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Panasonic 27" TV / HDD recorder ReplayTV combo $398.98

P

pkypkypky

Golden Member
Panasonic 27" PanaBlack? TV/ShowStopper® Hard Disk Recorder Combo

Got it in my email, sounds hot to me. Lowest is $680 on pricegrabber. Wish I had the money to jump on this
rolleye.gif
 
Just a heads up to everyone, Since panasonic has dropped development of these units, they will not be updated to the latest version of the Replay Software. A few of the features that do not exist on these units:

1) Show padding - Being able to record friends for 35 minutes instead of 30 b/c the network never starts it on time.

2) Myreplaytv.com - Being able to schedule recordings over the internet through the website

3) Manual recordings - You can only record based on the information in the channel guides themselves.

I think there are a few more features in the 3.0 version of the software that I don't remember off the top of my head.

It is still a good system with a good interface at a good price, just won't get the latest and greatest features.

-Scyber
 
From the web page:
ShowStopper PVHS1000 High Capacity Hard Disc Drive with easy One Touch Recording*

... Blah-blah-blah ...

*Phone line required


WTF is that? I need to pay monthly fee to use basic recording features??? Anybody with ShowStopper experience, could you please explain?

Thanks!
 


<< From the web page:
WTF is that? I need to pay monthly fee to use basic recording features??? Anybody with ShowStopper experience, could you please explain?

Thanks! >>



The units have a modem which dials in every night to download the channel guide information. For ReplayTVs/Showstoppers there is no monthly fee outside of the possible cost of the call. There are a large number of dial in numbers so most people in the US shoudl be able to find a local one.

Anymore questions (I own 3 replaytv units, well 2 showstoppers and 1 replay, but the standalone units are identical)?

-Scyber
 
Scyber, I own one of PVHS-1000 standalone units and it runs latest software, it will get updated to the latest version fist night you get it
It will have all the features you mentioned.
 


<< Scyber, I own one of PVHS-1000 standalone units and it runs latest software, it will get updated to the latest version fist night you get it
It will have all the features you mentioned. >>



No it won't. The TV/showstopper combo units use a customized version of the 2.0 software (for some reason 2.6 sticks in my head). This is completely different than that standalone units. They had a customized version because of the integration between the TV and the recorder.

-Scyber
 
Well you should have been more specific than "Since panasonic has dropped development of these units, they will not be updated to the latest version of the Replay Software"
So standalone unit are getting updated, combos are not?
Not like I would buy a combo
 
Scyber,

Thanks for explanation. Another question: is ReplayTV as hackable as TiVo? I'm trying to get as much info as possible b4 getting any of these. So far I know that TiVo is easily hackable to upgrade HD & backup shows (some additional hardware needed). On the other hand, TiVo is useless without paid subscription 🙁

The 3rd choice is something like this--no problems with storage upgrade or video extraction 😉

Any comment is welcome.
 

I think I'll pass. Shipping of this product is $49.99, which is a lot more expensive than tax.


Thanks.
-Chuen-
 


<< Scyber, Thanks for explanation. Another question: is ReplayTV as hackable as TiVo? I'm trying to get as much info as possible b4 getting any of these. So far I know that TiVo is easily hackable to upgrade HD & backup shows (some additional hardware needed). On the other hand, TiVo is useless without paid subscription 🙁 The 3rd choice is something like this--no problems with storage upgrade or video extraction 😉 Any comment is welcome. >>



The ReplayTV/Showstoppers are just as hackable as the TiVo's. Go to the AVS Forum LINK for info and links to sites with downloadable software to add new hard drives and disable macrovision on the Showstoppers. I personally upgraded my 30 hour Showstopper to 80 hours and disabled macrovision with no problem at all. Your 3rd choice requires a PC and the convenience, picture quality and ease of use will suffer. Even though I have a Showstopper and really love it (it'll change the way you watch TV), I'd recommend getting a TiVo because the future of Sonic Blue (current owner of ReplayTV) and availability of the free/prepaid channel guide service is questionable. IMHO
 


<< Well you should have been more specific than "Since panasonic has dropped development of these units, they will not be updated to the latest version of the Replay Software"
So standalone unit are getting updated, combos are not?
Not like I would buy a combo >>



Since the thread concerns the combo units, I had thought everyone would have known that "these units" refered to the combo units. But that is sematics, as long as it is clear now.

Re: Hackability
If you now how to change a harddrive in a computer you will be able to upgrade the harddrive in the standalone Replays (note that you should always try to get 5400rpm drives to upgrade with due to heat). I paid for 3 30 hour units, but upgraded them to 80, 60 and 60 very easily.

If you have a win2k box there is a nice gui program you can use to configure a new harddrive (I am pretty sure it works in XP also, not confident, follow the link posted above by Z80 I am sure it will go into it). I am not sure if anyone has successfully upgraded a combo unit yet. The programs should work the same, but it is probably alot harder to open the machine up to get to the drives. Also there may not be room to mount a 2nd drive. Go to avsforum.com and post a message and there will be plenty of people to help you out. Technically, the boxes can support up to 2 120gb drives (for a total of 240gb), but some users have reported problems when you go over 150gb total. It has to do with the ram in the machine so if you have over 150gb and alot programs scheduled to record, you may encounter problems.

I plan on eventually upgrading all of my machines to 140gb (one 80 gb drive and one 60gb drive). That will give me over 40 hours at high quality per machine which is more than enough for me

Scyber
 
nlieber: does it make noise when dialing? nitpicking I know, but I don't wanna be woken up during my 3 hours of sleep between gaming and school
 


<< nlieber: does it make noise when dialing? nitpicking I know, but I don't wanna be woken up during my 3 hours of sleep between gaming and school >>



Nope.
 
Scyber, FYI - I couldn't get the GUI upgrade program to work under XP. I had to use a PC that was running Win2K and it worked like a charm. I downloaded a drive image that some guy on AVS Forum had already installed the macrovision hack on so I didn't have to install or backup my original Showstopper 30GB drive.
 
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