Q: I have an HDTV with HDTV antenna, no cable or satellite. Is there a way to continue using my VCR to record programs while watching another TV program at the same time? Since the change from analog to digital I have been unable to do this.

A: You cannot do it with your current VCR, which lacks a digital tuner. Before the digital transition you had a TV with both an analog tuner and a digital tuner, and a VCR with an analog tuner. With two working tuners you could watch one program and record another. Since analog is gone, you have only one tuner that works, the digital tuner in your TV. If you want to watch one channel and record another you need to update your VCR to a model with a digital tuner. Most of them record and play DVDs as well, and once you are used to recording DVDs it is unlikely you will go back to tape.

For these components, I recommend you steer clear of the budget brands, as they have reviewed very poorly. Plan on spending about $250 for a quality model from a major manufacturer. One of the best performers is Toshiba's DVR660. The DVR660 will soon be replaced by the DVR670, also selling for $249.

Product updates

I have good news and bad news about two products I recently recommended. The good news regards the Insignia NS-2BRDVD Blu-ray player from Best Buy, which I recommended as a good entry-level model. At the $119 clearance price, it is a wonderful bargain, even though at the time of print the player did not support Blu-ray Profile 2.0 "BD-Live" Internet features.

In the column I strongly recommended the player's firmware be updated immediately to ensure optimal performance. Last week Insignia released a new firmware update that also upgrades the NS-2BRDVD to full Profile 2.0 BD-Live status. All of a sudden your $119 player does everything that Blu-ray can offer, making an amazing deal even better! You can find the new firmware at www.insignia-products.com or call Insignia product support at 1-877-467-4289 to order a free update CD. You will need a USB flash drive to provide memory for BD-Live functionality. Insignia product support can recommend some compatible drives as well.

The bad news regards the Monoprice antenna. I have received numerous e-mails from readers recounting their experience with it, and the current ratio is 40 percent satisfied to 60 percent dissatisfied. In the grand scheme of things where nearly all set-top antennas rate a near 100 percent dissatisfaction rate, this is not a bad performance, but it is well below the satisfaction rate of the Silver Sensor and far lower than I accept for products I recommend.

Given the $17 price tag, it may be worth a shot, given Monoprice's return policy; but the good performance I experienced isn't being duplicated among all of my readers. Keep this in mind if you decide to give it a try.

I have received some promising new recommendations, including a model from Terk that could potentially improve on a major Silver Sensor shortcoming, its VHF reception. I will be testing them in a wide variety of locales in the coming weeks and will report on my findings.