D and replay

[Bob Haller]

Anyone use the replay boxes? With auto FF thru commercials? How well do they work and intergrate with DBS?

I am looking at options... Any good discussions on these units?

[ksb]

Bob, it works great. I've had Replays for about 18 months and Dish for just over a year. Commercial Advance works pretty well, but sometimes kicks in when it shouldn't if the scenes are dark; this is particularly noticable on Alias, Westwing, and a few other shows. (You can turn of CA then use the usual 30-second quick skip button.) Of course, there are quality issues because the unit is taking the signal and recompressing it, but we find it quite acceptable at medium quality.

The big thing for us is that we have two 4080's connected to our home network so that we can record two shows at once and watch shows from one unit to another. For example, I'm tired tonight and am going up to bed in a little while. I can tell the bedroom Replay to play any show already recorded from the livin room. This can be done even if both units are recording other shows and if someone is watching downstairs. With more Replays on the network you get more encoders and more in-house streaming.

Also, the user community has developed software so that shows can be downloaded to PCs for viewing or for streaming back to units on the home network. Before business trips I load up my notebook with shows that I haven't had time to watch and watch them on the plane or at the hotel.

[gcutler]

Bob, Know someone who had a unit like that and just like the Stand Alone TiVo they worked fine.

The limitation is the same as all Stand Alone PVRs. That you are recording analog, and thus will not be able to record the same level of Quality of a DP, or DTiVo or UTV. If you are going to jump to D*, you are best off with a DTiVo or UTV. And since the DTiVo are easily upgradable, it isn't like you are stuck with a drive size.

One benefit is that like seperate stereo components, is that you can use the Replay or TiVo no matter what video source you use. You can swap out the reciever or PVR to your liking without have them stuck in one unit.

Another thing is price, I believe the Replay/Showstoppers have several different units to fit your needs, but there is no subsidy like you get with a DTiVo or UTV machine.

Only reason for a Stand Alone connected to DBS (IMHO) is if you want to stay with E* but don't want the E* PVR issues. If you want D* the benefits of DTiVo are pretty heavy outweigh a SA TiVo or Replay

[Bob Haller]

Well I liked the idea of AUTO FF thru commercials....

But appreciate the excellent quality of no conversion and recompression.

But hate to leave E because of sky angel lifetime sub, multiple boxes is going to be a pain.

Its all a mixed bag.

[ksb]

Bob, buy a Replay and try it out -- if you don't like it, retur it.

You can buy a 4500 series box and try it out for 10 days without paying th $250 activation fee. (It won't work beyond 10 days without activation.) You can buy the 5000 series and try it out for 3 days without activation, however, you can do a 30-day activation for $10 or the lifetime activation for $250. (Like the 4500s, it won't work beyond the "trial" period without activation.)

One nice thing about the stand-alone boxs is that you can have multiple inputs. Replay has three so you can plug in Dish, a cable, and an OTA antenna; the Replay then presents a combined channel guide.

Remember, both Replay and Tivo have MUCH better software than Dish or anyone else. These are NOT just hard-drive based VCRs -- they are much more. I've never been happier with a consumer electonics purchase than I am with my Replays. I have two 4080s, an old 3060, an older 2020 that I gave to a friend; I've also given two 3030s as gifts. It's a great product.

--Ken

[gcutler]

Originally posted by Bob Haller
Well I liked the idea of AUTO FF thru commercials....

But appreciate the excellent quality of no conversion and recompression.

But hate to leave E because of sky angel lifetime sub, multiple boxes is going to be a pain.

Its all a mixed bag.

Bob, Actually the PQ issue may be overrated. If Keeping E is a high priority, don't worry tooo much about PQ issue. Either buy a unit with more than 30 hours or plan on adding/replacing the drive to get more hours. On my SA TiVo I use the Medium quality most of the time (on the 30 Hour unit, I get 30 Hours basic, 18 Hours Medium, 12 Hours Good and 9 Hours Best Quality) and I am totally happy with my 27" TV. If going D*, a SA unit is silly because DTiVo is soooo good (dual tuners, etc). But with E*, your only alternative is the SA units. I think Replay would be better because I believe their pricing is much better than TiVo from a Subscription issue.

If you really want to keep E*, perhaps waiting and hoping for a nicely priced or two 508 may be the least expensive, best PQ and largest storage option?

Perhaps what you should do is list all the issues you are considering and then write them down here by priority. While doing it, it may all become obvious or we might be able to give you better info as opposed to general population issues.

Remember to include things like if you care about UHF remotes, Dolby Digital, etc, etc, etc.