Video Reviews

I have a DirecTV system. I read a previous review that said you can't get or record local channels through DirecTV using ReplayTV. Of course, I read this review after I had already purchased the unit. So, I was a little nervous about my purchase at first. The good news is that ReplayTV has upgraded their software, so now in the setup process you can program it to get and record local channels. During the setup procedure, when you get to the screen where you select your cable/satellite system, you choose the option "DirecTV with local channels." The system works very smoothly. The unit is easy and convenient to use. It is much easier to program than a VCR and it takes less time. I like the fact that I don't have to keep a bunch of videotapes lying around. The only reason why I rated this unit a 4, instead of a 5 is because I have found it difficult to contact customer service. Yes, you can send them an e-mail from the website, but if you call the customer service line you get routed through a maze of messages. This can be frustrating when you need assistance. Other than that, I am very pleased with the product. I would recommend it highly.

I've had my ReplayTV for 9 months now. As a longtime time-shifter with a VCR, it's great to be able to watch a program while it is still recording.

The quick-skip button is wonderful. Instantly zapping forward in 30-second intervals makes it a snap to avoid commercials. In fact, my family and I have taken to intentionally starting to watch programs with the Replay 5-10 minutes after their scheduled start time expressly to AVOID the ubiquitous commercials for programs I would never let my preschool and elementary school-age kids watch. Instead of watching commercials, we spend those 10 minutes talking to each other. Imagine that... technology that lets you spend more time with your family, instead of taking away from it!

In all these months, I've only come across 2 downsides to ReplayTV ownership. If they cured these issues, I'd give the product 5 stars.

- The interface doesn't do enough to warn about conflicting recordings. When the networks put two of my favorite shows on at the same time, unless I notice it myself beforehand and set the VCR, I miss the show that is lowest in alphabetical order.

- When I bought my unit last summer, the good folks at ReplayTV thoughtfully put up several custom "channels" each month which would automatically record selected seasonal programs. When the new fall season started, this enabled us to easily sample the new shows! Around November, the company had a round of layoffs. Apparently, the folks who programmed the seasonal channels were among the casualties because the seasonal channels disappeared. Since those channels went away, the burden has shifted to us users to search more interactively. Had I not been a user before the layoffs, this might not matter as much.

To get around the issue another reviewer mentioned of not being able to watch one program while the box is recording another, I would highly recommend installing it only on TVs that have A/V inputs. That permits watching shows with the TV's tuner while the Replay box is recording. A TV with S-Video inputs would be an even better choice for the best picture quality.

In a nutshell, ReplayTV works great! I'd love to put one on every TV I own.

Basically both units due the same thing...they record TV programs on to a 20 gigabyte hard disk. The beauty of the systems is that they are a breeze to program, you don't worry about changing or losing videotapes, and you can pause live programming if someone or thing interrupts you, and not miss anything. The Replay was my choice because of the additional input and outputs compared to the Tivo, and the greater cache time (30 minutes versus about 10 hours). What that means is that should you miss part of a program, the Tivo will overwrite that show after 30 minutes of recording versus the Replays 10 hours. The prices are about the same after you pay for the Tivo's lifetime programming charge.

I bought the Archos 20 gig expecting nothing much. Was I wrong!!!! I am blown away by this gizmo as it compares to the RCA Lycra video jukebox!!!! It even competes with my Sony TV/VCR handheld which takes a direct digital signal in quality.

The screen is pure clarity! Beautiful! The unit is heavier, very sturdy. The video is all I'm interrested in, but if you put music on it and the image data is with the music file, that image (artists' CD cover) will show while the song plays.

Back to the video...easy as punch. The 20 GB (AV320) comes with a remote control and DVR attachment! You get your money's worth! Recording from the TV's digital cable box rendered beautiful images. Especially the cable channel! I suppose the quality of the source determines the quality of the playback, and cable movies must be digital because they looked like DVD quality!!!

