hook this up to your TV by HTML. It's pretty simple to set up
1:48
It's hard to go wrong with these. Now on the downside, the user interface is very primitive
1:53
very primitive. It works. It's not bad. It's just it's not very flashy. You're not
1:58
going to see cover artwork for movies on this thing. The channel guide is limited. It's
2:04
only 24 hours, I believe. The remote control for these boxes is pretty bad. And the
2:13
main bad thing about them is that you have to aim them right at the box in order for
2:17
it to register. The buttons aren't bad, but it's a pain to it to
2:23
to aim the remote and it can be kind of cumbersome. Again, you have to hook these boxes directly up to your TV via HDI
2:32
You can't have this somewhere else like you can with the other DPRs. But the picture quality is good
2:38
The price is low. And if you know exactly what you want to record and you don't want a lot of fuss
2:46
you know, these may be the right box for you. And if you don't want to spend a lot of money, let's say you just want to record Monday night football
2:53
you know exactly what time it is. You're not really looking to discover more things to record
2:58
These boxes may not be bad. They're very bare bones, but they get the job done
3:04
As an added benefit, you can take the hard drive and unplug it from this box and plug it into your computer
3:10
and your computer will recognize your recording. So that is kind of a benefit that a lot of the other DBRs don't have
3:17
You can kind of share recordings with your computer and download them to your computer
3:22
So that's kind of cool. But these are really the low-end, very few bells and wheels
3:29
The user interface is very primitive, but it still might have a place for some people
3:35
All right. Coming in at number four in my list of best DVRs is the TiVo Edge 4 antenna DVR
3:45
Now, TiVo is known for great DVRs for cable TV. This is their DVR for broadband
3:53
TV. Now it's got a great tuner. It brings in a lot of channels. It's got a great user
3:59
interface, which TiVo has always been known for its great user interface. It's got a
4:06
really nice remote control. Works really well. Everything is placed intelligently. The
4:12
commercial skip works really well when it's available on shows that have it. Not all shows
4:17
have it but it works well when it available Voice search also works really well So again Tivo has that great user interface from years of refinement in their other DBRs for cable TV
4:32
The edge for antenna has Wi-Fi, so you don't have to run Ethernet cable to this box
4:38
And it's got a good picture quality. Now, there are some major caveats with this box, which is why I didn't rank higher
4:46
higher. First fall, like the previous boxes I've talked about, it does need to be hooked up directly
4:53
to your TV by HDMI. It only comes with two tuners. There is no Roku app, so it's not really easy to
5:02
watch on multiple TVs. The channel guide does have a fee. Now, you can do a lifetime buy on that
5:11
channel guide, but it's pretty expensive. And when you do look at it
5:16
at the user interface and upcoming shows, there are streaming channels mixed in, paid streaming
5:23
channels mixed in. So it's kind of hard to find new broadcast TV shows and movies to record
5:30
because so much paid content is mixed in. It's pretty big and bulky. And it's not great
5:40
for watching recordings outside your home because I found that someone, of the recordings just would not play outside of my home network. So it's not really good for
5:51
watching on the TVs. It's not really good for watching outside your home. It's good if you want to
5:55
watch on one TV. But that's, so it's better, you know, has a nice interface than the cheaper DVRs
6:03
but it's also a lot more expensive. This is the most expensive DVR that I'm reviewing. It does
6:09
have the hard drive included. But it's still, it's even accounting for that, it's very expensive
6:16
Just not being able to watch outside your home is kind of a big minus for me, I think
6:20
and for a lot of people. And the fact that it has to be hooked directly to your TV is something that's constraining
6:26
But if you only have one TV and you are a big fan of TiVo, then go for it
6:31
It's a good box. The user interface is good, like I said
6:37
Okay, next on my list at number three are the Silicon Dust HD Home Run DVRs
6:44
namely the flex and scribe DVRs. I have a flex right here and it requires an external USB hard drive
6:56
The scribe has an internal hard drive. Now I really like these DVRs and they're pretty popular amongst the more
7:05
hobbyist, enthusiast, computer geeky type of people because Silicon Dust has a history of making
