Today I want to spend some time talking about DVR. The first TiVo, the brand name that is virtually synonymous with DVR, shipped in 1999. In the last 15 years the DVR has become a staple of modern life. While the term TiVo has become a proprietary eponym for DVR, the TiVo company itself holds a very small share of the overall DVR market. The majority of households use the DVR that is provided by their cable/satellite company.

So, is there a DVR for antenna TV?

I’m happy you asked! It turns out there are several excellent DVR options for Cord Cutters and OTA antenna TV enthusiasts. They range pretty widely in price, features, and complexity. I’ll do my best to break down the pros and cons of each and help guide you to a solution that will be right for you. Please leave a comment and let me know if you found it helpful.

TiVo Romio and TiVo Romio OTA

TiVo, the name that brought DVR to the masses. If price is no object and you want the simplest, most feature rich, option then a TiVo Romio box is for you. TiVo invented features like “Season Pass” that automatically records each episode of your favorite show. They were the first to offer recording of only new episodes (excluding re-runs). TiVo’s interface makes that delightful blup-blup noise. TiVo also has a feature rich eco-system. If you want to watch your TiVo’s shows on another TV they have a “TiVo Mini” expander box, currently $149.99, that lets you access your main TiVo’s content from another TV. If you want to watch your shows on your iPad or other mobile device they offer the TiVo Stream a $129.99 puck that delivers your shows to those screens.

TiVo has two Romio boxes that can be used with a HD antenna. The newest is their TiVo Romio OTA. It’s basically the same as the other TiVo boxes, but it can’t record from a cable/satellite feed and isn’t eligible for TiVo’s lifetime service subscription. On the plus side the TiVo Romio OTA upfront cost is just $49.99. On the downside the lack of lifetime service subscription option means it will cost $14.99 per month for as long as you want to use it.

If you prefer to get away from monthly fees, as many cord cutters do, you can get the TiVo Romio. Not to be confused with the Romio Plus or Romio Pro which don’t work with an antenna. The Romio costs $199.99 upfront and the TiVo Product Lifetime Subscription is another $499.99 brining the grand total to over $700 after tax. The TiVo product lifetime subscription can’t be transferred to another device and is only good for the device’s useful life. Providing you keep the device for more than 4 years and it doesn’t break, it’s a good investment. Otherwise, opt for the TiVo Romio OTA with the monthly fee.

Those are pretty expensive options, but with the TiVo you may not have a desire to buy a 3rd party streaming box or stick for internet channels as the TiVo has Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, Vudu, Pandora, and Spotify built-in. It is nice not having to change inputs to access such a wide range of content. On the flip side, with good streaming sticks like the Amazon Fire TV Stick costing $40 or less it’s not the bang for the buck it used to be.

Romio and Romio OTA Highlights

* 4 tuners
* 75 hours of HD recording (500gb drive)
* As low as $50 upfront (requires 1-year monthly subscription contract)
* Potential monthly fee ($14.99)
* Supports Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, Vudu, Pandora, Spotify, & YouTube
* Monthly fee can be avoided by buying lifetime subscription grand total $699 upfront
* Options for multi-room and mobile device support

ChannelMaster DVR+

ChannelMaster offers one of the only subscription-less OTA DVR’s (affiliate link) on the market. As I said in my review of the DVR+ Channel Master has a great foundation on their hands. The hardware is good and Channel Master is continuing to improve the DVR+. For example, they recently released an update that allows the DVR+ to record only new episodes of a series. If you’re looking for a simple, great value, no subscription, option for your antenna DVR look no further than the ChannelMaster DVR+ (affiliate link).

The base DVR+ is $249, but you’ll need to hook an external USB hard drive to it if you want to record more than one hour of HD programming. External USB hard drives are fairly inexpensive these days. As of this writing, Walmart.com has several 1TB external USB hard drives around $75. A quick google search can yield even better prices and sizes. 1TB should get you about 160 hours of HD recording.

If you’re not the do-it-yourself techy type they also offer a DVR+ 1TB model that has a 1TB hard drive built into the unit for $399. That’s a pretty hefty premium over getting the drive yourself, but it is one less technical thing to worry about buying and configuring which may be well worth it for some.

The DVR+ doesn’t currently offer the same rich eco-system of say TiVo, but it does have some options. Your best bet for multi-room viewing or watching content on tablets or smartphones is to pick up a SlingBox 500. Channel Master highlights the DVR+ is compatible with the SlingBox 500. It will set you back another $299 for the SlingBox plus another $15 or so for the SlingBox tablet/smartphone apps. Keep in mind the SlingBox 500 is made by Sling Media, not Channel Master, so while they are compatible and work well together, it’s not a unified system being supported by a sole entity.

