Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

I am frustrated with my cable bill and I have been shopping. It looks
like the DVR is going to be a standard offering with cable/satellite
offerings and they seem to be pretty cheap. There is no big cash
outlay and that is the thing that keeps RTVs a niche market.
If you could lose the cable bill RTV looks more attractive to folks on
a liimited income.
If the company really wants to suvive they should sell content and
compete nose to nose with the cable/satellite pig. I hate paying for
several hundred channels that I never watch. I would be very happy to
simply buy my programs ala carte and have them sent to me on the net.
The software to do this is already resident in 4500 to current RTVs.
All RTV needs to do is to license the programs and they could sell
them over the internet. It would work something like you go on the net
with your PC (or even the RTV itself), select shows you want to see
from a catalog and have them sent to you IVS. Since the head end would
be a broadband node they would come a lot faster than you get when the
uplink is slower than the downlink but since you are storing them in
your RTV, speed is really not iimportant. You can still get your
network content normally off air.
You could buy a lot of shows for the $70-90 you pay for cable these
days. Perhaps some "basic" content could be bundled in your regular
service with tiers for more expensive offerings and faster delivery
times. This won't be attractive to people who just sit in front of the
TV flipping channels but most RTV folks watch things from the replay,
not live.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Greg wrote:
> I am frustrated with my cable bill and I have been shopping. It looks
> like the DVR is going to be a standard offering with cable/satellite
> offerings and they seem to be pretty cheap. There is no big cash
> outlay and that is the thing that keeps RTVs a niche market.
> If you could lose the cable bill RTV looks more attractive to folks on
> a liimited income.
> If the company really wants to suvive they should sell content and
> compete nose to nose with the cable/satellite pig. I hate paying for
> several hundred channels that I never watch. I would be very happy to
> simply buy my programs ala carte and have them sent to me on the net.
> The software to do this is already resident in 4500 to current RTVs.
> All RTV needs to do is to license the programs and they could sell
> them over the internet. It would work something like you go on the net
> with your PC (or even the RTV itself), select shows you want to see
> from a catalog and have them sent to you IVS. Since the head end would
> be a broadband node they would come a lot faster than you get when the
> uplink is slower than the downlink but since you are storing them in
> your RTV, speed is really not iimportant. You can still get your
> network content normally off air.
> You could buy a lot of shows for the $70-90 you pay for cable these
> days. Perhaps some "basic" content could be bundled in your regular
> service with tiers for more expensive offerings and faster delivery
> times. This won't be attractive to people who just sit in front of the
> TV flipping channels but most RTV folks watch things from the replay,
> not live.

The only problem I see with this (and I do believe it might just be a
good idea, more on it in a minute) is that we live in a world of "NOW" I
know replay types do not often watch commericials, but there is one on
just now where the person says "Fast Food, not fast enough" and finally
gets to "Instant coffee, now we are talking"

People want it **NOW**

Now.... it is true that you can stream video at a fairly good quality
(better than "Standard" over a DSL connection (300 Kbps is decent, I
watch NASA tv at that speed all the time, ABC news via Yahoo! and more)
but the replays like a bit more... Thus it can take 2 or more times as
long to stream a show as to watch it. Folks want it NOW, not tomorrow
morning they want it NOW.

I'm kind of the odd ball there... I've no problem putting in a request
(Example: Acronis, Please restore my hard drive) and going to bed, one
hour 24 minutes later... hard drive restored (or 4-8 hours for a back up
[example chosen because.... Well.. the hard drive failed on this laptop
recently.... So I replaced it and let Acronis do it's thing])

Now..... A suggestion.... It would not need to be
DigitalNetworkSoultions that did the licensing, Anyone who is able to
generate the proper format (Note, each series of Replay (5xxx, 4xxx and
older) needs slightly different file codecs, I do not know if there is a
"Universial" codec that will work with all

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 01:38:45 -0500, gfretwell@aol.com(Greg) wrote:

>I am frustrated with my cable bill and I have been shopping. It looks
>like the DVR is going to be a standard offering with cable/satellite
>offerings and they seem to be pretty cheap. There is no big cash
>outlay and that is the thing that keeps RTVs a niche market.
>If you could lose the cable bill RTV looks more attractive to folks on
>a liimited income.
>If the company really wants to suvive they should sell content and
>compete nose to nose with the cable/satellite pig. I hate paying for
>several hundred channels that I never watch.

