DVD-R(w) and cable TV

[rotuts]

I record over the air HD TV on my mac

however my sister is still using a dinasaur VCR that now comes with a dvd play back
she does not want to ever get tivo

some vcr/dvd combo have dvd-r

can one record cable tv to those dvd-rw or is there noise added in?

many thanks

[usually_quiet]

Yes there are DVD-VCR combo recorders. Not many, and they can be buggier and more difficult to use than a regular DVD recorder. Do a Google search for "dvd recorder vcr combo" and look at the "Shopping" section and you will have an idea of what is available.

Many will tune analog cable, and in some cases, both over-the-air digital broadcasts and unencrypted digital cable. They don't add noise to recordings on DVD. Most have filters that reduce noise when recording to DVD. However, DVD recorders may add compression artifacts, although generally not to the extent that most people will notice them if they use settings that record between 1 and 3 hours per DVD.

Recording digital cable with a DVD recorder is somewhat inconvenient. Most digital cable channels are encrypted and a DVD recorder can't tune them directly. The recorder has to be connected to a cable box's composite or S-Video output so the cable box tunes and decrypts the channels. Also, someone must manually change the channel on the cable box to the one to be recorded. As far as I know, none of the current DVD-VCR combo recorders available in the US includes an IR blaster to control the cable box.

[Baldrick]

Moving you to our dvd recorders section.

[jjeff]

What usually quite said, I'd add that if you can get her away from VHS tape something like one of the Magnavox DVDRs with a HDD is a far better choice. They start ~$200 and you only need to burn to DVD what you want to keep long term, otherwise everything is recorded to the HDD first.
Here's a link to a compressive thread on the Magnavox DVDRs
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940657
Most combo recorders won't record digital broadcasts to the VHS side, Toshibas with a digital tuner are one of the exceptions.