This is an update - as of Apr 04- I have had this unit for approx 4 months. First let me recommend PROVANTAGE (provantage.com)as a seller. The service was fantastic. I placed my order via the phone just before noon on a Wed and the product was on my front door step the next afternoon at 3pm when I returned from work. The price was under $560.00 including shipping. The item arrived in perfect condition, new with all paperwork. (update- there is no additional charge for service for the 1st three years then a .99 cent charge per year thereafter. Other plans charge you $200+ for the unit and then a one time fee for service or a monthly fee - you decide)

(Update- I also have a Direct TV receiver with TIVO built in. ($299.00 at Best Buy) It's a 120 gig hard drive. After using both the TIVO and the Replay TV I can tell you that the Replay TV is much more user friendly - TIVO remote requires more entries to accomplish the same task as the Replay TV remote. And no matter how much I tried to get a 30 second skip using the "code" found on-line at numerous TIVO chat rooms; I could not get it to work. You have to use the fast forward (which provides for three speeds - replay TV will fast forward or fast reverse at up to 20X) to get through the commercial and then quickly hit "play" and hope you have timed it right. Also Direct TV charges me a little over $3.00 per month for use of the TIVO receiver but this is never mentioned in any advertisement. The Direct TV Receiver will not allow you to record beyond the scheduled end time for a program more than 3 hours. It only allows a specific add time 5, 15, 30, 60, 90, 180 minutes- the Replay TV will allow you to enter any time in minutes to add to a show. The Direct TV with TIVO receiver will not allow you to decide what "quality" of recording you want. Replay TV has three settings. And I don't find the guide on the Direct TV with TIVO to be as easy to read as Replay TV. The only benefit I can see to having the Direct TV with TIVO receiver is that you have the DV recorder built into the receiver in lieu of having to have an additional "box". And I will say the instruction manual that came with mine (it's a Sanyo branded receiver) is exceptional. )

Now let's get to the heart of the Replay TV matter.

If you have a Philips Satellite receiver - forget trying to get the IR blaster to work. I spent two hours reading and re-reading all the instructions for attaching the blaster (used so the Replay TV will change the channels on the satellite receiver box). It would not "find" the Philips receiver regardless of what "code" I used from those included in the manual. I finally got fed up and called the Replay TV customer service line. They answered on the first ring (after the menu). They are evidently in India (as many of the companies have outsourced their customer contact centers to overseas firms). I had to make a second call to them and both times I got persons with heavy Indian accents. They are knowledgeable but the accent makes it difficult to understand them. (I have since called a third time over a minor issue and a guy in Waco Texas took the call. So, evidently there are multiple call centers.) Anyways- as soon as I mentioned the Philips satellite receiver she interrupted me and said - we know there is a problem with them and suggest you use another brand! Now there is no mention of this problem at the Replay TV website as far as I can tell and there is nothing in the manual's troubleshooting guide that mentions this either. I have another satellite receiver in another room which is a RCA so I switched them and the RCA works very well. In fact I had read that there is a noticeable time delay when changing channels on some units but I don't experience this at all.

Another concern is receiving basic cable TV channels with Replay TV. When you go through the setup procedures the system dials out (unless you have a broadband connection) and "pulls down" all the channels to the program guide included in the system. The problem is that when it pulls down your local channels (which I get off basic cox cable) it maps the channels to another listing in the guide. For instance channel 4 is the local CBS channel on cable - but when you look for it on the Replay TV guide it shows up as channel 1004. If you don't notice this you think you don't have your local channels. Also the local channels coming in via the cable connection don't show up with the same level of detail as the satellite channels on my system. Not sure why as all connections were correct. But I have solved this issue by signing up to get my local channels via Direct TV. They come in beautifully.

Also when setting up the IR Blaster and finding the code that will turn your satellite box on and off; do not assume that specific code will also change the channels. In my situation I found a code that would turn the satellite box on but when I went to change channels it would show the change on the bar at the top of the screen but wouldn't change the channel. You have to go back and try more codes until you find one that will turn the box on and also change the channel. It wasn't really a big deal but was confusing at first.

Another area of concern is that in both instances when I have written an e-mail to the Replay TV customer service folks from their website --- they have not responded. Terrible customer service via the website. It's like they don't even exist! Again, using the phone to get customer service/tech support works well (except for the accents).
On the other hand I had sent an e-mail to the TIVO folks prior to making a decision to go with Replay TV and they responded within 24 hours!

After the above frustrations and making all the connections - it has still been well worth the time and money. What they say is true-- you will never want to watch TV the old way again. It completely changes the way you watch, when you watch, how you watch. A recorded football game is condensed to about an hour without the commercials and the half time nonsense.

All the controls are easy to learn and the new feature of being able to jump actual whole segments forward or backward is a plus (more information at the website).

You can add/delete channels off your guide. Deleting channels that you don't watch quickens your ability to find the channels you want. You can move through the guide page by page and channel by channel much like your satellite guide.

The unit will lock up from time to time (rare) but if you hold the power button down for a few seconds then turn it back on, it will reset (after a few moments)

BTW- do not try to use this as intended if you have a DISH system; only DirectTV.

Suggestion, go to replaytv.com and find the manual for the 5500 series- read it before you buy!

The 30 second advance/reverse is fantastic and the commercials are zapped easily.

The find feature is nice and all programming is easy. The ability to have a show record earlier than when it is "officially" scheduled to begin or continue to record after a show is "officially" scheduled to end is very nice for long award shows or sports events. There is no time limit on this feature (other than the hard drive limits).

It's best to record at the highest resolution for picture clarity (you get about 27 hrs at this speed).

I like the progressive scan connection as I have a TV with progressive scan inputs (I understand TIVO does not have this). Also I like being away and programming a show to record via the web (TIVO charges you an extra $99 for this).

The Replay TV service is free for the first 3 years and then $.99 a month. (update- there are other plans which are similar to TIVO plans).