SUPER HOT!!! ReplayTV 5040 40 Hour DVR w/ Progressive Scan - $149 AR

[SuperShaz]

I found this on techbargains.com but I also found a place that sells it for cheaper than what techbargains posted.

Electronics Express has the ReplayTV 5040 for $249

SonicBlue is doing a special christmas promotion where they offer an ADDITIONAL $50 rebate on top of the normal $50 rebate. So its basically a $100 rebate. Information about that can be found at the SonicBlue website.

$249 - $100 = $149

Edit:

Electronic Express is apparently not only an internet store, it is a B&M store in the Tennessee area, so you should be able to price match this at places like Circuit City if you don't want to buy it online.

Also, if you buy this, you can't use it unless you pay a $10/mo service fee OR $250 lifetime fee.

You MUST hook this up to a either a phone line or a home network w/ an internet connection. I did some research and found out that in order to hook one of these up to a wireless network you will need a box that converts the wireless signal back into a wired one (aka Wireless Bridge). The USB port doesn't allow wireless USB cards (yet, they will come out with a software update for that next year). Only SOME wireless access points have the ability to act as a wireless bridge or client, and I think Linksys and some other companies sell straight wireless bridges. If you can find a hot deal on one of these please post it because I'm sure a lot of people are in the same boat as me with this. (Edit again: jasonja found an accesspoint that can do this for $59.99-$10MIR = $49.99 after MIR. Read below for links and details)

- Shaz

 

[TheBigCheese]

If you want this, be sure to factor in the subscription fee. Sonic Blue loses a ton of money on the units but you have to pay a monthly fee forever. If you pay a $250 one-time fee, you don't have the $9.95/month to pay so the total price is really about $400 after rebates.

 

[onelove]

SBLU has some grim financials, losing over $100m in the last year. I hope they make it, but the lifetime membership signup is at least somewhat of a risk. I'd love to jump on this if I felt like my $250 would really get me a lifetime subscription; just a little skittish. Thanks for the post tempting me again, tho... hmmm

 

[nealr]

Originally posted by: SuperShaz<P.S. - I ask one favor. Can anyone suggest to me a good way to connect this device to the network in my house? I have no telephone line or network jacks near the TV, but I DO have an 802.11b wireless network. I actually have 2 wireless routers and was hoping I could somehow make them act as a wireless bridge but I have had no luck. I've heard they make devices specifically for wireless bridging but I'd rather not pay $130 for one. Any ideas or hot deals that could help me and others in the same situation?

The access points should talk to eachother.. just read the manual, there may be a setting you need to change, so it acts like a relay or something.

 

[MOONKEY]

A couple of question:

1. Can I manually record program without monthly subscription to Replay tv? If it can, I'd buy a good remote control with a build-in timer.

2. Does it work with DirectTV or Dishnetwork? Dishnetwork's PVR (costs about $300) does not require monthly fee, but it does not take other input signal (like cable).

 

[dr wily]

Hey like TIVO is doing any better? theyre losing their shirts too. BUt i believe they are waiting it out for the masses, its still a niche product but according to sources the PVRs are going to be huge within 5 years.

As for the wireless. they are supposedly releasing a patch to allow wireless usb on the replay sometime next year. So you'll have to wait till then for 802.11

Dish PVRs only work with Dish, so if you ever want something else, youll be stuck without a PVR, they are definetly a good deal though being only 100$ more with a sub from DISH, but that all depends on whether you want a stand-alone unit.

Replay does have ethernet though, and thats more than i can say for all the others out there.. stupid phone line use is garbage.

 

[jasonja]

Originally posted by: SuperShaz
....
P.S. - I ask one favor. Can anyone suggest to me a good way to connect this device to the network in my house? I have no telephone line or network jacks near the TV, but I DO have an 802.11b wireless network. I actually have 2 wireless routers and was hoping I could somehow make them act as a wireless bridge but I have had no luck. I've heard they make devices specifically for wireless bridging but I'd rather not pay $130 for one. Any ideas or hot deals that could help me and others in the same situation?

I posted this a couple days ago but nobody seemed to notice TigerDirect has the Dlink DWL-900AP Access Point on sale for $59.99-$10MIR = $49.99 after MIR. This AP can run in client mode, meaning you can plug in the replay via the ethernet port and it becomes a 802.11b client on your OTHER wireless routers. I bought one to connect my Xbox and my co-worker already has one doing this and it works great.

Link to the Dlink on Tigerdirect

The access points should talk to eachother.. just read the manual, there may be a setting you need to change, so it acts like a relay or something.