I subscribe to DirecTV, which has the same problem. I really don't
care to pay for some of the worst channels.

> I would be very happy to
>simply buy my programs ala carte and have them sent to me on the net.
>The software to do this is already resident in 4500 to current RTVs.

I was just reading about an old proposed feature called "iChannel",
that may have done that if it was ever implemented. Apparently, the
Replays were designed for that.

>All RTV needs to do is to license the programs and they could sell
>them over the internet. It would work something like you go on the net
>with your PC (or even the RTV itself), select shows you want to see
>from a catalog and have them sent to you IVS.

That may be the way we do it someday. Some internet connections are
even fast enough for it.

>Since the head end would
>be a broadband node they would come a lot faster than you get when the
>uplink is slower than the downlink but since you are storing them in
>your RTV, speed is really not iimportant. You can still get your
>network content normally off air.
>You could buy a lot of shows for the $70-90 you pay for cable these
>days. Perhaps some "basic" content could be bundled in your regular
>service with tiers for more expensive offerings and faster delivery
>times. This won't be attractive to people who just sit in front of the
>TV flipping channels but most RTV folks watch things from the replay,
>not live.

When I first got a Replay (one of the first 2020 units), I was going
to use it to buffer live TV. I seldom do that anymore, but have a lot
of particular shows recorded automatically. People miss things when
they don't use theme channels.

--
Mark Lloyd
has a Replay 5xxx
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"The idea that there is an invisible being who
created and still runs this old universe is so
childish, so obviously contrived, that it is hard to
believe anyone with even a modicum of education can
still fall for that scam."

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

"Greg" <gfretwell@aol.com> wrote in message
news6282115vbham69or5ac082fm1b3kdmp1o@4ax.com...
> If the company really wants to suvive they should sell content and
> compete nose to nose with the cable/satellite pig. I hate paying for
> several hundred channels that I never watch. I would be very happy to
> simply buy my programs ala carte and have them sent to me on the net.
> The software to do this is already resident in 4500 to current RTVs.
> All RTV needs to do is to license the programs and they could sell
> them over the internet. It would work something like you go on the net
> with your PC (or even the RTV itself), select shows you want to see
> from a catalog and have them sent to you IVS. Since the head end would
> be a broadband node they would come a lot faster than you get when the
> uplink is slower than the downlink but since you are storing them in
> your RTV, speed is really not iimportant. You can still get your
> network content normally off air.

This was the business plan TiVo announced back in January. However, they
haven't cut a deal with any large ISP or backbone provider. In fact,
they've gone out of their way to insult them. This was after they had
already insulted cable companies and lost their exclusive contract with
DirecTV. Needless to say, their old CEO does not have the best people
skills.

Now Microsoft is trying to get into the biz and SBC and Verizon are already
deploying very high speed networks to the home. SBC brings ethernet to the
house, Verizon brings fiber to the house which is split into TV (in beta) +
30Mb ISP service which is actually available in some areas already.


X

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

These standalone DVR guys better work out some kind of content deal or
they will be gone. All of the content providers (cable DSS etc) have
some sort of DVR deal these days. At $5 a month an no up front
equipment cost they make the $500-600 you spend for RTV tough to
accept

>
>Now Microsoft is trying to get into the biz and SBC and Verizon are already
>deploying very high speed networks to the home. SBC brings ethernet to the
>house, Verizon brings fiber to the house which is split into TV (in beta) +
>30Mb ISP service which is actually available in some areas already.
>
>
>X
>

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

gfretwell@aol.com wrote:
> These standalone DVR guys better work out some kind of content deal or
> they will be gone. All of the content providers (cable DSS etc) have
> some sort of DVR deal these days. At $5 a month an no up front
> equipment cost they make the $500-600 you spend for RTV tough to
> accept

Though I do agree with what you are saying (Which, by the way is that
most consumers are lemmings who do not bother to look before they leap
into the latest "Gadget" craze)

From what I'm reading the cable/sat company provided DVR's make TIVO
look good, and if I thought TIVO was better than Replay......

