About the 4500's

Thanks for the clarificaiton, Patty.


A few questions:


1) Will 4500 be broadband-enabled? (Or at least an option?)


2) Have show sending/receiving?


3) Be able to share within a home network with 4000s?



Question - why pay $1,000 now for a 4080 when a 4580 may be $250 with a $250 lifetime membership? (Or even $250 with $20 a month means a long time before hitting $1k!)

Quote:
Nowhere did I mention that any features would be removed, in fact I mentioned that a feature would be added and the 4500's and 4000's would interoperate just fine. That should answer 1 through 3. Unfortunately I don't have information about models and pricing, so I can't address your last question.


-Patrick

I'm sure that the modem will be activated in the 4500's. A to-do list would be a very cool feature, we can always wish.


But, As I think about a box for the masses, and the Go Video history, I would think that a VCR/DVR combo would be pretty attractive next gen goal.


Like the current Go Video dual deck VCR, a PVR/VCR combo that let you watch your shows, and let you PAINLESSLY create a commercial free dump to tape would be very nice. Just toss in a blank tape and hit the "Save-It" button and out pops a copy.


Or time shift that rental tape, pop it in and "Save-It" to hold it for viewing later, (can't be re-recorded or sent, perhaps).


I'm very much a DVD+R fan, but the VCR is mainstream still.

In other words, the 4500 series is just a 4000 with the modem not disabled. I think it's great that they opened up the dial-up market without killing the broadband capability. Actually, now that I think about it, the hardware for broadband is probably cheaper than modem guts. (Or did someone already say that.) My earlier prediction about monthly service pricing still stands: If you use the broadband connection, then your monthly fee will be less than the dialup users.


I'm curious what other feature they can add that a PVR really needs. (Other than better conflict resolution....) Ooh! Ooh! Soft padding!!! I can't say I'd be too overwhelmed if jmaver's MP3 prediction came true. I buy all my music, however, to be a good MP3 player, they would need a playlist capability, which Sonicblue could easily use for archiving multiple shows to tape!!!


Notice that ReplayPatrick did not respond to RandyL712's #2 question. I'm betting the court order might signal the end of show sending in the not-too-distant future. And show sending over dialup? HA!



I can knock another off the infamous "karnac" post, although they branded it as a different model, rather than a software update and I'm probably off a little on the pricing now that TiVo has raised theirs. Actually, I'm probably off a lot on the pricing, since it won't be included in the purchase price. DUH!


It looks like satellite for the 5000 series is now a complete pipe dream. DVD-combo window is still open. Combining with a DVD player hardly appeals to the geek or high-end user. I'm quite sure I wouldn't trade my 301-disc DVD changer for having a single disc player inside my Replay. (A DVD-RW, on the other hand... Yeah, right. Like they're gonna give the studios something else to sue about.)