There are a lot of different services and companies out there that can provide you with various types of TV services.  We're all familiar with them.  They provide TV over cables or over satellite signals, and many claim to be able to deliver TV over fiber optics (although that's really just another form of cable TV).  These companies also offer lots of extras that can be added onto their services.  These extras include things like digital video recorders and various kinds of Interactive TV services.



One thing that a lot of people aren't widely aware of though is that they can get a lot of these special features and technologies on their own without paying a company to provide those services to them.  Of course anyone who wants to have TV programming that's fairly current will have to subscribe to some kind of a service to bring it into their home, those who are computer literate, enjoy tinkering, and are creative with their tinkering and computer literacy can take a lot of control over how they watch TV while minimizing their reliance on the companies that provide the extras

The best type of product that allows self sufficient people to take control over how they watch TV is a stand alone digital video recorder.  It's actually a lot more accurate the call stand alone digital video recorders "media centers" instead of DVR's.  That's because these devices tend to be much more like home computer systems than any other type of set top box.  A digital video recorder is basically some modern TV electronics and a computer hard drive, all of which is controlled by some kind of operating system.  A lot like a computer.  These stand alone media centers take the resemblance of a digital video recorder to a computer a step farther.  These media centers often contain a DVD player/burner and an operating system that can be accessed on the TV screen to the same extent that a computer's operating system can be accessed.  These devices also often have Ethernet ports, USB ports, and PS2 ports for keyboards and mice.

There are several implications to the similarity that stand alone DVR's have to computers.  The first is that it means that the TV screen can be used as a computer screen with all that implies.  You'll be able to surf the Internet from your couch and get work done on your TV.  The fact that all of the video that's recorded by the unit is placed on the computer's hard drive means that you can manipulate it just like you would any other video on your computer.  You can edit it to eliminate commercials and then burn it onto DVD's for archiving.  You can also tie these systems into your home stereo system for listening to music downloaded from the Internet.

If you have a fast enough Internet connection, these systems may even allow you to download the movies that you want to see and stream your favorite TV shows over the Internet.  While it will be the rare person who actually willingly gives up their TV subscription in order to watch TV over the Internet,  media centers definitely make it possible!

If you're the type of person who wants complete control over how you watch TV, than a media center may be exactly what you need.