Today's personal video recorders, such as TiVo, ReplayTV, and Microsoft's UltimateTV, have the ability to save, pause, rewind, and fast-forward live television. See a personal video recorder (PVR) in action and you'll never think of television the same way again. Few consumer electronic devices are more satisfying to use than the PVR.

So long, VCR

What could be better than TiVo or ReplayTV? How about sharing your recorded content with other PVR users over the Internet? Sonicblue allows just that by adding networking capabilities to its new ReplayTV 4000 series.

The idea is to trade content you record on your box with other ReplayTV 4000 units by way of a broadband Internet connection such as DSL or cable. The content can be sent from your PVR to other PVRs up to 15 times or streamed throughout the house to other Sonicblue ReplayTV 4000 units on your local network. Although trading content this way is legally a bit suspect (Sonicblue is currently being sued by ABC, NBC, and CBS), it appeals to those who want to stop swapping VHS tapes.

Sonicblue offers versions of the ReplayTV 4000 with 40 hours to 320 hours of maximum recording time. Prices for the units range from $700 for the 40-hour version to a whopping $2,000 for the 320-hour player. Although ReplayTV 4000 users will not have to pay the monthly service fees TiVo and UltimateTV charge, the Sonicblue units are far more expensive than the 20-hour to 40-hour PVRs other companies sell for between $200 and $400.

Definitely not for everyone

After setting up our $1,000 ReplayTV 4000 review unit, it was clear this PVR is definitely not the right choice for every living room. For one thing, users must have broadband access (either DSL or cable) along with a viable Ethernet-based home network with bridging/routing capabilities. You can find these services included with many of the current broadband residential gateway products, including Buffalo Technologies' AirStation and the Apple AirPort 2. But most residential gateways are not cheap -- costing anywhere from $200 to $400 -- and are often difficult to set up for those not experienced with Ethernet networking. Since the ReplayTV 4000 connects and communicates solely via its RJ45 networking port, you are out of luck if you have a different home networking option such as HomePNA or WiFi. This can be a real downer for consumers who don't read the fine print before purchasing.