Word: replaytv
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DVRs are fairly expensive, however, and as I have discovered, they are still a few bloopers short of a director's cut. There are two leading technologies competing for the market: TiVo, which is cheaper but charges a monthly fee, and ReplayTV, which is the one I've been living with for the past three weeks...
...began by ordering a Panasonic ShowStopper ($800), which comes with ReplayTV built in. Despite having an installation diagram that looks like a Jackson Pollock mural, the ShowStopper was surprisingly quick and easy to set up. If your TV doesn't have those red-white-yellow AV inputs (mine doesn't), you'll have to route it through something that does, like a VCR. Once your DVR is up and running, you plug it into a phone jack, so that it can download the week's program listings. (ReplayTV automatically makes a short phone call every morning at around...
...wire homes with high-speed data connections, similar to today's cable in capacity except--a big except--that they allow two-way communication and, above all (this being America), commerce. Meanwhile, our more adventurous neighbors are starting to install digital TV "set-top" peripherals, from WebTV to ReplayTV and TiVo, that allow them to surf the Web onscreen, interact with programming, store TV shows on hard discs or even--horrifying to broadcasters--skip all those commercials...
...players download program schedules that pop up on the screen, where you click on a show rather than punching in times and channels and hoping you have got it right. This feature is free with Replay, while TiVo charges $9.95 a month, $99 a year or $199 lifetime. The ReplayTV box, currently sold only online, starts at $699; TiVo, recently arrived in retail stores...
...over people who have given up mastering their VCRs. The result, if users embrace it, is the telefuturist's grail: TV on demand. "It takes away the meaning of prime time," says Rob Enderle, an analyst at Giga Information Group. "The time a show is broadcast becomes meaningless." ReplayTV allows users to create "channels" based on search criteria, like home-improvement shows or Steve McQueen movies. TiVo lets you search by category and makes recommendations based on how you have rated other programs...