TV Reviews

What's so great about this CD player for me is that it is by far one of the most sturdy, rugged players in the market. I'm a klutz, and I've dropped the thing upwards of 20 times from some pretty high heights over the past year that I've owned it and it still works as well as it did when I first bought it. The thing is like a friggin' rock.

The fact that it has BOTH and FM and AM band is great, given that most players offer only FM. For a news/talk radio fan like me, that's important. Other features, like the G-Protection that ensures that the CD will never, ever skip because its jostled, or the fact that it's designed so that the entire player can be operated with your right hand make it one of the best CD players I've ever owned.

This is the ultimate portable CD player. Genius design.

For CD play, this gadget uses G-Protection anti-skip technology. I have yet to hear a skip while doing any activity. There are two settings: Low for better sound and high for better skip protection. Personally, I cannot detect a difference.

This thing even has FM and AM! And it works as well as I anticipated it should. Presets galore.

Going beyond radio, Sony stuffed in weather band. Just hit the WB button and you have 7 channels of weather band. This is great for traveling.

Going beyond weather band, TV signals can be picked up with this thing! Just hit the TV button and you can hear 12 channels (2-13) of television! Now you can hear the audio of your favorite show from anywhere.

Sony combines a CD player, AM FM receiver, weather band, and television audio receiver all in one. If you were to purchase all these devices separately, you would pay hundreds!

Included is the usual features such as the hold switch, volume, headphone jack, etc...
No line-out port, but those are unnecessary anyway.

But Sony didn't stop there. This bad boy is water resistant - having a rubber seal going all around. Combined with the metal latch, this is perfect for jogging. The lid is not going to open accidentally like with other players. All the openings (phone jack and power) have rubber coverings, making it completely sealed.

This thing kicks out major bass. With 3 settings, it's more intense than with other players I've owned.

Probably the best thing I like about this is the hand strap on the back. You can slip your hand in and go for a walk without worrying about it falling out of your pocket.

While it's on your hand, your thumb is right next to the joystick, which can be easily moved to change tracks or turn on/off the unit.

Now you may notice the absence of a "resume" setting. This unit has an automatic resume feature. Turn it off and it starts right where you ended when turned on, unless, of course, you open it.

Included are small headphones that fit right in the ear. I don't like them. I don't know why Sony put them in. They have ok sound, and they don't stay on the head very well. But you will never buy a CD player that comes with decent headphones. It's like the law of electronics. Buy the S2 headphones that go behind your head. The style matches the player and they sound great.

This is also great for the kids for those long trips. With so many features and receiving capabilities, it will keep them occupied for hours. Battery life is very long and the unit is built with sturdy construction.

It may be a bit pricey, but who cares. Buy it. I love it, you will too.

This is the best Cd player I've own! You can listen to the Radio, PLay cds,
Even listen to TV Stations! The "Sony D-FS601 S2 Sports CD Walkman Portable Disc Player" is the best birthday present!

The first thing that struk me after the TV was delivered was the amazing picture. As soon as I swithed the channel to TV guide, I saw the horizontal and vertical lines were skewed. Thinking that it was my cable that was doing it, I played a DVD: the same problem. I called Toshiba and they said it probably was a defective unit and also asked me to keep the TV away from any external speakers to eliminate magnetic interference. I did and it was still the same. I went back to several stores and saw that the Toshiba was doing it more than any other television (almost all flat screens in the store did this though but to a very lesser extent). I exchanged it with the Panasonic PureFlat Tau series CT-27sx11. Minimal geometry problems with this set but it still doesn't beat the Toshiba in picture quality. The Toshiba would have been a 5 star, if not for the geometry.

This 27" Flat Screen television is worth it's retail price and more. I went to Best Buy which I highly recommend doing before purchasing a new television. It allows you to see many of the most similar models right next to each other and you can compare picture clarity and features. Keep in mind that other consumers have tampered with tint, color, etc....

However, upon comparison, the Toshiba could not be beat. It was most comparable to the Panasonic 27" Tau Flat Screen and the Sony WEGA 27". The Toshiba is priced in between those two with the Panasonic being the cheapest. The picture on the Toshiba, however, was clearly....well...the clearest. Also, the design is very attractive with speakers on each side running from top to bottom. With simulated surround sound, S-video, Component video, front/rear A/V jacks and many other features....I could not see spending that much money on any other television. I highly recommend this product.