I'd not be posting in this group. So if you take the time to do the
research REPLAY RULES. Yes, it's a few dollars more, Yes, it's worth it

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

"John in Detroit" <Blanked@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:qM3Wd.387$ZB6.167@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
> gfretwell@aol.com wrote:
>> These standalone DVR guys better work out some kind of content deal or
>> they will be gone. All of the content providers (cable DSS etc) have
>> some sort of DVR deal these days. At $5 a month an no up front
>> equipment cost they make the $500-600 you spend for RTV tough to
>> accept
>
> Though I do agree with what you are saying (Which, by the way is that most
> consumers are lemmings who do not bother to look before they leap into the
> latest "Gadget" craze)
>
> From what I'm reading the cable/sat company provided DVR's make TIVO look
> good, and if I thought TIVO was better than Replay......
>
> I'd not be posting in this group. So if you take the time to do the
> research REPLAY RULES. Yes, it's a few dollars more, Yes, it's worth it

When you say "REPLAY RULES", do you mean hardware, software (user interface
& functionality) or both. I haven't had the pleasure of using ReplayTV,
TiVo or i-Guide which is used by some of the cable TV companies. I would
appreciate you mentioning some of ReplayTV's advantages. I haven't been
able to find any sort of a comparison between these various DVR products.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Bill

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

ReplayTV allows networking between units.
Some only in home network, but the 5000 series allows show swapping
over internet.

ReplayTV allows PC DVArchive to networked play or transfer to
computer.

ReplayTV can be upgraded easily with very large hard drives.

ReplayTV has many many features that make programing and using very
very easy.

ReplayTV has commercial skip. The 5000 series has "auto" commercial
skip.

Out of all the neat features, I like the automatic commercial skip the
best. That feature alone is worth the price of ReplayTV in my
opinion. All the other features are a bonus.
>>
>> I'd not be posting in this group. So if you take the time to do the
>> research REPLAY RULES. Yes, it's a few dollars more, Yes, it's worth it
>
>When you say "REPLAY RULES", do you mean hardware, software (user interface
>& functionality) or both. I haven't had the pleasure of using ReplayTV,
>TiVo or i-Guide which is used by some of the cable TV companies. I would
>appreciate you mentioning some of ReplayTV's advantages. I haven't been
>able to find any sort of a comparison between these various DVR products.
>Thanks in advance for your help,
>Bill

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

One last thing, if you get the cable box dvr, I have heard you can
only use it with their particular service. ReplayTV works with almost
all the cable, satelite services out their. So I would recommend
shying away from combo boxes.

>ReplayTV allows networking between units.
>Some only in home network, but the 5000 series allows show swapping
>over internet.
>
>ReplayTV allows PC DVArchive to networked play or transfer to
>computer.
>
>ReplayTV can be upgraded easily with very large hard drives.
>
>ReplayTV has many many features that make programing and using very
>very easy.
>
>ReplayTV has commercial skip. The 5000 series has "auto" commercial
>skip.
>
>Out of all the neat features, I like the automatic commercial skip the
>best. That feature alone is worth the price of ReplayTV in my
>opinion. All the other features are a bonus.
>>>
>>> I'd not be posting in this group. So if you take the time to do the
>>> research REPLAY RULES. Yes, it's a few dollars more, Yes, it's worth it
>>
>>When you say "REPLAY RULES", do you mean hardware, software (user interface
>>& functionality) or both. I haven't had the pleasure of using ReplayTV,
>>TiVo or i-Guide which is used by some of the cable TV companies. I would
>>appreciate you mentioning some of ReplayTV's advantages. I haven't been
>>able to find any sort of a comparison between these various DVR products.
>>Thanks in advance for your help,
>>Bill

