Supersize My DVR, Please!

This recent post I made about midseason television shows sparked some interesting conversations in the office about some of the new DVR solutions that are currently available.

After cycling through link after link and subtle hints telling me to upgrade my device (ironic given we work at a storage company, right?) I wanted to share some of the ones that stood out:

Channel Master:  This is a subscription based HDTV recording solution that allows for some pretty cool bells & whistles including:
–       Dual recording of 2 programs simultaneously
–       Social networking (Picasa™ & Flickr™)
–       View/Record all local broadcasts
–       35 hours of HD, 150 hours of SD and 320GB of storage

Hopper by DISH®: What I love about this box (even though I’m not on DISH) is:
–       2TB hard drive space
–       Ability to record 250+ hours of HDTV
–       Record 6 channels simultaneously
–       The Seek & Record™ feature allowing me to record anything featuring one of my favorite action stars, Jackie Chan.

I could just kick myself for not seeing this device in action at CES last month.

TiVo® Premiere Elite: The “Father” of all DVR’s, TiVo has been around so long, I think it’s now a verb as well as a noun.   This bad boy can:
–       2TB of hard drive space
–       Record up to 4 shows simultaneously
–       Stream music & photos
–       THX® Certified
–       Up to 300 hours of HD recording

Each of these machines are fine and dandy, but with the emergence of Smart TV’s, and the accessibility of Windows Media Center, I’d like something better, something more powerful, something…bionic! Here’s what my dream DVR would look like:
–       5TB hard drive storage (On the device—which is really a dream, I know, considering Seagate’s Pipeline HD® drive for DVRS tops out at an industry-leading 2TB, but hey, that’s what dreams are for)
–       3TB of Cloud based storage for anywhere/anytime accessibility for that on-the-go traveler
–       5 show simultaneous recording
–       THX® Certification
–       Music connectivity to iTunes, Spotify, Slacker or Pandora
–       Social Network connectivity to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Pinterest
–       Movie connectivity to Netflix, Blockbuster or Film Fresh
–       Web enabled
–       Voice Activated for controls similar to Xbox Kinect
–       On Demand access to premium channels such as HBO, Showtime and ESPN
–       Recommendations based upon favorite shows or recording history.

I’d also like the box to be about the size of current DVD players, and allow for custom colors to match the personality of the owner.  Price? Well, I’m asking a lot, but for all of this, I’d be willing to pay about $499.  =)

Did I miss any features? Let me know in the comments below, via Twitter or on Facebook.

2012-02-17T14:35:35+00:00

About the Author:

3 Comments

  1. NuyoRiquena February 17, 2012 at 5:24 pm - Reply

    I really do not understand the appeal of social networking from my television. I go to the television to get away from my computer and all my “friends.” I hope this isn’t indicative of the aging process.

  2. Jonathan Long February 17, 2012 at 5:26 pm - Reply

    I’m sure they smart devices (no pun intended) will make it an optional function. But it’d be great for something like Get Glue where you can automatically check in as you select a program to watch.

  3. […] game consoles and the storage capacity of some of the DVR’s hitting the market, I’m okay with keeping my living room setup as is. So will the Smart TV go the […]

Leave A Comment