ReplayTV 3060 Digital Video Recorder
A revolution
I've been using the Replay since the first one came out.  Fortunately, they've been getting better and better, as the first ones had a tendency to lock up sometimes.  The 3060 and the latest software are working quite well, and Replay has changed the way I watch TV.  I never watch commercials, unless there's a good one worth watching, and I can't stand to watch live tv anymore.  Plus you can't believe how nice it is to just select what you want to record from the program guide and not have to worry about swapping tapes, positioning the tape and recording everything while you're on a trip.  And having the list of things you've recorded there in a list and not having to scan unlabeled tapes (if for no other reason than to label them).    I got my sister a Tivo for Christmas, 2000.  Partly because I wanted to see how it compared, and partly because I'd heard Tivo's winning the marketing battle.  She lives on a farm about 10 miles out from a small town.  The Tivo modem would not connect to the service modem, and was useless (the weak modem is a common issue from reading the net).  I took it home and played with it, and was appalled to see it take *hours* to process the initial program guide.  What on *earth* are they doing?  The Replay just has to download it and it's there.  Albeit that takes 20 minutes itself.  Then I tried to use the Tivo.  While it's prettier, I found it harder to use, and having to fast forward rather than use the 30 second skip button clinched it --- I'll never buy a Tivo while it is missing that function.    The main things I wish for now are: 1.  Ethernet for downloading the program guide over my DSL connection 2.  HDTV recording capability (without compressing it to the point of losing the HD) 3.  Let me add my own hard disks to expand capacity!    Without Replay, I'd go back to not watching much TV...    Update in 2007: I just noticed my comments about Tivo here; I actually did switch to DirecTivo to get unrecompressed video quality for a large front projection system, and because there were hacks to upgrade them that there weren't for Replay at the time.  It didn't take long to get used to the different operation, and the \\"last in first out\\" directory actually turns out to be handy.  Any, more when I actually review the tivo, but I thought I would make a note here to update those specific comments.    I still consider PVRs a revolution though --- I can't watch live TV anymore, though the downside is that now that I can watch what I want on my schedule easily, I watch far more than I ever did before...