Customer Reviews
Support is a huge problem for this otherwise good product 
2005-03-16
I loved my replay until something went wrong with it. I have never experienced such horrible customer support from any company providing any type of service in my life. Basicly if anything goes wrong you are just screwed. It's unbelievable. Lifetime subscription is only a subscription until it quits working.
This Thing's Great! 
2002-05-19
This gizmo has revolutionized my TV watching habits. No more surfing up and down the dial through 200 channels of drivel. Now I return home, even if I have been traveling for weeks at a time, and find a neatly cataloged selection of shows I really like to watch.
My only regret is that I didn't spend the extra $200 or so to get the 80-hour model. Forty hours is a lot, but you do use up a great deal of memory if you record primarily in the "high quality" mode as I do. Spending 30% more for twice the memory is a no-brainer.
Certain reviews I read of earlier versions of this product were a little ambiguous about the need for a Ethernet connection to the Internet. YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE AN ETHERNET CONNECTION. Without it you will not get halfway though the setup process.
Special network requirements 2002-05-16
Before you order this product be sure you have the necessary network configuration on your HOME network. Needs a DSL, cable modem or T1 link to use the REPLAYTV 4000 unit according to their tech support. A 56K modem link will work, but only for 12 days at a time and then you have to go in and change setting in order to get it to work for another 12 days. Also, their tech support states that using their product in this fashion is not technically supported, so any problems are yours.
Converted Tivo Owner 
2002-04-30
I have owned a DirecTivo and a standard Tivo before owning a 4000 series ReplayTV. There is nothing wrong with Tivo, but I have found some things that I like much more in my ReplayTv. I won't go into all of the features of the ReplayTV, just the ones that I have found the most valuable since switching to ReplayTv.
1. Commercial Advance - I had not even conisdered this as something I would like about ReplayTv, but boy was I mistaken. I absolutely LOVE it. Doesn't work 100% of the time, but darn close.
2. Recording from different Inputs - That's right. I rent a DVD and the first thing I do is record it to my ReplayTv so I don't have to rush to watch the movie before returning it. There are three inputs in the back of the ReplayTv. You can easily switch between the three inputs with the remote control.
3. Storing show in Categories - You can create categories like Golf or Fishing and store your favorite golf or fishing shows to that category. This allows easy browsing of your recorded shows.
4. Networking - I bought two 4040's for my house and the networking works great. I had an initial problem with my Linksys router that I have since resolved thanks to the ReplayTv forums. It is great to be able to play shows I recorded on the Living Room unit from my Bed Room unit. Awesome.
5. Time Remaining - ReplayTv shows you the amount of time you have left for recording. Unbelievably, Tivo doesn't do this.
6. SwapDV - This amazing third party software runs on your PC and allows you to import shows from your ReplayTv unit. So you can archive shows from your Replay unit to your PC. Your PC then acts like another ReplayTv on your network.
Replay 4000 series is not for everyone because it requires that you have a broadband connection and the unit does cost a little more than a Tivo (after factoring in a Tivo lifetime subscription...). I doubt many people will be disappionted with a ReplayTv or Tivo.
Replay TV ... 2002-04-15
I bought this unit in mid-December. It MUST be networked to your coputer and internet. It would NOT recognize a Windows ME network, and SonicBlue admitted that this was a major problem. I sent it back Fed EX, and it is now April, and I have not received my money back. I would be very cautious about buying anything from a company with this history.
Great product. Poor Service 2002-04-04
After you've experienced the exciting new world of personal television in your own home, you'll never watch plain old television again. No videotapes. No hassles. No compromises. With ReplayTV, it's easy to quickly find and automatically record your favorite television shows, so you can watch them whenever you want - on your schedule, not somebody else's. Also, ReplayTV is the first digital video recorder (DVR) that allows you to share content between multiple units in a home network. You can even send your recordings over the Internet with friends and family who are using ReplayTV. ReplayTV. There's always something good on.
What else do you need? 2002-04-02
Stop live shows. Slow down the action record anything and share with your friends and there are no stupid monthly fees, I love it buy it for all your friends
Everything you watch in TV will now be GOOD! 2002-03-31
We have a slightly older Replay (the 20 hour version). It was easy to set up, easy to use. The software interface I like better than the TiVo. For example, my son has a 'thing' about the Civil War. All I have to do to find Civil War-related shows is hit "menu", "find shows," type in "Civil War," and hit enter. Whatever's on that week pops up, and all I have to do to record it is select it and hit enter again. End of story.
