Been dying to tell your cable company goodbye?  Now there’s an alternative – ChannelMaster DVR+. Record shows, watch local news – all in beautiful HD – for free.

$249.99 will buy you a ChannelMaster DVR+, which isn’t cheap, but in a month or two of no cable bills, you’ll be paid off and you’ll watch TV for free for ever after. Take that cable bill, burn it, and with the money you’ll save, you can rent all the movies you want.

ChannelMaster DVR+

The DVR

The ChannelMaster DVR+ not only lets you program and record over the air HD broadcasts, but also lets you integrate online streaming services.  No more multiple remotes or flipping switches for your multiple inputs.

With just the ChannelMaster remote, you can browse the programming guide, select channels, pick streaming content or select from 1,000’s of shows on VUDU.

The DVR itself is super slim (1/2”) with USB ports for external DVR storage. Additional ports cpver Ethernet cable for online services, antenna and HDMI out.  The unit supports SD and HD video up to 1080i and 1080p. Dual tuners let you watch one program and record another.

The Antenna

The $59.99 ChannelMaster SMARTenna can be used inside or out.  It comes with a table top stand and a mounting bracket for outside.  I didn’t try it outside, opting instead to place it next to a window facing Cleveland.  Even though we live 25 miles from the nearest big metropolitan area, and even though the antenna was inside, I was still able to haul in 19 crystal clear HD stations.

The antenna is omni-directional so there’s no aiming or tuning necessary. Making antennas since 1949, if there’s one thing ChannelMaster knows…its antennas.

The Hard Drive

With the DVR’s internal memory, you’ll only be able to record and playback about 2 hours HD programming…so you need an external drive.  I tried the Seagate 1TB external drive ($99) which plugged right in and worked with no setup needed.

With a 1TB drive, you can expect 160 hours of recording capacity.  Seagate is one of the drives I place the most faith in, so you can expect it to serve you well for many years.

Wrapping it up

All in all, there’s not a better solution out there for getting local programming, news and sports along with the capability to record them and play back on your schedule.  A modest investment now and you’ll be saving for years.

 

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