Quit throwing away your hard earned money on Comcast cable. You don’t need any cable service at all to get all of the benefits of a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). For all of you that have CUT-THE-CABLE or are considering it so that you can watch FREE DIGITAL TV over the airwaves (which has better quality than anything that Comcast offers), then here is the MUST HAVE device for every household.
Channel Master CM-7000PAL-DVR
The Channel Master CM-7000PAL has no subscriptions, no fees, and no advertisements.
It is the LEAST EXPENSIVE Over-The-Air DVR with no monthly fees on the market…and I LOVE IT! The DTVPal DVR used to hold the title, but it has been discontinued. Guess what? This is the EXACT SAME PRODUCT with a different brand name on it.
The Channel Master CM-7000PAL can record TWO channels at the same time while you watch a 3rd pre-recorded program.
This dual-tuner HDTV DVR supports both HD and SD channels from your antenna signal. Satellite and cable are not supported. You can use pause, instant replay, and rewind on live programming. This no subscription DVR has a recording capacity of about 30 HD hours and 150 SD hours on its 250GB hard drive. These are pretty good estimates but can not be exact because the signal can change within a recording due to commercials and stuff. HD signals are stored on the hard drive in HighDef format and cannot be converted to SD to save space. The remote control that comes with the box includes buttons for 30 sec skip, 10 second replay, and supports four speeds of fast forward and reverse, slow motion, and frame-by-frame advance. It can also be programmed to operate your other devices like your TV, DVD player, and sound system.
One of the coolest features is the FREE electronic program guide (EPG) with up to 8-days of program information when TVGuide On Screen (TVGOS) is available. TVGOS is distributed by many CBS affiliates across the country, but is not available in all markets. You can check at www.rabbitears.info to determine whether TVGuide service is currently available in your area. If TVGuide service is not available, the Channel Master CM-7000PAL EPG will display the more limited program information — typically 8-24 hours worth — offered by your local broadcasters via PSIP. If TVGuide service is available, but does not have information for a particular channel, then the PSIP information (i.e. 8-24 hours) from that broadcaster is shown instead.
All recording are performed with timers that are created manually or set through a program guide selection. When you select a show in the program guide, you can create a reminder or schedule a recording in that time slot: once, daily, weekly, or M-F. You have the same options when selecting a show with keyword search within the titles of the programs in the EPG.
The Channel Master CM-7000PAL lacks some features found on subscription-based TiVo, DirecTV, and Dish Network satellite DVRs. Features absent from the product include comprehensive program information on all channels, advanced search functions, external storage expansion, multi-room viewing, guide filters / favorites, and the ability to transfer/offload recordings. Most notably, it relies on time-based recording rather than name-based recording; it does not know when a scheduled program has changed its day, time, or duration. It lacks the ability to record only new episodes and ignore repeats.
The Channel Master CM-7000PAL has RF, composite (RCA), component, and HDMI video outputs; it has analog stereo and optical (TOSLINK) audio outputs. Output via component and HDMI is selectable 480p/720p/1080i through a menu. All outputs are active simultaneously and the box will downconvert HD channels to SD through composite and coax for older televisions. There is no Firewire output, and no way to directly download recordings from the DVR.
The Channel Master CM-7000PAL comes standard with a 90-day warranty. I don’t usually buy extended warranties, but I made an exception when I bought my DTVPal DVR knowing that I’m dealing with a 250GB hard drive that is not user serviceable. The $30 for a 2-year warranty seemed like not such a bad deal.
I love mine to death and don’t want to live without it. I got mine in January and it took less than 30 minutes to have it up and running. Smooth like butta baby!
Click >>> HERE <<< to get yours
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Comment by hitch mount bike rack — June 3, 2010 @ 9:54 pm
Something interesting happened yesterday, when I got home the bushes around the bushes around my house were crudely cut and my sat tv was not working. It turns out that the sat dish line was, presumably cut by people paid by my apartment building to cut the bushes on ‘accident’ however I noticed that it looks like only my apartment had the bushes cut in this little section of our apt buildings and they were done very very crudely. Uneven. and there are parts just hacked off. Now I am not accusing anyone of anything but… it doesn’t look like anyone is working on any bushes around the complex and when I came home today at lunch to feed my dog there was a minivan with a ‘Comcast Residential Service’ sticker on it in front of my apartment. This is really interesting because I quit comcast at my old apartment because they were terrible. They incorrectly installed my cable and kept charging me even though it wasnt working. But even after moving once I installed sat tv within a week when I came home some guy from comcast was looking at my sat tv dish and he asked me if I wanted to go to comcast. I said no obviously. The rental company encourages you to use comcast because comcast wired the entire complex and I think they paid off my apartment complex in order to get exclusive rights to the complex. They obviously feel they need to get every single customer. But could it possibly be that comcast has resorted to sabotage?
Comment by robert — June 22, 2010 @ 6:51 pm
Hi Robert,
I’m sorry to hear about your dish chord being cut. Can I interest you in and HD antenna that stays 100% indoors and an OTA DVR to go along with it?
But to your question of Comcast possibly resorting to sabotage, I doubt seriously if you could ever nail Comcast for officially sponsoring sabotage of alternate content delivery methods. The FCC has tried and was shot down by a court of appeals on the whole BitTorrent filtering fiasco. As with most other things in this world, if you follow the money you will usually find out who stands to benefit the most by getting you to switch back to Comcast.
It could be the Comcast field technicians who we know are underpaid, under-trained, and over worked and have to resort to ‘unusual methods’ to make ends meet like the one breaking into homes in Portland, or the one that robbed a check cashing store. Maybe the tech was trying to hook you up at a substantial saving like the ex-Comcast tech in Dekalb, GA.
