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ReplayTV 2020 Digital Video Recorder

ReplayTV 2020 Digital Video Recorder

List Price: $399.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Love Pausing live TV!
Review: This is just the product to enable you to answer the door/phone when there is 10 seconds left on the game clock & your team is on the 2 yard line down by 4 points.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: mixed experiences with Replay
Review: I've used both Replay and their competitor Tivo, and I have to say I'm much happier with Tivo. For one thing, Replay included Firewire ports on their original unit which they marketed as being available for adding external hard drives. After a year the software still doesn't support them and they can't say when it will!

I've also been bitten by quite a few software bugs and find their management mechanism for recorded programs to be byzantine and often surprising. I've had the unit delete a program I was watching in order to record the latest episode when it had plenty of space and was supposed to keep several episodes of the program. Also, several times I've gone to watch recorded programs and found that the unit had crashed.

Also, if you change recording characteristics for a show (number of episodes to store, quality, etc), Replay deletes your currently recorded episodes!

I've also had Tivo crash, but only while I was actively using it. Tivo has never failed to record a program for me, and I've found their interface for managing what to be intuitive and easy to use. Some of Tivo's programming guides are poorly designed, though.

The live pause feature of both Replay and Tivo is wonderful, and Tivo is limited to 30 minutes whereas Replay is limited by the amount of available space (usually much more than 30 minutes).

Also, be aware that the quoted times for both Replay and Tivo are for lowest quality recording. You'll probably find that the lowest quality is TOO low and that you'll want to use the next best quality, probably halving the available record time.

In short, Replay should spending their energy on getting existing products to work reliably, and on supporting features they promised a year ago, rather than introducing new products.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely Ingenious - Watch What you Want when you Want
Review: I believe that the time for this idea has finally come. I can not wait until they have a PAL version that can be used internationally.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love my first one...but for $699 I'm buying my second one.
Review: I bought a 14 hour unit and love it. Now I can get a second 20 hour unit for my bedroom. The timing could not be better because I hate watching TV without Replay. I am spoiled now...pausing live TV is a must when you have loud kids. Plus it just feels too weird to aimlessly surf for something to watch. I like my shows there for me when I'm ready. Great job Amazon I never would have known about Replay with out you! And I thought you just sold books.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How did I live without it?
Review: I work crazy hours but I love TV. ReplayTV makes it possible for me to watch my shows when I want. I love the commercial skip feature. This is so much more personalized than a VCR. I really recommend it. This would be a great christmas gift!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's Better than Amazon Says
Review: I read the review that Amazon put out for this box. I have one at home (the 14 hour model) and find that I now become impatient with people whose TV's don't have these features. I must take issue, however, with the warning that it will only back up 7 seconds when using the replay option. What they mean to say is that it backs up 7 seconds each time you hit the button. I've had times when I backed up over 30 minutes to catch the start of Law and Order (though I used the rewind feature to back up that far). This is a great product, and the price reduction is amazing (I paid around $1000 for my 14 hour model).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The future of TV, available today...
Review: Watch what you want, when you want, how you want. It's great.

With the ability to combine over-the-air, cable and/or digital satellite reception into one easy to use programming guide, my Replay unit has simplified my television viewing and even my life: no more running around finding a blank tape, FF...PLAY...REW...PLAY...FF...etc. And when we're done watching...a couple button clicks and, zap...it's gone.

Now, there's no staying up late to watch TV unless I want to. Now, there's no hunting for the shows, movies, or sports most important to me...I just tell the Replay what to look for, and it does it, anytime of night or day. (It found one program of great interest to me just hours after I hooked it up, and I had NO idea that particular programming was even going to be on!)

The ability to pause live tv lets you watch TV on YOUR schedule, rather than theirs...rushing to complete that project by 9:00--not any more. Trying to pop that popcorn in 90 seconds of commercial (after having to wait for a commercial)--not any more...just hit pause whenever you like.

Even technophobes enjoy using the Replay--although hookup is best undertaken with 30-90 minutes to spare.

I did have to knock one star off for a couple computer (remember, this IS basically a stand alone computer/hard drive) glitches, but Replay's customer service and tech-support were extremely helpful and pleasant.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Potentially Great but presently disappointing
Review: After two weeks I have relunctantly returned my Replay unit and have decided to wait until the technology is more mature. There were three big problems, one seemingly insurmountable.

First, the required daily download (and setup) invariably took several attempts to succesfully conclude. The software gives up after two failed attempts to download the programming info, but these were seldom enough.

Second, Tech Support invariably took between a half hour and an hour to pick up, and once cut me off after waiting 45 minutes because the waiting period extended into their off-hours.

Third, Tech Support unfortunately became necessary when the software turned out to be incompatible with the cable converters (Pioneer) provided my my cable operator. My cable channels were not watchable at all when routed through Replay TV. I was informed that this was a known bug and was being remedied in a beta version of the software. I was supposedly scheduled for the download, and after no less than six succesful updates (requiring more than 15 attempts), Tech support informed me that the program developers would not allow me to have the update, and Tech Support could not tell me how to solve the problem without the update, or even when I might be "allowed" to download it. I feel that with a bug this severe, Replay TV should not even be on the market.

In conclusion, this is obviously a company that can't quite handle its own success yet. I suggest giving it a few more months to sort out these "start-up" problems

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Mothers Review
Review: I have three kids and I have to say it has changed the way my family watches TV. My kids come when I call them to dinner, which by the way is no longer in front of the TV, because I can just pause the show and pick up where I left off. The other thing I like is that I can create channels for the kids, like Blues Clues, Teletubbies and Zoboomafoo, and because they are on demand I can zip through them to check the content.

I love it because I can now easily record Allie McBeal while my husband is watching his Monday Night Football...No more Monday Night Remote fights!

What a great product! I definitely give this 5 stars! Mary McGuire

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Changes everything about TV, but has some very annoying bugs
Review: This product truly changes the way you watch television. But the first generation bugs are terribly annoying. For example: (1) Anytime the service updates the list of channels in your channel guide (for example, when the cable network adds a new channel), all of your personal channel settings (which channels are on/off/etc.) are lost. Also, (2) I've noticed that the video signal is negatively affected -- I get occasional thin black lines. Finally, (3) the thing is so hot it's a danger to small children. Honestly! You can fry eggs on the top of this thing. Despite all these bugs, and others I haven't mentioned, I still enjoy using my ReplayTV. It totally changed the way I watch TV.


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