Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Product!
Review: I've waited for years to buy a PVR and now can't imagine living without it. I chose ReplayTV over TiVo mainly because ReplayTV allows you to activate and update totally without a phone line using broadband. I don't have a landline, only cell phone, and with TiVo you must activate using dialup. I couldn't be happier. The commercial advance is wonderful, ReplayTV works great with digital cable too. It's totally changed the way I watch TV. I watch programs on MY schedule now, not on the broadcast schedule! BTW, if you like skipping commercials, then get a ReplayTV NOW! They are taking that feature out of the next model (5500 series) to pacify the commercial TV industry.
Rating: 
Summary: Service charge not fully disclosed or seemed fair...
Review: We bought this digital video recorder in order to save the images from an outdoor surveillance camera. We didn't need to route it through a tv, but could send the image right to the recorder. So, we thought that there shouldn't be any problem with this. However, after we tried to set up the machine, we found out that NO MATTER how it was being used (for recording tv shows or CCTV), the monthly charge had to be paid. This didn't seem fair or economical. We called the company and got a whole lotta people who didn't seem to know much about how the recorder worked or in this case didn't work without being hooked up to a tv. We returned it.
Rating:
Summary: A Work of Genius
Review: I have owned a ReplayTV 3060 since they began shipping. If you've never owned a DVR, you owe it to yourself to try one. It will change your life. Prime time is whenever you sit down in front of the tube. The ReplayTV 5160 is a worthy upgrade. Every aspect and feature of this product show careful thought, planning, and design. It's attractive, quieter than the 3060 was, and much more capacious. I've read many reviews in which geeks have promoted a "build-it-yourself" solution. As a geek who *has* built his own, I can say with assurance that we're just not there yet. MythTV is a marvellous programming effort, but it doesn't begin to approach the ease of use and "set and forget" qualities of ReplayTV. The folks at ReplayTV are gifted programmers and talented designers. The Replay 5160 is the pinnacle of their creation, and contains features that caused the parent company to be sued out of existence. The new parent will continue to design and market ReplayTV, but without the offending features. This is the one to buy!
Rating: 
Summary: Non-TV addict review
Review: The device itself works great, works as advertised. I use it all the time, it really changes the way you watch TV.. it's nice to sit down and watch 5 episodes of your favorite show back-to-back with no commercials. I have it hooked up to ethernet (I have cable modem and a Linksys), so haven't experienced any connection issues. Record at high quality and I can't tell the difference between it and regular TV. The good:
- Good quality
- Upgrading to a 120 gb hard drive (120 hours instead of 40) was simple, see [website]
- Commercial skip works great on most shows, not at all on others (but there's a +30 second skip button for those) The bad:
- Sonicblue the company is rude and non-responsive, but ReplayTV just got bought by D&M, so who knows. You're basically on your own, but I'm okay with that.
- It gets weird if you fill up the disk.. plays blank screen and have a hard time exiting. Just leave some space free. With the new software coming out, you shouldn't be able to have this problem since everything will be guaranteed recording. See [website]
- No way to pass-through inputs. It has two RCA and an s-video input, but unless you're recording from there, you can't get the input to show on screen. Kind of a waste, would be nice to be able to record from coax and pass-through the s-video. The ugly:
- This thing is huge, like an old-school 1980's VCR. I'd buy it again. In fact, I don't think I could stand to watch TV any more without some kind of DVR.
Rating:
Summary: I Don't Understand All The Problems...We Think It's Great!
Review: Some of the complaints just don't make any sense: "you can't record one show and watch another"--I do it every day!, "commercial-skip only works with slow shows"--this is simply not true, Sonic Blue claimed that it caught 97% of commercials and I have found this to be entirely accurate. Every now and then it will miss some, and all I have to do is press the 30-sec skip button a couple times, sure beats FF on my VCR! "Nobody knows who owns it"--ReplayTV is now owned by the same parent company as Denon electronics. As for the lock up at night problem, this can be fixed by not keeping the phone cord plugged in at all times; plug it in once a week, and do a manual "net-connect" (zones option 7). This product beats the hell out of TiVo! Don't hesitate to purchase!
Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy this Product
Review: I purchasesd a 5040 Replay TV in December, 2002. The company's service is anyone's worst nightmare--on the line for hours to try to solve problems with an incompetent and ill trained service crew; at least once per week the connection to the update "freezes", which requires unplugging everything; you cannot contact the company except through their poorly trained staff at the 800 numbers. Do not respond faxes; email is only standard response with check boxes--if your problem does not fit a preconcieved idea of what a problems should be--forget it. Buying this product is asking for trouble--it is fitting that they went into bankruptcy.
Rating:
Summary: Bankrupt for a reason!
Review: sonicblue, replay tv, govideo, rio, riovolt, diamond multimedia, etc. etc.... are all the same company ... clearly names change often to avoid customer support. when the name changes, they don't offer you any assistance of any kind. if it breaks, their solution is to buy a new one. they won't even suggest a alternative place to fix any problems. my first bad experience was when i bought an mp3 player from one of their earlier names of "diamond rio" and it stopped working after a couple months. no one ever answered the phone, however, you connected to their "hold" system, and it's long distance. I once waited over an hour to get no one, and the phone bill made it impossible to continue. i of course tried sending emails upon emails without a response, ever. i finally got through to them using a number provided by the bbb. the rep told me "the only way to fix it was to buy another one". uhmmm... yeah... right. sadly, i was not hip to the fact that replaytv was the same exact company. had quality issues and the unit stopped working under two months. again, the phone holds and emails were obnoxious. it is now a fact, that this company (and all it's fluff names) are going bankrupt, and their products should be removed. i have kept my worthless mp3 player, and my replaytv player and paperwork to be included for evidence. by the way, i have since had a tivo 80 hour for almost a year, and it's amazing. i actually called support once to get info on the enchanced features and they answered immediately, and it was a toll free number. it's funny watching various talk shows etc. when they mention recording a show etc. they always say "tivo it" ... you never hear anyone say "i'll replaytv it".
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time on this.
Review: I tried and tried to call sales/support. They have over 5 difference 1-800 numbers but long-long-long-long waiting time. At the end, virtually no service/support. No one in North America will answer your call, they are all routed to South Asia. Paying $... service fee for this kind of service? You must be crazy.
Rating:
Summary: Hangs and denied Rebate
Review: The unit hangs every other night on downloading data from the telephone, the unit doesn't get some channels, they say the signal strength is too low and they denied my rebate claim saying I didn't send in the UPC code, which I am 99+% sure I did, especially since it is missing from my box. Buy the TIVO.
Rating:
Summary: And still on hold.............
Review: I don't even have my replay tv yet. I wanted to ask a question about wireless networking so I called their support line. Well I've been on hold for 30 minutes now and no signs of ever talking to somebody. So instead of asking my question, I'm just going to cancel my order. This is ridiculous!
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