ReplayTV RTV5516 160-Hour Digital Video Recorder

by Replay Tv

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14 x 16.9 x 3 inches ; 12 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 19 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0000BYRKD
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (142 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,174 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Capacity: 160-Hour

Amazon.com Product Description

The RTV5516 personal video recorder, or PVR, delivers the ability to pause and replay live TV while recording and storing a staggering 160 hours of digital, tapeless audio and video--nearly one solid weeks' worth of entertainment. Enjoy a broadband or phone-line connection to the ReplayTV service and convenient home networking through a built-in Ethernet port--there's no extra hardware required. Subscription to ReplayTV service is available either as a $12.95 monthly fee or one-time lifetime fee of $299.99; a discounted $6.95 monthly fee is available for consumers with more than one active unit.

ReplayTV's 5500 Series is the most powerful and flexible PVR yet.

With the RTV5516 and the other models in the 5500 Series, ReplayTV has made major revisions, enhancing its feature base while removing certain contentious features found on previous models. ReplayTV's 5.0 software adds four powerful features: recording priority, which identifies recording conflicts and lets you decide which shows to record; network recording, which identifies conflicts and automatically assigns recordings to a home-networked ReplayTV with available hard-disk storage; pause and resume, which lets you pause a movie in the living room and finish watching it in the bedroom; and First-Run Recordings, which records only the new episodes and skips the repeats.

A PVR makes it simple to record favorite shows without the complicated programming requirements of VCRs and without videotape hassles. A PVR frees you from fixed TV schedules so you can watch what you want, when you want. Because ReplayTV uses digital recording to store television and/or cable broadcasts on a hard drive as you're watching, you'll also be able to control live television. You can pause live TV to take a telephone call, rewind to see a scene again, use instant replay to jump back seven seconds, or watch a scene in slow-motion.

Remote is well laid out and easy to read.

ReplayTV connects nightly to the ReplayTV Service to download the latest channel-guide information. Use this intuitive guide and the main system menu to follow simple--and in many cases, one-button--prompts. A feature called theme record automatically records shows using keywords or themes that you supply. You can also search for programs by keyword, helping you discover programs you might not have known about otherwise. If you forget to program your receiver to record a show before you leave for vacation, no worries: you can access your ReplayTV over the Web and program it from anywhere using MyReplayTV.

With multiple ReplayTV 5500-series models in a home connected via their built-in Ethernet ports, you can bounce programs around the house to different PVRs or to send digital photos between your PC and your ReplayTV units. And, like the 5000 Series, the 5500 Series still offers the option for broadband connectivity, which at this time consists of the future potential (via upgradeable firmware) to send non-copyrighted material across the Internet to other ReplayTV units and, possibly, to computers. The 5500 Series units network seamlessly with 5000 Series units.

And while ReplayTV has removed the Send Show and Automatic Commercial Advance features, the 5500 Series retains the QuickSkip and high-speed fast-forward buttons, so you'll still have considerable flexibility in your playback viewing. At the touch of a button, QuickSkip hops through a recorded program in 30-second increments--great for news features you don't care to watch and, yes, for bypassing the less interesting commercials out there. The fast-forward button scans at up to 20 times normal speed.

Built-in Ethernet port allows for convenient home networking.

Other features include room-to-room streaming between networked ReplayTVs, a progressive-scan output (for seamless, flicker-free displays on high-definition and HD-ready TVs), an optical digital-audio output (for direct connection with a compatible AV receiver), parental control (including channel blocking), show organizer, manual record, show extender (which lets you manually extend the start or end times of a recording).

What's in the Box
One ReplayTV RTV5516 PVR, a remote control, remote batteries, a user's manual, a coaxial video cable, a composite-video/stereo analog audio interconnect, an IR blaster cable, a 9-to-15-pin adapter, an RJH-to-9-pin adapter, and an RJ-11 phone cable.

Product Description

The ReplayTV 5516 provides up to 160 hours of recording time, freeing you to watch your favorite programming when YOU want to see it, rather than when programming directors think you should. On the outside, the 5516 looks nearly identical to previous models. Inside, however, the latest ReplayTV software offers new scheduling refinements and networking options -- the latter of particular interest to those with multiple ReplayTV DVRs. Requires $12.95 monthly subscription fee for ReplayTV service

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

159 of 166 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tivo vs. Replay, December 28, 2003

By 

Keith "kc31824" (STAMFORD, CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ReplayTV RTV5504 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder (Electronics)

First of all, the DVR (digital video recorder) category is amazing. It is not just an incremental step up from a vcr -- these things make TV watching far more convenient. Start a show whenever you want, pause it, rewind live tv, etc etc. There are plenty of reviews on all of that, so just a word on choosing a Tivo or a Replay:

I have 2 Replays and 1 Tivo now. On the whole, both are great and for the most part, they do exactly the same set of things. The only "important" feature that Replay has that Tivo does not is the ability to skip commercials automatically, which works most of the time and is very cool. The only major feature Tivo has that Replay doesn't is that it automatically records "similar" shows to ones you've chosen in the past to fill unused disk space -- also cool. Outside of these two, they are functionally very similar.

The main differentiator I find is power vs. ease of use. Tivo is slightly easier to use -- our 5 year old is a pro at it. Replay requires a couple extra keystrokes, but is a bit more flexible, such as giving you more range on how many of each show to save to use your disk space, etc.

If any of the above are decision makers for you (commercial skip, auto record, or ease of use vs. flexibility), then go with it. If not, the rest really is about the same so just shop on price.

Enjoy -- they're both great.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get the better version., September 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: ReplayTV RTV5504 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder (Electronics)

This replay is good but you can still get the better (previous) version RTV5040 at www.replaytv.com.

Get the "ReplayTV 5040 (Brand New Unit) with Lifetime Service Activation" for $399.50 after rebate and free shipping.

The old RTV5040 version includes the Commercial Advance® and the ability to send program to friends via broadband. Both features have been removed from the newer RTV5504 version due to a lawsuit againt ReplayTV.

Also the newer version has only three years of service included in the price. But if you buy the older RTV5040 version from the replayTV website, they include the Lifetime Service Activatio (a 250 dollar value).

So the RTV5040 version is better and cheaper.

Remember ReplayTV is better than Tivo!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Product!, September 5, 2004

By 

J. Baehr (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ReplayTV RTV5504 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder (Electronics)

I bought this after much debate between the TiVo and ReplayTV about a year ago, and am very happy with my Replay. Although the TiVo is easier to understand for most people, this doesn't mean the Replay is difficult by any means. While visiting some family friends out of town, I told them about my Replay and how much better it makes TV watching, and I set it up for them the next day. Since then, I haven't heard of any problems figuring it out. I'm also showing some local friends my Replay and encouraging them to get one. Although it sounds like I'm a ReplayTV missionary, I wouldn't convert my friends if it wasn't worth it.

Since getting my Replay 5504 about a year ago, I upgraded it from 40 hours to 120, something that's apparently more difficult to do on the TiVo. Also, although ReplayTV was hit with a lawsuit for the 5000 series because of the ability to automatically skip commercials, the "Show|Nav" feature does the same thing, although they can't advertise it as that and you need to push one (1) button now. The TiVo makes you fast-forward like a VCR.

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