I''m an avid ReplayTV fanboi, in the interest of full disclosure. So yeah, I love it. The devices are very much alike, with a few key differences. From what I understand, TiVo is more of a ""user-friendly"" interface; in that you have less control over what it does. Hear me out Tivo fanbois, I''ll explain. The Tivo predicts what you want to record, records shows like it, etc. etc. That in my mind takes hard drive space that I could otherwise use to record exactly what I want. Just a personal preference. With my ReplayTV, it''s just find show, ""record all episodes"", move on. Upgrading my ReplayTV''s hard drive was a snap, I bought a 5040 and put a 160GB drive in there. I documented the whole process (with pictures) here. There''s also lots of good information at http://www.replaytvfaq.com/ .

As for other features. I love the Commercial Advance that Replay has, but it''s not available on newer models due to legal reasons. It''s still on mine though. Basically it detects commercials and skips them automatically. Works about 80% of the time for network TV. Otherwise, I just hit the 30 second skip a few times. Programming shows via myreplaytv.com works well, though you need to do it at least a day in advance of the show you want to record. This is because it obviously won''t learn of the command to record something until it ""phones home"" each night.

The other thing I really like about Replay vs. Tivo is that Replay''s are so much more accessible. By that, I mean that it comes with ethernet built-in (Tivo doesn''t), and programs like DVArchive let you save shows to your PC for burning onto DVD, etc. ReplayTV units can also talk to each other and stream shows to each other over a home network, Tivo makes you pay a hundred bucks extra for that luxury.

So, overall, I love my ReplayTV. Can''t live without it. However, if you''re going for casual use ( just recording and watching on one tv with no home network) then either unit would be good for you. Let me know if you have any other questions, I''d be happy to answer them.

This is a little misleading. I use my Tivo in the exact same way, I click ""Record all Episodes"" or ""Record this"" or whatever and move on. Tivo works the exact same way as ReplayTV in this regard, the suggestion stuff is just extra. You can turn off the suggestions stuff, and the suggested recordings are the first thing deleted when you need HDD space. So in reality it''s not keeping you from recording anything, when you need space the suggestions are deleted pronto.

Also, all the stuff you mention about ReplayTV and networking comes in the Home Media Option, complete with software to get your shows and burn them to DVD, or you can even just get your own USB ethernet adapter and install some open source software to share your shows for free.

Now the reason I have Tivo is the DirecTV/Tivo combo. Not only is it an all digital recording solution (from satellite to your hard drive), but it''s very cheap. Sometimes you can get them for free when signing up for DirecTV. Unfortunately you can''t get the Home Media Option with the DirecTV model, but you can get a USB ethernet card and install the linux driver for it then install software to share your shows for free. It''s a pain in the ass with the DTV unit though, much either on the normal model.

The hard drive thing, it''s pretty easy. There''s walkthroughs everywhere.

I''d pay extra for that ''feature''.

Thanks for the replies. Would you go lifetime sub or month-to-month?

If you can afford it, and you think you''re going to have it more than, say, 2 years, I say buck up and do the lifetime sub.

I''ve had mine since Christmas, junior year of college, (so 3 years in December) and I pay, what, 10.99 a month? So that''s almost $400 so far, and I don''t plan on stopping anytime soon. It was NOT the right decision, IMO.

Having used a Gen1 Tivo with cable (upgraded with NIC/HardDrive), DirecTivo (upgraded the HardDrive), and lately being forced to use cable again with a ReplayTV, I have a few observations.

Gen1 Tivo with a NIC upgrade was amazingly hackable (including the ability to make it Replay-like (see below). Plus they are dirt cheap now.

DirecTivo is the only way I will ever have DirecTV again (pending ReplayTV that is). Not easily hackable, but you can upgrade the HD. The interface (TV listings) was too slow and from what I have read this is also found in the HD version. It is essentially TiVo for DTV although minus some of the Gen2 features. Basically. it does what it is intended to do nothing more. Tivo still has the best UI.

ReplayTV - If DirectTV offered this I would offer them my kingdom. ReplayTV is in a nutshell a DVR for nerd/techies/videophiles. Component out, Digital out (Tivo has this), built-in NIC, commercial skip, etc. Incredibly hackable. One word: DVArchive. This little applet lets me move, watch (streaming video), archive any recorded shows on the ReplayTV via my PC. I can also store shows on a PC and watch it from the ReplayTV (think limitless storage). The downside is the Replay''s interface leaves alot to be desired compared to Tivo.

/end babble...

Nothing other than Wise Choice.

DirecTV/Tivo owner here and we''re going for a second one upstairs. You just cannot go back to watching regular TV after using one. DirecTV has a purchase deal and a pretty decent rate on their units.

Now question of the day is can I network them?