I then made the haunting attempt to do what I could not on the RCA - transfer movies from my computer to play back on the Archos. Unlike the RCA, the Archos comes with software that makes this easy, so in one step I did it and it worked!!!!!

The sound is awesome!!!! Yes, it's bulky, but that's because it's using a laptop hard drive whereas the iPod uses a smaller one. It's like carrying a small brick around. But the iPod is a music player, and that's why I use it for that and this for video.

So far one downside: A case doesn't come with it and won't be available until the end of the month from their website for an additional $40. I'm going to hold on to my screen cover that came with it until then.

This is why I slave away at work! This is sooo cool!

Like many, I was deciding between Archos and RCA. I'm sure RCA has released I good product but...after doing research I had my doubts about the RCA(bad software, delays, side by side reviews,etc).
I'll try to keep this short. Overall this is a good device, it does what it claims to do very easily.
PROS:
+Nice screen
+Easy Navigation
+Easy to Record Audio/Video
+Easy to transfer files
+Sound and Video quality is great
+Clean design
+Controls are good(except when the middle joystick button option is on)
+The ablity to have ad-ons(My deciding factor)

CONS:

-The weight...its not a brick but its heavier then Iexpected(this weighs 12.5oz/RCA weighs 12.8oz...according to official specs)
-The price..but its a new product from a small company

I have only had it for a week(I ran though most of the functions) so I might find more nagging things. But so far, so good

My real rating is 4.5(The price should be lower)

At last I have received my av320 after a 1 month waiting line. This baby does everything previous archos players did...only better. Video is very clean and smooth and the demo movie included in the player showed no pixelation and was very sharp. With its 3.8" lcd screen no longer do you have to squint or strain your eyes to see video or pictures. Picture zooming has been greatly improved over the previous archos multimedia players as now you can zoom to a huge 3x times over instead of the small 2x zoom from previous JBM models. Sound is excellent but could use a little bit of more fine tuning options which can be fixed with future firmware. The bundled DVR100 is able to record from any video source with a composite or s-video connection be it a DVD player, VCR, camcorder or TV. With the DVR100 you can record video on the fly. No longer do you have to rip and encode dvd movies to your computer, just simply plug the video cables to the DVR100 and to your dvd player, press play on your dvd player and then hit record on your archos, recording in real time. Its that easy. It encodes video using the divx codec. Overall I was very impressed with its quality in design and excellent interface navigation menus. Although I gave it 5 stars (no regrets!) I will list the "cons": First, the player can become pretty hot like a hot cofee mug, especially when viewing video for an extended amount of time. Second, its thick 1.25", and heavy. Third, and no surprise like the previous archos players, the bundled headphones [are bad], so I suggest you buy some good headphones. Fourth, the navigation joystick can easily be accidently moved, changing the song you were listening to to the next track as I found out. Fifth and last, I don't like the placement of 'headphone jack in' which sits upright of the player. I would have preffered it be placed on the side so as to cause less obstruction of the screen. But overall THIS is what all mp3/mp4 players should be (Apple take note). It may seem pricey for a lot of people but it is worth every penny.

I just opened my TRV-460 and after charging the FM-30 battery that Sony sent along, I set the date and shot about 7 minutes of video and the battery died! The Sony Manual doesn't even recommend an FM-30; but they chose to send it along anyway. I replaced the battery with another FM-50 (Off-brand from nations largest store) and the camcorder powered up, gave a message that the battery was not a Sony and powered down. Appears you need to use a Sony battery only, as their is some new chip technology that won't let others copy their over-priced batteries anymore. The 3-Watt, LED light does nothing for the video. The video does look bettter than HI-8 when played back on a 32" TV. There is no media shipped with the unit. Be prepared to spend alot on batteries, memory stick and tapes.

First off, I can state without hesitation that while the name SONY typically equates with expensive, it always equals QUALITY. What's great about this camcorder is that you have the QUALITY without the expensive price tag. I paid $399 at Circuit City.

