The DVR has made watching television easier than ever. You don't have to worry about programming the VCR for special episodes of your favorite shows; just tell the DVR that you want to watch a given show, and it will catch it even if the day or time is shifted, provided there is enough warning. And, of course, it is very easy to skip the commercials.
TiVo is the most popular DVR. You have to buy the equipment and subscribe to the service for it to work.
Essentially, a DVR is a really dumb computer with a huge hard drive. You can buy DVRs with a range of recording length options, however you must keep in mind that the recording time listed is at the lowest quality setting. The higher the quality you record at, the fewer programs you will be able to record. The lowest setting in my experience is visibly poorer than the medium, which I find acceptable for most shows. However, there are some shows you will absolutely want to stick with the best recording quality to get the full impact.
One of the wonderful things about a DVR versus a VCR is that while it is recording, you can watch another show it has already recorded for you. With a VCR, of course, the only thing you can watch on satellite is what it is recording. After you have had a DVR for a while, you will get impatient watching live shows, because you can't fast forward through the commercials. Instead, you'll start watching 15-20 minutes late on purpose, so that for an hour-long show you'll finish about the same time as the recording, but not have had to watch the commercials.
Satellite television providers have setups which include TiVo or another DVR ready for you, so you can have everything installed right at the start. You can take a look at the offerings from DirecTV and Dish Network and decide which is the best for you.
