---------
The Setup:
This is the general setup for the testing enviornment, unless noted otherwise...

Dish:
Phase-III sent to a combination of 4 spliters, which feed two 4x8 multiswitches.

TV:
Simple 26" TV at first (I will eventauly try it on the Plasma, but.... can't do it now)

Video and Image Captures:
Via a Sony TRV-20 MINI-DV camcorder.
I plan to just record everything going on via the Analog outputs..
I am capturing them via Pinnacle and then stills generated from Virtual Dub.
Most video streams will be DiVX encoded, or MPEG-1

----
While doing this review... found out a nice "limitation" of the forum software... You are only allowed so many IMG tags... ... Now I know...

First:
Thank you to Robert at ValueElectronics (www.valueelectronics.com)
For obtaining this unit, hot of the truck and getting it out...
Here's to hoping the review does your effort to both me and the forum, justice.

Second:
Doug (DSWALLOW), Dan Collins, and Bill (Billy66) for offering web hosting space.
I hope not to over tax your servers with video, images, and other things...
But without their help... This review would just be plain text...
as my hosting sites maxed out pretty quickly when doing the R10 review.

Thirdly:
You the forum... I have been around this place now for nearly 5 years...
I have learned alot, been corrected a lot, and hopefuly returned the knowledge the best I could.
And for what ever reason, you all have been waiting for this....
And paritally using it to spend YOUR money on... So, I hope to offer the best I can.
This also includes the mods, for letting me post something that is going to cause their servers to go bonkers for a few days...

Lastly:
My family, and my wife in particular.
She has no idea on what it means to me, that I can do these sorts of things...
And what impact it does to her... Hey hon... The DVR has been changed... time to learn a new one..
So thanks to them... *** sniff ***

Well.... Here We go...

The outerbox:

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The Front Of the Box:

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The Front USB Port:
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The Front Access Card Slot:
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The Front Contol Center:
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The Back:

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The Back Connectors:
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The Back Power/Fan:
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The Inside:

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The Inside HDD:
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The Inside Power Supply:
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The Inside Connectors:
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The Inside Front:
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The Accessory Bag:
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The Access Card:
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Comments:
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The R15 is "built" with higher quality then the R10.
When reviewing the R10, it was thin sheet metal, self taping screws, and just felt cheap.
The R15... Solid... Standard computer case screws (5 of them), easy to remove top (real easy).
Weight just feels right for this component too...

HDD: Segate 160gb Hard Drive...
For kicks, I tried to RMA it... just like the R10.. These are OEM drives, and they won't let you RMA them.
There doesn't appear any room to "add" a second hard drive... even with an elaborate bracket.. but I will leave that to the upgrade people.

There is an RF Antenna port... BUT.. There was no RF Antenna in the accessory bag, and the remote given is the standard DTV IR remote (with generic "Duracell clones")

Access card is a new one.. I have not seen this one before.. Has the "Rethink TV logo on it. There is no indicator of what type of card it is...

If you can't tell from the pictures, the input F-RG6 ports are all color coded... So that will help you help others with installs.

The power supply cord is a Triangle design, looks just like the one from the R10.

Well that is about it for the insides and outsides...
Time to go fire it up...

Setup

Just Like TiVo
As soon as you plug the power in, the unit starts to fire up.
I would show you some of the first few screens but.....

First Surprise.... Copy protection, right out of the gate
My camcorder stoped recording... Why: On the LCD display of my camcorder: COPY INHIBIT
I have this connected via the Analog outputs... I guess the Macrovision kicks in, even with the startup screens...
First time in 5 years of capturing video with that camera, I saw that message...
Oh well...

Guide Setup...
Nearly identical to DTivo setup... Here are the screen shots:
Screen 01 - Pick Language
Screen 02 - General Information
Screen 03 - General Information
Screen 04 - Dish Type Selection
Screen 05 - Zip Code Selection
Screen 06 - Point Dish
Screen 07 - Dish Checklist
Screen 08 - All Transponder Signal List
Screen 09 - BAR Style Transponder Strenght
Screen 10 - Transponder List for a different SAT
Screen 11 - Setup Confirmed
Screen 12 - Downloading Advanced Program Guide Data
Screen 13 - Completed


Standard stuff...
The transponder check screen was pretty cool. It rolled through all the transponders and listed all the strength. You could menu click to the next screen, instead of waiting for them.
The Advanced Guide Data download, took about 2 minutes.

