DVR vs REAL TIME

[RobertScorpio]

Simple question here...

Do you watch most of your TV via recorded means (VCRS or DVRS) or do you watch them live?

I have to say, in our house, the only shows we watch live are BRAVE AND THE BOLD, soon to be 24 and soon to be LOST...everything else (at least eight other shows) are Recorded...

Rob

 

[Starbreaker]

I watch Lost, Chuck, and The Office live now. Everything else is generally recorded for later.

 

[Harvey]

When I had a DVR (I don't know, due to financial reasons), I would watch shows live, but pause them for the first ten-twelve minutes so I could fast-forward through all the commercials. I also taped a number of things as well.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I haven't watched an ad in years.

Unless I wanted to...hey, look, Chuck! Jack in the Box always makes me at least consider rewinding. Even Head-On and all spinoffs are kind of mesermizing, and I always have time for Chia-Pet. If advertisers want me to see their stuff, they gotta put in more effort.

I don't have TiVO tho. How many folks out there are no-subscription DVR'ers like me?

 

[Corran Horn]

We don't want anything live besides sports. The only things I watch same day are Smallville, Chuck, LOST, and SGU.

 

[Snaploud]

I only watch live tv if there's nothing good already recorded on my dvr (or if I just want background noise while doing something else). News programs are sometimes the exception, though I do tend to multitask while watching such programs...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I watch practically nothing "live". Haven't in years. I do occasionally rewind and watch any interesting looking adverts. Even stuff without ads on the BBC I record and watch later.

 

[Geckothan]

Half of my TV comes in the form of BBC iPlayer which I guess counts as "recorded" but I'll watch things like new Top Gear, Doctor Who, Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch live (though I get up and do something else when the adverts are on). I guess it's 50/50.

 

[RoJoHen]

I watch DVDs. I have neither cable nor a DVR.

 

[RandyS]

I haven't watched an ad in years.

Me either.

The only shows I follow are Smallville, which I collect on DVD, and see new for twenty days (or however many episodes there are) once the new set comes out, and The Simpsons, which I also collect on DVD, but usually see on Hulu every week. My TV watching is limited to DVD's exclusively.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I think I see far more adverts in the cinema now than I ever see on TV. I'm so sick of 15-20 minutes of ads before a movie starts.

 

[1001001]

Everything is recorded.

 

[Mistral]

I watch sports live and some kiddie shows(for my son) but generally I watch the shows I want to watch recorded. Anything else I see live is because the tv is on-not because I'm really caring.

 

[Michael Chris]

I only watch things live if I don't have anything better to do.

 

[USS Mariner]

Recorded nowadays, thought Comcast did something to their DVR system which is irritating to the point of dumping the service.

Until the last few months, when you wanted to seek through a program, there was no delay. Where you paused the program, regardless of whether or not it was on 4x or slo-mo is where the DVR paused. Sometimes a frame before, but no big deal.

Now, there's a 15 second gap between where you want to pause or play something and where it decides it should play. It's the most random system I've ever seen. It's not even as if it was designed to force you to watch some of the commercials, it just randomly picks a time index either 15 seconds before or 15 seconds after the time you select.

Whose fucking idea was this?

 

[bigdaddy]

Live because I don't have a DVR.

 

[Mr. B]

I watch sports and occasional news live, obviously. I also see the Daily Show live when I can... but for the most part, it's time-shifting for me.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Lost is the only show I watch live.

 

[bluedana]

If I'm just flipping through channels because I'm bored and find something, I'll watch it live (although I do love the pause and 8 second rewind buttons), but shows that I actually want to follow week to week, I'll DVR. Right now, I have Men of a Certyain Age, and will be adding 24.

The DVR reduced the tension and screaming in my household by a great deal. There's no more Stay in your freaking bed - if you get up again, I'll kill you! because I'm trying to watch a primetime (read: bedtime) show, or fighting with my son because he's watching Degrassi. Now, I just record what I want (no panicking because I have no blank tapes) and watch it at my leisure. No fuss, no muss.

 

[IndyJones]

Recorded nowadays, thought Comcast did something to their DVR system which is irritating to the point of dumping the service.

Until the last few months, when you wanted to seek through a program, there was no delay. Where you paused the program, regardless of whether or not it was on 4x or slo-mo is where the DVR paused. Sometimes a frame before, but no big deal.

Now, there's a 15 second gap between where you want to pause or play something and where it decides it should play. It's the most random system I've ever seen. It's not even as if it was designed to force you to watch some of the commercials, it just randomly picks a time index either 15 seconds before or 15 seconds after the time you select.

Whose fucking idea was this?

I have Comcast as well, but have not experienced anything like that.