I Finally Get The DVR Hype: 5 Reasons I Love Our DVR

This post is sponsored by XFINITY. 

When Matthew and I first got married, cable television was a luxury that we really couldn’t afford. During those first couple years together, our TV received 4, sometimes 5 channels, but honestly, we sort of got used to our lack of viewing options. Eventually though, after our financial situation improved, we subscribed to XFINITY’s most basic cable option.

Of course, when you’re accustomed to a selection of 5 channels, XFINITY—even XFINITY sans bells and whistles like premium channels, On Demand, and DVR capability—feels like a viewing-option paradise.

Over the years, we’ve added/subtracted channels and options to our subscription, but one option we always turned down was the XFINITY device featuring built-in digital video recording. I’m not sure why—perhaps because we had On Demand—but DVR capability didn’t seem like a necessity or something we’d use.

I’ll admit, any time one of our entertainment-savvy friends found out that we didn’t have DVR, they’d gasp slightly or seem awkwardly shocked or say something like, “How do you fast forward through the commercials?” The truth is, we didn’t—we watched every last commercial. I often would use commercial breaks for quick house activities like laundry and wiping down counters.

But as you might remember, after long avoiding the switch over from XFINITY to their X1 box (we’re slow to all cable-related upgrades), we got DVR at the same time.

After using it for a few months, I can finally say I get the hype.

5 reasons I love our DVR:

• My work schedule doesn’t prevent me from missing great daytime programming. I’m able to now record shows that previously I would never see, like Ellen.
• The programming our kids’ enjoy is expanded: Because our children have limited time that they can watch tv, it would be disappointing when onDemand had a show that they had seen. Now we can record their favorite shows so they can see new episodes.
• The DVR has lots of storage, which means less picking and choosing what you can record. Just record, and if you go back to it, awesome. If not, that’s fine too. I not going to admit how many HGTV shows I have on my DVR. ahem. 
• You can record/watch up to 6 different shows at once
• It syncs with both of our televisions and all of our devices (iPhone, iPad, etc.) using XFINITY’s X1 app.

With the Olympics right around the corner, I am so happy that we have DVR because it means I won’t miss anything! I’m so excited about the Olympics. Honestly, it’s a bit embarrassing how excited I am—even the commercials that NBC’s running right now for the Rio games make me tear up.

I definitely plan to DVR all of my favorite events, from gymnastics and diving to track & field and anything Michael Phelps. This is the first Olympics that seems to have captured the imaginations of Elias and Adeline, as they are really excited for August 5 to get here too (I can’t believe they will already be back in school by then). No doubt we’ll enjoy many hours of DVRd programming together.

Do you have DVR? Why does your family love it?

Disclosure:This is the final post in a 3-month compensated partnership with XFINITY.  All thoughts about the service’s benefits are my own.