IEI / ISIGNAGER-510HWL / RISC-Based Digital Signage Player Solution (HDMI, S-Video, VGA and Composite outputs)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Moxi Mate MP-1000 Digital Video Recorder (Black)
The MOXI DVR unit itself is by far the best DVR ever made. Unfortunately, the Moxi Mate (this review) is simply a gigantic disappointment. The concept is OK, but the implementation is just extremely poor. Essentially, the Moxi Mate is acting as a relay point between a Moxi DVR and the TV the mate is connected to. It simply pulls data from the DVR and projects it on the TV. In theory, this seems OK because it allows the user to view live tv and recorded content from the Moxi Mate without having to purchase another expensive DVR or rent another cablecard. The problem with this is that the Moxi Mate is just a middle man, and a very very slow, sluggish one. It doesn't have a tuner itself, so it has to pull video from the Moxi DVR, and not from the coax cable itself. Every single user input is very slow and it takes the unit about 4-6 seconds to change channels and to recognize fast forward, rewind, and play commands, making the Mate simply unusable. I am not sure why the Mate has a hard time pulling video from the DVR and why it acts so sluggish. My home network is very sophisticated and wired and I do not experience any latency issued between any of my devices. I even spoke with tech support and they said that delay in the Moxi Mate is normal, which really is a bad sign that the delay and sluggishness is expected. The Moxi Mate SHOULD work without delay, as I have other devices that essentially do the same thing (stream video from one device and project it on another) with an Apple TV and an XBOX360. These devices do the same thing a Moxi Mate does (except for streaming live TV), but do so without the delay. This means that technology exists to stream HD video from another device on the local network, just the Moxi Mate simply does not do a good job of it.I bought the 3 room bundle (3 tuner DVR and 2 mates). LOVED the DVR, but hated the mates. I returned the mates and bought a 2nd DVR (only 2 tuner this time), and for my 3rd room, just used a vintage series TiVo.
I'd recommend people absolutely buy the Moxi DVRs instead of these mates. It is costlier, but it's best to have an actual DVR for each TV that you frequently watch, and for less used TVs, just plug straight into the wall, or rent a cheap standard def set-top box. Remember, if you've got a newer digital TV, even if you plug straight into the wall, you STILL get major networks (Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc) in HD without any equipment, and you get your standard cable channels in standard def.
Either way, AVOID the mate for now until they fix the extreme laggy issues which make it unusuable.
Moxi Mate MP-1000 Digital Video Recorder (Black)
Monday, April 19, 2010
RCA Akimbo Video On Demand Player Featuring the Akimbo Service
I got the Akimbo & plugged it in & connected it, no problem. The challenge I have with it is that after paying a $9.99 monthly subscription fee, I really expected to see some good content. But what I've found is that all of the good, premium shows & movies cost more--a couple of bucks individually. The shows that come with the monthly subscription seem to be lower tier national geographic/short form/special interest type of programming. It doesn't grab me as worth the monthly subscription fee & I find I'm not watching it enough to justify.The other frustrating thing for me was that after getting it all to work initially, I had to go download the content, which basically took overnight since it's coming through my broadband connection. I'm not opposed to content being downloaded, but I what I really would have liked would have been a bunch of content preloaded on the device & "just there" so that I could get started watching!
The Akimbo UI is good and intuitive. They've done a good job integrating account management controls from the PC as well.RCA Akimbo Video On Demand Player Featuring the Akimbo Service
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The CD Library QSH20DVR4R 4-Channel 200GB Digital Video Recorder
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Remanufactured HUMAX T800F 80 Hour Digital Video Recorder with TiVo
I've not had the priv. of dealing with Humax customer service so can't attest to the other reviews out here - although we may have to now since we're just now starting to have lock-up problems. All I can say is we've had our Humax for a couple of years now and absolutely love it. It's been problem-free and does everything it should. We especially love the ability to burn our recorded shows directly to DVD. We have another unit that's not a Humax and I doesn't have the DVD capability - I hope we can find another Humax as I don't want to be reduced to just the standard TiVo features.Remanufactured HUMAX T800F 80 Hour Digital Video Recorder with TiVo
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Philips HDR112 Tivo Digital Video Recorder
DVR's are great. I have 3 -- 2 Replays and a Tivo. I highly recommend them over VCR's for all the reasons you read in all the reviews. They also work quite well with few glitches, so I hadn't had much chance to test their tech support, until recently. My Tivo unit is not properly contacting the server to download the program directory. This has been going on for over 2 weeks, so now my unit won't record at all. Tivo support lines have 30 min+ waits to get through. Online support is very limited. Upon getting thru to the first Tivo number, finally, they sent me to a second Philips number, and they were closed, with limited business hours. It would be one thing if this were just bad out-of-warranty hardware support, we're all used to that. However, Tivo is charging $12/month for the directory service and to not be willing to even take my call on it is frustrating.
