Simple - the ability to pause live TV, digital quality recording without burning or taping, digital surround sound (unlike cable - digital or otherwise - which compresses the bandwidth, loosing the surround sound encoding.)

The unit died once about a year and a half ago after a year's use, but Magnolia Hi-Fi gave be a brand new one off the shelf, and it's performed flawlessly since.

The way TV was meant to be. I can't wait for my plasma screen monitor so I fully realize the capabilities of the device.

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Have friends with Tivo/Hughes DVR and DirecTV service and after setting up and operating their systems, I still prefer the older Sony SAT-W60/Ultimate TV/DirecTV combination.

speed

none

I love my 2 units both work great with no problems I want to upgrade them

Ease of use, picture quality, ability to pause programming or "rewind" a scene to see it again.

It seems a shame to have to pay DirecTV $10.00 a month for the ability to record programming you've already purchased. Also, after one year the sound sent through the SATW60 to my Onkyo receiver completely stopped. I was using an optical cable. An Ultimate TV rep decided it was the SATW60, so I used the Circuit City advance exchange option (Thank God for this ESP). They shipped to me a refurbished receiver (Sony no longer makes Ultimate TV satellite receivers... hmmm... what does that tell you?) It took two days to get here. The one they shipped did not even power on; the on button was broken, as was the little door in front. It kept popping open. Shipped it back and Circuit City actually overnighted another refurbished receiver. This one has worked fine so far, but my fingers are crossed. The ESP indicates Circuit City will replace this receiver with a new one if three repair episodes are required, but waht will they replace it with?

Excellent picture quality; very easy to set up recording. Has the capability to remind you and automatically tune to preset shows. Can't tell playback from real broadcast. WebTV is okay but is pretty slow if you're used to using DSL. I don't usually buy extended service plans, but I am REALLY glad I did on this one. See below...

Wouldnt say there are any :) cant complain.

Could use bigger factory hard drive But upgradable so not that big of a deal.

Best thing i ever bought can leave the couch to goto bathroom or make sumfin to eat come right back and watch wot i missed.. Gotta have my utv.

Record two channels at once - and watch a previously program - all at the same time. Pausing live TV. Ease of recording. On screen menues are great.

Brief delays when changing channels

I have seen the future of television and it's in my home now! UltimateTV has changed the way we watch TV forever.

Convenient, quiet recording. Excellent playback.

I do not like the remote. The buttons are small and crowded together. I make many mistakes pushing the buttons. I wish the channels changed more quickly and I would like the picture that accompanies the progams schedule made larger.

I am very pleased with the Sony UltimateTV especially at the price I paid. ($289 BEFORE $200 rebate). I have previously had two versions of Sony DirectTV receivers. Ulitmate TV has solved all my frustrations of the previous Direct TV receiver/vhs recorder I had been using.

2 Tuner capability; show padding (records 1 or two minutes before the scheduled times); Search capability

slow - although I keep hearing the new upgrade is going to fix this.

Best product ever, hands down. Once you use this amazing product you will absolutely fall in love with it and you will NEVER go back to watching TV when THEY tell you to watch things. It''s just great to watch what you want to watch on your terms. Also, keep your ears open for a great new service upgrade that''s supposed to occur in the next few weeks... should put TiVo to shame.

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None

2 Tuner capability; show padding (records 1 or two minutes before the scheduled times); Search capability

slow - although I keep hearing the new upgrade is going to fix this.

Best product ever, hands down. Once you use this amazing product you will absolutely fall in love with it and you will NEVER go back to watching TV when THEY tell you to watch things. It''s just great to watch what you want to watch on your terms. Also, keep your ears open for a great new service upgrade that''s supposed to occur in the next few weeks... should put TiVo to shame.

Similar Products Used:

None

Digital recorder

Slow

It rocks!!!!

I didn't know what I was missing. I could never go back. Only beef is the response speed of the channel/menu changes. Microsoft claims to be fixing this problem.