Rating: 
Summary: Good product, but you'll want a TiVo!
Review: I returned mine and bought a TiVo! TiVo has a much nicer interface and offers many more options...not to mention a better price.ReplayTV lacks even simple digital video controls like slo-motion, and it forces you to clean up recorded programs manually. TiVo has better video controls and manages your disk space better.
Rating: 
Summary: RePlay Is Coool!
Review: Just got my 2020 3 days ago, and I'm hooked already. Easy to program and operate. No crashes so far. Maybe they've got all the bugs out. - I LOVE this machine. The ability to instantly eradicate long commercial strings is fabulous. You don't realize how much time you wasted before. - My unit runs warm, but definitely not hot. I think they've got that problem solved. - Standard quality is ok for me. Some pixellation during fast action, but not objectionable. Haven't even tried the higher quality modes yet. - This is an amazing product that fulfills my greatest dream: WYWTWWYWTWI (what you want to watch, when you want to watch it.) - Bravo
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but not the best technology available.
Review: ReplayTV is one of the pioneers in the PTV industry, but to be fair, it's not the best out there. In my opinion, TiVo beats ReplayTV hands down. To try to address some of the wildly inaccurate statements made in other entry level TiVo (20 hrs vs 14) but TiVo is not more expensive. They're equal, assuming you pay for the lifetime TiVo guide service. Also, TiVo does not "SPY" on anyone. It does track which shows you like or dislike so it can pick new shows for you to record, but your individual information is not made available to anyone. TiVo doesn't have any spam or other commercials beyond those normally in the shows, and in fact, ReplayTV has announced that they may in the future put ads in their on-screen guide. Yuck. Lastly, TiVo has a better fast-forward feature than the ReplayTV's 30-second skip. The commercial skip button tends to overshoot the end of commercials, leading to you missing the beginning of scenes in your TV programs. TiVo auto-corrects for overshoot. In short, check the various web pages out there before you make a decision. I think you'll find that the majority of folks who have seen/used both units prefer the TiVo. I know I do.
Rating: 
Summary: MUCH better than Tivo
Review: If you're interested in the features of a digital VCR (and you should be if you spend any time watching TV), then this is the unit to buy. ReplayTV offers a much more intuitive interface with faster processing, and a better remote. You'll quickly find you can no longer watch commercial TV without one!
Rating:
Summary: other reviews miss the "best" feature
Review: I've had an original Replay for about 4 months now. Over that time I've had about 5 lockups and about 15 missed shows due to the "fuzzy" logic of the channel guide. Once you learn the quirks, it can be more reliable than a VCR. (we have been known to mis-position a tape or leave the VCR on!) The software automatically updates, and I've been told (and beleive) most of the "quirks" will go away with later software downloads. The *BEST* feature by far is watching one show while another is recording. You can even watch the *SAME* show while it's recording. Say you come in at 7:15, You can sit down and start watching a show (from the beginning) that began at 7:00. I've found we watch *LESS* TV now. We totally skip the :30 shows we didn't care about, and watch something else. Messing with the VCR would have been a pain (we recorded large blocks), it would be needed for another show in 30 minutes. (Many of our shows come on concurrently) So we just watched a bad show and waited. Now we watch live what the VCR is recording (in case we weren't home) and then catch up on replay. You don't have to worry about missing anything.. if show 2 starts while we're still watching show 1, no big deal.. Replay can do both at the same time! (Plus, we can start show 2 when we finish #1 even though it's still recording.)
Rating: 
Summary: Grid used to select programs lacks enuf content!
Review: Interesting machine; few hardware failures. I'm not happy about paying for the Program Menu in the base price. If they go belly up, will have no way to run the machine, as Everything is keyed to the Grid! Should offer an escrow account where company is paid per month; if they go into bankrupcy and fail to deliver Guide, then get money back. Prediction -- this company will NOT survive til their hoped-for IPO. It is Broken As Designed (BAD) because: 1) No way to deal with CSpan, Local Access, Classical Arts Showcase, other programs which only show up as 4 hour blocks on the Program Guide. 2) No way to cut/slice/"edit" a long program to a clip. Exaserbates problem #1 3) No way to add comments to "Replay Guide" when no program info available from "Channel Guide". 4) Too cumbersome to find programs if you don't know broadcast time or channel. 5) Can't look into recent past to see what was on (details of a series, for example) 6) No Digital I/O except via NTSC feed or vidio signals; want to be able to export to PC. 7) Misses some programs set to capture; no pattern yet found. Interface different if program is in the future, vs currently broadcast. 8) No useful way to save what is being recorded -- for the "instant replay" capability -- beyond the current session, even though it may be worth keeping (decision made mid-way-thru show). Sorry, but thought you needed to know!
Rating:
Summary: Almost everything you'd want it to be!
Review: I loved this product right from the beginning, just from seeing how it combined the program listings from my cable and DirecTV providers into on guide, and would automatically switch between inputs depending on what channel I selected. Seems logical, but no one had ever done it before! The 2020 is the way to go at the moment, because you'll find this so addictive that any less storage space will not be enough. I find that the Standard recording quality (which yields 20 hours of recording) works fine for me at the moment with both my DSS and cable programming, considering it's better than I was getting with VHS. I suppose that if you get hooked on the better quality, it would probably be hard to go back. I was disappointed that the 2020 does *not* come with Firewire ports as advertised here on Amazon.com, as a box with future programming improvements *and* expansion possibilities was really exciting. Once the copy protection issues are worked out, I'd love to be able to add another 20 hours to the unit with an external drive, but maybe Replay will facilitate that somehow. Anyhow, the bottom line is: This unit is in many ways the home entertainment appliance I've been looking for for many years. It's smart, it's convenient, and it can only get better as features are improved and small bugs are removed. When was the last time you were able to upgrade the firmware of your VCR?
Rating:
Summary: A terrific tech breakthru product.
Review: This unit is so simple and user froiendly that it masters the nagging problems assocaited with VCR's. The record process is literally one-touch. The only difficulty is with set-up. New owners should absolutely dial the tech support service number and their staff will step by step guide you through the process. The tech service is outstanding. Without that help it is VERY difficult to properly hook up correctly. I have attached a VCR in case I wish to archive a particular program. The commercial-skip feature is a real benefit. Don't worry about limited memory, I haven't even approached the maximum. The unit has an ambiant noise that takes a bit of getting used to. This is a must product for anyone who considers television a prime part of the entertainment equation. Haven't missed an episode of Seinfeld since getting it hooked up.
Rating:
Summary: Must have
Review: I've had my replay unit since April and all I can say is that I wouldn't be without it. I haven't put a tape in my VCR (except for rented movies) in months. I use mine exclusively for time shifting and it's really great to be able to watch what I want, when I want...
Rating:
Summary: LSD the guiding light to ReplayTV design...
Review: We'll overlook the lockups and crashes, continual stream of 20-minute long downloads to update the software (during which you can't watch anything,) and of course the first unit which arrived DOA. Neither me nor the Replay TV tech support staff (accessed after a 45 minute wait on hold) could ever figure out how to simply record a specific channel for a specific period of time. (Wanted to record 30 minutes of headline network news...simply CANNOT be done! They "code" HNN as a 3 hour long show!) The menus were designed by an engineer on a bad LSD trip...totally illogical. After watching a show it pops up a help message telling you to delete the program...but do they give you a link to some way to do the delete? Not a chance...grope through the menus yourself. If you have one of these, you are definitely on the BLEADING EDGE. Buy it if you can't wait or you are an entomologist and like bugs.
| 
