Fake TiVO

LRM-519 by LG. the coolest thing since TiVO. The biggest difference is that there are no monthly subscription fees, yet you get the most up to date TV listings for your area. It connects either to your telephone or your computer via Ethernet cable or USB wireless adapter. It goes to Microsoft's TV listing directory and downloads two weeks worth of listings. I've had some frustrations with it not always being able to connect to the internet, yet still be connected and visible to the network, I think that's an issue with my crappy D-Link router though.

It has DVD Burner built into it so you can burn your recorded programs right to DVD. You can also transfer the MPEG2 files to your computer and use a program like Tsunami MPEG Editor to edit out he commercials, then burn from your computer.

Like TiVO, you can tell it to record a specific TV show and it will record it whenever it's on, it doesn't just record a specific channel at a specific time like old style VCRs, although you can do that as well.

Since it is part of your computer network, you can play all your MP3s that live on your computer through your TV/Stereo. Same with JPEGs, but unfortunately no video clips. It works through Windows Media Player so whatever playlists you have set up on WIndows Media Player, the LRM-519 will see it and play your playlists, specific genres, full albums, specific artits, etc.

It records live TV for 90 minutes....even if you change channels. TiVo I think only does 30 minutes, and if you change the channel it erases what it already recorded. With the LRM-519 it keeps 90 minutes of whatever you were watching. So if you're watching channel 5, then switch to channel 7, then back to 5....you can rewind up to 90 minutes and watch it again. You can pause live TV if you get a phone call or interrupted somehow, then just hit play and pick up where you left off. You can then fast forward through the commercials and get caught up.

It's a great little device...more expensive than TiVO up front but you save in the long run on monthly subscription fees. It can record off of satellite, cable, rabbit ears....whatever!!

Things I like:
You can watch something you've recorded while recording something else
Live TV recording continues while watching a recorded program
Computer networking to play music and see JPEGs from your computer
Built in DVD Burner
74 hours of record time at best quality
Unlimited hard drive expandability via external USB hard drives (I haven't tried this yet)

Drawbacks to it:
You can only watch what you are recording, it doesn't have dual tuners to let you watch one thing live and record another
I wish it would play video clips off the computer
Has problems connecting to the internet (but that might be my router)