OK... I don't get it.
Why does nobody make a stand alone DVR for recording broadcast TV that you do not need a subscription for? This makes no sense to me. I can but a vcr, or a DVD burner, but if I want to record broadcast TV to a hard drive I have to buy a subscription.
I know I can make a recorder using a PC and a capture card. So how come nobody has a production model that I can buy that does this?
Possibly something to do with copyright issues? Just a guess. There generally always seems to be a money angle.
Sony used to make a couple of DVR's, maybe 4-5 years ago. They never sold well. IIRC they had twin tuners so you could watch one channel and record another. Not much use any more without a converter box for OTA at least.
You could get a Moxi...
http://www.moxi.com/us/offer.html?_cr=ppc|google|MOX:%20Moxi:%20USA|moxi%20dvr (http://www.moxi.com/us/offer.html?_cr=ppc%7Cgoogle%7CMOX:%20Moxi:%20USA%7Cmoxi%20dvr)
You can get a PC with XP Media Edition and a TV tuner card. It will download guide info and record programs on your HD.
Alternately, look at PCs dedicated to entertainment systems. Some people have their entire DVD collection stored on the HD and have the PC networked to all TVs in the house. (A friend of mine designed a super version of this for Paul Allen's yacht several years ago and they bought entire studio catalogs.)