In reply to:

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negative padding ability

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Replay has this as a standard feature. There is a undocumented feature called "sports guard". Once enabled, it will automatically record extra on the end of sporting events. This is helpful for previously mentioned American football games that never finish on time.

Hacking your name green isn't a good idea...

I guess a bug report to the UBBThreads people is in order

Peter

There is a undocumented feature called "sports guard". Once enabled, it will automatically record extra on the end of sporting events

so how does it work? is it automatic? does it let you select how far over it will go?

By the way, what you're talking about is not "negative padding ability". What you're talking about is also, of course, standard on Tivo.

What tanstaafl was talking about was being able to start late and end early. Not start early and end late. The later is standard on both units, I gather. So does Replay have the first one?

Unfortunately its not automatic - You select in the setup screen how long to over record sporting events.

Sorry for the confusion about negative pad. I doubt ReplayTV can do that.

I hardly ever use padding on records - it creates too many recording conflicts. I observed a very interesting behavior of ReplayTV in regards to padding. Playback starts from the scheduled start, not the padded start. I can see the logic behind this since the show was scheduled to start at that time and the pad is just in case. Does Tivo behave this way also?

Does Tivo behave this way also?

Y'know, I can't really tell you. I've never told TiVo to start recording a program early -- the TV stations in my town can't even get their programs started on time -- much less earlier than scheduled.

[rant]In case anybody is curiious as to why (and how) this can be... the TV stations in Alaska do not air network programming directly off the satellite. Remember, we are an hour earlier than West Coast time, so if we did that, our prime time scheduling would start at 6pm. Instead, they record the network shows off the East Coast feed (four hours earlier than Alaska) and then play them whenever they damn well please. This means that they can play a few extra minutes of commercials in each show, so as the evening goes on, they become further and further behind. It is not unusual on Sunday nights for the local ABC affiliate to be nine minutes late when 11 pm rolls around. The only TV station in town with the slightest bit of professionalism is the local PBS station.[/rant]

tanstaafl.

Does Tivo behave this way also?

No, but it's not like 2 minutes at 60x is going to cost you a lot of time. Neat feature, nonetheless.

MMmmm . . . Alyson Hannigan

"Bored Now!" Mmmmm

Just posting that you can get a 40 hour Replay 4504 from CircuitCity.com for $199 after two $50 rebates. Search for 4504.

You can also pick up the new 5000 series 40 Hour from Good Guys for $219 after one $50 rebate and 10% off coupon code. The coupon code is visafall.

Both these deals are for the PVR only, not service. Lifetime activation is $250. Have fun!

Thanks for the info. But I think I'm going to be holding off on this for a while. I have some other things to worry about, including Christmas gifts for the family. But I haven't given up, I assure you.

i must agree with robroy on Tivo remote being the best. it is skinny and the ergonomics is great. just feels right in your hand.

tivo's interface is such a pleasurable experience. i never tried replay but from what i read i rather have tivo's advance scheduling than replay's features.

i just bought my tivo through goodguys website and if you talk to a salesman over the phone you can get a 5 year warranty on the unit for $75. so if you buy it with a lifetime subscription, the total is $625. Tivo, for five years comes to a measly $0.34/day. well worth it!

Yeah but hows that going to work with the lifetime subscription. If the unit dies won't goodguys just swap it for a different unit and then you won't have the lifetime subscription on the new unit.

Well, as I mentioned in the newer thread on this topic, I believe I'm going to get myself a ReplayTV 5000, although I will be waiting a while (few other things on my mind). I won't jump right into the lifetime subscription on it. In the even that I am somehow disappointed with the unit, it won't be painful to try out TiVo later on.

I started out originally looking for something to replace my VCR. I had been hearing about DVRs and they looked very interesting. And to me, since I didn't feel like ordering a DirecTiVo (the regular ones aren't worth it to me), the ReplayTV just feels like the way to go. That is, of course, when I make that journey.

For info on how malfunctions affect lifetime subscriptions, read TiVo's Product Lifetime Description.

When I did the search for 4504, all I came up with was this.

But I can't seem to find TWO $50 dollar rebates, just one. Any idea where the other one is? Thanks!

That post is almost a month old. The deals are not as good now.

My bad, I didn't even look at the date

Isn't it possible to completely circumvent Tivo's own listing service with an ethernet hack, some software and a connection to the net? Included or not, if I can't use a listing of my choice (for free or close to it) and be able to use it for my own lifetime, I'm not very interested in the product. Especially since I'm outside of the US and niether Tivo nor Replay offer subscription anyway.

For now I'll be doing PVR using an ATI All-In-Wonder and a PC sitting inside my TV cabinet. Video quality will likely be better than a Tivo and Replay, but the scheduling and software won't hold a candle to the finished consumer products.

Bruno

I guess that was my point that with most of those instore extended warranty claims they just swap the unit out and it has nothing to do with the manufacturer. So then you would lose the lifetime subscription on the replacement unit.

Yes it's possible.. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tivo_canada

Thanks.. Just subscribed to that Canadian Tivo board.

Here's a link for anyone wanting to do PVR on a PC... http://www.snapstream.com

Version 3 (about to be released) sports a very nice interface. I believe Canadians once again are out of luck with regards to guides. There's a 3rd party application that acts as a bridge between Zap2It and the SnapStream server software though. Not as clean having to use this other program with its own listings of course.

Bruno