Tivo HD without cable?

[richjac]

I feel that I am paying too much for what I get from cable TV, and looking at DirectTV and U-verse, they're all around the same price.   The one thing I want to keep is local HD channels and DVR service.  Can I get this with a TIVO HD and their subscription, or will I still need cable to get the full functionality of the TIVO HD?

This is probably a pipe dream, as my wife and daughter will not want to give up Food Network, but 95% of our viewing is local or network, and $70 per month is a lot to pay for a few food shows and the occasional football game.

[kevbeck122]

You don't need cable for full functionality of Tivo HD.. it can be used with an antenna for OTA HD.

[Zoolander]

I recently dumped TWC and went with an OTA Tivo HD and a Directv HR20.  Being able to record 4 programs at once sure is handy.  Not that a guy needs to record 4 things at once often, but 24, Heros and Two and a Half Men share a time slot in winter.

Tivo's OTA recording is excellent.  The Directv HR20 crashes infrequently.  Tivo never crashes.  We record the vast majority of the network TV shows we watch on the Tivo.  And the HR20 picks up the slack and tunes in all the newly added Directv HD channels.

Happy I ditched TWC.

[Zoolander]

One more thing.  

Amazon Unbox on Tivo HD actually works pretty slick.  Its not HD, but its DVD quality.  Having the Tivo HD with Amazon Unbox options has alleviated any desire I had for Apple TV.

[Will]

Hi Zoolander,

Any chance you've experimented with using the Tivo without paying for the subscription?  I'm wondering whether it can be used like an old-fashioned VCR if you don't pay Tivo -- just set up the time and date to record, rather than use the program guide.  I wouldn't mind paying up for the Tivo HD or Series 3 box, but the guide costs seem high if all you use it for is OTA (like I would).

Thanks,
Will

[Zoolander]

Sorry, I haven't tried manual recording.  I bought the three year subscription for $299.  Comes to $8.33 a month.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/ has about 1000 users online at a time.  Some have got pretty creative.