**Two things to keep in mind are (1) it is really heavy weighing in at nearly 95 pounds and (2) it is much wider than most 27" tvs because of its speakers...something to consider with an entertainment center that boasts "fits MOST 27" tvs."

The Toshiba 27" Flat Screen is just a great set. Wonderful picture, good sound... couldn't be happier. Like some others, I did the side-by-side comparison with the Sony Wega 27" Flat Screen. The Toshiba looked a lot better, so I asked the salesman if they were set up the same. He said they were, and the Toshiba had the better pic. Plus, I've owned many Toshiba products over the years, and they've always had excellent performance and last forever. I just don't think you can go wrong with it. The Sony's still good, but Toshiba wins this one, hands down!

Good parts: installation was easy, im not a computer-type just an avg young person. Has many cool features, TV-out,dual moniter etc.

Bad parts: my computer is 5 years old with a really crummy vid card, and i play a lot of online games with it. They usually run 20 or 30 frames per second, which is barable but i could do better. so i went to comp usa and the guy told me to get this one because it was plenty fast. I installed evrything properly but even after tweaking and adjusting to the max all i could get was 12 fps. This card was so useless i exchanged it for a PNY technologys Verto geforce 4 ti 4400 card, which rocks btw....rocks hard.

Whatever you have read in the previous reviews is right. Installing this card is a bit tricky, but once you get it all right, it is defintely worth the effort and the money you put into this card. It took me 6 hours to get this card and the software working. I have included some very important points I noted while installing is card. Please take note of them so that you can install the card in a much shorter time.

(BTW, I have a custom build PIII 800MHz PC with 320 MB memory, Win 2K and a good old AGP 2X/4X ATI Rage Mobility card previously installed.)

1. First of all, NEVER forget to remove the previous display drivers !! Use the uninstall program that came bundled with the software for the previous display driver (EASIEST method). In my case, I had no uninstall software to remove the previous display driver. So, I used regedit to clear the registry entries for that driver and used the safe mode to remove the DLL files corresponding to that driver (NOT recommended except for a last ditch effort).

Remove the previous card (hardware) and install this card ONLY AFTER thoroughly removing the display drivers of the previous card.

2. When you reboot the system (in NORMAL mode) after hardware installation, Windows will display a "New Hardware Found" message. Allow it to install the Windows standard VGA driver (it will only display the 640 x 480 mode). Check the display properties to make sure it displays something like "standard VGA" or something related. (If it still shows the name of the previous display driver, go back and try removing the previous driver, until you get Windows to use the standard VGA driver).

3. If you have the software for the motherboard drivers, re-install the one for the AGP. (one of the recommendations on the ATI website, in case you get a blank or garbled screen after you install the new drivers).

4. In my case, the software that came on the CD never worked !! I ended up getting either a garbled screen, or the computer hangs at a blank screen. So, I went to the ATI website, downloaded the latest drivers, and viola !! everything worked perfect !! (Note: for some people, the CD-version of the display driver seem to work fine. Try the internet version if you have trouble getting the CD-version to work).

Everything else from here is a no-brainer. I installed all the accompanying software from the CDs (of course, all software EXCEPT for the CD-version of the display driver: choose custom setup during installation). I connected the cable TV co-ax to the CATV input and I got TV on my computer ! Better yet, you can preview all the channels (in the form of thumbnails) and click on one of them to watch it (how cool can this be !).

The remote worked just fine, though I still keep thinking that it an unnessary excess. Make sure that the USB receiver for the remote is taped to a wall or some open space to get better reception, instead of just letting it lay beside the metal enclosure of your computer.

I played the trial version of Age of Mythology, and I was impressed by the 3D acceleration features of this card. I am yet to try other games though.

Overall, this card is awesome !! If you somehow get through the process of installing it and getting it to work, you'll be definetely in for a surprise.

Have used this video card for about 4 months now. It is very fast. Even by the standards of a gamer. Delivers steady picture on my 22" Viewsonic CRT @ a 100 mhz refresh rate, 1600x1200, 32 bit color. As I typesetter/desktop publisher who spends 8-10 hours a day staring at my screen, this works so well. I can't give it 5 stars for performance, because many cards are faster. If I could give it 5 stars for value I would because ... this card is about the best you can get for the price.

