ReplayTV RTV5516 160-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Serious Quality Issues
I have had a TiVo for more than a year and have been very pleased with the ease of use and quality of the guide service. The only reason I considered a ReplayTV was for the ability to do video extraction and the ease of networking the ReplayTV which is not readily performed on my Series One TiVo without spending more than the cost of a new TiVo or a ReplayTV. I have yet to get more than 10 minutes of use out of my ReplayTV 5504. While watching live TV, the picture would stutter and freeze after 5 or 10 minutes of use. A scheduled recording would be almost unwatchable due to the stuttering of the video and the audio. I spent several man-hours with tech support trying to resolve this problem. Finally, ReplayTV offered to exchange the unit. I installed the replacement unit and went through the setup screen, connected to the internet and downloaded all of the appropriate software from ReplayTV. I thought that this replacement unit would finally fulfill my expectations about ReplayTV. Imagine my disappointment when I started having essentially the same problems over and over again. Now, I can not even get the ReplayTV to set up from a cold restart. I think that ReplayTV has some serious build-quality issues with this unit. I am not an uninformed user. I have successfully installed both wired and unwired networks for myself and others. I have built my own computers for more than 10 years. The frustrating part is that some ReplayTV owners seem to be trouble-free. This may be the luck of the draw. But, what are the odds of getting two bad units in a row? If the problem is resolved, I will amend this review.