Sezmi DVR review

[venturatv]

Hello,

In an earlier post [ antenna-advice-zipcode-93003-t1435.html ], I mentioned having a Sezmi recorder, and received a request for a review. I'm posting here in a new thread so others who might be interested can find it more easily.

I have a rooftop antenna, and recently purchased an LCD TV. After upgrading to a HD TV, my old series 2 Tivo started showing its age, and I decided to try and upgrade to a HD DVR. I started with an HD Tivo that I purchased on Craigslist, but it was very problematic - rebooting several times per day despite lots of effort and time on my part (replacing the hard drive, getting new drive images, etc etc). While trying to find a viable alternative for an OTA DVR, I stumbled upon the Sezmi recorder.

Sezmi isn't a household name, but the device seems pretty much perfectly targeted to what I want - a DVR for OTA viewing. In fact, the Sezmi recorder will not (as far as I know) even work with cable TV or satellite. The DVR costs $150 at Best Buy (or Amazon), and the basic service (which includes a channel guide) is $4.99 per month with no contract requirement. This is a little less than half of what a Tivo sells for (both in terms of the hardware, as well as the monthly fee). In addition to working for OTA broadcasts, Sezmi also offers an array of free and pay per view content (movies, TV shows) that can be downloaded through an internet connection (which is required in order to use the device). In a few large urban areas, Sezmi offers a package of standard definition cable TV channels that are received over the air (and decoded by the device) - but I cannot comment on this service since I am outside of the area where it is offered.

The DVR comes with its own antenna, which is for indoor use only (and, in my case, useless since I live well outside its useful range). In addition to the antenna and the DVR, there is a separate tuner unit - which connects the antenna to the DVR. The tuner box also has a coaxial input so that you can plug in your own external antenna - thus rendering the device useful for people outside of the fairly limited areas where the full fledged Sezmi service is available. In my case, the tuner appears to perform much better than the tuner that was in the HD Tivo I used for a month - stations that were touch and go with the Tivo (showing up on some channel scans, but not on others) come in quite well with the Sezmi, and there are several stations that the Tivo never sniffed out that the Sezmi gets on a semi-reliable basis.

The DVR itself comes standard with a 1 TB drive, and the user interface and functioning of the DVR are quite different from a Tivo - requiring some getting used to if you are accustomed to the way Tivos, or most cable company DVRs are set up. The DVR will record series recordings (like a Tivo season pass), or individual recordings (there is a search function to find shows, or they can be selected from the onscreen TV guide info) - but it does not stop there. In a similar way that Tivo will record suggested recordings, the Sezmi seems bent on filling up the hard drive with shows that it thinks you will like. The major difference between the Tivo and the Sezmi is that the Sezmi does not have any way of disabling this function - which takes some getting used to, but is workable once you figure out how to navigate the various menus. In some places shows are listed alphabetically (thus burying the shows that you recorded among lots of things that you didn't ask for), while others list your requested shows appear at the top of the lists - I don't like the user interface as much as I liked my Tivo, but I'm getting used to it.

Customer service seems reasonably good - I was having a problem with audio dropouts while watching live TV (and while watching a show that was being recorded at the same time), and although it took longer than promised, I eventually spoke with an engineer who explained that they were aware of the problem and that it had actually been improved dramatically by a software update that downloaded to my machine during the week that I was waiting for a call back from the engineering department. In some reviews I've seen complaints about the remote - it does seem sluggish at times - but this isn't a deal breaker for me.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied, and am likely to stick with the Sezmi. It isn't perfect, but it is quite good, and my sense from talking with the engineer and with customer service is that they are continuing to improve the device with software updates. From my online research, there are not a lot of options for a High Def OTA DVR - the Sezmi works well, is reasonably priced, and is inexpensive on a monthly basis.

If anyone has questions that I haven't covered, post a reply and I will try to answer.

