ReplayTV 5160 Digital Video Recorder
Great if you use it for what it is intended for
Two negative reviews of this product (by &quot;Greg from Avon&quot; and &quot;Red Byer&quot;) strike me as unfair because either (or both) misinformed about the features of Replay TV recorders or their primary purpose. <br />Hard disk video recorders are primarily intended to be short- to medium-term storage devices for time-shifting of shows and for enhancing the viewing experience through convenience feature such as pausing, rewinding and freezing &quot;live&quot; shows. Added features such as automatic commercial skip during replay and instant 7-second backwards jumps also greatly improve the viewing experience for recorded shows in comparison with what you get from a VCR.<br />Replay TV 5160 offers tremendous flexibility in those departments, if you care to read the manual and use the host of options available for selecting material for recording, deciding what should have priority if there is a timing conflict, deciding how many episodes of a show should be retained, as well as organizing and managing recorded content. In addition, easy networkability of several units does make it possible to use Replay TV recorders as long-term storage devices if so desired.<br />To counter a few of the complaints of negative reviewers:<br />1.  Automatic commercial skipping (which works in about 80% of cases) is not a useless gimmick, but rather a great time-saver when you want to save a show to tape or DVD-R. With a Tivo, the only way to skip commercials is to manually trigger 30-second forward jumps.<br />2.  In several weeks of constant use, I never experienced freezing of the operating system. I had to call Tech Support once to confirm my cable box's IR code and got through very fast.<br />3.  The 7-second backwards jump feature is included with Replay TV 5000 series machine, and is not a Tivo exclusive.<br />4.  I don't know about Sonic Blue/Repaly TV being on the verge of bankruptcy. What I know is that their video recorders are in short supply, which seems to indicatehealthy sales.<br />A few words of caution: Replay TV (as well as other hard disk video recorders) is not for users who never read manuals and are barely able to use the most basic functions of a VCR. The buffering of video signals causes a significant delay when switching channels, so it is best to have a cable box or satellite receiver with dual tuners, allowing viewing one channel while recording another; such an arrangement gives you a choice between quick channel-surfing and viewing and/or recording wth the convenience features of the HD video recorder.  Image quality is selectable, and the lowest setting is about par with standard VHS (without the video noise). However, the highest quality setting, reducing total recording capacity to some 50 hours, is best for serious viewing or archiving to DVD or S-VHS. Finally, the very shgort warranty period (90 days parts and loabor) suggests a lack of confidence from Sonic Blue in the long-term reliability of their products. Should do better than that.