ReplayTV 4000. Looks very interesting. (1 Viewer)

[Parker Clack]

I have one of the first ReplayTV units made and I really love it.
The new Link Removed unit has some newer nice features to it like being able to send a show that you have recorded to a friend that also has one of these units, Ethernet connections so you can watch a program in another room that you recorded on another machine, up to 320 hours of record time, progressive output, digital audio out, RF output and more.
If I had the bucks I would order one of these units.
Parker

 

[John Cain]

When do they start shipping, and how much $$$$$$ ????
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[Cortney J Beard]

The release of this product might be delayed. Sonicblue was just hit hard with a lawsuit singling this unit for copyright protection infringency from Disny,NBC, CBS, and a couple other companies.
Cort

 

[Lewis Besze]

The release of this product might be delayed. Sonicblue was just hit hard with a lawsuit singling this unit for copyright protection infringency from Disny,NBC, CBS, and a couple other companies.

Of course,anytime the consumer may get a great product,the Hollywood lawyers step in!

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"You Hungarians always disagree"

 

[John Morris]

The units sure look fantastic, unfortunately Hollywood is sticking their noses into our houses and personal lives once again.... by trying to limit what we can do in the privacy of our house. It's just so two-faced of the supposed liberals in Hollywood who espouse out of one side of their mouth "what we do in the privacy of our house is our business". And out of the other side of their mouth shout, "but not with those previously broadcast movies"! They seem to think that the personal use rule only applies to their drugs and sex lives? I guess with the Hollywood crew, hypocracy is just a way of life?
On a lighter note... I just bought my third Replay TV unit. This one is just for the kids. They kept filling up our other two units with stuff from Nick and the Discovery Channel.

Never have I bought an item which has met with so much WAF!
Go Sonic Blue!!!
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Take Care,
merc
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Link Removed
God Bless America!!!

 

[Dustin B]

Us poor Canucks just recently received our first PVR. The ExpressVu 5100. I just had to have one

It doesn't have all the bells and whistles the newest ones in the states do, but it has all the really important features. The nicest thing though, is we don't have to pay a subscription fee to for it. Just the regular programming fee.
I'm really scared about these PVR units though. I'm watching almost no commercials now. Commercials are a major source of revenue for those bringing us TV. Although I agree the swapping around movies with this thing doesn't really hurt anybody, the swapping it around and not watching the commercials does. If no one is watching commercials, the people paying for the commercials aren't getting anything for their money, so they will quit showing commercials. When they do that the revunue commercials produced will have to come from somewhere else. The only place I can see it coming from then is from subscribers. At which point I could see our monthly subscription fees tripling or more.
I'm going to enjoy mine while they are not common place, but when they do become common place I also don't want to pay $200 a month to get a couple hundred channels (paying $45 now). How broadcasters are going to solve this commercial skip problem, I don't know. But hey, enjoy it while it lasts.
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Dustin
[email protected]
My Adire Tempest Sonosub

 

[Stacy Huff]

John, you just don't get it.
Those Hollywood types need to limit what we do in our homes so that they will have the money for the drugs and sex that they do in their homes. Come on, how hard is that to figure out?

 

[Rob Robinson]

Leave it to the networks to piss in the gravy.
It's so frustrating that year after year:
they get more intrusive- there are more ads on TV than ever before- Especially cable and sat, which I pay out the ass for
they attempt to take away "ownership"- divx, dvi- mark my word- in 10 years, you will not OWN any of your content- you're going to be paying liscensing charges, and more than likely they will be reoccuring. I guess you can give the adult entertainment industry another point for "innovating" in this area too...
finally, hollywood profits are SOARING, even in the "recession"-
which really only seems to be affecting middle class chumps anyway :/
Any time anyone tosses us a bone, the lawyers snatch it away.
I can't believe that they really think so many people are going to fwd around commercial free mpgs of ally mcbeal as to affect profits.
And this is before we even tackle the clusterf*ck known as the HDTV rollout, and the billions of dollars of bandwidth they made out like bandits with, and NOW get to delay the implentation untill they damn well feel like it. (changing the spec while they're at it, alienating anyone whose bought an HDTV "ready" set so far).
Take, take, take. sigh...
oh, i guess i veered away from the point-
this new unit looks great. I wonder what sort of compression oiptions it has for emailing?

