I'll be in a park the next 6 months+ which has free Charter cable. Today they brought me a cable box with a really basic remote and all I could do was move the channels up one at a time, which is fine for a few days but I don't even have a guide and that would get old fast. I have Dish with a Winegard Carryout Dish but I'd like to go with the cable since it's free. I called Charter/Spectrum and they're sending me two free Spectrum universal remotes for my tvs. They said that might allow me to pull up the guide. They also said that I could add a Roku or Tivo to record programs. What's the easiest option that would act like a Dish DVR...allow me to:- record two programs at once- watch them from either room- possibly pause live tv?I just want to watch these back on tv, no other devices. I don't need to be able to watch different shows in different rooms. It's just me.Is there any other kind of unit that would accomplish this? I see there are 75 hour Tivos. I don't need more than that. The Tivo mini is looking like a good option. Or the Tivo Premier. Do you just use the Tivo remote for everything? (sync it with your tv?) and what if you have 2 tvs?There's a monthly fee with Tivo, yes? Is there with Roku?I'm totally out of the loop where the new gadgets are concerned. I've had the Dish DVR for 10 years but since this is free (190 channels) I'd like to take advantage of it.Also...does it matter if I run the cable through the cable in/out of the Dish receiver? I didn't know if that would interfere with the guide or any other functions.Thanks much...

Charter used to offer a Motorola DVR, which is smaller then the TIVO.

n7bsn wrote:Charter used to offer a Motorola DVR, which is smaller then the TIVO.The first Charter rep I talked to tried to convince me to not try to buy one of those on eBay because "it could be programmed for New York and I'm in Oregon"...which sounded fishy to me. The next rep said I could use a Tivo or a Roku but didn't mention the Motorola DVR. The cable box and the remote they gave me are Motorola. Hmm..

Dvr isn't really necessary with Spectrum. You should have access to on demand for the channels you're subscribed to. Think of it as a cloud based DVR.Another thought, check your cable box for USB or eSata ports, you might only need to add an external drive and have support turn on the feature.

GordonThree wrote:Dvr isn't really necessary with Spectrum. You should have access to on demand for the channels you're subscribed to. Think of it as a cloud based DVR.Another thought, check your cable box for USB or eSata ports, you might only need to add an external drive and have support turn on the feature.I don't think on demand is available for bulk accounts.

Option 1: Very easy Hauppauge WIN-TV, ReplayTV edition...First the interface will be more or less familure to you since the DISH NETWORK receivers based their User Interface on ReplayTV's as did Hauppauge on this model. (The difference is Hauppauge ask first, Dish got sued) Replay by the way is considered to best user interface in the business (NOTE Replay is no longer made)TiVo... That's the DirecTV type interface (Also got sued, forgot to ask but oh well).I do not know how well the Win-TV can control the TV,, it eats up a lot of hard drive however.. both allow you to download a program guide.Now. for the program guideGo to this URL www.zap2it.com and follow the links. Enter your ZIP code, pick your provider, and you will have a very nice program guide on your computer screen.. Register (no charge) and you can customise the guide, turning "off" channels you do not watch or get.That is Zap2it

Need help choosing a DVR for Charter Cable... | Good Sam Community

19 Replies

MrWizard
Moderator
Sep 21, 2017
The home Worx PVR or iview can be programmed for 8pm next week
But you do it manually from the remote and the program menu, similar to old vhs recorders
The program guide only runs hours ahead, and only shows the channel your viewing at the moment

But if you know ch4 has a movie at ,9pm thurs night
You can program it in

I use mine too record Lucifer and Lethal Weapon on Fox, just in case i forget to watch them
shastagary
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
for the original post roku is not a option that is a streaming from the internet media player only no recording no cable reception. tivo would work but you would have to get one that accepts a cable card and pay the cable company for the cable card use. if you can find the cable company office it may be better to go there than talking to them on the phone and see what the options are but it will cost you to use there dvr. if the park gave you a cable box the cable is more than likely scrambled and any cable dvr would have to be activated by the cable company to use it. for the over the air recording dvrs talked about above read the reviews on them most of them seem to have some quirks to them but they are reasonably priced. i use a tivo premier for over the air recording only. it does cost me $15.00 a month but it works flawlessly and has one of the best guides for recording available. and you can skip through the commercials and pause live tv.
Snowman9000
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
Thanks Tom, that looks good too.

I now understand that programming for recording is not as slick as a cable or dish DVR, but it sounds good enough for our purpose.
Tom_M1
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
I have a similar box called an iView. Keep in mind that these units will not record analog. The Homeworx will only work for over the air digital TV. The iView claims that it will also work with unencrypted digital (Clear-QAM) cable. I've only used mine for OTA TV.

These boxes will display a program guide, but it depends on what each TV station broadcasts. They usually go out one day at the most. You can choose to record a reoccurring program. If a show comes on every Tuesday, you only have to program it one time.

Here's a link to download the manual for the iView model:
http://www.iviewus.com/download/manual/3500STBIImanual.pdf
Snowman9000
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
MrWizard wrote:
I have a homeWorx PVR, IT RECORDS OTA broadcasts in HD
At what ever resolution is being broadcast 1080, 730, 480 etc.
It's digital receiver, and records to USB either stick or external hard drive
that has its own power supply
You can record or watch and record even pause, but only one channel
It only has one tuner
It has hdmi and AV output for the TV
You can record one channel with pvr
And watch another channel using the TV tuner
For $39 i have gotten a lot of use out of mine
It does not do cable

That sounds good, and simple. Thanks.

I just went looking at it on Amazon. Can you tell me if there is a way to program it to record something a few days in the future? It's not clear that it uses a guide or something like that so you can select a future show.
MrWizard
Moderator
Sep 20, 2017
I have a homeWorx PVR, IT RECORDS OTA broadcasts in HD
At what ever resolution is being broadcast 1080, 730, 480 etc.
It's digital receiver, and records to USB either stick or external hard drive
that has its own power supply
You can record or watch and record even pause, but only one channel
It only has one tuner
It has hdmi and AV output for the TV
You can record one channel with pvr
And watch another channel using the TV tuner
For $39 i have gotten a lot of use out of mine
It does not do cable
Snowman9000
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
I have a question related to this thread...

We are going to be staying at two parks for extended periods. One has their own in house cable system, analog. Yes, in house, not Charter or anyone else. It's a huge park the size of a small town. There is no hardware at the RV end, just connect the cable.

The second one uses a bulk DISH Network system, so I presume it is digital. It also has no hardware at the RV end, just connect the cable.

Because each of these do not have a box, is there a generic DVR I can use or make? My DW is gonna be unhappy if we can't find a way to record some things. :)

Another thought: In each case we will be able to receive good OTA signals, which will have most of what DW wants.

So what is the best DVR solution for us? I'd like to be somewhat budget friendly, this is a one-winter problem for now.
wowens79
Explorer III
Sep 20, 2017
I work for a small cable company, so here is a little info. With a bulk account they probably look at it like a hotel, and won't offer you any equipment such as a DVR.

A Tivo will not work as Charter encrypts their channels, you have to rent a CableCard from them to put in the Tivo to decrypt the channels.

Also the Motorola boxes are configured to work with certain systems, and typically will not work in other systems. Most of the ones you see on ebay are "stolen" when people move and don't return the equipment. By blocking them on other systems this makes them less desirable for theft as you can't sell them easily.

As much as you don't want to, turning Dish back on may be your best option.
Snowman9000
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
see later post.
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Mar 30, 2017
I do not believe you can use any DVR but Spectrum. Around here at least the cable is largely switched digital video- many of the channels are not on the cable until my DVR/cable box asks for it.