Mitch

[73PopTop]

Thanks for the DVR review!

My wife would like a DVR (OK, me too to record baseball/basketball) to watch nature shows and whatever else on PBS. Have you or any forum members out there have any comments on the Channel Master CM7000PAL? It's more expensive, but I don't know if it's worth the $299-$349 price. I read that they only have a 250GB disk drive, but you could upgrade that I believe. No monthly charge though.

I just saw your post that you are in the 93003 as am I. I had a thread out there about my experiences with the XG91 and the CM Titan2 pre-amp..all positive so far.

Thanks again for the review.

[venturatv]

Hi again,

I don't have any experience with the Channel Master DVR - although I did read the online reviews on Amazon and other websites. It seems like a viable option, although the scheduling of recordings is apparently handled in the way of VCR's - by telling it a specific time and date to record (rather than telling it what show you would like, and having the DVR find the instances of that show via the TV guide info). Based on Amazon's prices for the boxes, and a $5 per month charge for the Sezmi, you would break even on the Channel Master at 40 months - after that the Channelmaster would be cheaper, although it doesn't have internet content options and the more advanced TV guide/scheduling information that the Sezmi (or a Tivo) has.

I too would be interested to hear from someone who has one of these units in use.

Mitch

[jond2062]

venturatv, thank you for posting this review. I have been seriously considering dropping cable in favor of an antenna + Sezmi + Netflix + PS3/PlayOn setup, but finding through reviews on Sezmi has been challenging. I played with one for a few minutes at Best Buy, but it was hard to truly evaluate it since the system was on demo mode. Do you have any thoughts on the following:

- What is the overall speed like when using Sezmi? e.g. flipping through the menu interface, changing channels, browsing the on demand content, etc.

- How much are typical TV show and movie rentals?

- You mention that certain lists are alphabetical, while others are organized with the shows you specifically recorded at the top. Is there a way to sort these differently? Or are they fixed?

Thanks for your help.

[venturatv]

Hi Jond2062,

Overall, the speed/responsiveness of the remote seems maybe a little slower than a Tivo (hopefully that is a useful reference). It definitely isn't as fast as a "regular" cable TV setup with a remote. Moving within the menus can seem a little laggy at times. However, I think that part of the "problem" with the slowness of the interface has to do with the fact that the device isn't really designed to operate like a typical TV setup. For example, it is quite slow for "channel surfing" from one channel to another, sampling bits of things as you go along - but that isn't what it intended to do. It is intended to fill up the hard drive with shows that you want to watch, and then have you watch them later. If you use it in the latter fashion, the somewhat slow changes from menu to menu aren't really a factor, since you don't spend much time actually moving from menu to menu. The responsiveness of the controls within the show are fine (i.e. pausing, fast forwarding, etc).

I didn't really do much with the pay per view downloads, but as I recall, they range from free (for some TV shows and I think some movies), to maybe $4.99 for the most expensive movies. I've heard that the downloads are somewhat slow, and it is better to start the downloading process well before you are ready to actually watch the movie.

The menus have some flexibility as far as sorting them goes, but I can't recall the exact details. I'm sorry that I can't check right now, but I actually returned my Sezmi to Best Buy because of a faulty HDMI port. The folks at Sezmi would have readily sent me a replacement, but I decided to return the box before my 30 day return period was over - I'm planning to get another one after the new year.

My experience with customer service was largely very good, and it might be worth your time to call them to ask about the movie prices.

I hope these answers are useful - I think it is a pretty good device for people looking to watch most of their TV over the air and want a good DVR.

Mitch

[tiamichelle]

This sounds like exactly what I need. I want to ditch my cable bill and need a DVR for OTA. Does it have dual tuners? I want to be able to record 2 things at one.

[venturatv]

Hi Tiamichelle,

Sorry to be slow responding - I haven't been around a computer for a few days.

The Sezmi does have 2 tuners.

Cheers,
Mitch