 

[GregoryK]

My reaction to the lawsuit was to pre-order a unit.
Just because Hollywood sues doesn't mean they're going to win the suit (though things have been going their way so far.) Since the Supreme Court has found "time shifting" to be a fair use in the VCR context, I think SonicBlue has a better defense than, say, Napster.
This SF Chronicle article mentions some of the copy protection (including Macrovision) that is built into the device.
We'll see, I guess.
/GregoryK

 

[george kaplan]

Here I go getting into trouble again.

It's just so two-faced of the supposed liberals in Hollywood

I guarantee you the people doing this aren't the liberal artists, it's the conservative accountants/lawyers.
That's all I'm going to say, since your political comment and my political reply are probably already going to get this thread closed. But I couldn't let such misleading statements go unchallenged.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Bill Bradstreet]

So, we have any idea on how much the 4000 will cost? for each capacity level that is.
Also, I had heard that TiVo was the leader on the 'tv-guide' front. How does the replay channel guide stack up? I haven't seen either. I guess I need to find a local dealer, huh?

 

[Chris Wittry]

Off of Sonicblue.com:
RTV4320 ( Approx. 320 hours of recording time) $ 1,999
RTV4160 ( Approx. 160 hours of recording time) $ 1,499
RTV4080 ( Approx. 80 hours of recording time) $ 999
RTV4040 ( Approx. 40 hours of recording time) $ 699
The price seems a little hefty, but it does seem to have some very interesting features, especially the ability to send shows to other people.
My take on the lawsuits: I realize that PVR's make it much easier to skip commercials, but I've been doing that for years and years using my good 'old VCR. I don't see what the big deal is. Assuming the industry people win their lawsuit, that means I won't be able to use my VCR to watch my shows and skip the commercials any more? I don't think so.

 

[Rob Robinson]

"Assuming the industry people win their lawsuit, that means I won't be able to use my VCR to watch my shows and skip the commercials any more? I don't think so."
Actually, operating under the "give an inch, take a mile" theory, once the lawyers win this one you can be sure that we won't see widespread digital broadcasting proliferate until the industry/government gives them a totally digital infrastructure, from source to display (with NO analog breakout capability), at which point you will get to tape whatever the industry ALLOWS you to tape.
And, I don't put it past them to lock out "Friends", just so you have to buy whatever they decide to make available- probably in some lame ass "best of" collection- in snappers of course
I don't want to sounds like some raving paranoid, but I don't think the following statement is out of line:
The lawyers, representing increasingly consolidated "content owners", are quite simply out to squeeze you for everything they can, on THEIR terms alone. Unless the technology comes from the "industry" (who has such a splendid history embracing new mediums and responding to customer needs) it will be legally attacked in court, and, unfortunately- ultimately destroyed. Or at least crippeled to the point of uselessness.
This isn't a partisian thing, and it isn't a lifestyle thing- regardless of who votes for who, and who abuses what substances, there is only one real absolute-
we are ultimately "eyeballs" with credit cards, and we will play only by the rules which are handed down to us from the industry, their lobbyists, and the increasingly awkward social/political/and legal structure which keep this system humming.
it's late an i'm ranting, but to sum up, YES, YOUR rights to tape whatever you want are ultimately going to be decided by cases such as this and them impending firewire/dvi issues.

PS: I'm not some sort of crazy anarchist/communist or anything- I think capitalism is pretty great, actually. It just really bothers me when it appears the system has gotten to the point where the industry is teaming up to screw the customer, rather than the industry competing amongst themselves FOR the customers business.

