[mabittin]

i posted this at planetreplay but I could use all the advice that I can get....


I got a 5080 maybe a year and a half ago - it died within a week (aparently the tuner went out - nothing but the blue screen)- I was so annoyed that I switched to tivo and have been pretty happy since - this week I've decide to give Replay another shot - I got a 5504 from amazon.com that I was planning on swapping out the drive to a 160 gb....I unpacked it last night - no video pass through at all - I was on the tech support line for about half and hour and nothing they could tell me to do fixed it until they had me do a factory reset (I forget the zones code right now) - that seemed to do the trick it started passing video and working properly but as I watched some shows I noticed the audio levels occasionaly rise and fall a little with an occasional audible "glitch" - here's my question - has anyone else had these sorts of problems? I haven't looked into it, but if this thing is screwed up, so I have to send it back to Dennon for them to fix/replace it and how long is that process? I also noticed that I could stream to my xbox last night, but this morning I can access the list of shows on the replay, but they aren't streaming at all (granted this could be an xbox issue, but I didn't change any settings on the xbox at all, and one of the messages on the replay this morning said that it lost network connection in the middle of the night even though I have it hardwired to a router) - i would appreciate any advice, I'm really frustrated because I want to switch from tivo, but this doesn't bode well.....thanks in advance

 

[Slack]

ensure your xbox is set to sync to a time server.

that may explain the lack of streaming in the morning.



You've had some bad luck. but 3's a charm right?

Return the 5504 & get another. If it's a lemon, stick with TiVo.

 

[Amazingly Smooth]

RTV has had many quality problems with the 5k series boxes. Things have settled down quite a bit, but you never know what your going to get. I think that once you get a good unit it will likely stay good, but some people don't have the patience to try multiple units--I understand completely. RTV shouldn't have this trouble, but they are all off busy working on the next generation stuff and pretty much have given up on the current boxes--I understand this also since the next gen stuff is going to be way over priced. I'd say stick with what you like. If the features of the RTV are interesting enough then keep trying otherwise enjoy what you have.


Cheers

 

[adone36]

I find it hard to believe that 5ks have had so many "problems". In the dozens I've bought/hooked up, there has never been a problem. I would love to see the statistics, but I'm sure that Replays are just like most gear in that the vast majority of returns are just fine. Just think of the number that are returned for "modem problems" because the old software makes it hard to d/l the new software.

 

[Jeff D]

Quote:

Originally posted by adone36 I find it hard to believe that 5ks have had so many "problems". In the dozens I've bought/hooked up, there has never been a problem. I would love to see the statistics, but I'm sure that Replays are just like most gear in that the vast majority of returns are just fine. Just think of the number that are returned for "modem problems" because the old software makes it hard to d/l the new software.

The 5k has LOTS of problems due to SB's cost reducing on the box, they did a lot of things cheaply that in the long run have most likely been more costly than if they had done it right in the first place.


You don't sell refurbs in general because you don't usually have OVERSTOCK of refurbed units. This alone says more than you know... working on CE products for years this point alone has me in shock that the company is still in business...

 

[adone36]

Any return is a "refurb" because it can't be sold as new. And Replays are definitely not for people with blinking displays on thier vcrs. In looking at my Replay I see a standard Samsung tuner, standard Maxtor drive, net and modem chipsets that are in millions of PCs, etc. Since all of these devices use much more software control in a Replay than a PC, you can entertain many more problems, but it is doubtful Replay called up Realtek or Maxtor and said "send us a crummy batch". The only thing that seems a little iffy to me is the p/s, and that really hasn't shown that many problems.

 

[Jeff D]

Tony we can disagee on this, the replayTV 5k line failure rate is far greater than I think it should be.


Refurbs are generally are returns and defective units which have been "fixed" and are to be used to send to other customers who are returning bad units. If you got a stock pile of refurb units there's something wrong with your business model.

 

[adone36]

Oh, I agree their business model was dreamed up by idiots, unfortunately it was the OTHER idiots. 5.0 was a disaster that is probably the cause of most returns.


My opinion is that for the majority of returns there is nothing wrong with the hardware. Replay bugs are in the worst possible places for newbies doing installs. Installs other than for basic cable with phone dial-in can cause buyers to flip out. On returns, Replay probably immediately swaps in a drive with the current build and does a few perfunctory tests. The newbie gets his refurb, and after a few hours run time finds it is one of the ones that DID HAVE an actual problem, now he's doublely pissed. Replay is probably stuck with the prospect of running exhaustive tests on units that will have a very small failure rate and is throwing the dice at the percentages.