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expired Posted by iconian | Staff • Sep 23, 2021
expired Posted by iconian | Staff • Sep 23, 2021

500GB Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR Digital Media Player

w/ SD Cashback + Free Shipping

$119

$230

48% off
BuyDig
82 Comments 35,896 Views
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Deal Details
BuyDig has 500GB Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR Digital Media Player for $119. To earn Slickdeals Cashback, before purchase, follow the cashback instructions below (PC extension required, before checkout). Shipping is free.

Thanks to Deal Editor iconian for finding this deal.

Includes:
  • Fire TV Recast
  • 50W Power Supply
  • Quick Start Guide
Features:
  • Record HD antenna programming with this over-the-air (OTA) DVR.
  • Store up to 75 hours of HD programming
  • Built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi connects to the Internet through your wireless home network
  • Setup requirements - Fire TV mobile app (available on Amazon Appstore, Google Play Store, or iOS Appstore) on a Fire tablet (5th Gen or newer), an iOS device running iOS10 or higher, or an Android device running Android 5.0 or higher
  • Required for playback - Any one of the following: Fire TV streaming media player, Fire TV Edition television, Echo Show, Fire tablet (5th Gen or newer), an iOS device running iOS10 or higher, an Android device running Android 5.0 or higher
  • Ports
    • 1x Type A USB 3.0 (storage supported on compatible external hard drives only)
    • 1x TV Antenna Input
    • 1x Gigabit Ethernet
    • 1x Power

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Our research indicates that this offer is $50.99 lower (30% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $169.99.
  • About this product:
    • 1-Year Limited Warranty
    • Rating of 4 from over 12,200 Amazon customer reviews.
  • About this store:
    • Details of BuyDig's return policy here.

Original Post

Written by iconian | Staff
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
BuyDig has 500GB Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR Digital Media Player for $119. To earn Slickdeals Cashback, before purchase, follow the cashback instructions below (PC extension required, before checkout). Shipping is free.

Thanks to Deal Editor iconian for finding this deal.

Includes:
  • Fire TV Recast
  • 50W Power Supply
  • Quick Start Guide
Features:
  • Record HD antenna programming with this over-the-air (OTA) DVR.
  • Store up to 75 hours of HD programming
  • Built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi connects to the Internet through your wireless home network
  • Setup requirements - Fire TV mobile app (available on Amazon Appstore, Google Play Store, or iOS Appstore) on a Fire tablet (5th Gen or newer), an iOS device running iOS10 or higher, or an Android device running Android 5.0 or higher
  • Required for playback - Any one of the following: Fire TV streaming media player, Fire TV Edition television, Echo Show, Fire tablet (5th Gen or newer), an iOS device running iOS10 or higher, an Android device running Android 5.0 or higher
  • Ports
    • 1x Type A USB 3.0 (storage supported on compatible external hard drives only)
    • 1x TV Antenna Input
    • 1x Gigabit Ethernet
    • 1x Power

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Our research indicates that this offer is $50.99 lower (30% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $169.99.
  • About this product:
    • 1-Year Limited Warranty
    • Rating of 4 from over 12,200 Amazon customer reviews.
  • About this store:
    • Details of BuyDig's return policy here.

Original Post

Written by iconian | Staff

Community Voting

Deal Score
+23
Good Deal
Visit BuyDig

Price Intelligence

Model: Amazon - Fire TV Recast 500GB OTA DVR - Black

Deal History 

Sort: Most Recent
Post Date Sold By Sale Price Activity
11/09/21BuyDig$114 frontpage
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09/02/21BuyDig$129
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Top Comments

Not to poo poo on your post, but you are talking apples and oranges compared to a SD Prime box.

1. You are paying for cable. If you said you were using any other SD product (like the two tuner I own) I might agree. The point of the Amazon box is to NOT pay cable fees.

2. I've been a SD owner for almost 8 years, and I have a Plex Pass, along with it running on a docker based NAS. Works great but until Amazon allows integration with 3d party devices in their Live Guide, the SD is a 3 piece solution.

3. Even if I wasn't a Fire TV user, this solution would STILL cost more than 110 bucks.


Really it seems like you were trying to Poo Poo, but it was more of a shart in your britches: p
I have the 1TB version of Recast.
It's a mixed bag, but definitely would buy it again. It's not a work of engineering excellence, it is good enough though for my use case... and CHEAP.

