The VCR has been around since 1971 and has served a very important role in our daily lives. When DVD players came on the scene, they offered great playback quality but lacked good recording support. This has kept people from throwing away their trusty old VCR but now there is a way to fill the gap. Digital Video recorders not only effectively fill the shoes of the average VCR, they go beyond what a traditional VCR is capable of doing. This article, DVR DirecTV: TiVo vs. VCR will hopefully show you the advantages of having a DVR over a traditional VCR.

One of the most noticeable differences between the VCR and a TiVo Digital Video Recorder (DVR) is that a VCR relies on dated magnetic tape to store your programming. While it is very portable and widely used, this medium is not capable of storing the Digital quality we have become accustom to today. As if this wasnt bad enough, people are usually forced to decrease this quality even more by recording at a slower speed so they do not run out of tape. A TiVo brand DVR can store at least 40 hours of crystal clear quality programming, depending on which model you buy. You can even upgrade your DVR to a higher capacity if you are a do it yourselfer.

Not only is the quality better with a DirecTV DVR, but it is more convenient. With a VCR you are forced to manually set the machine to record specific shows. With the TiVo DVR you can set it and forget it. Even to the point of automatically downloading the whole season of your favorite show.

Another important feature of DirecTV DVRs is their ability to record more than one show at once. I dont know about you, but I have noticed that all of the interesting shows come on at the same time. With a DVR that supports this feature, there is no more deciding between your two favorite shows which you want to record! Try doing that with a VCR and you will quickly see that it is quite impossible

You are also given the ability to pause, rewind or fast forward live TV if you use a TiVo. My favorite part of recording programs on a VCR is getting to fast forward through annoying commercials. With DVR you get to fast forward commercials any time you want! This feature alone is worth the price of the upgrade.

Most of the time things are updated just to be updated, but I hope you see in this case that upgrading to a DVR solution is a worth while decision. You probably will still keep your VCR around for awhile, just to be on the safe side, but at least you can enjoy the convenience of your TiVo now. Anything that takes care of boring, hard to remember, repetitive tasks defiantly makes your life easier. And anything that makes your life easier is worth its weight in Gold. However, you wont have to pay Gold for these features. You can get all of the benefits of DVR for around $5 a month extra on your Direct TV bill.