ReplayTV and TiVo Compared 328
j0atz writes "The New York Times is running a story today that, while it's a bit redundant in the beginning and a bit short on technical details later, gives a rundown the newest features for ReplayTV (numbered 4000 or above) and TiVO (Series2); basically, you can program your favorite DVR to record a show from a remote computer or from another (same-brand) DVR. Along with that, you can stream MP3's and pictures with TiVo now.
Still...I'd much rather use something like FreeVo or MythTV and actually burn my shows to cd, stream whatever I want, etc, etc."
Tivo can burn too (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Tivo can burn too (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Tivo can burn too (Score:2, Informative)
Not the best method, but it works.
Re:Tivo can burn too (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Tivo can burn too (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Tivo can burn too (Score:4, Informative)
With ReplayTV you can just use DV Archive [sourceforge.net] to download shows from it. Friendly interface, no warranty voiding required.
What about the PSX! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What about the PSX! (Score:2)
And you'd hazard wrong on that Sky+ box. It's noticably inferior to both TiVo and Replay.
You also forgot the various cable box PVRs that are appearing, Microsoft's UltimateTV, Dish Network's Dishplayer (which is the most widely used PVR), and quite a few others that are actually available. Oh, and there's Toshiba's upcoming (ie - not available) PVR with a rewriteable DVD drive that uses TiVo software.
Thing is, TiVo is better software-wise than any of them. Replay has had ethernet longe
Re:What about the PSX! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What about the PSX! (Score:2)
Re:What about the PSX! (Score:3, Informative)
In other words... (Score:4, Funny)
This article sucks, but hum... here it is anyway.
Think that's great? (Score:3, Funny)
imagine that (Score:5, Funny)
Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:5, Informative)
At the basic quality setting, you'd have no problem whatsoever.
However, if your input signal is poor, tivo will have a harder time compressing it (as it tries to store all the noise), and compression artifacts might become obvious at High.
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:5, Informative)
Basic looks pretty horrible, and it does the usual blocky MPEG artefacts when something moves quickly but it's better than VHS at least.
Medium is quite watchable, and OK for fairly static programmes (gameshows and the like)
High is what I use for day-to-day and is very good - I have (UK) Sky Digital as the source and it's as good to my eyes.
Best uses even more disk space, but will be as good as what you throw at it. It's what the live buffer uses and is recommended for sports and other fast-moving stuff.
It's pretty straightforward to upgrade a TiVo to use a (cheap now) 120Gb disk and you can store a lot at High or Best with that.
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:5, Informative)
Your friend heard incorrectly. TiVo has 4 levels of compression available: Basic, Medium, High, and Best.
Best: Virtually indistinguishable from the original broadcast. This is a good level for sports or movies with a lot of action scenes.
High: I record everything (except sports) in high. For most shows, it's also very very close to original broadcast quality. On my 120GB TiVo I get about 40 hours recorded at High quality.
Medium: Obviously a small step down from High. Dark scenes start getting hard to see, there are artifacts, etc. I never record at medium.
Basic: I think this one sucks pretty bad and never record anything with it. However, I would get like 130+ hours of recording time on my 120GB TiVo if I used it all the time. Some people are satisfied with it, but I suspect those people have smaller TV sets.
We have a 60" TV, so it's big enough for the quality to be important, and with High and Best, TiVo's quality is awesome. Definitely better than VCD, and better than most DivX encodings I've seen (although I understand you can encode DivX at real high rates too).
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:2)
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:2)
I don't really, since I rarely use anything other than High. I think I can get 35-40 hours at high with the 120GB hard drive I put in, so I imagine Best will probably get about 25-30 or so. A search at tivocommunity [tivocommunity.com] should give you a more definitive answer, but the search is turned off right now (probably because of load trouble they've had lately).
My recommendation is to get the 40 hour unit and then upgrade it with a 120GB drive. The upgrade is extremely well documented and if you've tinkered with the i
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:3, Informative)
If you're really worried about video quality, I'd recommend a DirecTiVo. I love mine.
Aside from being able to record two shows on different channels at the same time (even while you watch another previously recorded show), they simply copy the already encoded (MPEG-2?) video from the satelite signal. It doesn't encode for storage->decode for viewing like the stand-alone units.
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:4, Interesting)
My experience, with Replay, has been very good. There are 3 quality levels, the highest of which is, IMHO, fairly indiscernable from straight cable on my Samsung hdtv (CRT, not projection, so the quality is quite good). Occasionally I'll see a compression artifact at the highest quality, but for the most part the benefits *far* outway the small loss.