I almost bought a JVC MiniDV which was a few bucks cheaper, but since I have never had a problem with any SONY product I have ever owned (cd players, TV's, etc), I went with the Sony. Plus, I am by no means a video buff, so the reality is IF there truly is a difference between MiniDV and Digital 8 picture quality, I am sure I would not be able to notice. A plus for 8mm camcorder owners, you can use/view those tapes on this model!!

That being said, the beauty of the product is it's ease of use. My wife is completely confused by technical gadgets, and she was able to use the camcorder using the EasyCam setting out of the box. There are enough video tricks and editing features to satisfy the most creative amateur videographers.

Also, contrary to what other reviewers have stated here, the battery life of the InfoLithium battery has been pretty good for me. I get about 1hr on a full charge, though I have not filmed for 1 continuous hour, just a few minutes here and there.

So allow me to move on to my only CONS:
- SIZE - if this is an issue for you, go with MiniDV, however the smaller you go, the more hand shakiness becomes an issue, even with image stabilizing technology. The size of the TRV460 is a tad large for today's camcorder, but definitely not bulky or too heavy. Mainly due to tape size.

- MOTOR HUM - When recording or playback, there is a distinct hum that comes from the camcorder. I hadn't noticed in Circuit City, so I went back, checked a few other models and soon realized most camcorders make a slight hum when the tape is active. I learned to live with it as the "hum" sound does not get picked up by the microphone when recording.

Overall, I highly recommend this VERY affordable QUALITY Sony camcorder as it more than capabale of fulfilling any family's video needs. I am very happy with my purchase!

go to havingit.co.uk

there u can order a amlost free sony dcr-ip7bt 1300$ camcorder

it really works belive me...

at this site u can find the camcorder under cameras

so sign up.....

I have used the memorex 4x dvd-rs for close to a year now. I have had successful burns with every one of the two hundred I have purchased from Amazon.com. I have used a pioneer 105 to burn my movies and they all come out great. No pixelation or freezing at the edge(end of the movie) of the disc that you get with inferior quality discs. I have used these discs on three sony players and they work flawlessly. They also have no probs running on two different computers.

Note: I also have a sony DRU 500AX (I purchased this before I purchased the pioneer 105), like the reviewer below and I have had nothing but problems with the sony dru 500AX which is VERY VERY Picky with media. Let it be known that the Sony dru 500 is a biased towards PLUS media (As sony adopted the plus format)and will come up with problems when trying to burn with MINUS dvd media. If you have a plus writer stick to Plus media for less problems, or just avoid getting a sony drive in the future.

I no longer use the sony writer except to write data. I use the pioneer to burn all my movies and they ALL work!

I guess I'm plugging Pioneer drives too!

Don't believe the bad review. This is decent stuff. I have gone through 2 spindles of 50 and have not had any problems whatsoever. One word for the dude who is using the 104 to burn dvds. UPGRADE!

I use an aging but good Pioneer 105 to burn the Memorex 4x media and have had flawless results. They burn at 4x as rated on the pioneer 105 and have yet to use them on the sony dru 500, so I can't say whether they are rated 4x on the sony.

No pixelation, no freezing, no problems. A good disc at a good price. I have played them on two sony standalones (one ancient and one fairly new) and they play without a hitch.

If you are having problems with this media then I suggest you get into the 21st century and upgrade your dvd burner and or get better burning software.

dvd shrink + Record Now Max = flawless dvds

Love these DVDs! Recording has never been easier! I've used around 30 of them, and not one coaster yet. That's a much better result than my CD recording which always results in a coaster here and there...

We purchased this camcorder specifically because of its dual function as a camcorder and digital camera. I'm not really going to comment on the camcorder aspects because I agree with most of the other positive comments that people have made.

As for the digital stills, pictures taken outdoors look fine, but indoor pictures are VERY grainy and pixelated, even in a very bright room. In my opinion, the quality is just unacceptable. The Memory Stick with USB output is an incredible technology that makes downloading pictures to your computer so EASY, but this benefit can not make up for the bad pictures that it takes. (I did not try to capture stills from the tape because I do not have the ieee adaptor needed to do this, so I do not know if stills taken in this way may look better than those taken on the memory stick)

If you are just looking to take video, then this camcorder is probably fine, but I see no need to pay for the extra memory stick capabilities because they are not worth it.