On the streaming media front the DVR+ is still a bit lacking. You’ll probably want to consider adding a streaming box or stick to the equation. The DVR+ does support Vudu and Pandora so, there are some movie-on-demand and streaming music options built-in.

ChannelMaster DVR+ highlights

* 2 tuners
* Records to USB hard drive (easy to add up to 750 hours of HD recording assuming a 5tb external drive)
* As low as $300 upfront with no contract (assuming $50 for a USB external drive)
* Supports Vudu and Pandora
* No monthly fee
* No native multi-room or mobile device support
* Compatible with Slingbox 500

Tablo

Tablo is a newer entry into the DVR market. It bills itself as a “next-generation” DVR. The Tablo exchanges the traditional idea of the DVR as a device that hooks into your TV and instead makes it a device that hooks to your internet. Conceptually, it’s a bit abstract. Tablo sees antenna TV as something to be captured and distributed to any screen with an internet connection. The Tablo connects to your antenna and to your internet and then delivers your content to internet enabled devices. As such, the Tablo doesn’t connect directly to your TV.

It took a bit to wrap my head around, but it makes a lot of sense. The DVR is an evolution of the VCR. The VCR was billed as a device that could record TV. You’d use a TV as the interface to find what you want to record. The DVR evolved to get rid of tapes and added on-screen guides making it easier to schedule and record things. Yet, most DVR’s have retained the TV as the central interface. Tablo sees that people are moving away from the TV screen as the main interface for watching programs. In a world of computers, tablets, laptops, and smartphones the TV is increasingly becoming another screen. It’s often the biggest, but not always the most convenient. Tablo is designed to let any screen be the main DVR interface.

This makes it perfectly suited for easily watching programs on computers, tablets, and smartphones. However, it makes it a bit odder to use on a TV. It seems the simplest option for watching Tablo on a regular TV is through a Roku streaming box (affiliate link). Install the Roku to the TV then add the Tablo channel to the Roku. Then watch your live or recorded programs via the Roku using Tablo’s channel interface.

While the Tablo is simple enough to use, the abstraction of not connecting directly to a TV could be too complex at this stage in the game for many cord-cutters. However, if you’re a bit more tech savvy and looking to free your programming from the confines of the TV, the Tablo might be a great fit.

Tablo comes in a 2 tuner or 4 tuner model. The 2 tuner model starts at $219. As with the ChannelMaster DVR+ you’ll need to add an external USB hard drive. Factoring in a USB hard drive brings the total just shy of $300. Tablo requires a $4.99 monthly subscription. They also offer a $149.99 lifetime subscription. Unlike TiVo, the Tablo subscription is tied to your account instead of the device so you can “add as many Tablo units as you’d like to your subscription or change your Tablo unit at any time”. Now that’s a lifetime subscription I can get behind! The grand total for a 2 tuner Tablo, 1TB external USB hard drive, and lifetime subscription will run about $420.

Tablo highlights

* 2 or 4 tuners available
* Records to USB hard drive (easy to add up to 750 hours of HD recording)
* As low as $270 upfront (assuming $50 for an external USB hard drive)
* Potential monthly fee ($4.99)
* Does not connect directly to a TV. Requires streaming box to watch on a standard TV
* Monthly fee can be avoided by buying lifetime subscription grand total $420 upfront
* Designed for great mobile support
* Multi-room options are easy
* No 3rd party support i.e. Netflix, Hulu, etc…but isn’t designed to

Home Theatre PC/Self Build

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a custom built Home Theatre PC as a DVR option for cord cutters. A Home Theatre PC or HTPC offers the greatest flexibility of any DVR option, but it’s also the most complex. It requires the greatest commitment. You can do amazing things with a HTPC, but building a HTPC is a rabbit hole that you may never get out of. Long story short, if a HTPC is right for you, you’ve probably already started one. If you don’t want to live and breathe this stuff, go with one of the other options.

HTPC highlights

* Virtually unlimited tuner options
* Virtually unlimited storage options
* Price can vary widely
* About $500 minimum investment
* No need for a monthly fee
* Lots of flexibility for multi-room and mobile support
* works with basically all 3rd party streaming options

Which OTA antenna DVR is for you?

Personally, I believe all of these options offer a better overall experience than 90% of the cable and satellite company DVR’s. If you don’t want to spend a chunk of cash upfront the $49 TiVo Romio OTA is probably your best bet. If you’re more concerned about the the best value in the long run the Channel Master DVR+ (affiliate link) is a solid choice. If you’re more techy and want to free your media from the TV the Tablo should be on your list.

As you can see, there are several solid options to meet your DVR needs. If you’ve been thinking about cutting the cord, but have hesitated because you didn’t know how you’d record shows I hope this article has encouraged you to take the plunge.