The RD2200 is solidly built and a good TV monitor. It has a built in TV tuner and input for all video formats including European formats (PAL and SECAM). The speakers are very good quality though enclosed in cheap plastic. The picture quality is similar to more expensive LCD TVs. The remote is quite useful and has a button to expand the picture to fill the screen. On the negative side, it is not a good PC monitor. Even with DVI connection, VGA is the only acceptable resolution. Also the PIP and POP features will not accept PC input. Because of the 16:9 format, the screen height is only equivalent to a 17" monitor. Overall, a very good TV monitor, perfect for 16:9 DVD movies, and well worth the great price Amazon offers.

I received today (12/8/03) the rebate check from Nextvision less than a month from submitting the form. This is a record time for any mail-in-rebate. Thanks!

I bought this TV about a month ago after contemplating Sharp, Samsung, Philips et al. In my opinion Philips and Samsung make best LCD TVs - I've heard some negative comments about samsungs breaking down though. What I like about this TV is that it gives you the best price/performance ratio. It does'nt perform as well as picture tube based TVs but if you compare it strictly to LCD TVs only, it stacks up well with other competitors. In the panorama mode the images are noticeably distorted on the sides. In all modes the picture is grainier and not as bright as a picture tube. It does a significantly better job with DVD and HD signals. The picture quality is very comparable to Sharp Acquous TVs. It has an NTSC tuner, PIP/POP and pretty much every adjustment that you would ever want. Remote is huge and very busy - too many buttons. It's heavier than most other TVs of comparable size. I removed the stand before mounting it on the wall and it weighed about 26 lbs withoug stand. Most wall mounts can only take up to 30 lbs weight so you're on borderline there. The speakers are better than most other brands offer. I found Sanus wall mounts (beachaudio.com) to be good with this TV. This TV is not wall mount friendly at all. There is no way to mount the speakers. After much thinking I decided to detach the speaker stands and stick the speakers to the TVs using an industrial strength velcro. I like the results - now the speakers look like they're built into the TV itself - kind of like the Sharp Acquous with side speakers.

I have this panel. I bought it because I wanted a TV in the bedroom and had limited space and money. I really wanted HDTV but from 6 feet away only videophiles could obviously tell the difference between EDTV and HDTV. SO I took the plunge and bought this. The rebate came quickly and yes there is NO technical support here. You are on your own. Also the warranty is serviced by AMAZON. The CR was shocked when I told her she was the one to help me. She laughed..but on with the story. I have this paired with a Samsung HDTV Directv receiver. I have my Directv TIVO and DVD player plugged into the SAMMY and then they all get connected to the LCD using DVI. The HDTV picture is fantastic and the TIVO is superior to the SVIDEO connection I used to use. The DVD is crisp and clear using 480P. The bottom line is that if you pair this with a a good video receiver you will be happy with this low cost LCD panel. And yes..don't even think of trying this as a computer monitor...It is awful!

What I liked:
VERY easy to program this remote either through preset codes or through learning function.
The LCD screen layout can be customized for each function which allows for great flexibility.

BUT:

The more I used this remote the less I liked it. For example, how often have you (or someone in your family) accidentaly dropped the TV remote. With this LCD screen you'll probably only be lucky enough to drop this thing ONCE! Also, not having actual buttons to push makes it very hard to channel surf, change volume, get program info, etc. without having to look at the remote each time you press a "button". The LCD screen on this remote is a bit hard to see at times and the backlight doesn't help unless the room is very dark. I ended up returning this unit and purchasing the RCA RCU810 remote. Although not quite as flexible as this one, it has just about everything thing you would need in a moderate home theater setup -- and it doesn't look like it will break after someone accidentally drops it on the floor!

It is a little limited in the layout of the buttons. You can customize some. For the money this is a lot of remote. It can do everything I need it too.