I've had no problems with 2 Replay TV units, which I've owned longer, and would recommend them over Tivo. Functionally, the units are essentially the same -- Tivo's slightly easier to use but Replay is slightly more flexible. My next unit will be another Replay.Philips HDR112 Tivo Digital Video Recorder
Philips DSR7000 Combination TiVo/DIRECTV Satellite Receiver
I've had 6 Tivos but up until now, they have all been freestanding (TiVo1 and TiVo2) units. I switched to satellite about a year ago and was thrilled to find that DirecTV was offering Tivos.....Until I brought mine home. What they DON'T tell you is that DirecTV TiVo is designed and built for DirecTV only. It DOES NOT record cable or over the air broadcasts, it DOES NOT support networking (a fantastic feature for getting your schedule via Internet and sharing shows between multiple TiVos in a household) and, because it doesn't support networking, it also doesn't support the Home Media Option (which allows you to stream audio and images from your PC to your TiVo). It also doesn't support web based scheduling requests or the soon to be released TiVo-to-Go. These are all features that are central to the TiVo culture and I'm amazed that DirecTV has crippled their version of the TiVo service. I'd happily pay out the few bucks a month to add a DirecTV unit to my TiVo subscription, but DirecTV doesn't allow for it. The long and short of it is that this is not a fully enabled TiVo and there isn't much you can do about it. If you just want a PVR with a nice interface, this is probably it. But if you want TiVO, as in ALL of TiVo, then skip these direcTV units, buy a regular TiVo and hook it up to you current satellite receiver. Not only can you record over-the-air or cable this way, but you get every one of the TiVo functions that the folks at TiVo have thoughtfully built into thier units.
Philips DSR7000 Combination TiVo/DIRECTV Satellite Receiver
Saturday, April 10, 2010
ReplayTV RTV4532 320-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Unsatisfactory. Do not buy the lifetime subscription. Do not buy the product unless you don't mind awful customer service. I have had two models (RTV3030 and RTV5504). The hard drives will fail. You will need technical support. Here is what you can look forward to.Their customer support office is closed during the very time when someone is likely to encounter a problem or want to activate a new system. Their hours are from 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Pacific time with no weekend or holiday hours. If a customer turns on his TV on a Friday night and discovers a problem with the ReplayTV unit he must wait until Monday and call during hours when he is likely at work and not able to be in front of the device. Tivo, their competitor offers support 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM including weekends.
The customer must pay long distance charges for the 20 - 30 minutes they wait on line for a representative due to higher than normal call volume. It is ALWAYS higher than normal and they discontinued the toll free number.
The consumer must pay $60 for "warranty" service. The warranty covers parts but not labor. If your device needs repair you must:
1. Actually reach a technical service representative.
2. Follow all of the troubleshooting steps he has been trained to walk you through.
3. Have him determine that it is a defect in the device.
4. Agree to pay $59.95 for warranty repair (refurbished replacement) and give credit card information.
5. Wait for 24 to 48 hours for an email from a different department with return authorization and address. (After they charge your card)
6. Call to find out why you never received it. (I was told by a representative that this is not an individual experience.)
7. Box the unit according to instructions.
8. Ship at your own expense.
9. Wait for weeks.
10. Go to the tracking web page to find out that that your RMA number cannot be found.
11. Wait until office hours again to call to find out why. ( I will need to complete the steps later as this as far as I have gotten.)
ReplayTV RTV4532 320-Hour Digital Video Recorder
ReplayTV RTV5060 60-Hour Digital Video Recorder
I Own 160 H model (for about 4 years). And recently I got another DVR taht comes with DISH. The replaytv unit is vastly superior in every way (well, except I wish the replay unit had more than one tuner). The only other problem I have (which affects both units) is the electronic listings are wrong enough to be annoying. Once you get a DVR, you will never go back to a VCR. I suggest you get at least 160 hours (more if more than one person will be using it).. Reasons will become clear with use (IE: you tend to save the last 3 or 4 shows of everything, so if you go on vacation (etc) they will be there waITING FOR YOU.
