The digital video recorder has to be the greatest add-on to my television. Ever since I got connected to the Direct TV Russian package and their new HD DVR, my television viewing habits have changed.
Here is an example.
If you haven’t ever watched television with a digital video recorder, or a TiVo, you don’t know what you are missing. You have total control over everything you decide to watch. If you are watching a program, and all of the sudden you realize that you are hungry, you can just hit the pause button. Go make your food, and come back when you’re ready, even if it takes 15 minutes!
Then when you begin viewing your program again, you will have the added advantage of fast forwarding through any commercials that come up. Pass right through them each time they come up! Some days I don’t even see a single commercial.
Now here is how I get the most out of my digital video recorder setup. I don’t even bother channel surfing anymore. I simply set up my DVR to record the shows I like. Even with sports programming, I set the DVR to record, then I sit down about an hour after the game actually starts. That way, I can skip through all the commercials, and watch a football game in about half the time.
Finally, I can always see new episodes of my favorite series. For example, new episodes are coming out soon of Friday Night Lights on DirecTV. On the digital video recorder, all I have to do is select the record series choice, and every time the show airs, my Direct TV DVR finds it night or day, and saves it for me. I can set it to record all of the episodes, or just the first-run editions. All of this in beatiful hi def too!
Then, when I have the time to watch TV, all of my favorite shows are ready and waiting there for me to watch. No need to rearrange my schedule around the networks, not with my new DirecTV digital video recorder.
While other companies like AT&T U-verse and Verizion Fios have also begun to offer DVR service, satellite TV companies like DIRECTV pioneered the product.