PROS:
- One time purchase. No monthly fees for guide data.
- Quiet and relatively cool.
- 4 tuners (I think the 512GB version only has 2?)
- Can add extra storage via USB (encrypted, cannot use outside the recast)
- Can record entire series easily
- Can mark recordings to protect against deletion
- Can pad recordings (e.g. for sports overtime)

CONS:
- This is for over-the-air (OTA) ONLY. No cable recordings, no internet recordings
- Must use FireTV device or mobile device app to view content
- Mobile device app experience is complete garbage
- If you are buying for mobile use case, do NOT buy a Recast
- Cannot schedule recordings from mobile app
- Fast forward in mobile app is borderline unusable. Be prepared to be disappointed
- Cannot view content on desktop PC
- Every now and then, image quality goes to crap. Solution is to rewind and it usually snaps back to decent
- FireTV interface is clogged with ads
- It's frozen up a couple of times, hard enough to require a hard reset. Not sure how or why. The latest firmware seems solid, haven't had a freeze-up in several months
I own one. Strong pros, strong cons. Good buy if you use a fire tv device and don't want to futz around with something more complicated. Not as good if you want high quality picture and are willing to set up something like HDHomerun to get it. Worthless if you don't want to use Fire TV to watch it.


Pros:
Reasonably priced, no subscription
Works out of the box, not complicated to set up
Works over Wi-Fi, you can tuck it away with an antenna anywhere. Doesn't need to be plugged into TV.
Integrates directly with Fire TV devices
Can be watched in the app while away from home
Pause, rewind, record. It's a DVR.


Cons:
Only works with Fire TV devices and the app
Soft 720p picture. Mediocre picture quality
Recording is a bit unreliable for sports programming

It's not perfect but it has its place.

81 Comments

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Sep 23, 2021
1,228 Posts
Joined Dec 2008
Sep 23, 2021
topflight05
Sep 23, 2021
1,228 Posts
Ordered. Bought a bunch of cheap ONN antennas from Walmart. Can use it with this. Thanks OP
4
Sep 23, 2021
214 Posts
Joined Jun 2013
Sep 23, 2021
CoryV9719
Sep 23, 2021
214 Posts
I want to jump, but I am concerned they are going to release a new one next week. Any rumors going around?
1
Sep 23, 2021
9,198 Posts
Joined Apr 2006

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Sep 23, 2021
276 Posts
Joined Jan 2012
Sep 23, 2021
Lookieere
Sep 23, 2021
276 Posts
Quote from CoryV9719 :
I want to jump, but I am concerned they are going to release a new one next week. Any rumors going around?
I would like to know this as well… This product has been out for a while now and with the state of decline TiVo is in (IMO) I'd like to be ready to jump when my Roamio OTA dies.
Sep 23, 2021
214 Posts
Joined Jun 2013
Sep 23, 2021
CoryV9719
Sep 23, 2021
214 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank CoryV9719

Quote from TheEdge :
Not poo pooing on OP's deal, but for somebody who uses a SiliconDust HD HomeRun prime (three tuner cable card tuner) with a Plex server for DVRing their cable channels, there really isn't a need for this since it's A) redundant and B) limited to OTA (of which we watch or would record very little), right?
Not to poo poo on your post, but you are talking apples and oranges compared to a SD Prime box.

1. You are paying for cable. If you said you were using any other SD product (like the two tuner I own) I might agree. The point of the Amazon box is to NOT pay cable fees.

2. I've been a SD owner for almost 8 years, and I have a Plex Pass, along with it running on a docker based NAS. Works great but until Amazon allows integration with 3d party devices in their Live Guide, the SD is a 3 piece solution.

3. Even if I wasn't a Fire TV user, this solution would STILL cost more than 110 bucks.


Really it seems like you were trying to Poo Poo, but it was more of a shart in your britches: p
Last edited by CoryV9719 September 23, 2021 at 12:11 PM.
1
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3
Sep 23, 2021
5,209 Posts
Joined Dec 2004
Sep 23, 2021
mutha_scratcha
Sep 23, 2021
5,209 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank mutha_scratcha

Quote from CoryV9719 :
I want to jump, but I am concerned they are going to release a new one next week. Any rumors going around?

I bought one when it was released. I used to watch a lot of NFL and loved "taping" the games on this. Now I don't use it very much.

