Is ther a way to record from a DishNetwork DVR to a Laptop or DVD recorder?

Answer 1

Usually yes. Just connect the output from the DVR to your DVD recorder instead of directly to your TV, then play back the recorded program.

With laptops (or desktops), you need a TV capture card (like a Hauppage WinTV or ATI TV wonder) unlesss you're lucky enough to have a computer that came with a video capture card already installed.