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Hands on With Magnavox’s New Subscription-Free DVR

IMG_8239Our coverage of CES 2016 is sponsored by Mohu Antennas the #1 indoor antenna manufacturer.  Find out how many free OTA channels you are missing out on by clicking HERE.

Looking for a DVR without a monthly bill? Magnavox announced a new line of DVRs that will give cord cutters one more option to record over-the-air TV without a monthly bill.The three new DVRs allow HD recording via antenna, wireless streaming on a home network, downloading to mobile devices, a subscription-free intuitive episode guide, twin tuners on the MDR877H and TB560HP with 1TB of internal storage, and six tuners on the TB560S with 2TB of internal storage. Storage can be expanded on all DVRs using external USB hard drives.

We had the opportunity to go hands on with these new devices and while they are very early models, the operating system is a huge upgrade from earlier Magnavox DVRs.

The no-subscription episode guide makes it easy to find programs and schedule recordings, while the multiple tuners allow users to record several programs at once or watch one show while recording others. All three DVRs also feature DVR sync—if a user has multiple DVRs in their home, the DVRs consolidate all recordings in one menu on every DVR for easy access to recordings no matter which DVR was used to record the show. The built-in wireless LAN allows recorded content to be wirelessly streamed on a home network or downloaded to a smart device to enjoy while on the go. Up to 1,000 hours of programming can be stored on the 1TB hard drive and 2,000 hours of material can be stored on the 2TB.

These new DVRs are planned for release in late 2016 and will have a starting price of $399. If you want to be able to stream your content to other rooms, you will need to buy an additional box from Magnavox. Unlike Tablo DVRs, Magnavox has no plans for apps on boxes like the Roku.

Overall, it is hard to say how great the new DVRs will be. The presentation was limited and with almost a full year for changes to be made, the final product could be very different from what was shown.

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