THE DISH DVR: (BOO):
There are too many crappy issues with the DISH unit to even remember them all (here are a few I can think of ):
When you hit pause (and go away).. It will start playing again by itself, so you miss your show (which is the point of the DVR in the first place).. And, it will not let you rewind when it starts playing automatically. It probably fills up the hard drive.. but there is no way to "not" fill up the hard drive because of the way the thing records shows for you (FIFO style). When you pause to see something the pause bar that pops up (to let you know you pauded presumably?) covers about a third of the screen (enough to cause you to miss 100 percent of whatever it was you wanted to see). NOTE that you can hit the arrow to go into slomo (from pause), but it skips away from what you want to see (so you are still screwed here). Trust me on this, Im not even sure a kid would have the patience to find something to see in slomo with this thing. When you record your shows, replayTV lets you organize stuff in whatever manner that suits you (very convenient after setup).. The DISH unit puts the most recent recordings in a list, with newest first. Sounds like no big deal, wait till you have over a hundred, and if you were able to compare this against the replay unit, you would understand.ReplayTV RTV5060 60-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Philips HDR612 TiVo 60 Hour Digital Video Recorder
I bought one of the early models of TiVo, and added drive space to make it a 110 hour unit. I wouldn't bother watching TV without it. It really is everything it promises. I don't know what time a lot of my programs come on, or what day of the week, I just watch them when I feel like watching them. I have a one year old daughter, and I would especially reccomend TiVo to new parents. Without the ability to pause, or just stop and come back to it later, a new parent can't expect to watch anything all the way through. Setup may be a bit complex, but once it's in place, it is simple to operate. My mother in law can figure it out when she comes to town. She can't figure out our X-10 remote control lights, or her own e-mail, but she can set TiVo to record her programs and figure out what she wants to watch. If she can do it, anyone can.
We use our TiVo so much we are planning on getting one for the little TV in our bedroom.Philips HDR612 TiVo 60 Hour Digital Video Recorder
Humax T800 80-hour Digital Video Recorder with TiVo
Simple to use. Did not realize this unit did not have a DVD burner. Otherwise a very nice DVR.Humax T800 80-hour Digital Video Recorder with TiVo
ReplayTV RTV5504 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
I purchased this DVR because I have 2 boxes already and one broke. I love the service and software that it uses. They do not manufacture the units any more so I purchased a used one. It was sent pretty quickly (10 days) and I was taken back by the condition. It was very scratched and dirty. It was also missing the raster blaster cord which is needed to change channels on any cable box. BUT it works so I guess thats all that matters so far. The seller did respond to all my emails regarding questions and stating the condition. He said he wrote it was scratched in his description but that wasn't posted on the amazon item.ReplayTV RTV5504 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
This kind of machine is good for its capability,but I can't stand for the installation complexity.It dosenot support DISH Network Service.More important,I cannot get any help from the seller and It's impossible to make a return.ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Philips HDR212 TiVo 20 Hour Digital Video Recorder
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R26IXB11KJSHW5 This is a video and written review of the rare ablility of this particular tivo to manual record. pause live tv, abd rewind live tv without a Tivo Subscription. Looks and works great. This Series 1 TIVO is a rare one that can be used without a monthly Tivo subscription. Nice way to tinker with Tivo generally see how it works without a big investment or commitment. Just go to Manual Record. Without a subscription you can still pause and rewind live TV, and set manual recordings just like a VCR (for example every monday at 6 PM..or record current program..or schedule a recording for a certain date and certain time and certain channel for any length of time for a one time recording) You can also do the same by simply selecting "Repeat..poor person's Season Pass..alttle humor here on Amazon). Will do repeat recordings you have selected as long as you want..not just a couple weeks. Will do a whole season for you of say "Oprah" or "Desperate Housewives". If you would like you can have a program recording and watch a pre-recorded program or live tv at the same time by splitting the cable source..one to tivo the other to tv.
PRO..Works with CABLE..DIRECT TV..OR DISH NETWORK.
CON..DOES NOT WORK ANTENNA WITH OVER THE AIR PROGRAMMING.
You will not get a guide or be able to do season passes without a subscription. All you need is your handy TV Guide or TV Listings from the Sunday paper to do Manual Recordings without Tivo Service. Subscriptions are still available for series 1 if you want to do that it will work fine and then you will get a Tivo guide and Tivo Season Pass too.
Philips HDR212 TiVo 20 Hour Digital Video Recorder
Monday, April 5, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Hughes DIRECTV DVR with TiVo HDVR2 - DVR / Satellite TV receiver - TiVo - 35 hour(s) - DIRECTV
It did not include the remote control which is necessary to operate the equipment. It was shown in the picture but did not arrive. I requested expedited shipment but it took a week to arrive.Hughes DIRECTV DVR with TiVo HDVR2 - DVR / Satellite TV receiver - TiVo - 35 hour(s) - DIRECTV
Hughes GXCEBOT - DVR - TiVo - DIRECTV
By the way, I asked tech support for a customer service phone number. They said they do not take calls! Was provided a fax number. I faxed and mailed a complaint letter over a week ago, and I have gotten no response.
DON'T BUY HUGHES! Other than the quality of the product, I love the way it works. I can't imagine not having TiVo now. But this Hughes product is unreliable, and the customer service is non-existent.Hughes GXCEBOT - DVR - TiVo - DIRECTV
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