said by Nex :So if the cable goes out, we won't be able to watch what has already been recorded?
Ah ha! You are correct, but not because of what they told you.
Their lovely system is designed so that if your cable goes out, you are not allowed to watch anything you have recorded because the box can't determine if you're authorized to do so. Isn't that genius logic?!
Hours of content stored locally on that drive yet you can't view it because the cable is down. I bet if I dig out my old Dish DVR, I could still watch whatever's recorded with no problem and I haven't had their service in years.