7:13
recording and tuner products that require network attached storage or that require that your computer
7:23
be on all the time and you can use different software you don't have to use their software to
7:27
do the recording so it has kind of a geeky appeal like if you go on the forums or the
7:34
Facebook groups where they're really into video a lot of people love the HD Home Run boxes
7:40
because they can do some things like that like use their own
7:43
software or use Plex with it instead of the included software. So it has that appeal. Now for a long
7:50
time, I really didn't recommend these boxes because they were a little bit harder to use, but the
7:56
flexing the Scribe are pretty easy to use with a few caveats. So I do have them on my list because
8:04
there's some good things about these boxes. First of all, the user interface I really like. It gives
8:11
you a grid of upcoming TV shows, movies, and sporting events that do not show any paid content
8:18
So you just see a grid of upcoming movies, for example, and it's a great way to discover new content
8:24
I love that feature in this box. This has a great tuner. It brings in a lot of channels
8:30
And the tuner part of this was really easy to set up. It was basically plug and play
8:36
I hooked it up hooked up my antenna my hard drive my Ethernet and visited a website And basically I just had live TV showing up It actually did the channel scan in the background so I didn even have to do a channel search which
8:54
was kind of cool. Now there are a few caveats with this actually quite a few
9:01
and some of them may be show stoppers for some of you. The first that is that it
9:06
does require an Ethernet connection. There is no Wi-Fi option for this
9:10
For some of you that's fine. I know a lot of people like to use Ethernet and don't want to use Wi-Fi for their DVRs. So if you're that type of person
9:19
this is not a problem. But if you're like me and you want to put this DVR near your antenna
9:26
and not near my router, then this is not the DVR for you. Okay, another con is that it does
9:37
have a recurring fee for the channel guide. It's $35 a year as of this video
9:43
recording so that is something you'll have to consider in the cost I think it's
9:48
worth it for the nice channel guide showing the upcoming events with with no ads
9:53
mixed in but that is a cost now I mentioned it was very easy to set up the
10:00
tuner part the DVR part was a lot harder to set up because it came with
10:05
virtually no information no documentation on how to set up the DVR I had to
10:10
basically Google for it online and I had to out how to purchase the annual subscription, you get an email with a code, you enter that code
10:19
in a certain web page that you visit, and that enables the DVR. Once it's set up, it's very easy
10:25
to use. I really like it actually, but it was really hard to set up. And if they would just
10:31
include a sheet of paper that said, go to this website and here's how to set up a DVR, that would
10:36
have solved 90% of the problem, but they didn't do that as of this recording, or at least the
10:42
unit I got that had no such information. So that's something they could improve a lot
10:48
Another big caveat with this DVR is that you can't watch your recordings away from your home
10:54
network. You can only watch recordings at home. That's a huge issue. Obviously, if you travel
11:02
and you want to watch your recordings on the road, this is not the box for you. But if you're
11:08
a little bit more geeky, you want to experiment with using different recording
11:12
software like Plex. This could be really cool. I love how small it is. And it does work great once you
11:19
get it set up. Okay, coming in at number two are the tableau line of DVRs. Now, these DVRs used to be my
11:29
number one pick, but they got rid of the lifetime deal for the channel guide fees. Now you have to
11:37
pay annually for the channel guide. And I think it's still a good
11:42
deal, but it adds a lot to the cost of this product. And if you really hate fees, that could be a showstopper
11:49
unless you want to go with a much more limited channel guide. I think the channel guide is worth it
11:56
because like the HD Home Run, it gives you a grid of upcoming movies, TV shows, and sporting events
12:03
without ads and without streaming services. And I personally have discovered a lot of great things to record
12:09
especially old movies and some not that old movies that I never would have found if I didn't have this display
12:17
So that is definitely worth something and it really enhances the value of these DVRs
