Component is built really well, nice appearance, great menus, no monthly service fees, super-easy to record shows, excellent picture quality

I HATE those stupid banner ads on "pause". Remote could be set up better. VERY rarely, unit freezes and needs to be unplugged so it can reboot.

I really love this product. It is one of my absolute favorite home theatre components, and I use it more than anything else in my system (with the exception of my receiver of course). The menus are totally intuitive and really easy to use. Anyone could use this thing without opening the instruction manual.

When watching live TV, I love the menu header that comes up on each channel you surf to that has all the information about what show is on and how long it has been on. That way, you don't have to wait through ads to find out.

I have only used the "medium" recording level, and the picture quality is FANTASTIC! I cannot beleive that "high" can produce a clearer picture, but one of these days, I guess I will try it out.

As for the monthly fee issue, it is a simple question of startup cost vs. life-cost. I like that I paid the fee up front, and don't have to worry about a bill each month. When you consider the fact that a component like this is good for two years or longer, TiVo charges $99/year (or $120 a year if you are dumb enough to pay $10/month), and there is a $200 price difference between the two products, the fee issue really seems like a non-issue.

I looked at both TiVo and Replay TV when I was serching for this product, and overall, Replay just seemed like a much better product. The TiVo unit also looks so "cheesy plastic", and would have looked dumb next to my expensive components (not that important, but hey, everything counts). TiVo is just selling more units because they advertise alot more, and most people are way too lazy to ever research purchase alternatives when they buy stuff like this. Their wife thinks it would be "neat for the kids to have a channel just for kids" and tells the husband to go get a TiVo. In the long run, I think there is plenty of room in the market place for both products. I would still recommend Replay TV over TiVo based upon my research of both products.

Replay is a great investment, and you will get alot of pleasure out of this product.

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First product of this kind

No monthly fees, tapes everything you watch, saves 20 hours, etc etc etc!

NONE

I love it. Any TIVO guy that bashes it is just being partisan and can't be objective.

How can you say "The monthly fee is there, it's just built in" if I pay $250? Well?! ANYWAY, check out www.avsforums.com

I love it.

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Replay 3030, Replay 3060, Tivo 20 hour unit

great picture, easy programming

channel surfing

The unit is very easy to set up and operate. It gives an excellent picture, and the on screen guides are very good. One major flaw/weakness (and I don't know if its a design flaw or not):
My cable box can't keep up with the unit when I surf through the channels. Because each time the channel is changed, the unit has to send the signal to change the channel to the cable box via IR Blaster. However, when i'm surfing through the channels at a quick place, the cable box can't keep up with the unit and its always a few channels behind (and it won't catch up.
Other than that(!), its a great unit. I would highly recommend if you don't have a cable box, but with one, just make sure you have a good return policy (as I do).

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VCR

Ease of use, appearance, great remote, awesome features (skip ahead 30 seconds, instant replay, etc).

Really none! I mean we'd all love a bigger hard drive but you knew the size when you bought, so how can you complain? It kicks a VCR's ASS.

I love the unit. Screw TIVO's monthly fee! Forget TIVO's thumbs-up nonsense. Record what you want, EASILY. Picture quality, even in standard mode, is beyond what I expected. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! Can't reccommend this enough.

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Tested TIVO, hated it.

NEVER MISS A SHOW AGAIN; themes; record newest episode of show; user friendly

no day skiping button; can't record 2 shows at same time

The best 400 dollars i ever spent. i completly love every thing. no stupid monthly fee!

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tivo

Themes, 20 Hours record time. skip commercials, pause live tv. Never miss your show again.

none

This is the best 500 bucks i ever spent. You can pause live tv and Replaytv continues to record show. The instant replay features during sports is awesome. Replaytv just downloaded new features and themes so the unit never gets old. Do not be fooled by tivo at 399.00 you still have to pay 179 for lifetime updates and the unit has a smaller hard drive. I also read Tivo monitors all your viewing habits and sells it. Replaytv promised never to invade your privacy. I bought it at 800.com for 499 and would recommend it to anyone.

Never miss a show again, works seamlessly with all cable boxes.

Could use an ethernet port in addition to the phone port.

I got this unit back in November and have loved it since. It is easy to use, set up, and tech support was very helpful a month down the line when a local channel downloader was down, I was back up and running in 10 mins. Thanks to this unit I have not missed a single simpsons/futurama episode. And not paying a monthly fee is a bonus too. I've set this unit up for a few clients and they absolutely love it, go get this now! This review is based on the 60 hour model.

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Tivo

Awesome Picture Quality ... even Extended Mode is watchable on my 56" HDTV !

Remote is not programmable. Other One-For-All Remotes do not have the codes for this beast.

Extremely Pleased.

In case anyone is interested. I have a 30 Hours Panasonic Showstopper. Its NEW. NOT REGISTERED. Comes with all the accessories. Except the original box. Asking $289.00 plus shipping. Was planning to use it in the bedroom, except the wife wanted us to save for our retirement. Geez Woman !

Remember, With the Showstopper you dont have to feed the machine $9.99 every month to keep'em shows coming :-)

No tapes, no rewinding

Replay service

First of all, when you buy a Replay box, you pay the lifetime fee for the Replay service - it's just included in the price of the unit. So the comments about "no monthly fees" are invalid. You've already paid the fee when you buy the box.

Second, I found the Replay service to be lacking in a number of areas - especially the channel guide. It's just not as good as the TiVo service. I originally bought the Replay, but returned it after a couple of weeks of use.
I brought home a TiVo unit and loved it from the start.

Third, Replay has sold about 1/4 the units that TiVo has sold - I'm not too sure about their future. And now they are going to be bugging their customers with advertising - just check out this press release:

"ATLANTA & MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. – September 11, 2000 – The Coca-Cola Company has signed a letter of intent with ReplayTV, Inc. leading to a multi-year deal in which Coca-Cola's first personal television advertising campaign will make its national debut via the ReplayTV Service in October.

Coca-Cola will choose from a full range of advertising capabilities offered by the ReplayTV Service, including title sponsorship of an editorial ReplayZone, banner ads and call-to-action screens that let viewers find more information."

I wouldn't trust them with my personal information.

Jean

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TiVo

Just wanted to add on to my previous review. It's been another month, and I use this thing twice a day, EVERY DAY, for HOURS a day :-)

I can't recommend this enough. Do NOT BUY TIVO. It stinks in comparison.

The only advance I'd like to see is that the 'skip ahead 30 seconds' should be 28 or 29 seconds. I always end up having to back up 7 seconds.