That's not true. The AP have to support bridging mode and more specifically a client mode bridging. Not all AP's can do this. The Dlink I posted above can though.

 

[worms]

Good find SuperShaz! To answer your question, your routers are almost certainly not one of the few models that support bridging. dr_willy's suggestion of using a standard $60 usb wireless adapter is the best route if/when SB allows. Otherwise, you can try to find an ethernet to wireless client device but they're a little scarce and well over $100 lat time I checked. I don't remember any model numbers but I'm pretty sure Netgear, Linksys and other's have them. You can of course just use the phone line - There's nothing wrong with that other than not being able to transfer shows to your PC or other Replay's either in the house or on the Internet. Phone line use is not garbage -- It silently makes a 2 minute local call at 5am every week or so -- big deal.

MOONKEY I don't know why a remote control would need a timer? The Replay comes with a remote that works whenever you want. Yes, you can use this manually as a "VCR". All of your recordings will be labeled as "recording1", "recording2", etc. instead of "Buffy", "Angel" etc. but the recordings will include time, date, channel, and length, so that you can figure out what's what.

Last I checked, Replay's could support up to 2 X 137GB drives for a total of ~280 hours. Lots of info on Planet Replay

 

[jasonja]

MOONKEY I don't know why a remote control would need a timer? The Replay comes with a remote that works whenever you want. Yes, you can use this manually as a "VCR". All of your recordings will be labeled as "recording1", "recording2", etc. instead of "Buffy", "Angel" etc. but the recordings will include time, date, channel, and length, so that you can figure out what's what.

Last I checked, Replay's could support up to 2 X 137GB drives for a total of ~280 hours. Lots of info on Planet Replay[/quote]


You can NOT use the manual record feature on the new Replays without paying for a subscription. It's absolutely useless until you signup for service.

 

[SuperShaz]

Originally posted by: jasonja

Originally posted by: SuperShaz

I posted this a couple days ago but nobody seemed to notice TigerDirect has the Dlink DWL-900AP Access Point on sale for $59.99-$10MIR = $49.99 after MIR. This AP can run in client mode, meaning you can plug in the replay via the ethernet port and it becomes a 802.11b client on your OTHER wireless routers. I bought one to connect my Xbox and my co-worker already has one doing this and it works great.

Thanks jasonja! Also, I edited my original post about the wireless stuff, as I did some research of my own and its true that the wireless AP has to have built in ability to bridge.


- Shaz

 

[futtbucker]

Just read in PC Mag that an LA County Judge ruled that "Replay TV has to modify its digital video recorders to track what viewers watch, what commercials they skip and what files they transmit over the internet." Since they reserve the right to automatically add or modify any features in the software and they are able to do it easily they can comply quickly and effectively.

I read horror stories about poor customer service so I decided to skip this one and go Tivo...great deal though!

 

[uibd]

If you haven't got yourself a PVR yet, go get this one. I never thought I would need one, but I picked up an open box Tivo at BB once for $70. It really does change the way you watch TV. It's still not quite mainstream yet, but everyboy I know that has one, loves em.

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

 

[OTR]

I have a Tivo I won in that essay contest a couple of years ago. I paid the monthly fee for a month then cancelled. I was able to use it by manually recording shows (e.g., channel, time, day, etc.), just like a vcr. Unfortunately it used an IR transmitter to control my cable box, so when I cancelled the cable box rental, I was no longer able to manually change channels. I would sign up for another month to reprogram my Tivo, but I also cancelled my land-line phone and use my cell as my only phone

Tivo is great but the feature I most liked was the ability to pause, rewind, etc. I never programmed too many programs. Now I use my ATI AIW to perform the same features. I also have an Princeton Arcadia 29" monitor so it is great for tv watching in my small home. Nice thing about having both the Tivo and AIW was that I could record one program while watching another at the same time.

Someday I will have to reinstall my wired phone and hopefully, Tivo will allow me to reprogram my box without changing my system to force me to maintain an account to manually program.

--
OTR

 

[azzieo]

...Dish PVRs only work with Dish, so if you ever want something else, youll be stuck without a PVR, they are definetly a good deal though being only 100$ more with a sub from DISH, but that all depends on whether you want a stand-alone unit.
....

That isn't quite true ... You can get a DishPVR system, install it yourself, commit for 1 year and MAKE ~$100. With a 2 receiver system, you can make ~$50...

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

Jasonja.....