SIMA SUR-20 Universal Remote Control
- There are many universal remote controllers but many may seem impractical to use when trying to adapt to the wide-range of functions that 8 products might require. Button functions may be cumbersome requiring 2 or more actions to deliver a function that originally needed only 1 button
- The SIMA SUR-20 Universal Remote Control uses a special touchpad instead of buttons allowing for greater and easier control of up to 8 remote products
- Automatically learns the remote-protocols from all your existing remote controllers
- Each of these 8 devices can be programmed with up to 25 macro commands that simplify operations to make it seem that you re using the remote originally intended for the product
- Large backlit LCD screen beneath the touchpad is easy-to-read and fully customizable
- 1 MB Flash Memory is built-in so it can remember all protocols and custom settings
- Uses 4 AAA batteries (not included)

Have more fun with your home-theater system!

I did not buy Microsoft Photo Viewer. I may or may not. Not sure. Have been reading reviews. I have been comparing it to a similar product, Iomega's FotoShow which used to be very, very pricey. FotoShow can also be hooked up to the TV for viewing images. While I like the simplicity of the Photo Viewer, it is basically a floppy drive using diskettes. I think you get more bang for the buck with the Iomega FotoShow which can read/copy Flash and Smartcards used in most digital cameras, direct image edit from the interface, larger storage capacity as it uses 250 mb zip disks, can zoom and pan, can also serve as a zip drive with usb connectivity. Now that is alot of versatility, as opposed to Microsoft's over-priced diskette drive. No wonder they provide the software as a free download. However, diskettes are cheaper, but you can't get much on them. I really don't want to have to store my images on a whole bunch of 3 1/2 inch diskettes. Still, for those needing things basic and easily used, i.e. older folks in the family who do not have computers and are a bit computer phobic, the Microsoft TV Image Viewer is a great product. As for me, my requirements are a bit more. I need a large central storage place so I can get the photos off the hard drive. I also want to take larger slide shows (not just 40 images) on the road for presentation. And I like being able to use the FotoShow as a separate zip drive. I think I just convinced myself to go with the Iomega FotoShow! Each product is a great idea and fit different needs. I think both products also take PowerPoint presentations. And both gadgets are completely portable for hook up to any TV.

Setting up the set-top box was easy. I installed the CDROM software and made my first floppy album. Carried it over to the TV, popped it in, pressed the remote control, and a contact sheet appeared on the screen. From there it works like a slide projector, just press Forward or Backwards to see the photos.

I like this product. Making floppy disk albums is incredibly fast and easy, and floppy disks are cheap. I ignored the software's suggestion to limit the number of images to 20 for best quality, never the less with 40 images on one floppy disk the photos looked very good on my 27 inch RCA TV.

The PC software also lets you e-mail a completed album to a friend. Presumably if they also have a TV PhotoViewer then they can download the e-mail to a floppy disk and see the photos on their own TV.

Got a digital camera? Got grandparents without a computer? Got a bigscreen TV? Like slideshows but hate dealing with the projector? This might be for you. It's pretty cheap now (...), which makes it a great gift for those relatives who don't have a computer--just mail them dirt-cheap floppy disks of photos and they can see them on their TV, with a handy remote control to boot! It's quite nifty, and while the resolution isn't 2- or 3-megapixel, GET OVER IT, it's a *tv*. TV's are 640x480 devices at best, so that's all the resolution you need. In fact, the pictures look AMAZINGLY good on tv (Sony wega 36")!!

It's not for everyone, but if you want to have the livingroom TV cycle vacation pictures during a party, and/or show pix to a lot of people at once, it's really nifty. I also liked that while of course you DO need a RCA video-in on your tv/vcr/whatever, you DON'T need a currently-free one... the device has an automatic video passthrough that works flawlessly, and is a huge convenience since I seem to have all of the MANY inputs on my a/v receiver full.

Cool product. Yeah, 1.44M floppies aren't huge, but they're dirt cheap, everyone can write to them, and you don't really need 650M of space for images destined for NTSC TV display. Nicely executed, good price, I like it!

