[rlc]

Well, I just hooked up my new Comcast 30-hour Replay unit last night, and I've just gotta say wow! I already love it. I noticed that overnight it upgraded the software. Not sure what version, because I just read this morning (at work) about how to determine the software version....but from what I've read here, I now have some 3.* version, cause I can do manual recordings, and pad the start and end time of recordings. I also noticed that my Replay Zones disappeared, but the system says they'll come back the next time it dials out.


I do have a question about recording conflicts. I wanted to catch the episode of Enterprise that I missed on Wednesday. The same episode plays again on Saturday, so I set up the Saturday ep as a one-time recording. Then I tried to set up the Wednesday run of the show so that it would record every Wednesday. I did this by 'Finding' it, then in the guide, I hit record twice while the Wednesday show was highlighted. The system told me that there was a recording conflict with the Saturday show. Why is this a conflict? I resolved the issue by just deleting the Saturday recording, and telling the Wednesday one to 'Record all'. Now, does that mean it's going to record Enterprise on any and every day and time it finds it (which is currently only Wednesday and Saturday)? What if they also started showing it on Sunday, for example - would a Sunday recording automatically kick in? I told it to keep 2 episodes, if that matters at all.


My second question is: do these units power off themselves after a certain amount of time? I decided to leave it powered on last night before I went to bed. When I woke up this morning, the power was off (green light near power button was off).


Guess I just have to get used to this....if someone wants to answer my questions I'd appreciate it, but if not I'll probably figure it out anyway....I didn't put too much time into figuring it out, cause I was having too much fun exploring the whole thing!

 

[jbarr]

Basically, you need to access the "Other options" section in the recording setup screen. Instead of hitting "Record" twice, hit "select" to bring up the menu and select the "Record this show" selection.


In the screen that comes up, you can control the recording quality, the number of episodes, etc. but most importantly, you can bring up the "Other" options screen on the lower left of the screen. This allows you to "pad" plus or minus minutsa and (for your application) select the days of the week to which this recording applies. Just de-select Saturday and you're all set. What this will do is record the Wednesday shows and any occurrances near the time slot on other days except Saturday. This way, you won't record the re-broadcasts but will pick up airings on other days on or near the timelot selected.


When you have time, do check out the FAQ . It's full of great info, especially for "newbies."

 

[rlc]

Thanks - now that I have version 3 I'll probably find solutions to these questions anyway. When I started up the unit last night, I was on some 2.* version, which didn't have the 'Other' option under recording options.

 

[jbarr]

Yup, that's a 3.x feature!


Congrads on the ReplayTV!!! I have owned a ReplayTV model 2020 since May, 2000 and my best word of advice is to just use it, get to know it, and read the FAQ. Most of ReplayTV's functionality is simple, easy to find, and use, but there are some features and functions that require more insight, especialy when it comes to show conficts.


ReplayTV is not prefect, but it does what it says it will do and it will dramatically change your TV watching philosohpy.

 

[asinshesq]

And if you don't already know about it, one of the many undocumented tips you'll find in the faq relates to navigation within a recorded show (still amazes me that Replay didn't document this!):


1. If you are watching a recording and want to go the point that is 'x' minutes from the beginning, press 'x jump' (jump measures from the start of the recording). For example, if you want to go 23 minutes into the recording, press '2 3 jump'.


2. If you are watching a show and want to skip 'x' minutes ahead of wherever you happen to be at a given time, press 'x quick skip'. Note that commercial breaks are virtually always exact mulitples of 30 seconds and that most breaks are 3 minutes; so people use '3 quickskip' as a more ocnvenient way of skipping commercials than hitting quickskip 6 times (30 seconds each). Of course if you overshoot you can use instant replay (which reverses 7 seconds).


3. If you are watching a show and you want to go back 'x' minutes from wherever you happen to be at a given time, press 'x instant replay'.

 

[greganderson9]

Thanks Alan....


I've been using my Showstopper for a year and wondered how I could jump around within a show. Great tip. I'll try it tonight.


Greg

 

[rlc]

I printed out the whole FAQ that jbarr referenced above, and found it very helpful. There's several different ways you can jump around within a show. I'm glad I read about this, because time-searching within a show was one thing I really wanted in this machine. I figure if I can do it with my VCR, I should be able to do it with Replay!