And the most lossy quality setting is good for recording the nightly Simpsons reruns ;-).
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:2)
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Question about Tivo / PVR quality (Score:2)
Directv Tivo (Score:5, Informative)
The flipside is that the DirecTivos are more difficult to hack, and I don't think there's any easy way to Hack the HDVR2 (latest and 'greatest')
As others have mentioned, the HDVR2 is plagued with audio issues, while not devastating, still annoying-- and there hasn't been a patch since release-- 8 months ago. Also, there's no word on support for Home Networking for this model, even though the hardware supports it.
I've been too lazy-- but if if I give up on DirecTV sanctioned networking, I'm going to actively persue video extraction options.
Re:Directv Tivo (Score:2, Informative)
Not so; the Series 2 DirecTivo's (and Standalone's) are more difficult to hack. I've got a Series 1 DirecTiVo (Phillips), and I've added a second hard drive, an ethernet card, installed Tivoweb, and can extract crystal-clear video from it.
Re:Directv Tivo (Score:5, Informative)
asdfasdfasdfasdf said:
The flipside is that the DirecTivos are more difficult to hack, and I don't think there's any easy way to Hack the HDVR2 (latest and 'greatest')
Not necessarily true. In fact, the DirecTiVos are just as easy to hack as the stand-alone TiVos, and most of the hacking work on the two types of boxes overlaps.
The TiVo hacking community is quite strong, and things have come a long way. If you haven't checked things out recently, then you owe it to yourself to do so. There are lots of cool hacks out there:
- FTP or HTTP extraction of MPEG2 video
- FTP or HTTP insertion of MPEG2 video
- complete and useable WUI
- sharing recordings between boxes
- on screen caller display
- on screen email/instant message notification
- much more...
My favorite resource are the forums over at DealDatabase (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/ [dealdatabase.com]). You'll find lots of info and links on hacking your TiVo (new or old, DirecTV or standalone). Oh, and the Series2 TiVo's have been thoroughly hacked as well.asdfasdfasdfasdf said:
The DirecTV Tivos copy the satellite stream including Dolby digital as they come off the Sat-- so they are as "perfect" as the source-- which means for hi-bitrate channels like HBO, it's not DVD quality, but it's better than any cable I've seen.
The DirecTiVo saves video at 480x480, standard 29.97 fps, with some channels coming in at 720x480. This is less then HDTV at its best (1920x1080), roughly the same quality as DVD (720x480), better than standard broadcast (~460x360), and much better than VHS (~300x360).
Let me Guess... (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess you never actually TRIED to use any of these apps, have you?
Features are one thing, but when talking about an appliance, it's all in the UI. And nothing free out there yet remotely compares to TiVI's UI.
Re:Let me Guess... (Score:2, Informative)
Why keep them? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why keep them? (Score:5, Insightful)
The fact that none of the TV you watch is worth storing doesn't make it a bad idea.
Re:Why keep them? (Score:2)
Uh... go out and buy/rent a DVD for some movie that HBO is showing. Now watch the two - either interleaved or one after the other.
Note that the DVD version is far better quality, usually shown in the original aspect ratio (aka letterboxed), and has far, far better audio.
Some of this is improved by going to digital sat, but not entirely. All of this is (potentially) fixed by watching HD-HBO, but that's a whole different discussion.
Of course, if you have a 20" TV and are using the
Re:Why keep them? (Score:3, Interesting)
That said, I certainly can't argue with people who do like to "pack rat" stuff away... to each their own, and all that.
However, if the Bills ever make another Super Bowl, you can bet I'll have it recorded.
Re:Why keep them? (Score:3, Funny)
However, if the Bills ever make another Super Bowl, you can bet I'll have it recorded.
Haven't you suffered enough?
Re:Why keep them? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because then I'll feel no compulsion to watch it when it comes on the air. Those of us who remember the pre-VCR days remember seeing that, say, "The Great Escape" was coming on, and arranging one's schedule to watch it.
Kids watch the same thing numerous times, so they're more likely to want things recorded. A computer PVR is also useful for making CDs/VCDs/DVDs of home videos, which are worth archiving.
I suppose one might also end up trading for shows one hasn't seen.