Snapstream has no subscription cost at all and is basically infinitely upgradeable. It does require some sort of HTPC but these days you can always get a cheap Shuttle and hide it. I''m very happy with Snapstream personally and wouldn''t trade it for three TiVos.

I had considered going the HTPC route but I don''t have the funds to put towards a 1000$ box. I can pay less than half of that and have everything I need with no further pay out.

Ultimately I will build a HTPC and networked RAID share just for the TV media.

What wonderful timing for this post - my wife and I are also considering a Tivo for Christmas. My concern about Replay TV is the possiblity of loss of service. From what I''ve been able to gather, which isn''t much, Tivo seems more likely to stick around in the long run -- name recognition, Replay TV''s already been bankrupt once, etc....etc...

Added: I should point out that I may be grossly misinformed. Please correct as necessary.

You need to do a ''blow-by-blow'' on this. How you did it? Why? How much it cost? What components? etc. I very much need to start researching this for the house.

I have a Tivo. GReat device. IT''s currently $70.94 after rebate with free shipping and no tax from amazon.com.

I modified my Tivo. PUt in a larger hard drive cause in reality a 40 hr model is actually a 20 hr model. This process is easy to do however. And the instructions are detailed and easy to follow. SEarch for Hinsdale how to guide on the net. This is pretty much a must imo unless you just a buy a larger sized Tivo.

As for Replay compared to Tivo. I can''t really compare cause I haven''t used both but I can tell you want Tivo does.

It does let you network it to an ethernet network. YOu just need a usb-ethernet adapter.

You can skip commercials easily and rapidly by fast fast forwarding thru them. IT does it in about 3-5 seconds.

You can access your Tivo via the net to schedule recordings.

Once your Tivo is networked you can play music that sits on your computer thru your Tivo and thus your home stereo. YOur TV lists the songs on your computer. You can shuffle songs etc. Also you can use the Tivo to stream pictures from your computer to your TV screen. You put them in a slideshow format.

Tivo does try and record programs it thinks you might like. But as someone said this doesn''t take up extra room cause these programs are first in line to be deleted when Tivo needs more room for the shows you tell it to record. You can also turn it off. I like the suggestions tho. They are all stored in the suggestions folder outta the way and Tivo does find some shows that you didn''t know were on that are similar to shows you like and that turn out to be worth watching.

Tivo is very easy to use. Put in say, ''Al Pacino'', and TiVo will record any ''Al Pacino'' movie. You can search for Tv programs via the name or a TV guide and set it up easily to record every episode. new or rerun or both. You can tell it to keep 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, ... Al Pacinos movies at a time before deleting them to make room for a new one. You can tell it to delete programs when you need room or wait till you delete them yourself. You can tell Tivo to start recording early or keep recording after the show is supposed to be done. Handy for sports trust me.

Also with the Tivo you have a priority list for the shows you want to record. If two shows are on at the same time then Tivo record the one with the highest priority. It''s a simple numbered list and you can graphically shuffle the list around by just basically hitting the up/down arrows on the remote.

Tivo also will soon let you transfer your recorded programs to your computer and let you burn them to DVD etc. It''s called TivotoGo and sounds like it will be done this month sometime.

Also Tivo does allow you outta the box to stream shows between Tivos. No extra charge. No extra charge for any of these features.

First up a quick note - Tivo does allow you to network it but DirecTivo does not.

I would love to go the HTPC route now but the Hauppage cards I''d want along with the case, high end proc, RAM and other parts is still more money than the wife is willing to let me part with. Like I said, I can pay 400$ now and not pay another dime other than a DIY hard drive upgrade. In return I get a snooze alarm on buying the components to build a HTPC and I get the time to woo the wife on the device and its features.

I''m a computer freak. I have linux, windows and my old commodore64 hanging around here (wait till I get my indigo box up baby!). Everything is networked and my hope is to go rack mounted servers by the time our first future kid is 5. So the reason for the RAID is this - I have over a 1000 CDs and it was a bitch to get them all ripped and untagged (I''m now going through retagging them) and my media PCs hard drive is starting to fail. Luckily I have a RSYNC back up of the whole drive on another PC in the garage and while I will be going back and reripping the discs that were done first (I only did them in 128bit rate since drive space was a bit more expensive in the day) I don''t want to redo them and redo them and redo them like some unending project ala the Golden Gate Bridge paintjob.

The plan is to build a terabyte SATA RAID (250G will be for parity so real space is 750GB) for all my media that will be RSYNCd to another box for backup. Unpacking the CD boxes is not an option and one day I hope to be able to put the DVD boxes right next to them in the attic. I hope to have the RAID box stood up by summer 2005.

Is the lifetime for TiVo and ReplayTV like lifetime for XM and Sirius? Lifetime of the unit, but if you buy another unit, you have to pony up for another lifetime?

I tried Snapstream, there is an option to pad the begining/ending time of the recording with a given number of minutes. Still undecided about whether I want to go a DVR or HTPC route.