Being a bit of a sports junkie and football fan, I find myself recording games that I feel/hope will be special. Keeping them as part of a sports library has been a bit of a hobby of mine. It was a snap with VCR(yeah, that's way old school) but it's become very difficult with the DirecTV/TIVO situation. For the games now, I have to record the content on to my digital camcorder and then use my computer to burn the DVD. A royal pain IMO.

So, I'm interested in a DVR but know little about them. What should I look for in features/specs? Is there anything that's a "must have" for getting the best results for what I want to do with it as outlined above? Specific models I should look at?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If it were me, I'd be looking at a custom PC to do the job.

You can have gobs of HD space, an onboard DVD burner, and still retain most if not all of the functionality of a traditional DVR.

...if not more (functionality). I concur -- a PC would be the best.

That said, if you stick with a DVR, get one that has a built-in DVD burner.

Just get the directivo, it's a great deal, and works well

If it were me, I'd be looking at a custom PC to do the job.

You can have gobs of HD space, an onboard DVD burner, and still retain most if not all of the functionality of a traditional DVR.

Eventually, that might be the way to go but for now, I'm really not up for having a PC as the center of my home theater system

...if not more (functionality). I concur -- a PC would be the best.

That said, if you stick with a DVR, get one that has a built-in DVD burner.

Got any models in mind? This was my first choice even though I can't edit out some parts of the video I don't really want like commercials. Probably the most simple solution I guess.

Just get the directivo, it's a great deal, and works well

Isn't DirecTV going to end their relationship with TIVO next year? I thought I read something about DTV offering their own hardware to customers and no longer selling the TIVO models. Might be wrong on this I guess.

That won't affect current directivos, it just means they won't sell more. So really, get em while you can.