[Twobit Whore]

Well I did more research and it seems the old Series 1 units would work pretty much without service, but those are impossible to get now. They also had some 3rd party units that came with TivO Basic, which is the same as the contract except you get a 3day program guide vs. 2 weeks and you don't get a season pass thing which learns your viewing habits. It's only available on offbrand models, and they don't make em anymore.

Anyway, mines just a plain standalone series 2.. and I went ahead and hooked it up. For some odd reason the thing seems to work without service. I know it isn't activated because it sent me a message saying I need to activate. Maybe it's a free trial period, I don't know.. but for now I can use the guide, and record.

The main reason I want it though is just for the live tv functions, like pause and replay. With sports season coming up it will come in handy.. plus I am often called away for a few minutes and it's really annoying when I am into a show at the time. That part works great so I think I will keep it hooked up just for that.

Overall though it is much inferior to the digital cable's DVR. There is no watching on thing and recording another with this. It's more like a VCR, where you have to watch what you record (or turn the TV off and watch nothing). My mother had cable company DVR and it could record I believe 2 things at once, record one while you watch another.. etc. It's also cheaper than TiVo (no unit to buy, less per month).. so if I really like this one I may 'upgrade' to that.