Poking at DVRs, at least in principle

It's looking like, barring sudden medical/dental expense, I should be able to get ahead enough financially that I can buy a new TV in the next month or so (I'm researching that separately), and that also means lifting one of the last barriers to replacing my VCR with a DVR. Since I've never had a DVR before, I figured I'd ask here (among other places) for advice.
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