I've been lurking in the forums assessing what is out there and what features are important to me, but although I'm learning quite a bit, I'm still unsure of what units will fit my needs. Any advice is appreciated. Here's what I'm hoping to get:

1) ATSC tuner that will be used with my OTA antenna to provide HDMI HD output to my HD TV which does not have tuner.

2) Some form of program guide and timeshift capability

3) Ability to record OTA HD shows (480i recording is okay)

4) Ability to record from the 2nd tuner output of my E* ViP 622

I'm a student, on a somewhat tight budget, and would consider refurb units to save money.

You can get a "Factory Renewed" Philips DVDR3575H/37 for $199 which has a 160GB HDD, NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners, 36 timer rec programs for recording a "gazillion" titles unattended, amplified coax passthru, etc.

The only thing on your list it doesn't have is a TVG, and since all DVDRs are std def (SDTV) only, they pass SDTV thru their tuners, so what you'll see on your tunerless TV is an SDTV version of a HD program.

Click on my signature and on the top of that page are links for purchase, plus a list of organized subjects you can read, as needed.

You can connect your OTA antenna to the coax input and the Sat receiver to a line input, a combination of sketches 1 and 2 in the "Basic System Connections" subject on that first page.

Wajo, thanks for the suggestion. The 3575 was what I had been leaning towards before posting my request. I know nothing out there allows recording HD signal to HD resolutions, but was REALLY hoping there was something out there that had an ATSC tuner capable of showing HD signal in HD to the TV.

How far away are we from tuners that can display OTD HD channels in 1080i? If it's this summer, I'll wait, otherwise, I'm likely to pull the trigger on the 3575.

Some people are hoping for next year since they're just now appearing in Australia. A Panny BD recorder is available there for $2200. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1034722)

I don't think it'll be this summer here.

Looks like the 3575 is my best deal for now. Thanks again and also for the links in your sig. Some good info there!