ReplayTV 3060 Digital Video Recorder
Great concept, poor execution
This Replay unit is a great idea, but the execution falls far short to make this a recommended item.  I have the usual home theater set-up, big screen TV, DSS, DVD, and LD; I connected my over the air antenna and the DSS to the Replay unit.  The basic idea, for those that don't know is as follows:  the Replay is at its core a computer.  It has a modem that it uses to dial out every day to obtain programming information from a central network (in the Replay's case it is free, while for Tivo there is either a monthly charge of 10 dollars or a flat fee of 200 dollars).  It also has a hard-drive that is used to store the programming that is being recorded.  Being a digital process, there is no image degradation after repeated viewing, although it is conceivable and probable that the hard drive will eventually fail and thus render all the recordings unviewable.  Since it is a computer, the Replay unit can search programming, keep a running schedule of shows to record, etc., making TV viewing a more pleasant experience, because it allows the viewer to set his or her own schedule to watch TV.  It also records the channel that the viewer is watching &quot;live.&quot;  Therefore, the viewer can &quot;rewind&quot; the &quot;live&quot; show, pause it, etc.  Sound neat, but the problem is that there are two main alternatives right now, and Replay is the inferior choice.<br />Let me start by saying that I have tried by Tivo and Replay, and although they both share many shortcomings, I prefer the Tivo hands down.  First for the shared shortcomings: 1) Using a DSS system, one cannot watch a program and record another, because neither the Tivo nor the Replay stand-alone models have built-in DSS receivers. 2) Channel surfing is slow because both devices send in either IR signals or use the serial interface to send the channel information to the DSS receiver, so that instead of sending &quot;channel up&quot; it sends &quot;channel 192&quot;<br />Now, the Replay is inferior to the Tivo in a couple of major points.  First, the remote is very badly designed.  There are lots of small buttons cluttering the lower half of the remote, and the major cursor control buttons are these thin curved rectangles that feel uncomfortable to press.  Further, in order to move up and down channels, one has to repeatedly press the buttons, since pressing and holding a button will not result in continous movement.  In other words, if one presses &quot;Down&quot;, the cursor will move one step down, and stay there, regardless of whether the user is still pressing the button.  In most other consumer electronic devices, holding a button will continue the command, so that if one presses &quot;Down&quot; in a TV remote, the channel will change, and continue changing.  Now, this might seem to be nit-picking, but if one considers that the usual DSS line-up consists of over one hundred channels, one can see that hand strain is going to be a big problem for Replay users.  Furthermore, in order to search programming, one must enter the complete search word.  For example, if one wants to record Politically Incorrect, one must enter either &quot;Politically&quot; or &quot;Incorrect&quot;, or &quot;Bill Maher&quot;.  In the Tivo, entering each letter provides a list on the right of programming that starts with those letters - but the Tivo is a lot slower than the Replay, because it has to continuously update the list after every letter.<br />All in all, Tivo has a better looking interface, a remote that is hands down superior in terms of ergonomics, and it is easier to locate programming that one wants to watch.  One caveat is that the Tivo is extremely time consuming to set-up - in my case it took over 12 hours for the machine to be ready to go - my advice, start the set-up at night, and when it has to download the programming for the first time, turn off the TV and let it cook overnight.  The Replay is very quick in comparison, taking about an hour.  This review does not mean to say that the Tivo is a perfect device.  It has shortcomings, but currently, it is the better of the two.