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Bill & Debbie wrote:

> When you say "REPLAY RULES", do you mean hardware, software (user interface
> & functionality) or both. I haven't had the pleasure of using ReplayTV,
> TiVo or i-Guide which is used by some of the cable TV companies. I would
> appreciate you mentioning some of ReplayTV's advantages. I haven't been
> able to find any sort of a comparison between these various DVR products.

Well Bill or Debbie,,,, I would suggest going back over some of the DVR
wars in this news group. In the replay we have two different
categories, I'm going to refer to them as 50xx and 55xx

Models up to the 50xx, for the most part, can share video and functions
so long as the first digit of the model number is the same (IE: 4xxx
will swap files with other 4xxx's. Likewise a 50xx or 55xx) thus, if you
have multiple replays, you can record 2 or 3 or however many Replays you
have, shows at one time, Then you can watch the recorded shows on any of
the replays in the house... Example, I have a 55xx and a 50xx, So I have
two shows I want to record both on at the same time... I get one on each
machine and then watch them on the "Basement" machine.

Now... I'm told TiVo has that feature now.... But replay has had it for
a long time... I'm also told you can add it to older TiVos but why open
the case if you don't have to... All I needed to do to active this
feature was string some CAT-5 cable and plug in a switch (or router)

Feature 2: DVArchive. This is not a Replay product, it's a free
download from the web It is a JAVA application but JRE is free too (Java
Runtime Enviorment). I'm told TiVo now has TiVoToGo and Microsoft SELLS
the software for it. But I've been doing this with my Replay some time now.

DVArchive allows me to download a show from my Replay to my computer's
hard drive and watch it..... Well... I watched 2 hours of CSI while
waiting for my plane to get into Baltimore Airport last month (Would
have watched more but alas... The plane got there and they started boarding)

I have watched in restaurants, Waiting rooms, and more... Quick lube,
30 minutes or less... A M*A*S*H episode is 30 minutes

Feature 3: SHOW/NAV. When it records a program the Replay also records
an EVENT log. Ideally (If the television station does not play games
with the standard) this will log the start and end of every commercial
break. So when the commercials start you press the right navigation
arrow and JUMP to the end of the break (Start of the "filler" material,
aka (Also Known As) the show) In practice this is about 75% accurate, TV
stations put the fade to black that is supposed to precede the
commercial break after the first ad, or before the next to the last one
specifically to foil this system...

Feature 3B: not available on the 55xx models: Automatic commercial
advance... Basically... it pushes the button for you so Dr. Phil says
"We'll take a little break now..Welcome Back" just about that fast

Feature 4: Internet Video Sharing... Again not available on the 55xx
models, Yes, If you have a 50xx I can send you (or you can send me) a
recorded show or movie

Feature 2b: DV-Archive has a "Remote control" module, It works almost
exactly like the replay's Infrared Red remote except it works over the
LAN so it follows the wires (or wi-fi) from your computer to the replay.
Thus I can watch the basement Replay in the upstairs bedroom and have
full access to all the remote's features like Show/Nav, Replay and
Channel guides and more.

Feature 5: Internet Program Record scheduling: I can log into
www.myreplaytv.com and schedule a show to record... I can do this from
ANYWHERE I can get an internet connection.

