[carlosbob]

I have a Replay 5504 with Time Warner cable and I'm having several issues with it. About once every 2 weeks it will get stuck in a half second loop. The image and audio from that half second will play over and over until I cut the power to the Replay box. What causes this? Can I prevent it?


Next, this is even more annoying. Every other day I will get home from work and see the blue screen with "No video signal". My shows will have only recorded less than one minute. If I bypass the Replay and connect the cable box directly to the TV, I have a signal. If I power the Replay off and on, after it reboots it displays the video fine. Replay support suggests I get a video amplifier. My big question is, why do I need an amplifier if my signal is fine after a reboot? If my signal drops for unknown reasons and then improves, shouldn't Replay detect the signal is good and correct itself?


I'm pretty frustrated with Replay and considering switching to Tivo. Any reasons I shouldn't go to Tivo?


Thanks!

 

[barmar]

I think the first problem may be a flaky disk. I used to have the same problem on my 5504. Then a month or two ago the disk died completely (the system booted into "Please wait..." and never got any further). I replaced the disk and have never seen the looping problem again. So I believe that it was just the disk acting up on its way out, before it completely failed.

 

[Rockin'EZ]

Dude,

Bail to Cox or TiVo

Replay does not care about quality.

They released a buggy product, and charge more for the service than the other two choices.


Customer support is terrible with very short hours if you live on the West coast.


I am a little hot now, I just spent 1 hour and 30 minutes on hold with tech support without resolution. They even wanted $50 non refundable to hot swap the unit.


My friends with TiVo and Cox DVRs are not reporting the problems you see here with ReplayTV

 

[GTDaveMac]

Rockin Ez, not to be rude, but you already posted that you are outta here, so why don't you leave? People on this forum are willing and able to fix almost every problem that one may encounter with a ReplayTV.


Just because you are angry with customer support doesn't mean that other people should leave, abandon their Replays, etc.

 

[Rockin'EZ]

Dude,

Forums are for information.

Just because I don't agree with you, doesn't mean that my point is not valid.


Poor products are poor products. People should know.


Also - I never said I was outta here - just pissed at a poor product and poor service.


I looked here for information on DVRs before I bought. If more people here had been honest about the bugs in the product, instead of convincing themselves that they had a good product, I would have made a different decision.


People need to hear the truth in public forums.

 

[GTDaveMac]

You are very disillusioned, and very wrong.


Many years ago I bought a Dell. My friend bought a Dell the same day. His hard drive was bad when he got it. He got a new one and when the computer started, and the new hard drive failed in two days. My Dell lasted until... actually it is still working and I gave it away. It still works.


He thought Dell sucked, and that their support sucked... disregarding the fact that they shipped him a new harddrive practically overnight for free..


Sometimes, you have bad luck. Out of thousands of product, it's bound to happen.


I am sorry that you didn't ask more questions here, get some real answers, and then plead an informed case with customer service. Instead, you will probably be more than content with your Cox PVR and won't know what you are missing... a SUPERIOR product.

 

[GTDaveMac]

Oh, and carlosbob... This was your first post here. I don't have answers to your question as I am new to the 5000 line of Replays. I have had a Showstopper for 3-4 years and have been more than pleased. I love the 5000s even more.


Hang on, as I am sure the members here have suggestions to help you out.

 

[Rockin'EZ]

GT,

Very reasonable response. Lots better than the attacks I provoked with my other thread.


I admit that I am still upset from being mishandled by RTV tech support.


Since you are a reasonable person, I appoligise if I offended you.


My experience with the product could have been offset by proper handling by their tech support. I understand tech support from the inside. I have been phone and desktop support manager for more than one IT shop. ReplayTV's tech support is untrained and most likely underpaid.


As a Product Engineer in the electronics industry I understand that a certain percentage of lemons will be produced.


It just seems to me that ReplayTV did not design a robust enough product. I base that statement on the many many posts I see her on the exact issues that caused me to ask for an RMA.


I was willing to give the RMA a try, but the $50 charge for a hot swap was just too much for me. It is not standard in the industry, and indicates a problem with ReplayTV management attitude toward their customers.


It is 9 times harder to find a new customer than keep an old one. They could have done better.


My motive was to warn people off the entire ReplayTV experience. The monthly service is really their product. The media is the hardware. They spent the minimum on the hardware, and it shows

 

[sfhub]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rockin'EZ My experience with the product could have been offset by proper handling by their tech support. I understand tech support from the inside. I have been phone and desktop support manager for more than one IT shop. ReplayTV's tech support is untrained and most likely underpaid.

Since you understand tech support from the inside, you realize that the

service you get will commonly depend on who you get answering the

phones. There are some good ones and some bad ones. Some are

well trained and experienced other are not. Like it or not this is prevalent

throughout the whole consumer electronics industry because the trend

is to lower prices so customer service is cut. If you are buying high-end

equipment, then you expect a different level of support. Instead of

spending 1.5 hr on the phone, you probably would have been better

off just hanging up and calling back after 10 minutes when you realized

the person on the phone couldn't help you the way you wanted. You

could have also asked to speak to a manager.


You already know then that these forums will naturally have far more

people posting about problems than people posting everything is ok.

When in your experience on the inside of support have you had people

calling in to support to tell you the product is great, everything works fine?

Probably never.


When someone uses there own bad experience and projects that to

everyone having a crappy experience, a certain type of response will

be triggered from the user base.

 

[Rockin'EZ]

Well hell it has been amusing as all get out to me. I admit I do bait people, but look at the numbers, we have amused hundreds in the last hour.

I had some great fun, and got to cool down from my tech support hell. (and yes, I did ask for a Super for a more experienced tech).


And I may reconsider reconnecting my RMA unit when it arrives. I am not saying I won’t compare the cable box – my only risk is 10 bucks for a month of service, if I don’t like it, no problem.


If you want to read some very funny stuff about tech support, especially if you have worked in it, look up "the chronicles of George" on Google.
http://chroniclesofgeorge.nanc.com/

It is worth the time if you like to laugh. This is real life desk top madness.

 

[sfhub]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rockin'EZ Well hell it has been amusing as all get out to me. I admit I do bait people, but look at the numbers, we have amused hundreds in the last hour.

If amusement is what you are after, go to Fenway dressed in full Yankee garb.