DVR or VCR with DTV-capable tuner?

[Latimer]

I'm too cheap to have cable. Why pay for TV and still have to see commercials? I also watch everything off of a VCR recording. If you get free TV, why watch the commercials? However, the upcoming switch to DTV has left me with a quandary.

The conversion box I got will work fine with my VCR as long as I leave it set to one channel. But the programmable tuner in my VCR can't change channels on the converter box, and it can't bring in digital signals. So, I won't be able to use programmable recording. I'd have to manually set the channel on the converter box each time I wanted to switch.

So what I think I need is a DVR or VCR (preferably a DVR) that has a DTV tuner and programmable recording. Is there such a thing?

[usually_quiet]

There are two converter boxes with programable event timers, the DTVPal/TR-40 CRA (from Dish Network) for sale at some Sears and K-Marts, and the Zinwell ZAT 970-A, available from some online retailers. You have to sycnchronize the timers on the box and recording device and record from a line input, but one of these may be workable for your current equipment.

The DTVPal/TR-40 CRA has some issues related to the timers, which you can read about at the AVS Forums, but if your local digital stations keep accurate time, it eliminates most of them. There are a lot of reviews of this box available online.

I don't really know anything about the Zinwell, other than the fact that it has timers, and the manual is available online in PDF format.

In addition. there are some 160GB HDD DVD recorders with ATSC tuners, the Philips 3575/3576 and Magnavox H2160. There is also a Magnavox recorder with an 80GB drive. These record in SD, but the recordings can be easily transferred to DVD if desired.

Dish may sell a DVR for OTA, the TR-50, at some point, but I haven't seen a date for its release yet. Not sure if it will record in HD.

[RabidDog]

I doubt you will get a VCR with a digital Tuner in it. But I stand to be corrected as stranger things happen in the US. they did sell such a thing here in the uk, but it never caught on and hasn't been seen for nary a long year. It cost about £56 and was made by <noname> Plc.