ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Very sensitive to power outages, otherwise nice to have
In 2001 we bought a Tivo 30hr unit and love it, though eventually wished for more capacity.  It's never given any trouble, is user friendly and easy to use.<br /><br />In 2002 we got a Replay 5160, and have had it for 7 months.  We got Replay specifically for it's networking abilities, not to mention the 160hr capacity.<br /><br />Our first impression was that the interface was cumbersome, but figured it was just a learning process.  Months later it's still a bit cumbersome, but we got the hang of it.<br /><br />The networking is an excellent feature.. I use DV-Archive (freeware) to copy shows to my PC, and the Replay can play them from there as well!  Plus I save some shows and burn them to CD/DVD.  We haven't found Replay's web based utility to be useful however.<br /><br />A BIG PROBLEM has been the stability of the unit.  After a few months it began to skip while playing and response to the remote control slowed down to a crawl.  We might wait a full minute before a button press was acknowledged by the system.  It became nearly unusable, but we found a secret menu (thanks to the web) and reset the unit to factory defaults.  We lost ALL of our programs, but at least the unit worked well again.  (BTW, as of May's software update, the secret menu no longer exists)<br /><br />Over the course of the next few months the skipping and slowdowns occured again, so we kept resetting to factory defaults to fix it, losing our programs every time.  Pretty disappointing.  The only thing that stopped us from sending it in was (a) horror stories about Sonic Blue's warranty support, and (b) we hoped a software upgrade might cure the problems.<br /><br />This never happened.. instead the unit eventually started rebooting infinitely.  It became totally unusable, so we figured it might finally be time to send it in.  At this point we were extremely disgusted and sought for help on the web.<br /><br />I found a PC utility that let me re-create the hard drive contents from scratch.  After moving the disk to my PC, reformatting then replacing it in the Replay, all was well again, though of course we lost all our programs again.  Fortunately, reformatting didn't affect our liftime subscription status since it isn't stored on the disk.<br /><br />Later we made an observation that our Replay failures may have been associated with occasional but repeated power losses we have had in our neighborhood (Boston suburb).  As a result we picked up a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and connected it to both the Replay and the cable box.<br /><br />After more than two months of using the UPS, the Replay has been operating flawlessly.  No remote control slowdowns, no rebooting problems.  I truly believe that the unit would fail again of we expose it to plain AC power and another power failure occurs.<br /><br />My opinion is that it is a great and flexible machine, but the user interface needs a little work, and it should be able to withstand a power loss without eventually losing it's mind.<br /><br />Replay gets a 3, Tivo gets a 5!<br /><br />Edit:  It is now March 2006 and the unit with a UPS has been rock solid dependable.  But they probably don't sell these anymore so I suggest buying a TIVO!cing it in the Replay, all was well again, though of course we lost all our programs again.  Fortunately, reformatting didn't affect our liftime subscription status since it isn't stored on the disk.    Later we made an observation that our Replay failures may have been associated with occasional but repeated power losses we have had in our neighborhood (Boston suburb).  As a result we picked up a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and connected it to both the Replay and the cable box.    After more than two months of using the UPS, the Replay has been operating flawlessly.  No remote control slowdowns, no rebooting problems.  I truly believe that the unit would fail again of we expose it to plain AC power and another power failure occurs.    My opinion is that it is a great and flexible machine, but the user interface needs a little work, and it should be able to withstand a power loss without eventually losing it's mind.    Replay gets a 3, Tivo gets a 5!    Edit:  It is now March 2006 and the unit with a UPS has been rock solid dependable.  But they probably don't sell these anymore so I suggest buying a TIVO!