BlogSpot.PK|The General Purpose Blog

The digital video recorder has to be the best add-on to my television. Ever since I got connected to the DirectTV Russian package and their new HD DVR, my television viewing habits have changed.

Let me give you a brief 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 pause the program. Go make a snack, and come back when you’re ready, even if it takes 15 minutes!

Then when you start watching your show again, you will have the added advantage of fast forwarding through any advertisements that come up. Pass through them every time they come up! Some days I don’t even see a single commercial.

Now here is how I recommend getting the most out of a DVR setup. I don’t even bother channel surfing anymore. I simply set up my DVR to record the shows I like. Even with sports, I set the DVR to record, then I sit down about an hour after the game actually starts. This way, I can fast forward through all the commercials, and watch the game in about half the time.

Finally, I can always see new episodes of my favorite series. An example, new episodes are coming out soon of Friday Night Lights. On my DVR, all I need to do is pick the record series choice, and every time the show comes on, my digital video recorder finds it night or day, and saves it for me. I can set it to save all of the episodes, or just the first-run editions. All of this in beatiful HD too!

Then, when I have time to watch television, all of my shows are ready and waiting there for me to watch. No need to rearrange my schedule around the networks, not with my new DirecTV DVR.