Umm.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Who says you can't do that with TiVo? Also...Compare the prices of hardware you need to decently do a good job doing it your way. Why bother? At most, hack TiVo, put a few HD's in it and rip right off TiVo...at least then you have a hardware encoder and dont have to worry about everything being all shitty, and spending 1k on hardware
Just my 2cents - Rob
roll your own (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:roll your own (Score:5, Interesting)
How is TiVo's 30-second skip a pain in the butt? You type a six button sequence to turn it on, which doesn't need to be done again until a reboot. Then it's just 1 button to skip 30 seconds. How is that hard?
I'll tell you what's a pain in the butt - building your own PVR. Trust me I've done it. I still love my TiVo more.
Re:roll your own (Score:4, Informative)
Keeping 30-second skip (Score:3, Informative)
Second, the 30-second skip is not one of the features in question. That was a misunderstanding by the
Re:roll your own (Score:3, Informative)
Please read your reference more carefully. Lots of posts in the thread you cited tried (apparently in vain) to clarify your error. ReplayTV/DM is not considering removing 30-second skip. Even the article summary is clear on this:
"Wired News is reporting that the new owners of ReplayTV are considering dr
Also... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Also... (Score:3, Funny)
No, they work great with DirecTV! You just need to get an infared transmitter (IR Blaster) and compile support into your kernel, then download the MythTV-DirecTV-IRBlaster-0.01-beta patch, apply it to your sources, blah blah blah...
Or if you would rather just spend your tv watching time actually *watching tv*, DirecTiVo is the answer.
Building your own (Score:3, Interesting)
The
I love my TiVo (I own two of them). The software rocks. My wife can use it. My 2-year old can use it, and yet I'm still amazed at how powerful it is. Then along comes the OSS community. Builds a competitive box at 3x the price, software that's more difficult to use, and a feature-set that still can't compete. (yay for OSS).
Buy a real TiVo -- you won't regret it.
Re:Building your own (Score:5, Informative)
A decent tuner card does not run for more than $60. And you only need one (MythTV for example can use more than one though). Now, a TiVo (not counting service) is still cheaper than a PC you build for the same functionality. Thats what you get with mass produced bare bones hardware.
Re:Building your own (Score:4, Informative)
What do you mean - THEN comes along the OSS community?
Your tivo was built on OSS software!
Re:Building your own (Score:5, Funny)
Psst. TiVo runs Linux. Pass it on.
Re:Building your own (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Building your own (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you'd be deeply, deeply disappointed in the performance with that chip.
You've also forgotten an IR receiver, keyboard, mouse (both wireless... right?), CD-ROM (unless you somehow planned to boot and install Linux over the network), and probably a few other items. Toss in another $100 or so.
You know you can buy a refurb 80 hour S2 TiVo for $250 right now. Or a brand new one for $350. Or go to eBay and get a S1 box for ~$150. Add $300 for lifetime service and suddenly you have a box with an intuitive user interface that just plain WORKS.
If you find fiddling around with things to make them work is enjoyable, and what you like to do in your spare time, then go for the build your own route. After all, getting there can be half the fun, and no doubt -- you can get more options that way. If you like doing other things in your spare time, want your wife/family/SO/children/random strangers to be able to use it then get a TiVo or Replay. Then you can spend all your free time doing whatever else you want to do (be it watching TV or something else) instead of trying to make something that's "nearly there" there.
DirecTiVo as low as $199 / Standalone from $249... (Score:3, Informative)
The HDVR2 DirecTiVo is $199 if you're a current DirecTV subscriber. Just call DirecTV at 1-800-DIRECTV and request it. That's $199 installed, I might add.
If you're not a current DirecTV subscriber, you can get an HDVR2, a dual LNB dish, and have the whole damn thing installed for $219. Check Americ [americansatellite.com]
TiVo is OSS... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Building your own (Score:2)
if you tell me that a ATI Tv wonder VE is "super high-end " and costs as much as a full Tivo.. either you are on some very serious drugs, or I really need to start being your electronics retailer as you are buying at insanely inflated prices.
2 tuner cards for my freevo.... $50.00 TOTAL.
1.4Ghz AMd processor and mobo.. $200.00
40 gig drive (I'm a cheap ass) $3
TiVo works with both PC and Mac (Score:3, Informative)
-I have a gen1 Tivo.
A much better comparison (Score:5, Informative)
Why is ReplayTV always picked on? (Score:4, Interesting)
As for the bankruptcy issue, ReplayTV was bought by D&M, the company that produces products under the Denon and Marantz brands. The Service has and is going to continue as normal. The price for monthly service and lifetime activation are going to increase (they will now be equal to Tivo's), but that does not affect current lifetime customers in any way.
