kramdenfan

Hi All-

Moderators- if this is in the wrong forum, I appologize-

Can someone tell me which they prefer and why? I'm planning on purchasing a Replay TV, but with the talk of Tivo, I'm not sure which has the better deals.... I like the fact that Replay TV has the option for a lifetime subscription- does Tivo have that? What about costs? They seem about the same to me.....

Thanks for any info-
Kramdenfan

Red Dog

They both offer lifetime subscriptions. I am very familiar with both and my recommendation comes down to this:

If you have cable/digital cable, go with Replay
If you have Direct-TV, go with TIVO (DirecTIVO)

Tsar Chasm

TiVo has a lifetime subscription option (currently $299)

Replay (SonicBlue) went bankrupt

I just purchased my second series 2 Tivo 80 hour ($249)

You would probably be better served in the DVDHardware forum.

Red Dog

Replay was bought by D&M, so Replay is not bankrupt.

I have 2 Replays and could not be happier.

Deftones

I have Tivo and couldn't imagine living with out it.

bboisvert

kramdenfan -- this is probably going to be the most reasonable response you'll get. I imagine that most of the thread will fill up with people just recommending whatever particular machine they have.

I have ReplayTV... so I recommend you get that.

dgmayor

I've also got a replay and love it. With the new software being released in the next week or two, I'm contemplating getting a second since they've added a lot of great features for multiple ReplayTV owners.

http://www.replaytv.com/update/

Chew

TIVO!

fujishig

Tastes Great! Less Filling!

Ah...

I was in the market for a DVR a few months ago, and got a TIVO because it was cheap at the time.

From what I understand:
ReplayTV has that whole online file sharing and automatic commercial skip technology that TIVO doesn't. Of course, these two features are the ones people were suing them over in the first place, so I'm not sure if newer models(the ones that will come out from the company that bought out Replay) will have these features. And I'm sure TIVO will never have them.

TIVO has a better interface. That is to say, the logic that goes behind the "Season Passes" and the conflict resolution is great.
And although there's no automatic 30 second skip button, it is easily programmable.

Both offer monthly and "lifetime" subscriptions, which will last until the end of the box or the end of the company (presumably)

The best, of course, is DirecTIVO, with it's dual tuners and quality. If only they'd let me install the dish on the roof of the apartment...

Roto

I also agree with this advice.

I've never had a TIVO, but I've had two Replays. Commercial Advance is a more valuable feature than you'd think. In the future I'd expect Replay to be a little higher end with D&M at the helm

TK-421

Tivo is much easier to use, but the ReplayTV has more features to use.. that's the simplest way to boil it down. If you want commercial skip, show sharing, and the ability to import shows to your PC, get a Replay. If you want something easy to use, but has less gadgety features, get a Tivo.


On a related topic, I have a replay 5040 for sale, I used it for a few months and now I need to get rid of it. I paid $250 for it, I'll sell for $175 + shipping if anyone's interested.

Red Dog

I personally found Replay easier to use since the To Do and Play Lists are on the same screen. I also found the channel guide easier to navigate.

dstrauss

It's already been mentioned twice, but just to counter those that call commercial skip a reason to get a Replay, it's very VERY easy to enable it in Tivo. Honestly, it takes six key presses and about three seconds on the remote.

(And I haven't looked at it yet, but I'm pretty sure the new Tivo Media Services allows for sharing shows between Tivos.)

I have a Tivo, and love it, but a friend has a Replay. The one place where Tivo seems to shine over Replay is in management of future recordings.

futbol

But that's (as far as I understand) not Commercial Advance. Replay's CA jumps over commercials without you having to do anything. Tivo's hack is just a 30-second skip, which is, of course, also useful.

I will simply echo the advice already given. I've got a Replay and love it. Tivo is just too cutesy for me- I don't like their interface or the thumbs up/down. Replay just has so many advantages for me, it was a nobrainer.

And I love being able to download shows off of my Replay onto my computer. Clearly, though, if you've got DirecTV, DirecTivo is the way to go. Otherwise, Replay is much better; I'm biased though. Although it has been mentioned, there is no need to worry about SonicBlue's filing for bankruptcy as the ReplayTV was purchased by the company behind Denon and Marantz, so it is in good hands.

I would recommend you go to the store and look at both of them. See if either immediately appeals to you more than the other (as it did for me).