NO PHONE CALL DURING SETUP... IN FACT, NO PHONE CALL AT ALL AS OF THIS WRITING

------------------------------

Another Surpirse
While I was seting up my remote (see below)...
The UNIT abrubtly shut off... Scared me half to wits as my TV jumped to a snow screen, before it knocked out the sound.
I though the unit had died (it is plugged into a UPS)...
No warning, no menu option, no nothing... JUST BOOM----------

Software Update
Downloading Software.... please wait.
New Software Found: 1/1/20 55/0003/1044/01/0119

Here is a picture, the VIDEO capture didn't work as for the same reason above: Copy prohibited
Download Picture: Small
Download Picture: Full


The software download took about 5-10 minutes to complete.

Once it was done:
You have to repeate Guided Setup...
Without any phone calls, it takes about 3 minute tops to do the guided setup... So that is not so bad.


Remote Setup:
Remote Screen Shot

It is a scroll through to find your code method...
One tip... Going with the navigation buttons, it takes for ever.
After trying a few things, I found that the Channel Up and Down will scroll and entire page.

To set the code: Typical Universal remote: Hold Mute, Select... Blink Blink; 5 digit code... you are done.

Activation
Note to DirecTV: If you are reading this... Please put an option into your phone menu... "If you are activating equipment, press #"

Called DirecTV..
Talked to Travis (the first time)...
Earl: I would like to activate a new reciever...
Travis: Is this a replacement, or an addition
Earl: Addition
Travis/Earl: Access Card... Serial #.... RID....
Travis: Model
Earl: R15
Traivs: OOOOOOHHHH That is one of the new ones... they are really nice, I want one..
[/Pickup tounge from floor.... was not expecting that]

Activated... Got the channels... Hung Up.
Started to play with the unit... DVR Services not active.
Waited for about 5 minutes, called back...

The person on the phone (couldn't remember his name).
He removed the reciever and re-activated it... worked fine after that.
OnLine bill reads: DirecTV_DVRService_TIVO

First impressions.....
This is not your mother's TiVo...
It is VERY different, from a GUI point of view...

Over all GUI
The "Cartoony" interface that people gave TiVo a bad rap for, is gone.
There is a VERY faint "dong" when you do something wrong in the GUI. Other than that, there is no audio feedback.
You just here the program that is playing on the active tuner.

The GUI is very "textual" in it's look... It is White on Blue, and I have not found a menu option to change it.

The Guide
See Scheduler for Screen shots and some more details. I will eventually post a video file.

Well... you want to know... It is faster, kinda.
If you want scroll up and down amongst the channels, it is definently faster...
But left to right... (changing the time window), it is not all that fast, and very similar to the R10.

One thing to note: When you push the GUIDE Button, you are taken first to a Filter Selection Screen
First Screen after Guide Button Click
Then after you select your filter, you go to the Guide.

There are some modes in the Guide, that I haven't screen shotted yet... but it will return lists of programs in a vertical column.

Guide does have a Red and Green button option to jump + or - 12 hours


Menu and GUI Hangups
The GUI does HANG a bit...
not as much as the DTivos do, but they do hang...
(I mean hang, but doesn't look like it is responding to the remote)

RW/FF/Playback
For a screen shot, see the latest DTV-DVR commercial
I will provide some in the next few days with a video file as well.....

There are 4 RW/FF increments, 4X seems to be nearly a 3 minute jump every second it is activated.
Have figured out the others yet. There is a slight auto-rollback like the TiVos, but I haven't pinpointed it exact increment yet.

In general, the RW/FF motion is not as smooth as the DTivos. For now, I am going reserve final judgement till after the unit has been on for a few days.

While in RW/FF mode, the "Center Eye" of the front panel, rotates in the direction you are going... CounterClockwise for RW and Clockwise for FF. And it's rotation speed changes based on what X speed you are going at.


OFF Buttons
There is an OFF button... Both on the Remote and the face of the unit.
It appears to be identical to the old STANDBY button.
Recordings continue, and so does the LIVE buffer.


Channels you recieve

You have three options:
All Channels (which you can't adjust),
Custom 1
Custom 2
In Custom 1 & 2, you can select your channels that you want to see in your guide...

MIX Channels
Kid MIX Channel
The newer MIX channels work as advertised....
Kinda intresting, but good to know that they work.

