BeyondTV 3.5 offers a great combination of features and power, yet remains one of the easiest DVR products I’ve installed and used. As the first part of a two part series, I’ll describe the BeyondTV 3.5 product, and in part two, I’ll describe how other products like BeyondTV Link and MediaMVP can be used to distribute video throughout a household.
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CNet gave high marks to the Humax DRT800 Tivo with built in DVD-R. The downside for them was the monthly fees; the Pioneer unit with it’s higher price tag comes with Tivo Basic service for free.
Additional Info
TVHarmony Product Tracker: Humax DRT800 DVD-R
Like Tivo, ReplayRadio is one of those products that will immediately make you wonder how you ever survived without it. I’m one of many people out there who has a long commute and my radio is my sole companion. What DVR has done for my television viewing, ReplayRadio now has done for my radio listening.
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RemoteShoppe.com has a good review of the Logitech Harmony Remote 688. I don’t know much about universal remotes, but I found these two features very desirable for our household:
- A set of special macro keys that do common functions like: “Watch TV”, “Watch DVD”, and “Play Music” with a single labeled button. That’s great when the in-laws are in town.
- A USB connector and computer setup program. Remotes are so complex these days that having the ability to walk through a setup program seems to make sense. If also allows the vendor to update the software with new product codes to keep the product shelf life longer.
(Hat Tip: Thomas Hawk, Engadget)
Extremetech has review of the new DirecTV HDTV Tivo from Hughes, and the results were mixed. In particular, they had this problem:
The TiVo automatically senses when an HDMI cable is plugged in, and disables the component output. But I ran into a major problem when I tried to connect from the HDMI port to the DVI input on my Panasonic plasma. Nothing came out. I swapped cables, then connections, and even tried it with my DVI-enabled LCD desktop monitor. Nothing.
DirecTV’s fine technical support had the answer—but it wasn’t good. I had apparently won the home game of HDMI roulette: Somewhere between 10% and 15% of all HD DVRs made by Hughes ship with a bad HDMI port. Lucky me. After briefly trying to convince me to use component, DirecTV offered to send me a replacement. One small problem though. They still haven’t figured out how to fix the HDMI port problem, which means another turn of the wheel. As of this writing I haven’t received the replacement yet, but I’ve got a 15% chance of it being bad too. Isn’t it great when you can replace your QA department with your customers? Thanks Hughes and DirecTV!
Even if you do get a good HDMI port, early returns on web discussion boards are not positive. The port seems fragile, with many users reporting color loss and other problems.
The review had some positive things to say, but if I needed to connect via HDMI, I’d probably wait a little to get it all sorted out.
Additional Info:
TVHarmony Product Tracker: Hughes HR10-250 HDTV
Tom’s Hardware reviewed the new personal media player, Archos GMini 400, and they gave it a big thumbs up compared to the iPod. It’s got a 20GB drive and it’s tiny (4.2″ x 2.4″ x .7″). It’s cheap, small, fast, and has a host of features that can’t be found on the iPod.
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Much of this site is devoted to Windows and Linux based PVR technology, but we also have had a long love affair with the Macintosh. So it shouldn’t be surprised that we turned absolutely gleeful when we found this review by Atmaspheric Endeavors on the Eyehome Digital Media Player.
It sounds like a great product for Mac users and fully integrated with Apple’s iLife software (eg iTunes, iPhoto, etc) as well as the Mac-based PVR EyeTV.
Idealog has a interesting review of Radioshark, a USB connected radio with software that allows a user to schedule recordings in advance. At a street price of $60-$70, it’s an inexpensive way to record your favorite shows.
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CNet has a quick review of the Apex MP-2000 personal media player. Apex is the company that brought you the $29 DVD player last Christmas selling season. The MP-2000 sports a 20Gig hard drive, a 3.5″ LCD screen, and a 7.5 hour battery life for music, 3.5 for video. At a street price of $310, it’s not a bad deal.
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