Digital Video Recorders
How to program your TiVo — even if you can't work your VCR
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 Know some ground rules for
your DVR and your hard drive will
be full of hours of great TV |
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January 16, 2004
Suddenly, DVRs, also known as PVRs (personal video recorders), are everywhere. TiVo, ReplayTV and other satellite TV DVRs have lately been joined by boxes from cable companies. Now that practically everybody has the opportunity to pause live TV, here are some things to keep in mind:
• Many DVRs let you use the web to schedule shows remotely, perfect for, say, when you're at work or on vacation. Often, though,
anything that you
schedule less than 24 hours in advance will trigger a warning that the show may air before your DVR receives the remote command. Still, in our experience, there's a good chance it will be recorded.
• If you pause live TV for more than a half-hour, your DVR might run out of disk space and proceed with the show. If you know you're going to be gone for a while, hit Record instead of Pause and watch the rest of the show at your leisure. Keep in mind that, depending on when you started watching the show, the beginning may be cut off.
• Speaking of cut off, DVRs often trim the ends off of shows. It's not their fault: live TV events or sloppy broadcasting schedules mean shows run past their scheduled endings. If your shows keep getting cut off, try to add five minutes to the beginning or end of the recording. For sporting events, check out how much time is allotted in the program guide. If it's not enough, add as much time as you can or schedule the recording by hand (for example, record everything on ABC from 8 PM until Midnight).
• TiVo and other DVRs let you record whole seasons of a show, and even specify first-run only, or first-run and repeats depending on what you like. But what happens when the season is over? If you love the show, leave the settings as they are. It doesn't take up any memory in your DVR, and many shows, especially cable programs, have a tricky way of resurfacing with brand new episodes when you least expect them.
• Watch commercials. It sounds weird, but even if your DVR lets you fast forward through them or skip them entirely, take a moment every so often to check them out. Not so Hollywood stays in business, necessarily, but because it's still the best way to find new shows. Without catchy commercials, I'd have never learned of Aqua Teen Hunger Force or Chappelle's Show.
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