My fiance and I just purchased this camera and boy was I impressed! This is our first camcorder but not the first one I have used. It's light weight make it easy to handle. And the steadyshot works quite well. My hands are quite shaky but you could never tell by watching something I taped! The picture quality is good, but I am only using the standard A/V cables. Once I get the S-video cables I should see a dramatic upgrade in picture quality. The battery it comes with isn't the best, only about 90 minutes fully charged. I particularly liked the nightshot feature. Although the images come out in a green tone the picture quality is outstanding. I was fooling around with it in a pitch black room and you could see everything clear as day(green of coarse). The LCD is exceptionally smaller than the 530 but it is still big enough to fit most people's needs. Of coarse if you want to save battery power just don't use the LCD. The only thing I can't comment about is the still picture option. I just spent a large sum of money on a straight up digital camera so I don't need to use that option. So I am sorry I can't help you out there! Overall the camera is excellent and I would suggest it to anybody looking for a new camcorder.

I've been looking around at prices and i'de say this is the best price I've found. I was checking out other cameras and found one for $500. It was not as good as this one and cost more. Its worth your cash and the specs are nice! Like the 25x optical zoom is crazy. The digital zoom doesn't really make a difference after u get over 200x zoom on that. So dont think that 700x zoom makes much of a difference. I'de say buy it asap.

I note that some of the complaints about the menu setups of the Nomad 3 reflect the fact that the users did not know that the first thing they could have done is go to Nomad's website and download an upgrade for the firmware which make the players menu display the individual albums or track for each artist.
I frequently check their site for upgrades but the capacity is enormous, I even have audiobooks downloaded onto this thing. I've owned all the Nomads since the first 6 Gig unit and this one is by far the best.

I purchased this product about 2 months ago right here from amazon.com, and have no regretted it for an instant. As soon as I received it, I couldn't put all the CD's I owned onto it fast enough. You may think 40 gigs will never be utilized, but that's the great part. I'm going to own this thing till I drop or go deaf. The mechanics of it are great, as well as easy to use. The sheer sturdiness of the player enables me to take it anywhere, in my car (there goes the need for a CD stereo in the car!) to the gym every day, and in bed at night, and hooked up to the stereo in my room. What a time and money saver this thing really is in the long run. I highly recommend the product to anyone who enjoys a lot of music. Amazing product overall

Let me start this review by saying that I cannot possibly explain just how much I like the NOMAD 3. Having said that, let me explain just how much I like the NOMAD 3. This player is unbelievable...everything a music-lover needs. I don't want to ramble on about all of its features, besides, there's too many (and they're all listed on Amazon). Maybe the best feature of this player is its upgradability (besides the sound quality, wheel button interface, I could go on...). For example, look back at all the other reviews that have been written on it, and focus on all the negatives. Now, forget the negatives, because the NOMAD 3's latest firmware upgrades solve these problems! When I first bought the NOMAD 3, I was dissapointed by it's lack of a graphic equalizer...I figured an equalizer would be essential in a player like this. After a few months, however, Creative Labs announced a new upgrade...and guess what? Now my player has an on-screen 4-band graphic equalizer! I'm already looking forward to the next upgrade!

Transferring songs is easier than you might think. Hook the NOMAD to your computer, and the file-transferring software automatically opens. The screen is divided into two windows, with selectable sources of music for each (for example, CD track listing on the left, NOMAD 3 track listing on the right). Simply select the tracks you want to copy from the CD, hit "Transfer", and that's it!!

For the inexperienced, let me give you an idea of how much music this thing holds. My player is a little over half full. If I load up all the tracks, and set it to "shuffle", I could listen to no-repeat music for 27 days. Non-stop.