I DO recommend that you get the largest-volume model you can afford; the Replay has greatly increased our appetite for things on tape.
As a mom, the greatest reward is that my kids are no longer aware that broadcast TV EXISTS. They watch what I have taped, any time I say it's OK. We don't watch when and what CBS or Nickelodeon says we should, but what I say. It's the Mercedes of parental TV control.
And I must confess it's handy to always have a Blues Clues or 2 on hand for emergency situations! ;-)
Go on, you will love it!
ReplayTV 4040 is the next generation PVR available today 2002-03-27
If you want the next generation of personal video recorder today proceed to the checkout with a sweet ReplayTV 4040. They are the top of the line without a competitor in sight, but don't get me wrong, TiVo was great when it first came out (I was one of their first customers), unfortunately they have fallen woefully behind. My TiVo is at present unplugged and departing for auction shortly because I upgraded to one of these beauties.
Here is a quick summary of the features I am enjoying attributable to the upgrade.
ReplayTV benefits vs. TiVo
The only networked DVR on the market, which allows you to take advantage of your broadband and home network investment
Video sharing inside and outside the home
Commercial Advance® to watch recorded shows without commercials
QuickSkip™ makes it easy to jump over boring scenes
No monthly fees or any service fee
Highest capacity DVR on the market with up to 320 hours
480P progressive output to connect to the new SD and HD ready TV.
Digital optical output to connect to your audio/video receiver
Show Organizer™ to organize your programs based on genre, personal name, etc.
MyReplayTV.com to program recordings on your ReplayTV unit from the web
Digital photo slideshows on your TV.
Built-in screen saver to protect your projection TVs from screen burn-in.
Lets you pick the shows and themes you like. We don't fill your hard disk with shows we think you'll like.
Faster setup to allow you to enjoy your ReplayTV quickly after bringing it home
Familiar grid-based channel guide for easier navigation
Front panel buttons so you can still operate your DVR even if you lose your remote control
The piece of hardware that forever changed my life... 2002-03-06
Can you imagine? You're into a really good show, and suddenly your wife starts nagging you about something... the trash, the dog needs to go out, dinner is burning! :D So you hit PAUSE??? Yes! Pause on live TV! Okay, so this is no different than TIVO. What is though is the broadband connection that allows you to send shows over the internet to friends and family, along with the ability to send any type of video you've recorded on the DVR from say your camcorder (forget even trying DVD's... Macrovision won't allow you to do this, as it's enabled on this device: unless of course you buy one of those nice little devices on the net that disables it :D) You can store your own digital photos on this and display them as a slide show screensaver for when your unit is on pause. Going on vacation? Forgot to tell it to record the Drew Carey Show? Hop on the net from anywhere in the world and from www.myreplaytv.com you can program it to record!
Skips commercials (I hate that I pay for TV and have to watch advertising... it's like the networks are getting paid twice for the same thing! I DON'T GET PAID TWICE AT MY JOB!) The major networks are scared to hell of this ability, because it will fundamentally change the market for advertising on television... and they HATE UNPREDICATBILITY AND CHANGE! They want to TELL YOU HOW TO WATCH TV. Then want you to watch what they WANT YOU TO... WHEN THEY WANT YOU TO! Well, now... they can shove primetime right up their rears! Primetime in my house is WHEN I'M READY!
Also, if you buy multiple ReplayTV 4K's, you can network them together and stream shows back and forth from one room to another. www.avsforum.com has a replaytv and showstopper forum which contains a lot of info also on how to pull video files off of your replayTV and then use your CD Burner to write them as VCD's and/or DVD's (if you have a DVD burner) so you can watch them at a later date, without having to use up hard drive space on your computer or replaytv to store it!
If you don't have a TIVO and you were thinking about it... don't even bother. There's no reason you should buy anything other than Sonic Blues' ReplayTV 4K. The only hard decision is WHAT SIZE RECORDING TIME SHOULD I GET?
Nobody tells me what I'm going to do with television services I'm paying to watch. I'll watch them when I choose and commercial free!
