My main TV at home is a nice Plasma with all the tuners I need including a slot for a CableCard. A QAM tuner does you no good if the cable company is scambling the channels. Most channels are in the clear, but some are scambled. For our old second TV, I just bought a DVD recorder with a QAM tuner built-in. I just tie it to the line input on the TV and use the tuner in the DVD recorder to get the digital cable channels. The only disadvantage to this setup is I can not record one channel and watch another. No problem, I have a second DVD recorder connected to our Plasma TV.
The only disadvantage to the CableCard is you can not access PPV or Comcast's OnDemand which has many free movies. The CableCard only allows one-way communications from the cable company to the card. I am going to buy a Blu-Ray HD recorder. I am waiting for the new technology that will allow to to use of PPV and OnDemand. Sony recently sign a deal to do it. You should see more agreements soon. If the cable companies do not do it voluntarily, then the FCC will mandate a standard.
You most likely carry a DVD player. I got the recorder I use on my second TV for only a little over $100. I would just get one of those instead of a player. I would be sure you get a DVD-RAM recorder also. Mine is setup to automatically record our normal programs. A DVD-RAM will let you watch a program while it is being recorded and pause it like TIVO. If you want HD programing, then you will have to get a Blu-Ray recorder. They cost quite a bit more though.
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