Going to LA focus group tonight

Sorry this is so late, just been busy.


It was great meeting DougDingle and the two AVS lurkers.


There were 6 Replay users, 2 were non-technical.


First, they focused on who we were, including how techie (by asking us if we had cell phones, Palm Pilots, etc.).


Then why we bought a PVR (VCRs suck, watch while recording, theme searching), why over a TiVo (let you fill in this one), what features were our favorite (QuickSkip and Theme searching seemed to be the two biggies).


They asked us how we first heard about it, and I mentioned the TiVo hack. We got a chance to lobby vigorously for some sort of upgradability. Removable drives (think car stereo style) was mentioned, which was cool because you could sneaker-net them to another machine or even a friend's house. Plus, additional "Replay drives" could be sold at a store.


They asked how hard it was to set up, both wiring and software.


He asked if we owned multiple units and was surprised that 5 of 6 of us did. Basically, though, it reinforces the idea that these products represent a fundamental mindset shift, and you can't easily watch without one once you are used to it.


They asked us how easy it was to use (very), any extraneous features that could be removed (none), do you use the Zones (most people, especially the non-techies, don't), etc.


Very little time was spent on new feature requests, unfortunately. One guy had the idea of a central Replay server with Replay slaves at each TV, or similarly the ability to link multiple Replays together (thru phone wiring or whatever). The idea is one Replay Guide and set of storage that can be viewed anywhere.


I requested two tuners, which was also a popular notion, and would probably be required to do the above. I also asked for color schemes back, but of course most people probably didn't even realize they were gone.


I am probably forgetting a lot, but that was the gist of it.



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PRMan