The best choice out of some very good options
Written: Oct 01 '02 (Updated Dec 12 '02)
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Pros: Works with any source (cable, antenna, and satellite), free service, Instant Replay and commercial skip
Cons: Missing some programming features
The Bottom Line: This is the best value, has fantastic features, and will be flexible if you ever change your cable, antenna, or satellite setup.
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| dmsilva1's Full Review: Panasonic PV-HS2000 Showstopper (30.4 GB) 30-Hours... |
This review will not bore you with the reasons why you should get a PVR system- hopefully that is obvious by now. I'm just going to focus on telling why I chose the Panasonic Showstopper PV-HS3000 vs. the competition.
I took forever to make my decision on which unit to buy. I finally decided on the Showstopper because it was the best value and I liked its basic feature set the most.
First off you just can't beat ReplayTV's instant replay and commercial skip functions- Tivo and Ultimate TV don't match it (not sure about DishNetworks PVR).
Instant Replay: Why is this so cool?
1) sports- never miss that key play. I know the broadcaster do instant replay, hell sometimes they bore you to tears with instant replays during the 90 second challenges, but what about all those amazing plays that these guys don't decide to replay a key play.
2) Dialog- How many times do you miss that key minor little detail that helps the whole scene make sense.
3) Comedy- never miss a joke, and repeat the good ones (my wife and I must have sat for about 5 minutes replaying a standup comic that just struck us funny- it was great, and we didn't miss the follow on jokes).
Commercial Skip Look this is simple, you miss the commercials and save time, but why else?
1) Commercial skip = 30 seconds, Football huddle = 30 second. Yup commercial skip through boring commentary, never missing a play and finish a game in less than an hour! I only do this during the boring games, or when my wife is on my case with chores.
2)Skip the all the intro. Almost every show has a 30 or 60 second intro to the episode- either a theme song, or a review of what happened last week (something totally unnecessary if you are catching up on 2 weeks of TV at once :).
Another huge plus was no service fees- and this was BEFORE TiVo raised their rates, gee I wonder if that will happen again?
Independant
Not only is the monthly fee annoying with Tivo, but the best TiVo units are also married to digital satellite systems. Now don't get me wrong, a 2 tuner DirectTV unit with TiVo is fantastic, and I wish I had that ability with my ReplayTV, but A) that only helps me on 1 receiver (I have 3 TVs), and B) if I ever change to Dish Networks, or cable, or if the unit ever breaks I'm out of luck.
That is why I chose to buy 3 units, I record shows on two TVs at the same time. What is great about this system is that the second TV show is often the kids programs, which I want recorded in the family room anyway. This has worked out fantastic. I admit it can be confusing, but it keeps the mature content away from the kids, and I don't have to see another Barney episode!
Ok, I might have went overboard, but it really works for me. I considered the ReplayTV 4000 which would allow me to share programs between units- this would help since I sometimes want to watch a program late at night in the bedroom that I recorded elsewhere, but the price is just too high. For the price of one ReplayTV 4000 I got 3 Panasonic units (good deals on Ubid last December and January rebates :).
The only real problem I have is that it lacks the ability to distinguish between new shows and repeats. This means that when I set up a program to record it will record the repeat even if it has to overwrite a new program that I have not watched. You can minimize this risk with smart programming, but it should be much easier (I have since found that it does not always record the same show, but I don't why it does or does not duplicate the recording. It does seem that it usually does not record the show twice).
Another minor issue is no timeline. The Tivo has a nice timeline that it uses to show you where you are in the program. It would be nice from time to time.
On the other had, one great feature is the ability to A) browse the channel guide WITHOUT changing the channel- the channel is only changed when you click 'select', and while you are surfing the channel guide you can still see the program in the background. This may seem minor, but I can't tell you how many times I have set up a week's worth of custom recording while listening to the news or to a comedy routine I recorded from comedy central. As an avid TV fan I can take up to 20-30 minutes to find different shows I want, and it is great to actually be entertained while I'm doing it- it doesn't feel like wasted time- and if I ever miss a joke or a visual gag I just instant replay it- awesome.
Update - A word on price
Someone asked where I bought my Replays for such a deal. I responded to that in the comments, but I thought I should make a few comments in the body of the review about the pricing of these units.
For those of you that do not know ReplayTV and Tivo sold all of their units below cost to get the industry going. This is not only a well established practice with new technology, but since both companies grew up in the Silicon Valley Dot.Com boom years it was probably taken to extremes. In short, I don't think you can look at a ReplayTV as something that should cost the same price as an expensive VCR or DVD player. The ReplayTV not only records your programs, but provides a very very useful programming guide. Once you try the fast back and commercial advance features you will never ever want to go back.
The only downside is that I almost hate watching TV at other people's house. The Thought of LIVE TV (shudder), makes me cringe.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299
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Epinions.com ID:
dmsilva1
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Member: David Silva
Location: San Jose, CA
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Born and raised in Silicon Valley. I'm in high tech, but my passion is soccer.
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