Rating: 
Summary: Coolest product of all time
Review: I love this thing. Their marketing doesn't do it justice. Until you try one you won't understand how much more convenient it is to have a menu of recorded programs over having vcr tapes. Replay is slightly more flexible than Tivo -- Tivo maybe slightly easier to use. I have both, and prefer Replay.
Rating: 
Summary: Long Distance Charges May Add Up
Review: I tried Replay, and it has its good and bad points. But I had an unepected shock. There were no local numbers available in my area to call up for guide information. Replay service just told me "too bad, you'll have to pay long distance charges". Calling even once or twice a week for 20 minutes at a time can really add up. Most people probably don't have this problem, but it's more common than you'd think, I don't live in an isolated area either. If a major reason to pick Replay is "no monthly fee" check twice to make sure you won't be paying it to your phone company instead.
Rating:
Summary: Long Distance Charges May Add Up
Review: I tried Replay, and it has its good and bad points. But I had an unepected shock. There were no local numbers available in my area to call up for guide information. Replay service just told me "too bad, you'll have to pay long distance charges". Calling even once or twice a week for 20 minutes at a time can really add up. Most people probably don't have this problem, but it's more common than you'd think, I don't live in an isolated area either. If a major reason to pick Replay is "no monthly fee" check twice to make sure you won't be paying it to your phone company instead.
Rating: 
Summary: A revolution
Review: I've been using the Replay since the first one came out. Fortunately, they've been getting better and better, as the first ones had a tendency to lock up sometimes. The 3060 and the latest software are working quite well, and Replay has changed the way I watch TV. I never watch commercials, unless there's a good one worth watching, and I can't stand to watch live tv anymore. Plus you can't believe how nice it is to just select what you want to record from the program guide and not have to worry about swapping tapes, positioning the tape and recording everything while you're on a trip. And having the list of things you've recorded there in a list and not having to scan unlabeled tapes (if for no other reason than to label them). I got my sister a Tivo for Christmas, 2000. Partly because I wanted to see how it compared, and partly because I'd heard Tivo's winning the marketing battle. She lives on a farm about 10 miles out from a small town. The Tivo modem would not connect to the service modem, and was useless (the weak modem is a common issue from reading the net). I took it home and played with it, and was appalled to see it take *hours* to process the initial program guide. What on *earth* are they doing? The Replay just has to download it and it's there. Albeit that takes 20 minutes itself. Then I tried to use the Tivo. While it's prettier, I found it harder to use, and having to fast forward rather than use the 30 second skip button clinched it --- I'll never buy a Tivo while it is missing that function. The main things I wish for now are: 1. Ethernet for downloading the program guide over my DSL connection 2. HDTV recording capability (without compressing it to the point of losing the HD) 3. Let me add my own hard disks to expand capacity! Without Replay, I'd go back to not watching much TV...
Rating:
Summary: A revolution
Review: I've been using the Replay since the first one came out. Fortunately, they've been getting better and better, as the first ones had a tendency to lock up sometimes. The 3060 and the latest software are working quite well, and Replay has changed the way I watch TV. I never watch commercials, unless there's a good one worth watching, and I can't stand to watch live tv anymore. Plus you can't believe how nice it is to just select what you want to record from the program guide and not have to worry about swapping tapes, positioning the tape and recording everything while you're on a trip. And having the list of things you've recorded there in a list and not having to scan unlabeled tapes (if for no other reason than to label them). I got my sister a Tivo for Christmas, 2000. Partly because I wanted to see how it compared, and partly because I'd heard Tivo's winning the marketing battle. She lives on a farm about 10 miles out from a small town. The Tivo modem would not connect to the service modem, and was useless (the weak modem is a common issue from reading the net). I took it home and played with it, and was appalled to see it take *hours* to process the initial program guide. What on *earth* are they doing? The Replay just has to download it and it's there. Albeit that takes 20 minutes itself. Then I tried to use the Tivo. While it's prettier, I found it harder to use, and having to fast forward rather than use the 30 second skip button clinched it --- I'll never buy a Tivo while it is missing that function. The main things I wish for now are: 1. Ethernet for downloading the program guide over my DSL connection 2. HDTV recording capability (without compressing it to the point of losing the HD) 3. Let me add my own hard disks to expand capacity! Without Replay, I'd go back to not watching much TV...
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS - It's all about CHOICE
Review: I've had my Replay 60-hour machine a couple of weeks now. and must say it has changed my life. I'm not a home theatre fanatic, so I don't worry about getting perfect audio and video. What Replay is all about for me is choice. The zones let me scan seven days ahead to find shows I might like to watch sometime. The channel feature lets me record every single one of the shows I like to watch, and never worry about forgetting to put a tape in....or rewind it..etc. Now there's ALWAYS something good to watch when I want to watch TV. And it's easy to use. My non-techie wife has already fallen in love with it, too! I'm hooked!
