I had done my research on DVRs. I was satisfied with my choice. I just needed to buy it. Efiwym, my wife, was letting me have the reins on this project, so it was up to me to make the decision. A couple of weekends passed after the antennas were installed so I finally decided to buy the DVR. After the DVR was installed, it would be the final piece of the plan to “cut the cable.”
I went to the electronic store to purchase the DVR. I checked ahead of time to make sure it was in stock. “3 left in stock,” it noted on their website. I traveled to the store to pick it up along with a Roku© that was on sale. I decided to stick with the Roku© since we already had one. (Okay, not the best logic, but it was on sale.) I headed to the back of the store where there was a big lit sign that displayed “ROKU.” When I got back there, I immediately found the Roku©. I proceeded to walk around to find the DVR. I finally gave up and asked a salesclerk. His first comment was, “I think we are out of stock on them.” I did not even tell him the brand I was buying. He looked at his phone, walked to an aisle, pointed to the DVRs and walked away. Great customer service!
The one model I wanted to purchase was not on the shelf. There was not even a spot for it. So, I flagged down another salesclerk, who seemed interested in helping me. I provided him with a picture on my phone of the DVR I needed. He said, “they might be in the back.” He looked at his phone, and said, “It says here the product would be available in an hour.” I thought, well that would be true, if I was picking it up, but I am buying it at the store. Nonetheless, he went to the back and retrieved the DVR for me and offered to check me out. Overall, a far between customer service experience.,
I got home and I was ready to install the DVR. I sat down and read the instructions. (Do not be surprised. I occasionally read the instructions first.) According to the instructions, I was supposed to download the app first. I decided to download the app on my phone before I did it on the TV. However, downloading the app first caused the app to hang up as it was looking for the DVR. But the DVR was still on the table unplugged. I then attempted to install the DVR. However, I needed to move the fireplace away from the wall to plug in the DVR. I plugged it in, but I made little effort to push the multitude of wires back where they belong, so I could not push the fireplace closer to the wall. (I would do that job sometime later.)
I removed the coaxial cable for the TV and attached it to the DVR. I tried again the app on the phone. I closed it out and restarted it, but no go. I shutdown my phone and tried again and still nothing. So, I finally downloaded the app on my IPad and the app recognized the DVR. I finished the registration process on the app, and I had access to all the local channels, even PBS. I did not touch the antenna, except for connecting the DVR.
I installed the app on the TV without any issues. Efiwym, my wife, was not happy that we could only record shows on the local channels. She asked, “How are we going to record shows on any streaming apps?” “This might have been a waste of money,” she commented. I got a little defensive, but I assured her that we had 2 weeks to return it, but we did not need to record the shows on the streaming apps, because we could watch those episodes anytime off the apps. She appeared to be okay with my answer, but I still felt she was not convinced.
Now that the living room was done, it was time to work on the TV in our bedroom. I took the Roku© that was in the other bedroom. It also had a USB power cable. I was fortunate because the antenna was not amplified so it did not need power. I connected the Roku© and set it up. The process was pretty easy. I was ready to download the DVR app. I searched and downloaded the app again without any issues. Wow, this was going too smoothly.
I clicked on the DVR app; the app would not load. The icon kept spinning and spinning. After multiple attempts to delete and re-download the app and then reinstalling the Roku©, I still could load not the DVR app. I gave up. My brain started to hurt. Time to visit the Internet.
After perusing the DVR website, community sites and general posts, I did not have any answers.