Rating: 
Summary: Replay really and truly changes how you watch TV
Review: I have had a ReplayTV since the first model that only recorded 6 hours! Even then, it only took a couple of weeks and how I watched TV changed. I no longer cared when things were on; I watched them when I wanted to. If I wanted to watch a one-hour program while it aired, I purposly waited 15 minutes to start so I could skip the commercials and finish on time. The seven-second "instant replay" button is GREAT when you run into one of those, "what did he say?" situations. The only problem with using it so much is that I keep reaching for it on the radio in the car! I now have a 5040 and it is even better! Skipping commercials 30 seconds at a time was easy, but the 5040 skips them for you automatically! Granted, it is not 100% accurate but for me it runs about 85-90%. It doesn't take long to get accustomed to seeing a program fade to black for commercial then fade back up on the program! Give it a try . . . believe me, in just a couple of weeks, you'll wonder how you ever watched TV without it!
Rating:
Summary: Watch WHAT you want WHEN and HOW you want to watch it!
Review: OK, I admit it, I'm hooked! I LOVE my ReplayTV, and one of the worst things about a business trip is having to watch "ordinary" TV without my ReplayTV! (if my wife would let me take it on the trip with me, I would!) With ReplayTV, I can record hours of our favorite programs and watch them whenever it is most convenient. I can keep several of my son's favorite PBS programs available for instant viewing - great for keeping him out of the kitchen when dinner is cooking. Educational programs are much better AFTER a nap, rather than when the station broadcasts them! And he's lucky, he gets to watch his stuff with no commercials - BUT SO DO WE, since the ReplayTV can be set to automatically skip commercials! I'm sure glad I have a ReplayTV rather than a Tivo, which doesn't have that feature! Speaking of my son -- I think having a ReplayTV makes me a better parent, since it never bothers me anymore when I am watching something and he needs a little attention. I just press Pause -- even on LIVE TV -- and pick up where I left off once he inevitably becomes interested in something else! Maybe ReplayTV makes me a better husband for the same reason ;>) I love the ability to start watching a show LATE (like I did with tonight's basketball game). The ReplayTV just continues to record the rest of the game, even while I'm watching the beginning! I remember the old days with a VCR - I had to record the WHOLE GAME before I could start watching it - and because the tapes were only 2 hours, I either had to be there to change the tape, or record in EP/SLP mode with its terrible quality - and the ReplayTV quality is EXCELLENT - even in the "lowest" quality setting! (but sports looks better in medium quality) You know how with phone calls, you can "take it in the study"? Well, now my ReplayTV lets me do that with TV shows. If I recorded something in the living room, but its one of those times when my son needs to watch his Sesame Street, I can "take that show" in the bedroom, using the feature that allows shows to be watched from one ReplayTV that were actually recorded by another elsewhere in the house. I love my ReplayTV and really don't want to watch TV without it! It really will change the way you watch TV!
Rating:
Summary: ReplayTV RTV5040 - easy & fun to use - a must
Review: For anyone that watches TV and either can't find anything to watch when they want, or hates commericals, this is a must have item. VCRs, they are just a thing of the past now. It really changes the way you watch TV. You just tell the ReplayTV unit to record what you want, then watch it when you want. It takes a couple minutes to setup, and it works with either a phone connection or an ethernet (for those with broadband access). It is loaded with other features, like commercial skip, photo viewer, and the like, and once you have one, you won't want to live without it.
Rating:
Summary: You'll never go back...
Review: It may sound dramatic, but my ReplayTV has changed my relationship with television completely. First, the ability to pause live TV is amazing. When the phone rings, we pause the show, answer the call, and then resume. Nothing missed! An interesting point to discuss with my wife? Pause and talk. You'll wonder how you lived without it. The ability to schedule automatic recording of all the TV shows I watch, and to have them actually recorded reliably (which is more than I can say for my VCR) has given me complete freedom to enjoy TV on my own terms. Let me say that my wife and I watch a lot of TV, we just plain have a lot of shows that we enjoy watching. And Replay allows me to watch my shows when I want them, how I want them, no matter what the network schedules may throw at me. Like the Simpsons? Schedule your Replay to keep the last five syndicated episodes at the ready whenever you feel like a laugh. Enjoy the late night shows but can't stay up? Program it to record the shows while you're asleep and watch them in the morning. You can even set up a manual recording that will just record the monologues! And of course it will record all your favorite daily and weekly shows, even if they're on a special day or change time slots. Even set up categories in order to keep your shows organized. Even if you don't spend a lot of time watching TV, wouldn't it be nice to have something recorded that you actually want to watch when you have time? Don't be a slave to the TV Guide again! (BTW- The program guide on the Replay is a huge improvement if you are used to the cable TV box electronic guide). One of the best things about the Replay over your VCR is that you can watch a show that's already been recorded while it's recording something else. That means that you're no longer stuck waiting for something to finish recording in order to watch something. You can even watch a show that's recording from the beginning! You can come home halfway into recording "Friends", and watch it from the beginning while it records the rest of the show! And that's where the ReplayTV excels: When you watch a recorded show (or even live TV that you've paused for at least 5 minutes), the Replay will automatically skip the commercials! Sure, you can turn off the skip if you want to see them. But it's just a thing of beauty when screen goes blank going to commercial, and then all of a sudden the program continues where it left off! When someone asks "did you see the commercial where....", you can smugly say "nope" :*) If you watch TV in more than one room, you can get a second unit and connect them together. You can actually watch a show on one Replay that was recorded on another. And if your friends or family have a ReplayTV, you can actually send a show or even your home videos from your unit to theirs over the internet. All you need is their Replay ID and hit "Send" and off it goes. It's not instantaneous though, even a half-hour show can take hours to transfer. But it's a lot faster and easier than mailing a videotape. The other choices in this market are good don't get me wrong, I own a TiVo as well. But like I said: Once you've seen Commercial Skip, In-Home Video Sharing, MyReplayTV.com, and Internet Video Sharing in operation, you'll never go back. The TiVo is now in the guest bedroom... And Sonicblue is continuously working on improving the software, adding new features and functions. It just keeps getting better. This thing is worth every penny.