Your post was not overlooked. It is just that Tiger Direct is a shoddy company that has been known to sell people's private data - including credit card numbers - to 3rd parties. They have a piss-poor record with numerous consumer protection agencies. Please do not post links to their items.

 

[jasonja]

Originally posted by: Crusader Rabbit
Jasonja.....

Your post was not overlooked. It is just that Tiger Direct is a shoddy company that has been known to sell people's private data - including credit card numbers - to 3rd parties. They have a piss-poor record with numerous consumer protection agencies. Please do not post links to their items.

It's a hot deal and I will post it, whether you choose to buy is your choice. I personally have ordered lots of stuff from them and never had any issues. In fact the one time I did order a product that died 2 days later (no fault of TigerDirects) they shipped out a new one Airborne express and picked the other one up. By they way this was a 65lb monitor. I go by my past personal experiences, not by what others post about them.

 

[vladgur]

There are much better deals on Replay TV.

If you go through MSN rewards, you get 20% off $299 price which is about $60. In addition you can pricematch Circuity City to that other site via Amex BVG and get yet another $50 back, so your total would be $299 -$60-$50 -$100rebate=$90+tax on $299 price - ebates


Thanks for the link though

 

[tabarato]

Originally posted by: futtbucker
Just read in PC Mag that an LA County Judge ruled that "Replay TV has to modify its digital video recorders to track what viewers watch, what commercials they skip and what files they transmit over the internet." Since they reserve the right to automatically add or modify any features in the software and they are able to do it easily they can comply quickly and effectively.

I read horror stories about poor customer service so I decided to skip this one and go Tivo...great deal though!

Could you tell us what PCMag has that story?
I thought Sonicblue had won that case
This would really stink, and make me look at TIVO a little more...

Thanks

 

[SuperShaz]

Originally posted by: futtbucker
Just read in PC Mag that an LA County Judge ruled that "Replay TV has to modify its digital video recorders to track what viewers watch, what commercials they skip and what files they transmit over the internet." Since they reserve the right to automatically add or modify any features in the software and they are able to do it easily they can comply quickly and effectively.

I could be wrong but I think this is actually old news and I don't think it sours the deal one bit. Are the people that have Nielson boxes getting screwed? No. The fact that they will be keeping track of what you watch means NOTHING to you. They won't have people at sblue going "it looks like John's watching porno again. tee hee hee". The courts only want the information for summaries so that they can find out "how much revenue is being lost" by the commercial skip and show sharing capabilities of the ReplayTV. The only reason that this should worry anybody is that its one step closer to the courts ordering sblue to turn off the commercial skip feature, in which case you'll still be able to fast forward through commercials. Its not like the courts are going to mandate that all VCRs be recalled because "Oh no! Revenues are lost when people fast forward through commercials!"

- Shaz

 

[SuperShaz]

Originally posted by: vladgur
There are much better deals on Replay TV.

If you go through MSN rewards, you get 20% off $299 price which is about $60. In addition you can pricematch Circuity City to that other site via Amex BVG and get yet another $50 back, so your total would be $299 -$60-$50 -$100rebate=$90+tax on $299 price - ebates

Yes, if you have a credit card that does pricematching it probably would be a good idea to buy it online from Circuit City, get the 20% MSN rewards, pricematch, and then do the rebates. But keep in mind the $60 MSN money is not cash. So in reality you would get the DVR for $150 and you get $60 of msn money to buy stuff from MSN. The only difference being the MSN money. For those of us that don't have a pricematching card, this is still a good deal without the MSN money.

- Shaz

 

[Z80]

Let's see now, I order the ReplayTV 5040 online from Circuit City using MSN wallet for $299 plus tax for instore pickup. I arrive at the store and ask them to adjust the price to match the price at Electronics Express (just down the road) and they knock it down to $249 plus tax. So I get the ReplayTV 5040 for $249 plus tax less $100 in rebates and $60 in MSN money (299x20%) or $50 in MSN money ($249x20%)? Assuming $50 in MSN money my net is about $125. Not a bad deal. But I already have one ReplayTV 2030 (hacked to 80 hrs) free subscription and a Tivo Series 2 60 hour unit hacked to 222 hrs that costs me $13 per month. What the hell it'll make a super Xmas gift! I'm IN

 

[jasonja]

Any Tivo2 users here? How do they plan on all these upgrades without broadband? are they releasing broadband versions soon or some sort of upgrade to the one's they are selling now?

 

[Z80]

They write efficient code that downloads easily with dial-up. Your not talking about a 100MB game demo download here.