I thought they went totally out of biz. I guess they are making a comeback. But I've not seen them in any of the retailers I shop in. Their web page indicates they are sold in Amazon and CompUSA.

>I think it was a different company - and yes ReplayTV is still in biz. http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/replaytv/default.asp
>
>This is interesting to me though since I don't have a TiVo - isn't there like a fast-forward feature? I know on my MCE machines if I click the fast forward button it'll skip like either 7 or 30 seconds - seems like you can get it to skip 2 minutes or 5 minutes too. Thing is that I dont wanna have to sit there and click click click click cuase im lazy lazy lazy and picky picky picky. Once I'm done with my little application I'll take those giant DVR-MS files full of commericals and end up with a cute little WMV file with no commercials. AND I know there is a way to convert TiVo files to WMV format so I just might write a gizmo for that too...muuuuhahahahaha
>
>>Isn't Replay still a competitor?
>>
>>
>>>I guess it was quietly done, at least as far as I was concerned. Looks like now the ball is rolling to fast. I forget their name, but the early competitor to TIVO went out of business. I heard one of the main reasons was the lawsuits they faced due to commercial skipping technology in their unit.
>>>
>>>>When VCRs first came out (vhs, not betamax that I know of ) the system we bought skipped commercials automatically by sensing when they started and when they stopped. TV Stations send a 'mark' when the program stops for advertising and when it starts back up and the vcr could detect that mark. It was a nice feature. When our vcr died and we tried to find a new with that same feature, not a single could be found at that time. I heard that there was a very quiet industry agreement going on to keep vcr manufacturers from including that feature.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Commercial skipping is done by DVR's these days. It's one of the entertainment industries pet peeves about the device. I don't know why your VCR didn't catch on. I never heard of a VCR skipping commercials. But they say that DVR's are going to cause TV advertising to be done differently in the future.
>>>>>
>>>>>>I am high tech gadget man and I do not have a DVD recorder to replace my VCR.
>>>>>>At the time I was considered buying one they were way too expensive. But the main reason why I didn't get one is that they still don't have all of the features that my VCR has.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>My VCR is a Panasonic SVHS HiFi with Super Video jacks and the picture quality is awesome. And, the best feature is that it skips commercials. No kidding, it skips them at playback. It records everything, and when done it rewinds the tape and "processes it." It marks where it thinks the commercials are. I'd say it's 99% accurate. You can turn this feature on and off, but it's so accurate that I just leave it on. When you play the tape, it fast forwards through the commercials and starts playing about a half second before the show resumes. For me, it has never fast forwarded through part of a show and rarely does a comercial sneak past it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The bad news is that, I was trying to find my VCR, or the equivalent to it now on Panasonic's web site and it doesn't look like it is made anymore. If someone else makes a DVD recorder or VCR that does the commercial skip, I highly recommend getting one that does that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I know victor was kidding, but if you can connect your TV signal or video receiver to your computer, the XP media center is kind of nice. I have that as well. When something is coming on TV that I think I might want to put on a DVD for prosperity, the media center makes it very easy to record and burn. The whole DVD burning process is time consuming and at times frustrating, so you wouldn't want to do it daily. However, if the TV and PC are connected, using the PC as a VCR works great and the media center software makes finding the programming simple.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I'm looking to buy a DVD player/recorder to replace our VCR.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Anyone have a model to suggest? What should I look for when buying?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Any comment will be appreciated.