Thanks! (Score:2)
My BIGGEST requirement in a PVR is that I be able to move things to offline storage and the Replay is by FAR the easiest one to do that with. The TIVO requires all sorts of hoops and last I'd heard (many months ago) it was still hit or m
APEX DVR (Score:5, Informative)
ADR-1000 [amazon.com]
Re:APEX DVR (Score:2)
The unit does not appear to have the ability to download TV schedules like a Tivo or ReplayTV. You'd use it the same way you'd use a VCR to time shift programs: by manually programming the recording times into it. Interesting new toy, though.
Tivo, home network, and mp3s (Score:2)
Re:Tivo, home network, and mp3s (Score:4, Informative)
There is a Linux server available that I think is better than the official TiVo server already. http://ptivohmo.sourceforge.net. You have to get it out of CVS, but it works great.
The server has a few problems here and there, but it's updated frequently. I use it daily and very rarely have any problems.
My Issue with ReplayTV and rolling my own (Score:3, Informative)
I bought a ReplayTV first... but after trying every way to get it to work with my direcTV receive and failing, I called DirecTV and according to the techs I talked to.. Replay systems are "not supported"
So, I took it back to best buy the next day.
I think looked at rolling my own.. but 1) they didn't compare cost wise and 2) nothing was mentioned with them working well with DirecTV. All the linux/windows packages are geared for Cable Boxes, not satelite.
So, I ended up at plan C)
Not to gloat, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
I must be the luckiest guy in the world....
We just traded our cable box for a PVR through our cable company. We got an integrated PVR/cable box with a 40 hour hard drive, and almost no DRM - we can record everything except pay-per-view. They even let us spit stuff out onto tape if we want.
All for $5 per month. (JOY!)
All the standard PVR features are there, though there's no commercial skip button.
Now, here's the interesting part:
The cable box is from Atlanta Scientific (not sure of the model number - 8???? I think), and declares itself as a Pioneer brand device on the firmware boot screen. The box itself is software upgradeable (by the cable company) and has what looks like:
* RCA inputs (tech told me video source will be functional in a few days, so these may be usable soon)
* 1 USB port
* 2 FireWire ports
* Something that looks like a smartcard slot
Anybody know anything about these and what the extra ports can be used for?
Re:Not to gloat, but... (Score:2, Informative)
How is this different from TiVo/REplayTV? Actually, I think TiVo/ReplayTV can record PPV, you just can't transfer them.
All for $5 per month. (JOY!)
SO you're renting the device. Once you stop service you probably have to give it back. Maybe not a bad deal bu
Re:Not to gloat, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Ok, you're right, I was a little exhuberant -- sorry 'bout that and....
OH, CRAP! I JUST REMEMBERED THE BEST FEATURE:
It has TWO tuners!
I can record two shows at once, and it can do picture-in-picture through the PVR even though my TV can't. [grin]
Sorry, again, but when I found out about THAT feature, it was so unexpected I forgot all about it when I posted the first time.
Anyway, for me, there are several reasons why renting is attractive.
* The $5/month price tag (we have digital cable w
Re:Not to gloat, but... (Score:2, Informative)
Well, I know they SUCK compared to TiVos (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not to gloat, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
I have the same thing through Time Warner cable, it replaces your digital box, and you get a new remote. It's currently $6.95/mo in my area (Central New York) on top of the digital fees. I find it absolutely worth it, but for the naysayers out there, here's my pro/con list:
Pros:
- Same digital cable guide you've been used to (for TWCNY customers anyway) with a couple added options.
- Pretty damn good quality on playback.
- Can record two channels simultaneously
- There's 3 speeds of fast-forward/reverse (see note in the Cons)
Cons:And yes, there are 2 firewire ports and what appears to be USB on the back, and a plethora of input/output options. If I remember tonight, I'll reply to this post (or in my Journal) with the list of ports (or SciAtl's spec sheet) unless someone else gets to it first (wouldja, couldja?)
Disclaimer: I'm really a lightweight tv watcher with a meager 32" SONY Flatscreen, SONY surround sound system. I don't watch HD, I just like my basic tv watching and surround and not missing my shows due to a busy schedule.
Grammar nazis: yeah, I know I started a sentence with a preposition; I also didn't bother to spellcheck.
TiVo lacks functionality (Score:2, Informative)
For those of you who dont know, when you have a TiVo hooked up to your television, you aren't watching "live" TV. You are watching TV from about 1 second earlier. This is required for of the ability to pause or rewind live TV.
