That's why I thought the old Showstopper Replays were a better concept - the subscription was built in. Of course maybe this is why TIVO beat them - TIVO's subscription was not built in so it appeared to be cheaper.

Probably not the only reason but a good selling point for those who didn't have the money upfront or don't know if it's worth it like many people on this board. Psychologically, it should have been easier to sell a $300 recorder with a subscription ranging from $13-$300 than to sell another recorder costing $600 with no additional costs.

TIVO's pricing scheme definitely forced Replay to change their model as well. Even now, not everyone wants a lifetime subscription.

I am glad that the ReplayTV contracts will be honored. I think a monopoly on the DVR industry would be a bad thing, despite the relatively small user base, because competition breeds evolution of the product.

DVRs are an expensive product, especially because the percieved value is pretty minimal UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY TRY IT. Yeah, pausing live tv is pretty cool, but not for 300 plus 13 bucks a month. I can record stuff on my VCR. But TIVO needs to somehow get the fact out that it will change the way you watch television. Very rarely will you ever be at the mercy of channel lineups.

TiVo all the way. I have a Series 1 unit, and a Series 2 unit... both work flawlessly.

Adding an extra drive is a snap if you're a little computer savy too.

Both of my TiVos have about 200 hours of recording time on them (basic)... so I have well near 100 hours of quality recording time on each.

TiVo all the way (and check out the TiVo community forums, great info there).

-k
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Another happy Tivo owner here. Looking at the differences between Replay and Tivo, there was no doubt for me which unit to buy.

I have 3 Tivo units....one Series 2 with 197 hrs and 2 Series 1s with 20 hrs each. Took me a week to break my girlfriend of the habit of "Friends is on at 8," "24 is on at 9" kind of thing and figure out that when we sit to watch TV, we check the Now PLaying menu rather than watch live TV.

We got my parents a Tivo for Christmas and they love it to death. We've got so many things recording on various nights at various times (be it Season Pass or one-timers), that we made up an Excel spreadsheet showing what time slots are filled so we can see at a glance where to put a new show in which Tivo.

Does the networking capabilities in the Tivo2 prevent duplication of recordings?

I've lost a little over 50 pounds because of Tivo! Last fall, I moved my old Tivo from the Living Room to my Bedroom, right in front of my Treadmill. Now when I excercise, I can watch exactly what I want, when I want. Having that Tivo up there has been a huge motivator to excercise regularly.

Maybe, If I lose another 100 pounds, I can become Tivo's version of Jared the subway sandwich shop dude.