12:22
So you're not just recording things that you know that you want to record. You're actually finding new content that you can record
12:30
The Tableau also has Wi-Fi and it has a great Roku app
12:35
So you can actually put this near your antenna, matter where your antenna is, you could put this in your attic if you want. It doesn't need to be
12:43
near your TV. It doesn't need to be near your router. And it's a great way to not have to run
12:51
coax cable to five different TVs in your home. Just put this in your attic near your antenna
12:57
and use the tableau app on your Roku to watch live TV and watch your recordings. So
13:04
it almost like a wireless antenna interface for all your TVs a whole home interface for all your TVs It not just a DVR You can also watch your recordings and live TV away from home
13:18
which is a great feature. And it's pretty easy to set up and use
13:23
Now, I've already mentioned the main con, which is the no lifetime deal for the channel guide
13:29
or the channel guide fees. That is a biggie, and that could be a showstopper for some people
13:35
The other downside of the tax Downside of the tableau is that out of the DVRs that I've tested, it had the worst tuner
13:44
It wasn't able to bring in some of the channels that I normally watch like all the other DVRs would
13:49
Now, it still has a good tuner. I'm not saying it's bad. It's just not as good as the other tuners in the DVRs that I've tested, which is too bad because there's one channel that I really like and I wasn't able to get it on the tableau
14:03
So that was kind of a bummer for me. but I still think the tableau is a great DVR
14:10
It's easy to use. A lot of people use it. Tableau isn't going anywhere
14:15
They're not making other products. They just specialize in DVR. So they are dedicated to this product, and I believe it's going to be around
14:23
So it's definitely a solid choice, which is why it's my number two pick for the best broadcast TV DVR
14:32
Okay, now on to my pick for the number one. best broadcast TV DVR. And my pick is the air TV. This comes in two flavors, Air TV2 and Air TV
14:47
Anywhere. Air TV 2 requires a USB hard drive to be plugged in. Air TV Anywhere has included
14:55
two terabyte hard drive. I love this DVR. If you like the Amazon Fire TV recast, you'll like this
15:04
DVR because this has a really slick user interface. It kind of reminds me of the recast
15:10
But the biggest thing that this has is that there is, there are no fees for the channel guide
15:16
So if you hate fees and hate paying, and that's probably one of the reasons why you're on
15:22
broadcast TV, air TV is great because it has no fees. You do have to sign up for an account
15:31
with Sling because that's the app that you use to watch your recordings, but you don't have to
15:37
pay for a subscription. You just got to sign up. So that's not bad
15:42
This has a great tuner. It brought in all the channels that I watch. It has Wi-Fi
15:48
So like the Tableau, you can plug this in anywhere. You could plug it into your antenna in your attic
15:54
And this does not need to be near your TV. It doesn't need to be near your router
15:59
It does allow you to watch. watch your recordings away from home using the Sling app, and that works really well
16:06
So this is just a great all-round DVR. It checks off a lot of the boxes that I was looking for
16:15
Now, it's not perfect, though, because it does not show the nice grid of upcoming movies
16:21
and TV shows like the Tableau recorders do. It has a grid, but it mixes in streaming services, which is probably
16:31
why there's there are no fees for the channel guides it's kind of like there's ads sprinkled in so it makes
16:38
it harder to discover new things to record or old movies that are on at 2 a.m. They're harder to discover
16:46
with the air tv DVRs. If you want to do that, I would recommend the tableau. But if you don't want
16:53
fees, this is really a great DVR. It was easy to set up. It's easy to use. You can watch your
17:00
recordings away from home, it's got a lot to like about it. And it worked really well during my
17:06
testing. All right, so that's my rundown of the five most popular DVRs. I hope you enjoyed this video
17:16
I hope this video was helpful for you. Remember to check out my site for more information
17:21
disablemycable.com, where I have reviews of all of these DVRs in much more in detail. So if you have more
17:29
questions, check out the links below. Please like this video and subscribe and I'll see you next time
#Cable & Satellite Providers
#Consumer Electronics
#Film & TV Industry
#TV & Video
#TV Shows & Programs