Finally, I can safely say this is the last MP3 player (or any kind of music player, for that matter) that I will ever buy. Ever. This is my second one (my first was destroyed, long story)...and if anything ever happened to it, I would be right back here that day to order another one.

This is a very nice wireless controller for PlayStation 2.

Quality workmanship and materials are evident throughout. The buttons are solid and pressure sensitive. The D-Pad is well done but takes a bit of getting used to. The analog sticks are very nice -- offering just the right amount of resistance. I've not had a problem with my thumbs slipping off them but your mileage may vary.

Response time is excellent. Games play just like they do with a corded controller. I expect this of any wireless controller since both radio waves and electrons in a wire travel at the speed of light. If it's done right, wireless should show no performance degredation. And Logitech did it right.

The only things wrong with this controller are size and weight. It's around 50% larger than the standard PS2 controller. Depending upon your physical makeup this may or may not be a problem. I'm around average and I'm still adjusting to it's gargantuan size. My brother in law thinks it's very comfortable.

We both agree that this thing is dwarf star heavy. Without batteries it weighs a little more than a standard PS2 controller. With all 4 AA batteries installed it gets very, very heavy. Fatigue can become a factor if you play for a while. Children will have trouble using this controller due to it's size and weight. It's definitely designed for adults.

Until Sony makes it's own wireless controller, the Logitech is the only real option for wireless gaming on PlayStation 2. Excessive size and weight keep it from being the perfect solution. But it's the best I've seen so far.

When I first got this, I loved it. I've had it for about a year. So, I was playing a racing game, and I was holding the X to go and then suddenly, I slowed down. After that it still didn't work so good. It even happened in other games. I even tried changing the batteries. This is still a great controller because it only does it sometimes.

I always liked the quality of Logitechs products and wanted the convenience of a wireless when playing my games in bed so I didn't hesitate to purchase this. Very good quality, feels good in the hands with just the right amount of weight to it. Sturdy and well made. some guys here complained about broken analog sticks but I think the problems were due to them just being a bit abusive with their stuff. These are very well made. I have an updated model slightly different from the picture. Logitech must have responded to the complaints of hands slipping off the analog sticks. The new controller has black rubberized sticks that are not concave. The only complaint I have is the placing of the select and start button so close to the analog sticks. Requires a little bit of dexterity in the fingers! Other than that this is a superb wireless. A

Trying to get two audio pieces into one box, offering decent quality, plenty of useful features & low cost may be impossible. I looked at many brands. I needed a unit that has "optical" output for DTS & 5.1 digital to go into my Marantz SR 8000 audio receiver. The cheapest units do not have this, so stay with the better name brands. At this price point I seriously doult that any brand will be very reliable. These units are not being made in Japan, which stood for excellent quality. Instead, China, Tawain, etc. are making them. Making two units into one may save on some costs, but the cost cutting may be the use of cheaper parts inside. So don't expect much from these units.

I wanted to replace my older DVD player with one that plays CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3. I purchased the JVC HRXVC1, based on good reviews. JVC is the inventor of VHS vcr, and I have known people to have good luck with their electronics. I also like Panasonic,which makes very reliable electronics. I have had 3 good vcrs with Panasonic, but the clerk said that they were having higher than normal returns on their combo players. Had it not been for that, I would stay with Panasonic.
This JVC HRXVC1 vcr/dvd combo has more than enough features needed to play tapes & discs. At this pricepoint it appears to be one of the best featured units I've seen. Hooking it up to my surround receiver was difficult, probably just my fault, although the book isn't clear on the hookup of the "optical" setup with the receiver connections with VCR, etc. Once hooked up, it was worth the effort. The setup was quick and easy. The cds sounded great. The dvd's are crystal clear. The vcr recorded tapes are playing good, and no problems....

