ReplayTV Personal HD - Multi-USB Tuner & iPod Support

After ReplayTV quitted dedicated DVR set-top box business, the company continues to focus on PC DVR software with Hauppauge as its biggest partner. It looks like they want to start selling their own PC TV tuners, and the Personal HD tuner is a start.

Avid HTPC users are fast to point out that the Personal HD has private brand version of the Hauppauge HVR-950 NTSC / ASTC USB tuner, which is technically the same as Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro and ATI TV Wonder 600 USB. In the end, it's all about the software. ReplayTV tries to convince you that they have the best DVR software and then gets you to subscribe their PC Electronic Show Guide for $20 a year. And without the EPG, the tuner isn't very functional. Oh, I almost forgot to mention about the multiple channel recording, which involves a second or a third tuner dongle of the aforementioned competing products.

Riding on the popularity of the 2007 iPods and iPhone, ReplayTV touts the Personal HD's advanced support for those devices. Other features like Smart Channel and Search are nothing revolutionary. If they all work well together, it might worth my $99.