[Edited last by Rob Robinson on November 02, 2001 at 01:47 AM]

 

[Rob Robinson]

Also, Parker- I'm not sure you meant to bring all of this up.
As mentioned, yes this new system looks pretty awesome, however I'm wondering how it will stack up to the new Dish PVR out soon. I have a current 501 model, and I do like the integration.
On the other hand, by the "Looks very interesting" line, I am sort of assuming you are well aware of the quasi-political nature of the device and subsequent lawsuits, and it's effects on our hobby.

 

[Parker Clack]

Rob:
All I really was attempting to do was to draw member's attention to these units. I had no clue that this lawsuit was ongoing with Sonic Blue over whatever Disney, etc. think is any different with this unit over any PVR that is already out there except to allow you to share programs with each other.
Does anyone have any idea what the lawsuit is about concerning these units?
Parker

 

[Rob Robinson]

Parker:
this is a reuters story posted at cnet
(http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...ml?tag=rltdnws)
TV networks sue Sonicblue's ReplayTV
By Reuters
October 31, 2001, 5:20 p.m. PT
Major TV networks ABC, CBS, NBC and their parent companies filed a copyright suit Wednesday against Sonicblue's ReplayTV, alleging that its new digital video recorder violates copyright laws.
The move by Walt Disney's ABC, Viacom's CBS and General Electric's NBC sends another shot across the bow of companies looking to exploit new digital technologies and Internet distribution.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claims Sonicblue's new ReplayTV 4000 recorder allows viewers to make digital copies of shows "for the purpose of--at the touch of a button--viewing the programming with all commercial advertising automatically deleted."
The suit further alleges that the recorder "provide their customers with a feature...to make perfect digital copies of the plaintiffs' copyrighted programs...and distribute them to other people--even many other people--through high-speed Internet connections."
In a joint statement, the media companies charge that the ReplayTV 4000 deprives them of revenue and reduces their incentive to create new shows.
Executives at Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sonicblue declined to comment directly on the lawsuit, saying they had not yet been served with the complaint and, as a result, had not seen its allegations.
However, Sonicblue Chief Technology Officer Andy Wolfe said the ReplayTV 4000's features allow people to skip over commercials--not delete them--and he likened it to an advanced form of the fast-forward function of a VCR.
He also said the Internet distribution function is similar to taping a show on a VCR and handing the tape to a friend or attaching content to an e-mail and sending it via the Net.
"It's just like taking a videocassette and sending it to somebody," Wolfe said. "It's a very personal transaction."
The ReplayTV 4000 begins shipping in November, Wolfe said.

 

[John Morris]

I guarantee you the people doing this aren't the liberal artists, it's the conservative accountants/lawyers.

George: Please go back and re-read my post. I was not talking about the accountants and lawyers whose job it is to try and maximize Hollywoods profits and greed. I am talking about the actors, directors, producers etc whose job it is to act, direct, and produce and yet who find it so very easy to fill our airwaves with liberal arguements on almost everything. THEY are the first who complain when it appears that our personal rights are going to be abridged.
Let's see how many of them start complaining about our fair use rights being abridged? Wouldn't it just figure that in order for them to be consistent, they should voice their opinions in this case too? If they chose to not oppose this lawsuit because it may benefit them personally, then isn't that two-faced???
As for the price of these units, it really isn't that bad a deal considering they come with a lifetime ReplayTV subscription. And if they are as user upgradable as the current units, it would be simple to buy the small unit and simply expand its' capacity. How long is the warranty on these units?
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Take Care,
merc
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God Bless America!!!

 

[Randy G]

My guess is that these units will never make it to market in any significant number before the company is enjoined from distribution by the courts. I also suspect that the "industry" will eventually try to put something in the signal that will keep the unit from doing its job. In addition, widespread HDTV ain't gonna happen for YEARS due to the reasons stated by Rob.
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