Amazon - Fire TV Recast 500GB OTA DVR - Black

It help me to get better signals for my TV channels at my house and DVR function when I needed. Cut your cable cost and cheaper than installation outdoor TV antenna! But you gotta have fire tv stick installed already in order to works and good internet speed connection.

I purchased my Recast (on sale at $129.00 plus tax) about 6 weeks ago, and it has not disappointed. Setting it up was very easy...just connected my antenna, and used the Fire TV app on my phone, which was rather painless. The Recast can be connected wirelessly, or direct to a router with an adapter. Once setup, which took about 10 minutes, I scanned for channels, and was able to get 140 in my area (Simi Valley, CA). This was 50+ more channels than I had with my tv, and smaller convertor box. We regularly watch about 30 of the 140 channels, and unwanted channels can be removed with the favorites setting. The Recast has a 2 week channel guide (at no charge, unlike other OTA DVR's), and you can record 2 shows at the same time. Recordings can be set from the guide, and you have the option to record a one-time show, or make a series recording. We use Philo and Pluto TV as well. The great thing about this is that the Recast allows you to integrate Philo and Pluto channels into the guide, so you do not have to open each app separately to see what is airing. The Recast also allows the pausing, rewinding and fast-forwarding of any live tv channel (that comes from your antenna only). Since Philo has a built in DVR, you can do the same with those channels. Pluto currently does not have any DVR function, so we are limited to watching those channels live only. The Recast also allows you to stream the OTA channels to any other Fire device that is connected to the same network. This eliminates the need to run cables to each of you tv's, which can be a pain. Although I do not consider it a con, others may since it does not work with any other streaming device (ROKU, Apple TV, etc). My only gripe about the Recast occurs when you are using the guide. Once you are on a channel, but decide to bring up the guide to see what else is playing, the guide will appear and the current channel that you are watching will be reduced to a small screen. This is nice as it allows you to continue watching your program while channel surfing. The downside is if after scrolling through numerous channels you want to go full screen with the show you were watching (you didn't find anything else to watch), there is no option for this. You need to go back up (or down) the guide until you get to that channel and hit enter. If you hit the back button on the Fire remote, it will take you out of the program and back to the main menu where you started. This is annoying but not a deal breaker for me. Lastly, with the FireTV app on my phone, I am able to watch any OTA channels outside of my home, as well as any recordings I have. The one shortcoming is that the phone app does not have the channel guide and you are limited to recording only what you are currently watching.

This is exactly what I needed! We already had three of the 4K Firesticks for on-demand streaming and I wanted a way to record a couple OTA TV shows that we like to watch. Basically, I needed something to replace my old VCR. This installed easily in about 10 minutes and integrated into the Firestick’s menu. Bonus that I can watch TV on my phone now but I probably won’t use that feature. Been using it for a few weeks now and no complaints so far. I am going to install a dedicated UHF antenna for it in the attic soon, I have it connected to a cheap antenna sitting on a bookshelf now and while the picture is great, I sometimes get a popup that says it’s receiving a weak signal. All the popular channels here are broadcasting on UHF frequencies ( go to https://www.fcc.gov/media/television/tv-query to see what frequencies your local channels broadcast on, the channel you know them as isn’t necessarily the channel they transmit on) so I’ll give it a better antenna and see how it does. I would recommend this product if it’s on a good sale price, it’s a little high for what it is at the regular price IMHO. A good deal if you already use Firesticks.

If you watch over the air transmission and you have Firesticks or FireTV, just buy it. I needed to watch football in my garage. I can now wirelessly broadcast live tv to my firestick in my garage. I cut all my cable down to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, PrimeTV, my antenna in my attic and the other free stuff, Crackle, etc. Disney, Hulu, and ESPN+ is $12 a month. If you don't get that, you're crazy. Bought it on sale for $129, so it was a steal.

The Fire TV Recast mostly lives up to its billing. In its primary location, it does a great job of pulling in over-the-air channels and getting them to a Fire TV Stick or a smartphone. The DVR is straightforward and mostly easy to use. As others have remarked, the Recast's content is integrated pretty heavily into the rest of Amazon's video ecosystem, but it's easy enough to skip over the chaff and get to the wheat of the DVR functionality. Downsides include the fact that the audio cuts out at the end of some recordings. Out of the home viewing is also less than optimal. While it's nice as an option, it would be nice to be able to watch the Recast in a browser or enable Chromecast or other casting options in the Fire TV app. I purchased the Recast on sale. I don't know if it would be worthwhile at full price, but it stands out from the competition when the price is lower.

I got this on sale for 150, which I think is about the price for it. I would not pay the normal price as this really just gives you two things. First if your TV is not close to a window, then this gives you the ability to have it placed away from the TV and get better reception with an antenna. I used to get bad reception on NBC and now I get that clear. Plus the antenna is now placed on the window and it really not noticeable any more. Next you get the ability to record network shows and watch them when you want. This is good because in most cases the networks do not have stand alone plans and when they do it just adds more cost. These two things are great, however they would not justify the over $200 cost.

It does what it’s supposed to in terms of recording OTA shows and movies. I have not run into any issues yet. The picture quality is good, up to 1080p for this version. The user interface and guide could use some enhancements though. It mislabels some of the channels and it doesn’t use the channel numbers, instead it uses the channels names to put in order. It also doesn’t let you search for a show to record, instead you have to use the guide. Also, it takes many clicks to get to the app and local channels to watch. Not too bad just takes a little getting use to it. Overall still worth the buy if you are looking for a OTA tuner and DVR combo. No annual fee is nice as others charge a subscription fee. And it plays nice with all you amazon devices and Alexa. Maybe when they release a software upgrade for enhancements then I would give it a 5 star.

I’m exploring ways to cut to cord. This a good product in theory but there are some shortcomings that want allow me to cancel my cable subscription. I purchased this hoping to view NFL games on local tv stations. The problem is that I have a 120 inch projection screen and this device is limited to 720p. This is not the best picture quality for a screen that big. Conversely, it looks great on a 55 inch tv. Both screens experience buffering and you are that the mercy of your antenna. The DVR feature is nice and plays back better than live TV. Overall, I’m going to use this product on the TV’s in my home that do not have a cable box to avoid the monthly rental fees.