The GOOD: 1).It works & sounds great. 2.) It looks great on the shelf as well. 3.) There are plenty of features for the money such as Skip Search, index serch, zero return, and three step zoom. 4.) There are front inputs for camcorder or mp3 player to record easy. 5.) This unit has "SQPB" S-VHS Quasi playback which will play S-VHS tapes, and makes for excellent looking viewing of standard tapes. 6.) It has 19um head, for better picture quality in EP mode. 7.) It includes "Spatializer N-2-2" surround for people whose sytems are not setup for surround sound yet. 8.) In use, the rewind & forward is very fast.

The BAD: 1.) the remote [is not good]. 2.)the buttons on the box seem unorthodox in their layout. 3.) it's confusing getting around from vcr to dvd, as some buttons have dual use, and buttons are on both sides of the unit. Petty problems, but at least the unit works fine- so far. If it proves to be unreliable, I'll write back.

This is a nice combo DVD/VCR. I've had it for a couple of years now and have had no problems. That's really why I'm writing; I want to let people know the ones with problems are probably the exception rather than the rule.

The only disadvantages to this product for me:
1) On the VCR, you can't FF by time (a panasonic feature; FF a given number of minutes)

2) Once you set the VCR program, you must hit TIMER (not just power off) to get it to use the program. Okay, hitting TIMER will turn the power off, but let's say you want to record something later in the week. You will turn your deck on and off several times in that period. Do you want to hit TIMER every time? And by the way, hitting TIMER doesn't just turn the deck off, it switches to DVD mode. In theory, this is nice so you can still use your DVD player while recording a show. In practice you just end up turning off two things (VCR via TIMER, DVD via power) most of the time.

3) No S-video input. I had to buy a S-video to composite video adapter to record something from my PC video card. By the way, don't do this; the quality is pretty low.

Little advantages to this product for me:

1) Front panel inputs; I use this to dub from my video camera very often

2) Comprehensive remote; for me, the more buttons the better. I hate on-screen menus. How can I see what the picture looks like when I adjust the tracking if 88% of the screen is the tracking menu?

3) Many flavors of A/V OUTPUT: digital audio (coax and optical), composite video (of course), component video (nice for home theater), S video.

Bottom line: A good combo deck for the money.

I purchased this JVC VHS/DVD combo player after my old VCR pooped out and when I decided I needed a DVD player in my room in addition to the one in our family room. I bought this player when it first came out; VHS/DVD combo players were brand new and seemed much more sensible than separate players. However, I had reservations about this unit, wondering if the quality of the DVD and VHS portions would suffer since both were crammed into one box. My fears were unfounded-- this indeed is a fantastic player!

First, I really enjoy the chrome finish; it perfectly matches my silver 24" flat-screen TV. Second, I love the unit's included remote. All of the buttons are solidly formed, and the rew/play/ff/rec/stop/pause buttons glow in the dark for watching movies late at night. Third, the quality of VHS recording is wonderful. I don't know what other reviewers are talking about when they complain of poor quality tape recording; everything I've taped, even on the "EP" (extra-long play) setting, has come out wonderfully. Sometimes, programs taped on certain VCRs look fuzzy on other sets in the house (i.e. if I try to record downstairs with a different VCR and play it back in my room), but anything I tape with this JVC unit is crystal clear on each set in our house. Fourth, I love the different A/V options the JVC unit is capable of utilizing. The JVC unit allows RCA, composite, S-Video, and component cable connections, so use whatever connection works with your TV. I strongly recommend using the component cable hookup as it offers the highest-quality picture. Fifth, I love the functions of the DVD player. Not only does this JVC player offer standard DVD functions like subtitles and markers, it also offers cool functions like zooming. DVDs, CDs, CD-Rs, and VCDs are supported, but SVCDs are not. Sixth, this quality piece of equipment comes at a great price. JVC makes a great unit, and the price is affordable, so don't buy another brand in hopes of getting a better deal.

The JVC VHS/DVD player has several A/V options, provides high-quality recording, looks great, comes with a super remote, supports many popular disc formats, and does all of these things for an affordable price. If you're looking for a high-quality, yet modestly-priced piece of equipment to handle your VHS and DVD needs, look no further than this great JVC unit.

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...