This can cause problems. I have Digital Cable from TW which offers Dolby Digital 5.1 surround on some channels and I have a high end audio system. Because TiVo does not have digital audio out nor support for it, I literally have to discontinue to EVER watch a show in digital 5.1 surro
Re:TiVo lacks functionality (Score:3, Informative)
ReplayTV to DVD & "wish lists" (Score:2, Informative)
DirectTV?? (Score:2)
ReplayTV is the bomb (Score:2, Informative)
I recently compared and purchased my first PVR, a ReplayTV 5040 machine. Everyone I know has a TiVo ver 1 and they like it. Why did I choose Replay over TiVo ver 1 or ver 2?
Mainly because of being able to send shows from box to box over ethernet. And to best that, you can run DVArchive on a computer and it acts as another ReplayTV box on the network. You can save shows to it and play shows off of it.
TiVo has crappy broadband connectivity. Ver 2 is supposed to support USB. What additional hardwa
Heh... (Score:2)
Tivo/Replay hacking just got a whole new meaning...
they both suck (Score:2)
It would take very little to add the ability for the tivo or replay to detect video presence an
MCE (Score:2, Funny)
You can get video from Replay (Score:2)
Also in reponse to people who say to go use MtyhTV, you need like a 1GHz processor to do MPEG encoding in realtime... and it eats up most all the cpu, so dont expect to be using the computer for much else while it is recording.
And in other news, how about free PVR software for u
Current Deals for Tivo and ReplayTV (Score:2)
A 40 hour Replay5040 (refurb) WITH Lifetime Subscription for $330 [sonicblue.com]
Share and enjoy.. I prefer Tivo for its UI, however the sharing/extraction of the Replay is very nice as well.
Closed captioning? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Closed captioning? (Score:4, Informative)
However, if you are asking do the boxes themselves actually have the ability to generate CC subtitles, Replay does not. The Tivo Series 1 machines can *if* you have the ability and time to go through installing a separate add on program from here:
TivoVBI [samba.org]
Anyone know how to convert .nuv files? (mythtv) (Score:2, Interesting)
I set up mythtv lastnight. works great... except a few problems (complete system lock up when recording after about 1min)
The one thing (asside from the crash) that I can't seem to get to work, is exporting the
Has anyone
Explain to me why I want to "roll my own" (Score:5, Informative)
I used to have a Replay (Panasonic Showstopper), but bought a Tivo when I went to DirecTV because my local cable provider finally annoyed me enough. I picked up a combined "DirecTivo" unit.
For $199 I got free installation with dish (and they did a great job) and a dual tuner unit (Hughes HDVR2). The HDVR2 records the original data stream from the satellite (IOW, no digital-analog-digital generation loss) so the recorded shows look as good as watching live. My local channels come in over the dish now, and show up in the proper channel slots (2, 4, 5, 7, etc.) instead of up in the 600s or 700s. Satellite, local, and pay per view are all integrated into a slick package.
Cost in time: none. I'm able to log into work from home over a VPN, so I just worked at home the days of installation. Yeah, my cable company still gets me for Internet, but they achieved fiber optics at the curb in my area and reasonably priced megabit access, so that's OK.
The monthly charge for the Tivo service is only $6 through DirecTV for some reason. Honestly, if I have to worry about a $6 a month charge, I have greater concerns that watching television more efficiently.
I read accounts of the roll your own approach, and it just seems like endless hours of annoyance. I like to program and mess about with my computers (I have Macs, PCs and Linux boxen), but I really can't see the point to re-inventing the wheel in this case. They do seem to be getting a little more plug and play, but still... the claims of "it's free this way" completely ignores the value of a person's time.
As for the comparison, I liked the Replay a lot. It was my first DVR, and I had a definite "how did I live without this" reaction. However, I like the Tivo more for three reasons: "to do" list, better conflict resolution, and better search functions.
I like the direct recording of the original data stream, but Replay could just as easily do that in a combo unit, I imagine. I don't care about sending stuff to the computer, so I can't speak to that. Ultimately, it's just TV... that's why I like the DVRs in the first place- they make my TV time much more efficient (and shorter). If I just HAVE to have a copy of a movie, DVDs are cheap.
Re:An Explanation Even An Idiot Can Understand (Score:3, Insightful)
On a service where I agreed to sign up. and the data is not correlated by name. It's aggregate. I'll never understand this sort of paranoia.
