Uhh...VCR. That wouldn't even come close to a Tivo, and not just because of the convenience. VCR is ancient tech: grainy, blurred picture with hissy sound, even worse on longplay. And longplay is the only realistic option for taping a variety of stuff the way you would with a Tivo. Quality is horrible, especially if you own a big TV and sound system.
A DVR system like Tivo with DVB digital TV would be a perfect combination. Analog is dead. :-P