Keyser Soze

I have 2 Tivos and couldn't imagine living with out them.

Do go with the 'lifetime' subscription though, it'll save you $ in the long run.

Check out http://www.tivocommunity.com/

They have alot of info there on how to add hard drives to your unit if you feel like hacking it a little.

My series1 has 100 hours on it, and my series2 unit has 225 hours on it. Once you bump up the recording quality your actual recording time dwindles quite a bit.

RobStone

Thnaks for the perm. quote. Anyway TIVO rules. I just got it maybe a montha 2 ago and it is a must have. I looked at the replay and wasn't really impressed and the tivo seems to be upgrading and putting new things in everyday. I am going to need to have a bigger HD soon.

--Rob

das Monkey

You'll never find a better product than the DirecTiVo. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise just doesn't want to feel bad for not having one.

As for the stand-alones, it's really down to personal preference. Get whichever you feel more comfortable with. Personally, TiVo's Season Pass logic and conflict management are far more important to me than things like commercial skip or show sharing, so I'd get TiVo. Your preferences may vary.

The real bottom line is that users of each seem very happy with their purchase. Neither is a bad product.

das

Red Dog

That's not CA. With CA, you don't even touch the remote when the commercials come on - it automatically skips them. Plus the macro you set up for TIVO is assuming that every commercial break is the same length.

Darq

I've got both a ReplayTV and a TiVo, but i find myself using my ReplayTV about 90% of the time compared to my TiVo. I feel the Channel Guide graphical "grid" of ReplayTV is much more intuitive (for me, at least) than Season Pass. I also find Commerical Advance and Show Sharing very convenient. But you're gonna get tons of differing responses here.

Anyways, as mentioned before REPLAYTV is NOT bankrupt. Denon & Marantz now owns them, and doesn't have any plans on folding the technology.

In any case, TiVo currently charges $299 for lifetime service.
ReplayTV charges $250 -- but start June 1st, this will be increased to $299.99

Best Buy currently has a ReplayTV 5040 on sale for $299 - $50 instant rebate = $249. After the ReplayTV $50 rebate, you're down to $199 (before subscription costs)

If you have a Best Buy 10% coupon for this weekend, you can get the ReplayTV for $199 - 0.10(249) = $174

BenCJedi

I've owned my standalone TiVo for 2 and a half years now and it has operated quite well. I just recently installed a Turbonet card and gained the ability for the TiVo to download program updates via my cable Internet connection. I also installed telnet, ftp and remote control through TiVoWeb. Furthermore, I can now extract the video recordings off the TiVo on my home network without any loss of quality. I have no reason to use my VCR anymore. I love how much support has grown in the TiVo hacking community. www.tivocommunity.com is where its at!

Groucho

When I read these forums, I see people complaining about having shows cut-off A LOT. When I tape shows with my VCR, I start and stop it 5 minutes before and after the show. Works great.

Is this easy/possible to do with Tivo or ReplayTV, or are you stuck with the times on the schedule? What I'd really like is if I program the unit to record a show, it automatically adds 5 minutes to the beginning or end every time.

For the "Commericial Skip" on ReplayTV, how well does this actually work? Does it often skip a few seconds into the show itself or cause other headaches?

Red Dog

Ironically, Comcast mailed me info on their new DVR cable box yesterday. $9.95/month (on top of what I already have). Too bad they didn't roll these about 3 months ago or I would not have bought my 2nd Replay.

Groucho

Hmm...I have Comcast. Maybe I'll wait and see if they offer this in my area.

Red Dog

Keep in mind that cutoffs are the network's fault, not the DVR's fault. You can pad recordings by however many minutes you want in both. Plus if NBC says it is a 40 minute Friends in advance, Replay and TIVO channel guides should automatically pick this up.

As for Commercial Advance in Replay, it isn't perfect. I'd say it works effectively for about 80-85% of the shows. The shows it seems to have the most difficulty with are so-called 'dark' shows - shows that go dark during the broadcast - the best example being Law & Order (when they go to the setting screens). With these kind of shows, you can turn CA off and then use the Quick-Skip button (30 sec jump) to hop through the commercial breaks pretty easily.

Red Dog

You should just call them. Don't wait for them.

Keep in mind that these are pretty simple DVRs and perform just the basics.