Rating:
Summary: A miracle worker
Review: I truely love this machine. I found it easier to use than tivo and a few more features, such as the commericial skip. I work most of the day and can come home to watch my favorite shows that I missed. I don't know what I would do without this nifty gadget.
Rating: 
Summary: Customer service is HORRIBLE! AWFUL! TERRIBLE!
Review: I loved my replay tv until it broke. After a couple of weeks the first one crashed and I did get another one within a week(refurbished). The second one, after about 1 month started to freeze and pause...also lock up and not record... I tried many times to get help from Replay TV and I did get one quick message (in about a year's length of time) from them telling me to reboot the machine. Well, this I had already tried many times. I installed a fan in the unit and this helped for a short time...but the machine finally died. Silence and no tech support other than that short note was my customer service experience while this machine became a nightmare to use. Most recordings were flawed and many were missed. It is a shame that the management of this company allows such bad customer service....I guess they are happy getting my business only once. And they want to now charge monthly for their service?? I will never get another Sonic Blue or Replay TV or Rio product again... I recommend that you save yourself the irritation - stay away from Replay tv and get something else! Do I sound bitter? Yep. I guess I am. It didn't have to be this way. Don't turn out like me! Run from Replay TV!
Rating:
Summary: Extremly disappointing/ Useless
Review: Just bought this RTV 5040 and tried to set it up with my new dish as a first time user.
Well it doesn't work, unless you have another SAT receiver that will show you signal strength so to be able to point the Dish in the right direction this unit is useless. Tech Support was less than helpful, but finally admitted that the unit is not capable of lining up a dish.
Also the constant and I mean constant even in stand by mode, running cooling fan becomes a loud speaker when placed in a TV cabinet, be wear!! You will not sleep if it is in a bedroom.
It would be nice if Sonicblue would advertise these special features, so you won't have to go through the hassle of returning it and spend money for nothing.
TIVO here I come...
Rating:
Summary: Replay 5000 2.5 week review!
Review: Replay has created a new way to watch TV! Its hard to imagine ever watching a show the old way. I used to have to watch what was on between 9pm and 11pm but not anymore. Now I have lots of show recorded automatically everyday that I want to see, and I can watch them when I have the time!! I even uploaded 1.5 gigs of digital pictures from my pc to the Replay 5000 and I am amazed at the quality when viewed on my 36" Sony XBR. You can even create a folder of pictures to use as the pause screens. I hooked it up via my cable modem to download the updates, and that also allows me to send or receive shows via the internet. The Commercial Skip (CA) works about 97% of the time, which really blew me away. I had figured it wouldn't work very well, so I am very pleasently suprised. I am considering ordering another Replay so I can record two show simultaneously and also take advantage of streaming from one box to the other. Say watch a show in the living room or bedroom thats been recorded in the tv room. The CA feature alone blows the competition away. All the other features are just icing on the cake. I would rate this a 10+ after using it for almost 3 weeks. (I would rate myself as difficult to impress)
Rating:
Summary: With ReplayTV, there's always something good on.
Review: With ReplayTV, there's always something good on, and you don't ever need to be bothered by commercial interruptions again! Topping the charts of user-friendly features, Commercial Advance(R) lets you choose to skip commercial breaks all-together when you playback recorded shows. No fast forward, no remote control interaction at all. Just a split-second "blip" and you're right back into the action. Not bad for starters... and how about all those advanced features for the connected home, like Internet Video Sharing and Room-to-Room Video Streaming? It's all possible, and a whole lot easier than you think. Take a look: Tape-Free Recording - Easy one-touch recording with convenient on-screen channel guide, including a full 14 days of programming information.
Live TV Control - Pause, rewind, instant replay, slo-mo or frame-advance.
Commercial Advance® - Choose to playback recorded shows without commercials.
Highest Recording Capacity - From 40 to 320* hours of recording space, depending on model.
Progressive Scan - Supports high quality picture playback on digital TVs.
Advanced Capabilities - Home networking for room-to-room video streaming,* broadband Internet, wireless USB network connectivity* and digital photo capabilities.
Rating:
Summary: The best thing since, well, just about EVER!
Review: We have had our ReplayTV for two years now, never had a problem with it, and at this point, feel that we cannot live without it anymore. Shows that we would prefer our children see (as opposed to those that are on after school, which tend to be pretty violent) we record during the day, and give them their choice when it is their TV time. We are able to skip repeats, find something interesting to watch instantly when programming is switched around or preempted, and for really important shows that we can't wait to see--we start watching 20 minutes late and don't have to wait through commercials to see what will happen. I actually think we watch less TV now than before, but it's all stuff we WANTED to see--a huge difference, and a great one!
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