Lugged it home and re-wired my home theater system for componet connection, turned out the lights ,hit the DVD and was amazed at how well the picture looked right out of the box. I made some adjustments and got aquainted with the remote and it's controls and was really impressed. Watched it for about 45 min., turned everything off and felt like I had made a great purchase. Came home the next day and was planning to really enjoy my new toy but was really upset to see in the daylight that all around the dark gray collar, surronding the glass, had divits all around it. I was bummed but figured that a service call would take care of this so I sat down to enjoy a movie. When I turned it on, right as the picture was viewable I heard a static pop. I was concerned but still not ready to through in the towel. I started to play around with the PIP functions and all was working fine when the right side picture went snow-city, with cable, and then went blank. Then I went to turn the set off and investigate but I got two more static pops and then it turned off. I wonder if this set is made in two differant plants since the folks that are having problems are experiencing similar defects while others are having no problems at all. When I took mine back, I noticed that there were two of these units on the floor already, marked as open box specials so I didn't exchange it. I haven't bought anything yet because I'm so bummed out and confused, this was everything I was looking for and then some. East Coast Best Buy Shoppers BEWARE

this is a good tv. the HD picture is very sharp. the dark is very dark and the bright is very bright. the sound is quite good, with 2 surround mode. for this price, with a built-in HDTV tuner, that's a pretty good for this price.

there are something the tv can improve on:
1. the power cord is coming out from the front-left side of the tv. it is less messy if it is coming out from the back of the tv.

2. the tv still does "overscan". that means all left, right, top, bottom of the screen is missing 5% of the picture. try watching a DVD on this tv and on a PC, and you will see that you see things on the PC that you don't see on the tv. i think the tv should have a "non-overscan" mode to let people choose how it displays.

3. there is no program guide... my other HDTV over-the-air tuner box has it (Samsung SIR-T351).

4. The composite output cannot down-convert the HD video into the 640 x 480 NTSC signal, for recording the program to VHS or DVR.

5. there seems to be no way to let me choose between 480p and 1080i myself. the tv set chooses whatever it sees fit. but i want to be able to set it myself too, such as when hooking up my computer with DVI output to the tv.

But it is a good tv set. Enjoy HDTV ahead of schedule! The 1900 x 1080 resolution on PBS Channel 9-1 at night makes this tv worth every penny.

Also note that some stations are broadcasting in 720p and some broadcasting in 480p.

Bought this over the holidays because of all the features, picture quality, and price. We do not subscribe to cable or satellite so the built-in HDTV tuner was a real plus. Nearly every local channel in Dayton has SD and HD channels broadcast over the air. The PBS station has 5 digital channels. All I needed was an amplified HDTV antenna. The quality is incredible. Also used the optical audio link as an input to our Koss DVD Home Theatre system so we can listen to the HDTV broadcasts in dolby digital. The progressive scan DVD input required a composite cable but the playback quality was worth the price. For the price, this is an incredible buy.

Only dislikes are the slight delays when switching channels and the built-in speakers are just OK. Of course, we just turn on the home theater system to correct this. Manual was a bit complicated and hooking up to the DVD took a while (due more to the KOSS DVD player and me not reading the manual closely). All in all, this is an awesome system. Out of the box quality was great. Highly recommended.

I recently got a Samsung TXM3096WHF (30" 16:9 HDTV 1080i) TV form Best Buy for $$$ and man does this thing do a job. I had a digital cable box from Comcast and got ABC, NBC, HBO, Showtime, and CBS in 1080i. [Bad.] The signal must have been weak or something because it looked like widescreen 480i. At any rate, I got this little guy, hooked it up to my NON-DIGITAL amplified antenna and immediately got Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, and the WB in perfect HD. (Fox is in 480p, which is just as as a DVD). Only ABC broadcasts in 5.1 surround sound, so that was kind of a dissapointment. Everything else is perfect. I like not having to pay $...a month for less channels that I would get for free.

An elegant solution that works very well. While perfectly suited for HDTV-ready sets, I've been using it with a standard 4:3 non-HDTV Sony. If you have a TV with composite, component, or s-video inputs, this thing will work, assuming you can receive digital signals over the air. For HDTV purposes, it must be amazing.

In fact, I don't know why more people don't buy these things to watch PERFECT digital TV from free over-the-air signals--even on standard TVs. (Of course, not all cities are broadcasting all their channels in digital, but many are ...) Even at 480p (the unit's lowest resolution) the video is DVD-quality. Try switching between ... analog cable and OTA digital--the difference is stunning. Again, even on a standard TV.

Easy, intuitive menus. Many different output options for video AND audio. Overall, an excellent investment: Use it now with a standard TV, use it later with an HDTV-ready set.

I got this items in October 2003 and I am very satisfy. If you don't want specific cable channel and want quality this is an amazing device.