Look, I liked Firefly. It was the #1 Season Pass on Tivo. If the networks would look at Tivo data as well as the outdated Neilsen system, and a few good shows survive as a reasult, then please record my viewing.
The government/mul
Try the GPL version... (Score:4, Funny)
ReplayTV including activation for $329 (Score:4, Informative)
This is an incredible deal, especially since the price of the activation alone will be $299 on June 1st. The only catch is that it is refurbished, but it still comes with a 90 day warranty.
This is a limited time/quantity offer, so I'm guessing that it won't be available much longer.
More info in the AV Science Forum [avsforum.com]
The funny thing about a PVR (Score:4, Interesting)
I picked up a ReplayTV a couple of years ago, and I watch everything through it now, only I'm not watching much of anything these days. I used to be one of those people that was tied to the couch at certain times of the day/days of the week to catch the latest episode of whatever show. Now I just record them so I can watch them whenever I want, whenever its more convenient to do so. The funny thing is, lots of stuff goes unwatched now, and I don't miss it at all. I have picked up this mentality that its there if I want to watch it later, but right now I'd rather go do blah. I'm doing a lot more blah these days, and a lot less couch sitting. I wonder how many other people are feeling this effect?
Re:The funny thing about a PVR (Score:3, Interesting)
I had a slightly opposite reaction. I'm watching a little more because I find more movies to watch with Tivo's search functions (and I never had the premium channels before), but I'm not spending all that much more time watching. In fact, I think I'm spending a little less.
The 30 second skip is the key here (Tivo has it, but you need to activate it via a secret code). Not only do I skip through commercials very quickly, but I've started skipping wha
Oy... (Score:3, Informative)
Permission to use Tivo: $250/life-of-machine or $13/mo
Tivo network hardware: $50
Permission to use Tivo network hardware: $100
Cost to restart all that if the Tivo breaks: $600
Building your own: priceless.
Okay, that is overdone, but I was really considering getting a Tivo until I read about all those additional charges. It would actually be cheaper to build one, and the frustration of doing so would be offset by MythTV's ability to act as a front end for all my emulators and play content I find on the net and even download the weather.
Replay Rebates Honored by D/M (Score:3, Interesting)
The moral of the story is that ReplayTV is in good hands. I cannot stress how good TV is when you have the power to cut out the fat from it!
Re:An issue with Replay (Score:4, Funny)
Whatever! I only buy stuff after the company goes bankrupt. That way you know they won't try and pull any sh*t on you!
Re:An issue with Replay (Score:3, Informative)
I can echo this. Sitting on the floor of my office right this second is a Replay 4160 that I just received today back from Replay support when the hard drive in my unit crashed last week. So I can verify that customer support & RMA functions of Replay are up and running just fine.
Worry not about the bankruptcy, it appears ReplayTV is very much a going concern.
Re:An issue with Replay (Score:5, Informative)
Re:An issue with Replay (Score:4, Informative)
That is some horrible information there. I am not worried about my ReplayTV service that has not had a single problem since my purchase last year. If you haven't heard/read, ReplayTV was purchased by a good company, D&M.
Here's an article [usatoday.com]
Maybe you should reconsider giving out advice.
Anyway, yeah, it'd be cool to have some kind of software solution to all this (preferably Free software), but as it is, it just doesn't seem feasible, mostly because TiVO hardware is cheap and a large part of what you're paying for is the guide service, anyway.
These are mentioned everytime a TiVo/ReplayTV article is published, do a Google search for MythTV or SageTV
Re:Tivo or MythTV? (Score:2)
Re:Tivo or MythTV? (Score:2)
I have a TV tuner card, and it is great. However, in the UK multichannel TV is mostly done via digital transmissions, either terrestrial or by satellite; cable has never really taken off. That means having a set-top box on my PC, and that's just deeply wrong (and I think they require a SCART connection any
Re:DirecTivo does not have these features! (Score:2)
My understanding of the matter is that you should blame DirecTV for that...they didn't want to implement HMO on their system.
Re:DirecTivo does not have these features! -- YET (Score:3, Informative)
DirecTV-integrated TiVos are not TiVos in the same way that standalone TiVos are. DirecTV took over all management of the DirecTiVo models, including software rollouts. It may even be that DirecTV has its own programmers maintaining the DirecTiVo code. At any rate, they're responsible for deciding what features to rollout and when.
Currently, DirecTV hasn't committed to offering the 4.0 software or the HMO feature set on their TiVos, but they're paying attention to the success or failure of TiVo's HMO ro