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There is SO much more you can do with a DVR than a VCR. One great feature is that you can pause or rewind anything (realtime and live, not just what you recorded) you're watching at any time because the device is always recording.

Watching a big game and need to use the restroom? Just hit pause, then "unpause" when you get back. Missed some dialogue because the kids were screaming? Just hit rewind and see it again. Remember I'm talking real time and live TV, not just what you've already recorded.

Also it's all digital. The recording quality is exactly as good as when you first watched it from the source ..... forever.

The ones that are designed for cable are OK, but IMO you're missing the boat if you're not using them with a 32 bit digital satellite signal. With a digital satellite signal there will NEVER be any snow, interference or static ever. You either get it or you don't.

Some cable companies are now hawking a "digital" signal. What they don't tell you is that it's a 16 bit signal as opposed a 32 bit signal from satellite. Like your video card, 16 bit allows several thousand colors, while 32 bit allows several million.

Some cable companies are now hawking a "digital" signal. What they don't tell you is that it's a 16 bit signal as opposed a 32 bit signal from satellite.

Heh, you should check out the cable company where I live. The "digital service" that they hawk as being far superior to the "dish" isn't even digital! Only the upper channels (ie, past 70) are actually digital channels and those are all premium movie channels (ie, an additional fee is requried for them), the lower channels are still analogue! Of course, you do get the feature of the box receiving programming information for every channel...of course, that feature often breaks and needs updating, and sometimes it screws up to the point that the information pops up on the screen whether or not you want it there.

Oh, and the default connection for it (used by the installer) is an RF line to the TV. The best connection it supports is composite video with L/R RCA stereo sound output. It looks like there's a model available with S-video and S-P/DIF output, but the cable company doesn't provide it. Component (with progressive scan)? Forget it.

I'd consider a PVR if anything came to the TV with reasonable quality -- as it is our cable connection signal is so degraded that we need a powered line amp.