After a couple of weeks testing the sharing function of our 40-hour ReplayTV 5040 review unit, it's clear sharing content is not suitable for every home setup. While streaming your recorded content over an existing home network from one ReplayTV 5000 to another is a cool option, it doesn't always work well when one of the boxes is recording something else. You also have to own two 5000 boxes since, as mentioned above, the earlier 4500 units won't work with this feature. Sonicblue informed us that it is working on a thin client, which would provide a more cost-effective way of streaming throughout the house.

Sharing content over the Internet, which used to be a big marketing tool for Sonicblue, doesn't require broadband access, but content sharing really is useless without it. Users will also need a home network with bridging or routing capabilities, unless you want to commit an IP address specific to your PVR. The majority of broadband subscribers will find opening up a network port on their PVR to be confusing, but it's there as an option if you want it.

Finally, sharing content can be slow. We mean really, really slow. Though you can watch television while sending shows to other Sonicblue PVRs, it could take days to upload a hefty amount of content to other users. Sonicblue says 30 minutes of "high quality" 6-Mbps content could take up to 24 hours to send at the common DSL upload speed. Send your friends your favorite one-hour episode of "ER" on a Thursday night and they might not get it until Saturday.

Below is Sonicblue's list of how long it takes to upload 30 minutes of content at three different speeds.

• 128-Kbps upload speed in typical home environment
  Thirty-minute program
  Standard equals approximately eight hours
  Medium equals approximately 16 hours
  High equals approximately 24 hours
  
  
• 600-Kbps upload speed (home/small business environment)
  Thirty-minute program
  Standard equals approximately two hours
  Medium equals approximately three and a half hours
  High equals approximately five hours
  
  
• 1500-Kbps upload speed (business environment)
  Thirty-minute program
  Standard equals approximately one hour
  Medium equals approximately two hours
  High equals approximately three and a half hours

Summary: Like earlier ReplayTV 4000 and 4500 series PVRs, the ReplayTV 5000 series won't appeal to everyone, though it is a definite improvement in terms of usability and price. If you have access to a speedy Internet connection, as many corporations do, then waiting an hour or two to send or receive high quality content might not be such a big deal.

For now the ReplayTV 5000 is a good PVR for the advanced user who puts a premium on extra options. But for most users just looking for a PVR that does the best job of viewing content, managing drive space, and organizing future scheduled recordings, look no further than TiVo.

Pros: Sharing content is a great idea; commercial skip; improved remote.

Cons: Sharing still takes too long; very slow response time even for menus; inferior user interface to TiVo.

Company: Sonicblue
Price: $200 to $900
Available: Now
Category: Personal video recorders