ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Does not work as advertised...
Streaming from one unit to another using wireless (801.11b) does not work (choppy). Sending shows via internet to another machine does not work (4XXX's & 5XXX's incompatible). Watching one show and recording another with DirecTV satellite does not work. Tech support was horrendous - mindless robots with canned answers and lies galore (\\"We'll call you back tomorrow\\"). *Update* 4/22/03: My Replay 5040 unit died. It was 4 months old. I'm currently dealing with tech support to get a new unit. I wish I could get my service activation fee back and return my unit (not worth the frustration). *Update II* 4/28/03: I took my Replay to the SonicBlue hdqtrs. in Santa Clara, CA and had an engineer offer to take my unit, reformat the hard drive and apply the latest software release that would fix my \\"terminal reboot\\" problem. He told me it was a \\"known\\" issue and they were upgrading 500 machines nightly with the fix. I'm one of the lucky ones - I live seven miles from SonicBlue. Awesome product when it works - buyer beware! *Update III* 6/18/03: To clarify - I use and love this product daily - when it WORKS! Again, it does not work as advertised: program sharing via internet, wireless streaming, satellite boxes are hell with this unit and it does change channels S - L - O - W - L - Y with a satellite box.  Please, if you have NOT tried these functions, don't say it works great.  It should do EVERYTHING advertised - not just a few things. One reviewer suggested weekly plugging/unplugging the phone line to prevent the machine from locking up - I missed that .... suggestion in the owner's manual. You should not have to fuss with this thing for it to work properly! Oh yeah, the activation fees are going up for this product.  ...