Some common TiVo/Replay features

Channel guide. A tv guide on your screen. customizable so you see only
the channels you get. You can schedule a show to record with just a few
presses of a button (or 3) All Menu driven. REplay supports "Theme"
channels. Themes are where you give it a keyword and it looks for
shows. For example, as a retired police dispatcher with science training
I like the CSI shows (Including CSI, CSI miami, CSI NY and NCIS

Well, I tell it "look up all CSI" and it fineds the first 3, I tell it
"Set up a theme channel" and it records them, all of them, any time, any
day, so long as it's not conflicting with another show (Since CSI is on
2 of the 3 top channels and if there is a conflict it's lowest chan
number wins) NCIS I had to set up special since it's not a CSI but a CIS)

I can also record off other sources.. Example S-Video, and Direct (Base
Band) video, Multiple outputs too, including Baseband video and RF as
well as some other "monitor" formats

The only thing Replay lacks... For the moment... Is HDTV

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

"John in Detroit" <Blanked@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:e4iWd.16623$hU7.14631@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...
> Bill & Debbie wrote:
>
>> When you say "REPLAY RULES", do you mean hardware, software (user
>> interface & functionality) or both. I haven't had the pleasure of using
>> ReplayTV, TiVo or i-Guide which is used by some of the cable TV
>> companies. I would appreciate you mentioning some of ReplayTV's
>> advantages. I haven't been able to find any sort of a comparison between
>> these various DVR products.
>
> Well Bill or Debbie,,,, I would suggest going back over some of the DVR
> wars in this news group. In the replay we have two different categories,
> I'm going to refer to them as 50xx and 55xx
>
> Models up to the 50xx, for the most part, can share video and functions so
> long as the first digit of the model number is the same (IE: 4xxx will
> swap files with other 4xxx's. Likewise a 50xx or 55xx) thus, if you have
> multiple replays, you can record 2 or 3 or however many Replays you have,
> shows at one time, Then you can watch the recorded shows on any of the
> replays in the house... Example, I have a 55xx and a 50xx, So I have two
> shows I want to record both on at the same time... I get one on each
> machine and then watch them on the "Basement" machine.
>
> Now... I'm told TiVo has that feature now.... But replay has had it for a
> long time... I'm also told you can add it to older TiVos but why open the
> case if you don't have to... All I needed to do to active this feature was
> string some CAT-5 cable and plug in a switch (or router)
>
> Feature 2: DVArchive. This is not a Replay product, it's a free download
> from the web It is a JAVA application but JRE is free too (Java Runtime
> Enviorment). I'm told TiVo now has TiVoToGo and Microsoft SELLS the
> software for it. But I've been doing this with my Replay some time now.
>
> DVArchive allows me to download a show from my Replay to my computer's
> hard drive and watch it..... Well... I watched 2 hours of CSI while
> waiting for my plane to get into Baltimore Airport last month (Would have
> watched more but alas... The plane got there and they started boarding)
>
> I have watched in restaurants, Waiting rooms, and more... Quick lube, 30
> minutes or less... A M*A*S*H episode is 30 minutes
>
> Feature 3: SHOW/NAV. When it records a program the Replay also records an
> EVENT log. Ideally (If the television station does not play games with
> the standard) this will log the start and end of every commercial break.
> So when the commercials start you press the right navigation arrow and
> JUMP to the end of the break (Start of the "filler" material, aka (Also
> Known As) the show) In practice this is about 75% accurate, TV stations
> put the fade to black that is supposed to precede the commercial break
> after the first ad, or before the next to the last one specifically to
> foil this system...
>
> Feature 3B: not available on the 55xx models: Automatic commercial
> advance... Basically... it pushes the button for you so Dr. Phil says
> "We'll take a little break now..Welcome Back" just about that fast
>
> Feature 4: Internet Video Sharing... Again not available on the 55xx
> models, Yes, If you have a 50xx I can send you (or you can send me) a
> recorded show or movie
>
> Feature 2b: DV-Archive has a "Remote control" module, It works almost
> exactly like the replay's Infrared Red remote except it works over the LAN
> so it follows the wires (or wi-fi) from your computer to the replay. Thus
> I can watch the basement Replay in the upstairs bedroom and have full
> access to all the remote's features like Show/Nav, Replay and Channel
> guides and more.
>
> Feature 5: Internet Program Record scheduling: I can log into
> www.myreplaytv.com and schedule a show to record... I can do this from
> ANYWHERE I can get an internet connection.
>
> Some common TiVo/Replay features
>
> Channel guide. A tv guide on your screen. customizable so you see only
> the channels you get. You can schedule a show to record with just a few
> presses of a button (or 3) All Menu driven. REplay supports "Theme"
> channels. Themes are where you give it a keyword and it looks for shows.
> For example, as a retired police dispatcher with science training I like
> the CSI shows (Including CSI, CSI miami, CSI NY and NCIS
>
> Well, I tell it "look up all CSI" and it fineds the first 3, I tell it
> "Set up a theme channel" and it records them, all of them, any time, any
> day, so long as it's not conflicting with another show (Since CSI is on 2
> of the 3 top channels and if there is a conflict it's lowest chan number
> wins) NCIS I had to set up special since it's not a CSI but a CIS)
>
> I can also record off other sources.. Example S-Video, and Direct (Base
> Band) video, Multiple outputs too, including Baseband video and RF as well
> as some other "monitor" formats
>
> The only thing Replay lacks... For the moment... Is HDTV

