I feel dumb asking, but in trying to ditch the Bolt, there are a myriad of options. We have OTA and use Bolt to DVR as well as using the Bolt to stream Netflix/Prime. However, I bought new smart TV last year (Sony 940E) that has all and more streaming apps then the Bolt.
For best PQ, it seems Tivo would outperform any OTA streaming device (Table, HR, Silicon). Can someone comment on how much of a "hit" I'll take on PQ by wifi streaming locals to my TV vs Tivo?
To add to my confusion, it seems Recast gets rated very well, but requires a Fire TV device. What's a Fire TV device and how is it different than the Recast? Could I use Recast with our Sony TV? There's so many options, but a lot to digest in terms of user feedback.
In the end, we only have one TV, need to have DVR for OTA. What Tivo alternative would work best for us?
Your Sony 940E uses Google's Android TV as its smart TV app platform. So it can run any app made for Android TV. OTA DVRs other than TiVo use apps as their front-end.
There are four major options available for OTA DVR besides TiVo. The fourth of those options is the most complicated and offers various sub-options.
1. Tablo: You'd buy a Tablo device (with either 2 or 4 OTA tuners inside) and then connect your own USB hard drive to store recordings. To watch live and recorded TV and manage your DVR, you'd use the Tablo app, which is available for lots of different devices, including Android TV (and therefore your Sony smart TV).
Tablo lets you set the video quality to different levels; the higher the level, the better it looks but the more hard drive space recordings take up. When I tried out a Tablo a couple years back and set it to the highest level, I didn't honestly notice any different in picture quality vs. the TiVo Roamio OTA I had at the time, and I'm someone who's pretty sensitive to picture quality.
After buying the Tablo (you can buy a refurbished 2-tuner for as little as $70 right now, or a new 4-tuner for as much as $200. Their DVR service (i.e. program guide data) costs $5/mo (first month free) or $50/yr or $150 for lifetime service (which you can transfer to a new Tablo device down the road if you like). If you got the refurb 2-tuner model plus spent $50 on a 1 TB hard drive plus bought lifetime service, you're looking at a minimum of $270 on Tablo (Note: Do NOT buy their lifetime service until after you've set up your Tablo and tested it out with the first free month of DVR service. You can then decide if you want to purchase monthly, yearly or lifetime service, or simply return/resell the Tablo because you don't like it.)
2. Fire TV Recast: You'd need to buy the Recast (with either 2 or 4 OTA tuners inside) PLUS a Fire TV streaming device. This is because Amazon doesn't make an app for Android TV or any other platform besides their own Fire TV streaming devices for viewing and controlling the Recast DVR. So if you use a Recast, you'll need to switch inputs and remote controls over from your Sony TV to a Fire TV streamer. But a nice thing about the Recast is that it has its own built-in hard drive, so you don't need to buy that too. You can buy the 4-tuner Recast with 1 TB storage for $280 or the 2-tuner Recast with half that much storage for $230. They also sell a special
bundle that includes the 2-tuner Recast plus their Fire TV 4K streaming stick plus an OTA antenna for just $250 (so basically you're getting the Fire TV 4K stick, which you need, for just an extra $20 and the antenna for free). Don't think they sell a bundle with the 4-tuner model. The Fire TV 4K stick by itself is usually $50 but I'm sure will be on sale soon for Black Friday.
Here's the really big deal about the Recast, though: no DVR service fees. So once you make the up-front hardware purchase, that's it. So you could spend as little as $250 on the bundle I linked to above, which is $20 less than the least-expensive Tablo set-up with lifetime service.
I've never used a Fire TV Recast, so can't comment first-hand on picture or sound quality there versus a TiVo. I feel like I've read that there is at least a bit of a quality hit with the Recast but maybe not a big deal? I'll leave it to you to do your research on how Tablo stacks up vs. Fire TV Recast. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, I'm sure.
3. HDHomeRun Scribe: This is a product similar to a Recast, an all-in-one DVR box with either 2 or 4 OTA tuners plus hard drive, but you would use their own HDHomeRun app to view live and recorded TV and manage the DVR. That app is available for your Sony TV running Android TV. The 2-tuner Scribe Duo costs $150 at Best Buy and the 4-tuner Scribe Quattro costs $250. Both come with a 1 TB hard drive. The first year of DVR service is included and then costs $35/year thereafter. This option is newer and less well-known than the first two above and I've read very little about the picture quality, features, etc. I do know that the UI of the HDHomeRun app doesn't look as good as that of the Tablo app or Fire TV Recast but that may not matter to you.
This could be your cheapest option, costing as little as $150 (although you'd still need to pay $35 year every year after the first year).
4. HDHomeRun Connect: This scenario is the most complicated. You'd buy an HDHomeRun Connect OTA tuner (2 or 4 tuner model) but all this device contains are tuners. It doesn't have DVR software or a hard drive built-in, so you'd also need a separate computer or NAS device to handle the DVR recording function, with recordings stored on that device. You have three options on what DVR software system to run on your computer:
A. Channels Plus
B. Plex
C. HDHomeRun DVR
I'll leave it to you to research those options if they interest you. From what I know, I'd say that Channels Plus is the highest-quality solution here and it costs $8/mo or $80/yr (no lifetime option) after a 1-month free trial.