If I had to guess, I would say that there is a contract in place between Comcast and your apartment complex owners which provides them with some kind of ‘kick-back’ in the form of a reduced bill, or a rebate, and I’m sure some free cable IF AND ONLY IF the apartment complex maintains a defined number of subscribers. Follow the money my friend and find out who stands to benefit the most. There you shall find your answers Grasshopper.
Comment by admin — June 23, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
The dish network DTVPAL DVR is the best thing to advance television viewing since color TV came out. It is great to be able to record in High Definition from the local TV stations that used to be analog and have now all switched to digital signals! My brother bought 2 of these units and installed 1 terabite drives in them. That is 4 times the original recording time. He uses 2 antennias and can pull in stations from diferent directions and record simultaniously in perfect High Definition for his family. I have heard that only a blue Ray player and a purchased movie will give the true 1080i High Definition. All the television stations have upgraded to high definition but are broadcasting in 780i. I read that satelite TV providers compress the signals uploading and downloading, so that the OTR (Over the air) broadcasts show better high definition. (From what I have been told) My DTVPAL DVR is excelant quality for me! Much better than an old TV using the original broadcast standard of 480 interlaced lines. I bought mine using e-bay. Amazon had them listed as well. The price has steadily risen, I think I will buy the next one at Kmart. My unit still has the 250 GB hard drive and it is full with saved shows. I too, love my DTVPAL DVR to death and found it terrible to watch TV without it! Here is why! Even if you fill up the hard drive and dont want to delete the shows, a person can kill all the commercials! Say You arrive home 35 minutes late and your favorite football game or ice skating special has already started. Even in live mode without even recording the show, the hard drive allows a person to go back about 1 hour and watch your favorite show from the beginning, and skip all the commercials at the same time!!(Asuming the tuner was set on the channel you wanted to watch) Without the DVRPAL DVR we are all forced to watch stupid commercials! All the broadcasters put out about 20 minutes of commercials for every hour they broadcast. So if You record a TV program, or watch a program live, with a DTVPAL DVR, we can start watching the program 20 minutes late, fast forward over the commercials (30 seconds for each click of the remote) and end up at the end of the program at the top of the hour, just like all the people that were forced to watch the stupid comercials. I GAIN 20 MINUTES EVERY HOUR TO USE AS I PLEASE. And if You record a TV program, You get to watch it at your leisure. It is simple to delete any recorded show. If You tape a show that You want to save or a season of shows, (Like “the Defenders”, “Hiwaii Five O”, etc.) Just buy a dvd recorder and You can save your shows on dvd or Blu Ray. Hope this helps someone! I’m off to install a 1 Terabite drive!
Comment by Ross Hanson — November 15, 2010 @ 5:27 pm
Thanks Ross! I couldn’t agree with you more. I picked up mine a year ago and I can’t believe how much time I save. It’s not just in skipping through the commercials. A lot of programs lately are doing PRODUCT PLACEMENT within the show itself so we are able to skip through those segments also. You can also watch some of these game shows like “Minute to Win it” and watch an entire 1-hour show in 10 minutes by speeding through all of the fluff. I’ve even watched a 2-hr football game in 30-min by cutting out all of the non-action.
I’m sorry to hear that the Dish Network DTVPal DVR is no longer being produced, but the Channel Master CM-7000PAL is the exact same box. Lucky for us we go ours for about $100 less!
Good luck with yours and let me know if you have any luck in installing the 1 Terabite drive. If so, maybe you can write up some instructions so we can post them for everyone here.
Comment by admin — December 17, 2010 @ 3:34 pm
Do you have a link to a site with program guides for diffferent areas?
Comment by Nelson Scott — December 23, 2010 @ 6:19 pm
Try TITANTV.COM and let me know if that works for you. It also has a very cool feature that allows you to remotely program your DVR if it is addressible from the web. Chek it out
Comment by admin — December 29, 2010 @ 9:19 pm
What exactly is over-the-air broadcast? Does that mean zero cable broadcast? Is there somewhere to go to find out what stations are available in Thousand Oaks (between Los Angeles and Ventura) CA?
So like CNN is out? Thanks for your help…. Jennifer
Comment by Jennifer — January 26, 2011 @ 1:06 am
Hi Jennifer & sorry for the delay. Over-The-Air (OTA) broadcast is exactly that. NO CABLE REQUIRED!!! You can go to Titan TV and submit your zip code and they will tell you through the TV listings which channels should be available in your area that you can receive OTA with a simple digital antenna.
CNN, HBO, TBS, etc are all out for now, but remember that the FCC regulates the industry and are supposed to regulate to the benefit of the general public, so let them know that you want to receive these broadcasts OTA and if enough people let them know, then maybe eventually they will listen.
Comment by admin — March 3, 2011 @ 4:12 pm
We cut the DirecTV fees, and now have 2 of the DTVpal units. They are not perfect, but the best standalone OTA DVR units I could find on the market. The good news is
that if a hard drive fails (mine did), you can just pop another one in there, and the drive is auto-reloaded
by firmware.
Other problems I’ve had:
* The HDMI output failed on one unit. Fortunately the component video output still worked just fine.
* They can freeze up, especially when monkeying with the remote control right when it’s starting to record.
* On one unit, the Date/Time setting gets unset somehow, and has to be manually re-entered. That messes up any
scheduled recordings.
* Lately, some TV shows (especially Glee) have odd schedules where they start or end one minute late. This can cause DTVpal to skip the next recording (unless you enter the times and channels manually).
We still use them every day, and for the most part work fine. But, you will experience a problem occasionally.
They are not as refined as TiVo, but then again, you don’t have to pay a monthly fee. My DirecTV bill was up to
$160. When I did the math on how much it was costing me per show that I watched, it was ridiculous.
Comment by Greg — June 18, 2011 @ 9:05 am