What's the point of signing up for high-definition TV service and spending thousands of dollars on the hardware if you can't pause, rewind and record the HD content? You’d have to pry my cold dead fingers off the remote control before I’d give up my time shifting rights.

Thankfully, it won’t come to that. High-definition DVRs have, at long last, begun to hit the market for cable, satellite and plain, old over-the-air content at a time when service providers are also expanding their HD offerings. And it's not a moment too soon. HD broadcasts are still about as rare as a cheap HDTV, but the stuff that is airing I want to see, making it even more compelling to have the ability to record what does air.

G4techTV labs looked at three HD recorders all for around $1000 that offer extremely high resolution if you can afford the extremely high price.

DishPlayer 921

Pros: Great quality picture, bargain packages, dual HD tuners
Cons: Lackluster scheduled recording options, only 25 hours of HD content recording

DishNetwork throws down some serious service and hardware deals to its customers. If you're looking for an HD package bargain, go no further. Their HDTV hardware and service packages can run you as little as $1000 for the dish, a 34" direct view HDTV and the HD receiver. You’ll pay hundreds extra for the HD DVR hardware, but dollars to donuts it’s the best deal out there.

The DishPlayer 921 will record up to 25 hours of 1080i high-def content and an amazing 180 hours of content in standard definition. For $9.95 a month you get about 8 high-def channels with options for more if you purchase premium channels like HBO, Showtime or Pay-Per-View content. The first six months of HD programming are free but I am not sure what you would do with the recorder if you didn't like it. The 921’s high-def 1080i output via DVI and component output looked the best to my eye with great contrast and smooth clarity.

Like the DirecTV model, the DishPlayer 921 will record two high-definition channels at once while you watch a third previously recorded show. DishNetwork's so-so planned recording options can't stack up to DirecTV's TiVo "Season Pass" but the electronic programming guide is far faster to scan through.

DirecTV HD 10-250
G4techTV Lab Pick

Pros: TiVo service is great, dual HD tuners, amazing DirecTV HD sports packages.
Cons: Slow responding programming guide, TiVo DVR service is extra

Even today, several years after the TiVo service first launched, you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that the TiVo DVR interface isn't the gold standard of time-shift TV. That's no different in the world of high-definition content. You will pay a bit more for the TiVo service in DirecTV's HD 10-250 high-definition DVR, but the $4.99 monthly price is worth it.

The DirecTV HD 10-250 will record 30 hours of 1080i HD content and an amazing 200 hours of SD content integrating both DirecTV and over-the-air broadcasts into one electronic programming guide. Like the DishPlayer 921, the DirecTV HD recorder will let you record two channels while watching a third previously recorded show. My review package came with about 8 channels of HD including some regional networks like Fox West, CBS West and NBC West. HBO and Showtime HD are extra if you don't already have those premium packages. Pause, rewind and record work exactly the same way as any other TiVo box, so if you are familiar with the service, the 10-250 is no different.

But before I go opening up a fan Web site or anything, let's talk about the "what the hell!" I encountered during this review. The HD 10-250 has HDMI output for digital video as opposed to DVI, which allows you to hook it up only to HDCP compliant HDTVs once the broadcast flag begins to appear in programming. The other gotcha: I have to pay $4.99 for the TiVo service on top of the $10.99 for the DirecTV HDTV package. Of course DirecTV has the same six months free HD service trial that DishNetwork offers, but I'm still peeved about having to pay so many additional fees to get what I want. I guess I should just grow up and take it?

Still, when it comes to making your HDTV DVR sit, rollover, and beg; DirecTV's HD 10-250 can't be beat for truly astounding quality and usability.

LG HD DVR

Pros: Great quality OTA HD reception, ability to record from and to DVHS, no service fee
Cons: Can't record HD cable content, only 12.5 hours of HD recording capacity

Back in 2003 we reviewed Zenith's HDR230, and at the time it was the only stand alone HD DVR in the US. Since that time a few more have trickled out from a hand full of companies.

LG introduced their stand alone LST-3410A HD DVR earlier this year raising the recording time from Zenith's paltry 8 hours of HD content recording and gargantuan 12.5 hours. Not impressed? Well, we aren't that gaga about it either.

That's not to say that LG hasn't made a solidly performing HD DVR, they have. But as DVRs go, it misses some key options and areas of functionality that it shouldn't. But first let's talk about the cool stuff.

LG didn't skimp on the feature list. The company included TV Guide's On Screen system as their electronic programming guide which was nice enough to look at and straight forward to record from. In a unique twist the LG HD DVR box lets you dump high-definition content from the hard drive to a handful of DVHS recorders and visa versa. It will also record from but not to select Sony MicroMV only camcorders.

The LST-3410A offered great over-the-air HD channel reception and excellent output resolution from component, VGA and DVI outputs. We could pause live TV and manually record content with just a bit of button mashing. Other features include somewhat clunky VCR Plus+ recording with PlusCodes and Smart Skip, which allows you to more intelligently move through recorded content.

But a few things make the LST-3410A hard to recommend. The number one reason to be disappointed is the fact that the box will not record HD cable content due to its lack of a cable card slot. Being isolated to over the air only HD content wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that so many people make the decision to go HD because of channels like ESPNHD, not to mention premium channels like HBO, Showtime and Bravo's cool Olympic coverage this year. Incidentally, Sony electronics will have an HD PVR with a cable card slot on the U.S. market in early November this year. No idea of pricing.

	DishNetwork 921	DirecTV HD 10-250	LG LST-3410A
Price	$999	$999	$999
High Definition Channels	10-12, plus local OTA	10-12, plus local OTA	Local OTA only
Supported Formats	1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i	1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i	1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i
Tuners	8-VBS ATSC/NTSC tuner and dual DishNetwork connectors	8-VBS ATSC/NTSC tuner and dual DirecTV connectors	8-VBS ATSC/NTSC tuner. No HD cable card
HD recording time	25 hours	30 hours	12.5 hours
SD recording time	180 hours	200 hours	62.5 hours (average)
Monthly service	$9.99, first six months free	$10.99, first six months free plus $4.99 for TiVo	Free