Thanks John. Well written and easily understood.
Bill

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

We all know RTV is great but what is there, a few hundred thousand of
us? DNNA is certainly not advertising and I don't know a soul who
knows what RTV is. If I try to explain it they say "Oh a DVR, like the
cable company". When people see $200 for the machine and $300 service
fee or $15 a month vs "free" and $5 a month the cable deal looks
pretty good.
99% of the marketplace just uses these things for time shifting.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

gfretwell@aol.com wrote:
> We all know RTV is great but what is there, a few hundred thousand of
> us? DNNA is certainly not advertising and I don't know a soul who
> knows what RTV is. If I try to explain it they say "Oh a DVR, like the
> cable company". When people see $200 for the machine and $300 service
> fee or $15 a month vs "free" and $5 a month the cable deal looks
> pretty good.
> 99% of the marketplace just uses these things for time shifting.

Well... I have seen a few ads for Replay. Very few and none on
television (I think they shold advertise in movie theaters myself)

I've seen a lot more for TiVo

It's up to us to spread the word

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Is that DNNA's business plan? They really do want this to die don't
they.

On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 12:43:57 GMT, John in Detroit
<Blanked@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>It's up to us to spread the word

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:28:26 -0500, gfretwell@aol.com wrote:

>We all know RTV is great but what is there, a few hundred thousand of
>us? DNNA is certainly not advertising and I don't know a soul who
>knows what RTV is. If I try to explain it they say "Oh a DVR, like the
>cable company".

I usually hear "TiVo", which is annoying (improper specificity) like
calling the photocopiers made by Canon "Xeroxes".

> When people see $200 for the machine and $300 service
>fee or $15 a month vs "free" and $5 a month the cable deal looks
>pretty good.
>99% of the marketplace just uses these things for time shifting.

I remember my first Replay. I ordered the lowest-priced model (10-hour
record time) for $700. They substituted one of the first 2020 units
(v1 software) for the same price. I wanted the Replay to buffer live
TV (something I had been thinking about for over 10 years), but seldom
do that anywore. It's easier to have things recorded.

--
Mark Lloyd
has a Replay 5xxx
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"The idea that there is an invisible being who
created and still runs this old universe is so
childish, so obviously contrived, that it is hard to
believe anyone with even a modicum of education can
still fall for that scam."

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Mark Lloyd wrote:

>
> I usually hear "TiVo", which is annoying (improper specificity) like
> calling the photocopiers made by Canon "Xeroxes".

Alas, that is what's needed, to get them to say REPLAY instead of TiVo
(And there is something they can do there but I cring every time I
see/hear "TiVo It" as well)

> I wanted the Replay to buffer live
> TV (something I had been thinking about for over 10 years), but seldom
> do that anywore. It's easier to have things recorded.
>

I know, I know, computer just reported F: is now officially known as F:ull

What's on F: well mostly Fvideos/*.mpg