TIVO and Ultimate TV. Any recommendations?

spitfire (the airplane, i trust): there are a number of hard drive recorders sold under several brand names. as i understand it, all such units are pretty much alike, tho they're differentiated, of course, by those designed for digital cable and those for satellite use. i've not heard anything about the demise of these products. on the contrary, they appear to be more popular than ever among my acquaintances; indeed, i know several users who say they are essential parts of their video systems. i'm about to switch over from digital cable to satellite hdtv (i'm getting rid of ALL my at&t services after the @home debacle). i've decided to wait to make my purchases, however, until i see what's new at ces. i've been told by usually reliable sources that a single box hdtv receiver/hard disk recorder will be coming out shortly and will be priced at little more than current hd receivers alone. -cfb

You'll find the Replay systems are better, and don't require a monthly fee...though the price accounts for that. They also have much better seach features than the TiVO.

I've had a Replay for two years, and can't imagine living without it, it's that good, and all I know who have any of these feels that way. What ever you go with, you'll love!

TiVO is OK, but you'll do better with Replay, Ultimate TV is limited to satalite only, but can record two channels at once.... a distinct advantage over both the others, but I must say, it's rare I want to watch two channels at the same time......

Having a Replay, Dish PVR, and a Tivo with the latest software, I can wholeheartedly recommend a Tivo for features and the PVR for sound quality and picture. There is no category I can recommend the Replay for except maybe price if you can find a great deal on one due to a dealer feeling stuck with one. The TIVO search is actually better than the Replay now that the last update occurred. I have no experience with the Ultimate and can not comment. The dual tuner-recording function would be nice for those with DSS, instead of DishNetwork. As I already have three individual Dish tuners and recorders, it has no value to me at this time. A HDTV PVR will be my next upgrade. If someone with no PVR were to ask me if they should wait for the HDTV unit, I would say no way!You've already missed out for too long and there is always going to be a need for that extra PVR somewhere in the house. Best Regards, Aaron

Both Tivo and ReplayTV have had dismal financial performance, but I don't know that either is in danger of going under. They both have technology that is in demand and I would guess they will survive, at least with respect to the service side of retrieving the guides, etc. As for owning one, absolutely! I own a couple of the Panasonic ReplayTV units and can't imagine life without them again. Both ReplayTV and Tivo units have been extremely well reviewed and, while I haven't done a feature comparison myself, I believe the feature comparison comes down more to preference than anything - I wouldn't want to give up the 30 second skip forward feature of ReplayTV (which Tivo doesn't), but there are features of Tivo that ReplayTV doesn't have. The initial reviews of UltimateTV have been along the lines of "heart's in the right place, but it's a generation behind the others" which makes sense given that it's the newest. -Kirk

I got the Philips DSSreceiver/TiVo combination unit a couple months ago, and it truly changes the way you watch TV. I wish I'd done it much sooner. I don't have experience with Ultimate or Replay, but I am happy with the features and functionality of TiVo, and wholeheartedly endorse SOME kind of PVR. The more video-based forums have areas dedicated to PVR's and even the individual brands/services. Email me if you want some suggested links.
Tim

I would highly recommend a replay unit where there is no subscription fee. I have the panasonic show stopper version and the only area where the sony tivo is slightly better is in the remote control design. This is the ONLY way to deal with t.v.

I have been debatinbg one of these also but I dont understand why they have a monthly fee? What do you get for your 10 bucks a month.

With TiVo, what you get for your $10 is their program guide downloaded to your TiVo box. That's how you preselect programs to record (other than by date and time), including Season Pass and other programming features. The system has an uncanny ability to start recording a show at just the right moment (most of the time).

I would like to thank all of you who responded to my post regarding TIVO/recordable hard drive systems, sharing your insight and experiences with a number of products available. I wound up purchasing a Sony combination DSS tuner and TIVO unit. I haven't installed it into my system yet, but I'm sure I will enjoy the features and benefits. Thanks again, and best regards. Oh, and to Cornfedboy, Spitfire is for the BSA motorcycle made during the mid-late 60's. It remains my favorite BSA. Nothing wrong with the RAF plane, either, come to think of it!