Like JC, I'm quite hopeful that an indoor antenna will work well for you. The
TERK HDTVi is a non amplified antenna that offers a small amount of gain and directivity on UHF channels. It also offers basic support for reception of VHF channels.
If your wife is comfortable with using a laptop PC, the current version of WIN-7 Home Premium includes Window Media Center, a suite of software that includes DVR/PVR functionality. To make use of this, a TV tuner is needed. There are many to choose from. I'm quite happy with the
Silicondust HDHR tuner. It works with Windows, MAC and Linux. It is external to the computer and is designed to be shared if desired.