The firestick updates seem to keep making harder to find recordings and feels like they are phasing it out. I would be surprised if they came out with a newer version,
2
Sep 23, 2021
1,660 Posts
Joined Oct 2015
Sep 23, 2021
JimR2075
Sep 23, 2021
1,660 Posts
Quote from TheEdge :
Not poo pooing on OP's deal, but for somebody who uses a SiliconDust HD HomeRun prime (three tuner cable card tuner) with a Plex server for DVRing their cable channels, there really isn't a need for this since it's A) redundant and B) limited to OTA (of which we watch or would record very little), right?
This DVR is OTA only so if you're paying for cable then this would not benefit you.

I dont' have cable and I use a Tablo OTA DVR to watch some football games.

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Sep 23, 2021
63 Posts
Joined Nov 2013
Sep 23, 2021
KirkH6894
Sep 23, 2021
63 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank KirkH6894

If someone doesn't have cable or a more expensive hardware setup like a SiliconDust HD HomeRun prime (three tuner cable card tuner) with a Plex server for DVRing their cable channels, the recast is a n economical option which is easier to operate.
1
1
Sep 23, 2021
1,245 Posts
Joined Jun 2010
Sep 23, 2021
gopher100
Sep 23, 2021
1,245 Posts
Quote from TheEdge :
Not poo pooing on OP's deal, but for somebody who uses a SiliconDust HD HomeRun prime (three tuner cable card tuner) with a Plex server for DVRing their cable channels, there really isn't a need for this since it's A) redundant and B) limited to OTA (of which we watch or would record very little), right?
Yeah, I was disappointed it can't stream to a PC either, only Fire device or smartphone. HDHomerun is the superior device unless you are invested in the Amazon ecosystem.
1
Sep 23, 2021
276 Posts
Joined Jan 2012
Sep 23, 2021
Lookieere
Sep 23, 2021
276 Posts
Quote from TheEdge :
Not poo pooing on OP's deal, but for somebody who uses a SiliconDust HD HomeRun prime (three tuner cable card tuner) with a Plex server for DVRing their cable channels, there really isn't a need for this since it's A) redundant and B) limited to OTA (of which we watch or would record very little), right?
If using a cable card then yes this is the best option of the two. I haven't had cable in years and this Homerun Prime is a little more expensive (~$30) and, like you said, you'll need Plex server which will run you another $100 on a sale day.
Sep 23, 2021
214 Posts
Joined Jun 2013
Sep 23, 2021
CoryV9719
Sep 23, 2021
214 Posts
Quote from gopher100 :
Yeah, I was disappointed it can't stream to a PC either, only Fire device or smartphone. HDHomerun is the superior device unless you are invested in the Amazon ecosystem.
Agreed on this drawback
Sep 23, 2021
9,198 Posts
Joined Apr 2006

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Sep 23, 2021
802 Posts
Joined Aug 2011
Sep 23, 2021
yoopitup
Sep 23, 2021
802 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank yoopitup

Quote from Lookieere :
I would like to know this as well… This product has been out for a while now and with the state of decline TiVo is in (IMO) I'd like to be ready to jump when my Roamio OTA dies.
I'd recommend a HDHomerun tuner and Channels DVR when your Tivo dies. I was a huge Tivo guy who was somewhat forced to give up my Tivo DVRs about a year ago and I've been very happy with Channels DVR.
1
Sep 23, 2021
1,093 Posts
Joined Nov 2016
Sep 23, 2021
heygreene
Sep 23, 2021
1,093 Posts
I've had mine for around 1 year and bought it at around the same price. I have a serious love hate relationship with this thing. Overall the last update has made it way more reliable, but there are still glitches in it. However once you buy it and an OTA antenna, it's pretty much free TV so I can't complain too much. It gets done what I want to do with it, but I would never depend on it. You can tell they definitely don't put too much time into it.

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Sep 23, 2021
1,093 Posts
Joined Nov 2016
Sep 23, 2021
heygreene
Sep 23, 2021
1,093 Posts
Quote from mutha_scratcha :
I bought one when it was released. I used to watch a lot of NFL and loved "taping" the games on this. Now I don't use it very much.

The firestick updates seem to keep making harder to find recordings and feels like they are phasing it out. I would be surprised if they came out with a newer version,
I agree things keep moving weather with updates but I got used to it quickly. When you start the Firestick it's already on Home, just move over one to the right and go to Find and then to Library. That's all of your recordings. But I did like when recordings were in the list below.

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