Do they have any models that don't require a firewall connection, that could be used instead of High Def Tivo?

A) I don't think anything else works except firewire right now. At least not in the mass market.

B) With a VCR you won't get the features of a TIVO or other DVR. Tivo will do all sorts of automatic recording using the program guide. You can tell it to record anything that has your favorite artist or actor e.g. and it will record any show with them in it, even talk shows.
With a VCR you'll basically program it like you do today. It will work but they're really not the same thing.

What problem are you trying to solve?

I thought that a HD video recorder might be a little cheaper than a HD Tivo.

Absolutely. The new HD Tivos will probably be around $1K when they first come out. You can get D-VHS recorders for a few hundred but you also have to buy or already have a firewire enabled receiver. So if you were buying from scratch the cost difference won't be that much and you might be better off with the Tivo and it's dual tuners/advanced recording features. If you already have a receiver with firewire and just want to do some casual recording you could probably find a used or closeout D-VHS. The other advantage to D-VHS is you can get HD quality pre-recorded movies (D-Theater).

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I have installed a tuner card in my computer that gives me some of the advantages of an HD TiVo without the $1000 price tag.

I put an AcessDTV card in my computer. With the addition of an antenna, it allows me to record OTA HD onto the hard drive and do timeshifting. The computer has a 120gb hard drive, so that is the limiting factor in storage.

We also have 2 SD TiVos, so I know what a terrific devices they are, but the $1000 price tag to go HD will keep me away for a while. But, for $175, from ebay, I have "mini-HD TiVo", that satisfies my need to record HD, at least for now.

That's definitely an alternative for some people.

Personally I don't want a PC anywhere near my home theater. Not worth the grief.

Interestingly Tivo's run a slimmed down Linux kernel. The good news is that you can't tell it's there.