A:Answer Good Afternoon and good questions! You do not have to have a computer. You can connect the DVR to your TV or monitor via the included HDMI cable. From there, you will be able to access all of the DVR's functions, live view and view your recordings. To save recordings from the DVR, you would need to connect a USB flash drive, backup the selected recordings you want to save and then transfer them to another device (or leave them on the USB) for safe storage. Thank you for choosing Night Owl!