I am extremely happy with the image and sound quality of this product once I got things working, but beware, some of these cables are faulty.

I purchased a new Monster Cable XGL400 and XGL-LW100 mid-December 2003 with a new Xbox and was surprised to find that the optical cable was not transmitting an audio signal when connected. I exchanged the cables for a new set and now everything works. I didn't change anything else, just plugged the new cable in and presto.

It's discouraging that a company like Monster Cable would ship a product that had not been tested. Unfortunately, they are the only show in town so be careful and return the cables if you run into any problems. Don't spend the hours trying to trouble-shoot bad cables as I did.

I bought this cable before reading all the reviews. Once I read them I became nervous that I was going to have many problems with it. What I found out when I got it is that most of the people who gave it bad reviews either didn't have an understanding of how it is supposed to be used, or didn't install it correctly. Maybe I'm wrong and there really was a bad batch of cables going around but here is some information that will help you avoid any problems with it.

*Take off the clear plastic caps on both ends (If you don't you won't be able to get 5.1 surround).
*Make sure everything is securly fastened.
*Turn Dolby Digital and DTS on in the audio options menu of the Xbox.
*When your Xbox is on with no game in it, it dosen't put out 5.1 even with the cable. So if you turn on your xbox once you've hooked the cable up and your reciver says its only going through 2 channels, don't panic, its supposed to do that.
*Most importantly many xbox games don't support dolby digital (5.1). Infact most don't, and it is impossible to get 5.1 surround out of a game that dosen't support it. So check the back of the game where its says the number of players and xbox live info. If a green box says "In Game Dolby Digital" you will get 5.1 surround with this cable. If not, you will only get 2 channels and a sub. So check the game first.
*May not be vital, but unplug your RCA audio from your tv or your reciver before you hook this up.

I hope this information helps. Don't let the few bad reviews scare you from buying this. If used correctly it will give you amazing sound. It is truly worth the money.

Don't buy these for the Gamelink 200 X, chances are that it won't work like it should.

I've had my Gamelink 200 X cables for around 2 years. I happen to buy a 5.1 system, so I decided to buy the Lightwave 100 X toslink cable from Monster Cable.

When I set everthing up and turned on my XBOX, I went to the audio settings only to find out that my Gamlink 200 X and Lightwave 100 X didn't unlock the Dolby Digital/DTS menu. I still only saw the "Mono, Stereo, Dolby Surrond" menu. Therefore, it only transmites the signal as PCM Stereo, and not Dolby Digital or DTS.

I contacted Timothy Pryde from Monster Cable to see if he could send me a replacement 200 X cable. He did, and that cable didn't work either. So I contacted him again, and he sent me another 200 X cable, that one didn't work either to my surprise.

After trying the second he sent, I just gave up, and asked him if he could just send me a Monster Video cable, so I could just buy Microsoft's Advanced AV pack. He said that was just fine.

Right now I'm waiting for a UPS slip to be e-mailed to me so I can send back the two cables he sent me. And when he recieves the cables, he said he will send me the Monster video cable.

He was really helpful, and all in all, I'm very happy with the outcome; he let me keep my Gamelink 200 X incase I need to use my XBOX with a TV set/system that doesn't have an optical input. And he said he was going to thurougly test the Gamelink 200 X cables to see what's the problem. He said he wasn't aware of this problem, and mentioned it as being "weird".

I gave the Lightwave 100 X 5 stars because it is a solid cable that works when used without the Gamelink 200 X.

Hopefully Monster Cable will find the problem and ship out newly modeled Gamelink 200 X cables.

When it works it is wonderful. Most of the time it doesn't work and one is on hold for hours waiting for the customer support. Most recently they offered to replace it and required that I include an authorization number to return it but I cannot get the authorization number. Before that the remote failed. I have never before had any kind of remote fail. Then it cost [a lot]for a remote, as compared to [a lot less] and up for TV remotes. I had planned to buy one of their newer units until I had these kind of problems. Now I intend to buy TiVo and hope it is more reliable.

