Panasonic PV-HS2000 ShowStopper 30-Hour Digital Video Recorder
What a VCR should have been!
After hearing mixed reviews of Tivo and Replay TV, I took the plunge and purchased a Panasonic Showstopper PVHS-2000. (It uses Replay TV's free program service.)<br />It's a great product and changed the way I watch  TV.<br />Pluses: 1) Replay lets you watch a program, while it's recording  something else.  You can't do this with a VCR. You can even watch the  beginning of a program, while still recording it.  In the mornings I get up  and watch Good Morning America from the start (7am) even though I get up at  8am.  I fast forward skipping commercials and the repeating news segments  and catch up to it live around 8:45 when I get to work. 2) I've set the box  to find the last three Star Trek episodes.  So, if nothings on TV I always  have a few Star Trek episodes to watch. 3) Recorded programs show up in a  menu with a full description of the program.  You pick the program to play  with a few clicks of the remote.  Sure beats finding a program on a VCR  tape. 4) 30 hours is a lot better than 6 hours of VHS tape. 5) Showstopper  does a great job of controlling my cable box.  It changes the channels  without a problem, something my VCR had problems doing well. 6) Setup  is  easy and take about 20 minutes.<br />Minuses: 1) The unit has locked up twice  in a month.  Like a PC, you just unplug it or hold the on button down for  10 seconds 2) You can't program in specific times.  You must use the times  in the online schedule.  It would be great if they would add a flexible  timing schedule feature.  Especially when a late game screws up a networks  schedule. 3) The extended record mode shows more MPEG pixelation that I  would like.  You see blocks when there is rapid movement.  This goes away  if you use the normal record mode, but then you only get 15 hours of record  time.<br />These however are minor problems.  Showstopper is what a VCR always  should have been.