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TV Time Shifters

Digital video recorders gained fame with TiVo. New competitors range from rented boxes to Media Center PCs--and our TV addict tried them all.

Lincoln Spector

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DVR From Comcast

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DVR rating: Good

If you get digital cable from Comcast, you may be able to rent this very good, basic DVR for $10 a month total. The 80GB drive holds about 60 hours of standard television or 15 hours of HDTV. This was the only DVR I tested that could record HD content.

The interface looked a lot nicer than TiVo's, with big buttons and a live-TV feed in the corner. Picking favorite channels was also a lot easier because the interface had complete station descriptions.

However, I couldn't find the shows I was looking for with anywhere near the same ease. Sure, I could still find action/adventure movies. But the interface for entering titles to search on was clumsier than TiVo's. And you get no keyword search or anything like DirecTV's WishLists.

Bottom Line: Comcast cannot match TiVo's excellent search capabilities, but it supports HDTV, takes care of the basics, and integrates seamlessly with your cable service.

Stand-Alone Selections

What do you get if you don't combine your DVR with your set-top box? More features--and more hassles. I checked out three possibilities: a stand-alone TiVo box, a DVD/hard-disk recorder, and a Windows Media Center PC.

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