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating close to being great addition to a home theater
Review: I've had this Replay unit for about a month now, and right now I'm trying to decide whether or not to keep it plugged in my home theater. There are lots of reasons I love the device, but there are enough little bugs that I'm thinking of unplugging it and waiting until a later generation of these TV recorders fixes these issues. To put this in context, I'm an early adopter, a gadget freak, so I generally have a high tolerance for the nagging quirks of new technologies. But I'm also a home theater nut, so I have a higher than normal bar for what equipment can be added to my system. I have a DirecTV satellite dish in my system, and beyond that your basic home theater setup: bigscreen TV, DVD Player, Receiver, Amp, Speakers, S-VHS VCR. Setup was fairly easy using the diagram included. I just installed the Replay device between my DirecTV box and my receiver. I plugged it into a phone jack and walked through the setup menu which was straightforward. You have to let the device use your phone line for a while to download all the necessary initial setup info, like local channel listings and Replay Zone info. After using the gizmo for a while, I can confirm that these things deserve a lot of the good press they deserve. (1) The device tapes shows when you're not around, so if you're a fan of a TV show you can set the device up once and you should never miss another episode of the show again. (2) I like being able to quickly rewind a show I'm watching, especially sports. (3) If you tell it you have a DirecTV, it will download all the channel listings and allow you to just use the ReplayTV remote to change the channels on your satellite dish. Now for the ugly: (1) The record quality at the low setting looks really lousy on a big TV. I think the Medium setting is as low as I'd ever set it. My S-VHS VCR record quality is somewhere between the Medium and High settings. (2) These devices are still way costly. I wouldn't recommend getting anything less than a 60 hour unit, and you're looking at a big chunk of change for those right now. At Medium and High quality settings, you'll fill the hard drive in no time if you watch just a few shows regularly. (3) The audio and video keep going out of sync for me. That drives me nuts. I don't know how to fix it when it happens, and I don't know why it goes away, but the only time I can guarantee it won't happen is when I'm watching taped shows. This even happens when I'm watching live programming. (4) You can't watch one show and tape another. Not a huge deal, because it's the same with my DirecTV, but something I think they could fix someday. (5) There's about a 3 second delay when you change channels before the next channel's video/audio comes in. It's hard to channel surf patiently that way. (6) I now can't use the digital audio output on satellite dish since the ReplayTV doesn't accept that input. If I plug it directly into my receiver, then the audio won't sync with the video from the DirecTV unless I use just the composite video output. I like having the digital audio output because the sound quality is much better through that, and it's the only way to receive Dolby Digital broadcasts, which some DirecTV channels broadcast in. They should think about incorporating component video inputs into the Replay device as well. (7) I prefer the channel browsing menu on the DirecTV, because it shows you a thumbnail of the channel in the corner as you browse. My Replay doesn't have that. (8) There's no locking mechanism so that the satellite receiver and the Replay are frozen when taping. One of my roommates turned off the satellite dish while the Replay was taping a show for me and I lost it. My DirecTV receiver didn't have that problem. These are all solvable issues, and I expect we're about one to two generations away from a great product. I know Tivo just issued an integrated DirecTV/Tivo device, but I don't like how Tivo charges a monthly fee. You may not find the problems above to be an issue for you depending on your setup and TV viewing patterns. I can't wait to buy one of these once the problems are solved. By then the hard drives should be monstrous, satellite and personal recording devices should be integrated, and life will be merry. But until then, I feel like this is a device that is probably too difficult to set up and use for those who can't set the clocks on their VCRs, and just buggy enough to annoy high end home theater users. For some folks in between, it will be life-changing.
Rating:
Summary: great product
Review: it's changed my life :) now i can do whatever i want, and I don't have to arrange my schedule around a few shows i want to see. I bought the first replaytv available, back in 1999, for $1400 i think it was. maybe more. anyway, i noticed that for a while after i bought it, i watched more TV than ever, because suddenly i could watch anything i wanted to. then after a while, a few months, i watched less tv, because the novelty of watching CBS Sunday Morning on Tuesday night wore off. But now i just watch what i want to watch. And it's great for shows liek the simpsons, where there are a lot of little jokes. if you're watching and you think you missed something, just hit instant replay and watch it again. Or hit instant replay and then slow-motion and catch every single joke :) a great product :)
Rating:
Summary: MUST HAVE HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Review: My viewing of TV has been revolutionized by digital recording and Replay TV is far superior to TiVo. It is almost idiot proof and far simpler to use than VCRs. Its free (versus Tivo's pay per month) program guide is impressive and very easy to use. My wife (a technical "all thumbs" person) is not only completely satisfied and confident with it, she is actually a fan of Replay's use and the possibilities it gives you. My only suggestion is to go as big as you can on recording size (60 hours will fill up fast when you start seeing how quickly you can view shows you never had time to see before and, thus, starting recording and recording and recording...).
Rating:
Summary: Replay TV beats TiVo and Tape
Review: My viewing of TV has been revolutionized by digital recording and Replay TV is far superior to TiVo. It is almost idiot proof and far simpler to use than VCRs. Its free (versus Tivo's pay per month) program guide is impressive and very easy to use. My wife (a technical "all thumbs" person) is not only completely satisfied and confident with it, she is actually a fan of Replay's use and the possibilities it gives you. My only suggestion is to go as big as you can on recording size (60 hours will fill up fast when you start seeing how quickly you can view shows you never had time to see before and, thus, starting recording and recording and recording...).
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