Peter099 asked:


We’ve gotten a lot of misinformation from Comcast so I figured this would be a better place to ask this. We’d been using a DVD recorder (not a DVR) to record HD programs from CNN, History, and Comedy Central, with no converter box. It worked fine for months, until this week! They sold us on a $7/month HD box so that we could get those channels. Now we find we can’t RECORD them the same way; we have to have a DVR. Jeez.

Is it possible to buy Comcast’s DVR, to record HD programs, and NOT buy into their broadband (which we’ve heard is horrific and unreliable and satanic and etc.)? Do all DVRs require a broadband connection? (We know TiVo does, but we’re kinda clueless about the principles.)

Our needs are very simple — 6 hours of recording per week from a very few channels — but it’s gotten so complicated now, we’re almost ready to switch back to the DTA box and dismiss HD altogether. Grateful for any clues & suggestions.
Fast answer. Thank you sincerely, Ned, that helps a lot. (Yeah, we knew we weren’t getting true HD on the discs, but the post was already long & complicated enuf.)

One follow-up: Are you saying we *would* need broadband to store programs on the DVR, but could avoid it by feeding the DVR output to the DVD recorder? Thanks.
@Jerry – Thanks for these deatils. Actually the red-white-yellow hookup is what we tried, assuming it would work; it doesn’t (and the Comcast guy affirmed it “isn’t supposed to” — grr). The DVD recorder (on Ch.3) just shows snow. Also, there’s no coax output on the box, just a coax in. Sounds like they’ve got us in a corner… Any other comments?
Scratch my last comment. IT DOES WORK! — except, the DVD recorder needs to be set to record from the input jack, not a channel. (That’s AV1 or AV2 on our JVC DR-MV100 recorder).

I sincerely wish I could vote every answer here as ‘best.’
Addendum: It only works on the recorder input labeled “DV AV” — so yeah, only if the recorder can ‘see’ digital output.