I am very confused about the current terms that are used to describe a standalone A/V recorder that records external analog/digital sources via RCA connectors to a hard drive. For a sort of explanation my cable set top records the cable signal to an internal hard drive. If it had external inputs it would do what I want. I am looking for a DVDR type device that can also record to a built in hard drive. Or a combo VCR with hard drive that allows hard drive recordings full time unless I switch the input choice. Preferably I want a HARD DRIVE recorder with external RCA inputs and outputs plus coax in/out connectors as well. With all these various units the names attached to them are not very helpful. I would appreciate a list of device names with its capabilities, connectors, and the current name attached to them. I can find a VCR/HDD combo or a DVDR/VCR combo but I no longer want to use recordable media. All advice welcome.
Your old system or what you are asking for is very primitive. AV is the lowest fidelity today. Your cheapest 'real' solution is to get a video capture card for a computer. These have a cable tuner so you can pipe in raw cable into the card. They usually have HD in and outs as well as an AV out. I would record to an external drive. Video takes up lots of space. This is primitive, cheap and completely manual. I don't think you can preprogram what it should do but I have not looked into these in a decade. There are much more powerful and convenient ways which are much expensive and high tech about 100 times more complicated than the capture card. You need to be a network guru to set one of those up and to fix anything that goes wrong. That is likely why you are confused with the specs of the more powerful devices. That is way over your head.