This Replay unit is a great idea, but the execution falls far short to make this a recommended item. I have the usual home theater set-up, big screen TV, DSS, DVD, and LD; I connected my over the air antenna and the DSS to the Replay unit. The basic idea, for those that don't know is as follows: the Replay is at its core a computer. It has a modem that it uses to dial out every day to obtain programming information from a central network (in the Replay's case it is free, while for Tivo there is either a monthly charge of 10 dollars or a flat fee of 200 dollars). It also has a hard-drive that is used to store the programming that is being recorded. Being a digital process, there is no image degradation after repeated viewing, although it is conceivable and probable that the hard drive will eventually fail and thus render all the recordings unviewable. Since it is a computer, the Replay unit can search programming, keep a running schedule of shows to record, etc., making TV viewing a more pleasant experience, because it allows the viewer to set his or her own schedule to watch TV. It also records the channel that the viewer is watching "live." Therefore, the viewer can "rewind" the "live" show, pause it, etc. Sound neat, but the problem is that there are two main alternatives right now, and Replay is the inferior choice.

Let me start by saying that I have tried by Tivo and Replay, and although they both share many shortcomings, I prefer the Tivo hands down. First for the shared shortcomings: 1) Using a DSS system, one cannot watch a program and record another, because neither the Tivo nor the Replay stand-alone models have built-in DSS receivers. 2) Channel surfing is slow because both devices send in either IR signals or use the serial interface to send the channel information to the DSS receiver, so that instead of sending "channel up" it sends "channel 192"

Now, the Replay is inferior to the Tivo in a couple of major points. First, the remote is very badly designed. There are lots of small buttons cluttering the lower half of the remote, and the major cursor control buttons are these thin curved rectangles that feel uncomfortable to press. Further, in order to move up and down channels, one has to repeatedly press the buttons, since pressing and holding a button will not result in continous movement. In other words, if one presses "Down", the cursor will move one step down, and stay there, regardless of whether the user is still pressing the button. In most other consumer electronic devices, holding a button will continue the command, so that if one presses "Down" in a TV remote, the channel will change, and continue changing. Now, this might seem to be nit-picking, but if one considers that the usual DSS line-up consists of over one hundred channels, one can see that hand strain is going to be a big problem for Replay users. Furthermore, in order to search programming, one must enter the complete search word. For example, if one wants to record Politically Incorrect, one must enter either "Politically" or "Incorrect", or "Bill Maher". In the Tivo, entering each letter provides a list on the right of programming that starts with those letters - but the Tivo is a lot slower than the Replay, because it has to continuously update the list after every letter.

All in all, Tivo has a better looking interface, a remote that is hands down superior in terms of ergonomics, and it is easier to locate programming that one wants to watch. One caveat is that the Tivo is extremely time consuming to set-up - in my case it took over 12 hours for the machine to be ready to go - my advice, start the set-up at night, and when it has to download the programming for the first time, turn off the TV and let it cook overnight. The Replay is very quick in comparison, taking about an hour. This review does not mean to say that the Tivo is a perfect device. It has shortcomings, but currently, it is the better of the two.

I've been using the Replay since the first one came out. Fortunately, they've been getting better and better, as the first ones had a tendency to lock up sometimes. The 3060 and the latest software are working quite well, and Replay has changed the way I watch TV. I never watch commercials, unless there's a good one worth watching, and I can't stand to watch live tv anymore. Plus you can't believe how nice it is to just select what you want to record from the program guide and not have to worry about swapping tapes, positioning the tape and recording everything while you're on a trip. And having the list of things you've recorded there in a list and not having to scan unlabeled tapes (if for no other reason than to label them).

I got my sister a Tivo for Christmas, 2000. Partly because I wanted to see how it compared, and partly because I'd heard Tivo's winning the marketing battle. She lives on a farm about 10 miles out from a small town. The Tivo modem would not connect to the service modem, and was useless (the weak modem is a common issue from reading the net). I took it home and played with it, and was appalled to see it take *hours* to process the initial program guide. What on *earth* are they doing? The Replay just has to download it and it's there. Albeit that takes 20 minutes itself. Then I tried to use the Tivo. While it's prettier, I found it harder to use, and having to fast forward rather than use the 30 second skip button clinched it --- I'll never buy a Tivo while it is missing that function.

The main things I wish for now are: 1. Ethernet for downloading the program guide over my DSL connection 2. HDTV recording capability (without compressing it to the point of losing the HD) 3. Let me add my own hard disks to expand capacity!

Without Replay, I'd go back to not watching much TV...