ReplayTV 5160 Digital Video Recorder
Think Twice Before you go Replay
I'll admit, I'm a TIVO enthusiast....I've been lured by some of the features that ReplayTV boasts (program sharing, commercial skip).   However, look closely at the day-to-day features and the user interface and you'll soon see that Tivo comes out on top of Replay, UltimateTV(bankrupt) and other knock-offs.<BR>    Look for features like &quot;Season Passes&quot; (finds your shows, regardless of time, and records all of them, or first run only).   Look to see if your box can prioritize your season passes (what if shows conflict, which one do you really want to record?).   Look to see if your box allows you to save recorded shows for certain amounts of time, or save until you chose to delete (a feature distinctly lacking on UltimateTV, it just woul FIFO delete items).   Commercial skip?  Forget it....triple speed forward gets you through a commercial break in about 10 seconds.   It's the &quot;7 second back&quot; button (found only on TIVO) that is ultimately cool.   Miss a joke, or a mumbled line, or wanna see a quick replay...hit the 7-second back button once or twice and see it over and over.    <BR>    Oh...Tivo actually does have a commercial skip, they just don't brag bout it (30-second forward button can be set on the remote).   <BR>    Last, but not least, Replay has always been flirting with bankruptcy.  I live in Mt View (home of Replay) and have watched their building gradually go towards empty.   UltimateTV has already &quot;pulled the plug&quot; and moved the group back up to Redmond.   Tivo is backed by Phillips, Sony, Panasonic, and others.    <BR>    Think twice...look closely at the user interface and the day to day features and you'll probably pick the cheaper, more useful Tivo box.