I have a 3575H hooked up to my TV. I have satalite Direct TV service, and the DVR goes through my Direct TV box. This means I must have DVR on E-1 and can only record channels from the station that I have on. I can not record from one channel (example HBO) on the timer record, and then have it record a program from HGTV at a different time. (without changing the channel to HGTV)

So my question is. Are there any recorders out there (used from E-bay or from Canada that would have some sort of TV guide that would correspond with my Direct TV channels, so I could select recording from some sort of tV guide like Tivo even if it is for three days ahead and it will change channels by itself to record. I am trying to avoid a monthly subscription to Tivo.

I hope I explained myself clearly enough. I am not very technical.

Your best bet is going to try and find a DVDR that has a IR blaster that will control your Direct box. LG makes DVDR's with the blaster, not sure if they have the code for your STB though.
How that would work is you would manually program the DVDR and at the correct time it would send out a remote control signal to change the channel on your STB.
Maybe someone else knows if the LG would work, or of any other DVDR's with a blaster that would control your Direct box. Good luck!

You should be able to program the Direct tuner to change channels on it's own, either through the guide or through the menu.

That would be even better:)

That would be even better:)Forgot about that one, huh? ;)

I probably wouldn't have thought of it right away either, if I hadn't have dumped cable for satellite 3 years ago.

Actually, the IR blaster method of the LG would be better - but then it wouldn't have a hard drive, which trumps it in my opinion (as long as he still has the other method).

But a better method yet is the one I have using my Panasonic EH75V with Dish. All I have to do is set the recordings in the Dish guide, and the recorder starts and stops on it's own (no IR blaster involved). Never misses a beat (unless the "real" program time is thrown off for some odd reason, but the guide remains unchanged - which would yield the same results if I were using purely manual timers). Unfortunately, that's not possible for him.

At least it sounds like he is able to record HBO with the 3575H, which is a good thing.

Anyhow, as far as the ebay thing, the only HDD recorders with TVGOS that will work with DirecTV are the Panasonic EH55V and EH75V.

As far as figuring out how to set the timers in the Direct tuner, just go into the menu and look for "Timers" - or go to the shows you want to record in the guide and press "Enter" on the remote. The timer screen should come up.).

Thanks guys for your suggestion. I just went on E-Bay to check out if they had any EH55V or EH75V avail. They had one ED75V that is coming up in one plus hour and it is already at almost $700 with a 80 mg hard drive. That is too expensive for me.

I am wondering about these sets (Pioneer and Tosheba) that come with the Tivo Basic. I was wondering if I couldn't get buy with one of those without getting the full Tivo service, or if it would be too limiting. This for a second room (Living room) I have a paid for life Tivo now in my bedroom that I use for most of my saving programs.

The only thing is that I don't know what units are best. I don't know by their model number how old they are. There is a Pioneer Elite coming up tonight that has a paid for Tivo subscription included, and I know that's a very good one, but I also know it will go in the $500 range too, and I was looking for something cheaper for the second room. Any model numbers you could share with me of the Pioneer or Toshiba that have the Tivo Basic that are good, and those to avoid? You have been very helpful. Thank you.

I think they're all pretty much the same, although I remember reading in that big TiVo forum that they're were some bugs with certain Toshibas. Don't remember which ones, though. (I was researching them myself a couple of years back, because the Sears here was still clearing NIB ones out at a real low price). I can't remember the name offhand of that most popular TiVo forum out there, but maybe you can find it and search for more info.

As long as the free, Basic service is still valid, and you have a phone line to connect it to (I think that's the only way to get info with those older units), and the unit works OK, then it's a good option.

But the EH55V and EH75V are quite a bit newer units, so you might have less wear and tear involved there. Only thing is, with Direct, you *may* have to get the guide info over-the-air, in which case, after the analog cutoff, you may lose it. So I don't know if that would really be a good choice at this point, now that I think of it.

And yeah, those Panny units are in real high demand, so they tend to go for pretty high prices.