Replay TV 80 Hour for $300 at Costco($250 AMIR)

[jsfetzik]

Not sure how hot this is, but I noticed last night that Costco had 80 hour Replay TV 5080 boxes for $299.99 plus a $50 mail in rebate. The rebate is good through 3/31/2003. Seems to be a decent price.

Note you still have to pay the service activation fee, $250 lifetime or $9.95 per month.

 

[ConnCarl]

Pretty hot deal. Same unit is $399 at Best Buy.

 

[vabrave]

Can a "Replay TV" unit be used in the same house as a TiVo unit? Does this mean I would have to pay $9.95 x 2?

 

[ShotgunSi]

Originally posted by: vabrave
Can a "Replay TV" unit be used in the same house as a TiVo unit? Does this mean I would have to pay $9.95 x 2?

Yes and yes. They are totally two seperate products so two different monthly / lifetime fees. Although I heard Tivo just raised their lifetime to $300.
And yes I have a Replay 5040 and love it.

 

[jsfetzik]

Tivo and Replay TV are made by two different companies so you would need to pay for both.

One nice thing about the Replay TV is that ist has an ethernet port and can use your broadband connection instead of the phone line. You can also share recordings between multiple units. There are also hacks so you can make your PC look like another Replay TV box and transfer recordings back and forth.

 

[pete777]

where is the hack?

 

[SCTrojan]

Is this a costco or Manufacturer's rebate? Anyone know if this is any good?

 

[RossMAN]

What are the major differences between the 5040 and 5080?

 

[jsfetzik]

One program is ReplayPC, which lets you copy video from the ReplayTV to your PC.

Another is DVArchive, which makes your PC look like another ReplayTV box and you can send video to a real ReplayTV box. Looks like there was a new firmware version for the 5xxx series and this utility does not currently work with them. Fixes are in the works.

As far as I know the 5040 can record up to 40 hours, while the 5080 is up to 80 hours. So the only real difference is the size of the hard drive inside. Thus the 5160 records up to160 hours.

I am not sure if the rebate is Costco or Sonic Blue. I won't have the money to buy one until this weekend.

 

[gbuskirk]

1) The hack is at sourceforge.
2) The rebate is from Sonicblue. I received a few rebates from ReplayTV before they were bought by Sonicblue. I think the rebates are good.
3) The 5080 is 80hrs, the 5040 is 40hrs, both at least resolution. Divide by 2-3 for generally acceptable video quality.

 

[Mehdi]

Can one use Replay TV with DirecTV? I believe Tivo has a special version.

 

[fustercluck]

I can't belive these Replay TV and Tivo things cost so damn much, i mean it just records the show right? Can't be that hard =p, i'd rather just use my VCR for free.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: jacktackle
I can't belive these Replay TV and Tivo things cost so damn much, i mean it just records the show right? Can't be that hard =p, i'd rather just use my VCR for free.

You don't realize how different it is until you own one. It totally changes your viewing habits - you're always watching something you like, instead of flipping through channels all the time. I basically never see commercials any more, either. Honestly, tapes are 50 times the hassle compared to recording something digitally.

I don't think I'll be able to go back if my Replay ever broke, it's just TOO convenient. My VCR is covered with dust at this point.

 

[ShotgunSi]

Originally posted by: jacktackle
I basically never see commercials any more, either. Honestly, tapes are 50 times the hassle compared to recording something digitally.

Commercial skip is the best feature evAR!!!

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: jacktackle
I can't belive these Replay TV and Tivo things cost so damn much, i mean it just records the show right? Can't be that hard =p, i'd rather just use my VCR for free.

You would never say that if you used a PVR for one day.

 

[m0ssie]

You'd be surprised at the number of people who thinks a TIVO/ReplayTV is just a digital VCR.

My VCR is still hooked up, but only gets used if 2 shows are coming on at the same time, and I need to record both of them. Or sometimes I use it to transfer a replaytv recording to VCR tape for someone to watch.

I've almost forgot what a commecial is. Before I watch anything live, I'd just record what I want to watch, and watch something I've already recorded while the current show is being recorded.

I also like watching a NASCAR race where I record the race, giving it about an hour head start, then start watching, while zapping commercials along the way, and ususally catch up with the end being live.

 

[deramon]

Had a unit for over 2 years, the 3060. No fee for TV schedule (though the unit was pricey.) I added a 2nd drive for much more room and it is sooo much better than a VCR. It will search and record for you. It does not lose any setting if you lose power. It can have both cable, arial antanea and satelite hook ups and use whichever has what you want. You control watching events when you want. I wish everyone would get one, to drop the prices and then I would a 2nd, 3rd, etc ...

 

[Mahzilla]

can someone who owns a replay please confirm that the device outputs a closed captioning signal? I'm interested in getting one of those, but it would be useless to me if it doesn't output the CC signal since I'm hearing impaired.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: deramon
Had a unit for over 2 years, the 3060. No fee for TV schedule (though the unit was pricey.) I added a 2nd drive for much more room and it is sooo much better than a VCR. It will search and record for you. It does not lose any setting if you lose power. It can have both cable, arial antanea and satelite hook ups and use whichever has what you want. You control watching events when you want. I wish everyone would get one, to drop the prices and then I would a 2nd, 3rd, etc ...

how did you add a 2nd hard drive ??

iwanna add one to mine~ the 30hr unit~ but I dont want to screw around with it and mess it up~

free lifetime subscription is good

 

[ShotgunSi]

Originally posted by: Mahzilla
can someone who owns a replay please confirm that the device outputs a closed captioning signal? I'm interested in getting one of those, but it would be useless to me if it doesn't output the CC signal since I'm hearing impaired.

I just watched last nights episode of "Kingpin" that I recorded on my ReplayTV 5040 and when I enabled CC on my Toshiba TV it...... WORKED
Go buy one!

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Mahzilla
can someone who owns a replay please confirm that the device outputs a closed captioning signal? I'm interested in getting one of those, but it would be useless to me if it doesn't output the CC signal since I'm hearing impaired.

Found this in a google search. Looks like they do.

 

[Mustanggt]

wow I would loved to pick up one of these, no more commercials is worth paying $300 for, why cant they come up with software to edit commercials on ATI AIWs.

 

[gump47371]

I have dish network, and am interested in getting one of these, but am concerned that I could not watch a channel when I am recording from a different channel. Are these worries warranted? Does anyone have any info from experience, or a site they can point me to that has info on it? It would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Gump

 

[Scyber]

Since your satellite receiver can only tune to one channel at a time (I assume), you would only be able to view/record one channel at a time.

Theoretically you could use 2 satellite recievers. One connected to the replay (and the replay hooked up to one of the alternate inputs on your TV) and one receiver connected directly to your TV. This would allow you to watch one show while recording another.

 

[alluu]

Originally posted by: jacktackle
I can't belive these Replay TV and Tivo things cost so damn much, i mean it just records the show right? Can't be that hard =p, i'd rather just use my VCR for free.

I thought the same before I got one and now can't imagine tv without. It is more than a VCR. I was thinking of a DVD recorder or DVR and they are completely different products. I work about 70 hours a week and this makes tv watching so much easier.

There are a few problems/issues with DVRs but they will only get better especially if lots of people buy them. I picked up the 5040 for $149 AR and plan to put in a 160GB HD later on.

Another issue to note is that SonicBlue has financial problems but I don't think the product will disappear. Another company will pick it up if SonicBlue goes under.