Record 2 and Play A Previously Recorded
Yes.. It does work

The Scheduler:

Setting Up a Season Pass:
There are two ways:
Quick way: In the Guide, hit the R button once for a single record. Hit it twice for a "automatic" recording.
Single Click first program
Single Click 2nd program

Longer and more detail way:
From the guide, hit the INFO button when you are on the program you want.
There is a RECORD option on the left. Navigate and select it.
When there you can select your record option... but there are TWO TABS for the recording options.
The first tab is just the How Long To Keep, and start and end adjustments.
First/Default Record Screen

There is a second tab.. (You can get to it via the navigation control, or hit the RED or GREEN button to toggle)
In the second tab, you can chose two more options: First Run/Rerun/All And Keep 1,2,3,4,5,All episodes
Extended Record Option Screen

Conflict management:
Well this is a nice feature... When you have a conflict when scheduling a recording, you get a choice of which other recording to cancel...
Cancel #1 or Cancel #2
Conflict Selector
I don't have a screen image for this, but if you have a show that has a 2nd erroring, it will give a 4th option, to "Record next available showing"

Change Channel Warnings
Change Channel

If you have TWO scheduled recordings at one time...
5 Minutes prior to the recordings to start, you will get the dialog box asking if it is okay to change the channel for the recording.
If you hit OKAY... IT IMMEDIATELY changes the channel on the LIVE TV buffer.

This does not occur when you only have 1 recording scheduled.
I do still need to test, when I have 1 recording ACTIVE, and 1 recording scheduled for the next slot.

Menu To Get To Schedule Items
Quick Menu

To Do List and History
There is a To Do List and History, just like there is in the TiVo products
ToDo List
History

Prioritizing
Prioritizing Screen
At this point it appears all new "Automatic" recordings, default to the #1 prioritzation slot.
Luckly, you can re-prioritize them... And it moves VERY quickly. There was no "Please Wait" dialogs.
But then again, at the time of this test... I only had 4 "ARs"

Padding Options
NO reverse padding: aka.. NO start late, or End Early options
Standard pads: 1,5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 90, 180 adjustments

Find By Title
Find By Title
After find a show, it is about three clicks to get to the point where you can setup an "Automatic Recording"

Find By Keyword/Person/Channel
So far I have only tried BY Keyword...
It works very similar to Wishlists... One difference, you can only select 1 Category for the program (Such as Age->Children)... With TiVos you where able to have 2 Categories (Age-Children & ShowType->Series)

MyVOD
MyVOD is very similar to Now Playing...
It is accesible by hitting the LIST button on the remote:
MyVOD Screen Shot

Going into MyVod, is the only way I have been able to switch between two "ACTIVE" recordings... similar to switching between buffers... BUT...

Folders
Folders do exist (sorry about the early statements that they didn't.....)
Folder Closed
Folder Open
Correction from earlier posts: Hitting DASH-DASH on a folder, only deletes the TOP recording in a folder, not the entire folder... Since I only had two when I tested it, I thought it deleted the entire thing... but it just sent the remaining recording past the current page.... sorry about that.
WARNING: You get no "prompting" if you use the dash-dash delete option.

MyVod Quick Menu
First Page of QM

List By (Sorting)
First Set of Options
Second Set of Options
6 Ways To Sort... 12 total when you include directions
Title (ASC/DEC)
Date (New/Old)
Group (First/Last)
Expiration (First/Last)
Channel (High/Low)
Price (High/Low)

This will change the order that the items are listed in MyVOD.
There is a Category Sort option as well, when slecting a category it will give you a list of the items by category you select.

Bulk Delete
There is an option to BULK Delete now, from the Quick Menu you have a MarkDelete option
When selecting it you get this screen: Where you can select items
MarkDelete Screen


The Buffers
There are definenty two tuners... But as I have used this more and more, I don't think there are two LIVE TV buffers, as there is with the DTivos.

I have been unable to find any button or method that will toggle between the two tuners. You can go to MyVOD to select a different recording if the other tuner is recording something... And you can go from a recording buffer, and select a channel with out something recording to watch... but that is as close as it gets for now.

90 minute buffer: when it rolls into another program
At first glance, it looked like it only kept the buffer for the current show... As the "progress bar", only showed the current show's title, and timeline...
But... If you rewind, and go "past" the start time of the current show, it does lead back into the previous program... and updated the progress bar accordingly.

Blank Screen If Two Recordings
That original discussion we had a few months back.... that is not the case.
When there are two recordings going on, there is a Video image when you turn on the TV... You DON'T get a black screen, when there is a recording on two tuners.

And you can watch and acitve recording.

Double Manual Recordings

Screen Shot when Double Manual
Well... You can't watch "either" of the two recordings while they are recording.
BUT... You can select a previously recorded show though from MyVOD

MyVOD
MyVod is the name of the similar "DirecTV Cental" on a DTiVo.. It is the center point for most of the DVR features

Space Monitor
It is there, right in the middle of the MyVOD tab.
Right now I have about 120 minutes of recordings, and it says 99% free, with one little tick in the bar.

STOP Button
There is a STOP button now on the remote... When you are actively recording something, it will bring you a menu, to chose what to do: Nothing, Stop and Keep; Stop and Delete.
If you choose either of the stop options, it brings you to the MyVOD menu... not sure why, but it did.

(Note, the same menu comes up if you hit the R button (record), but what I think is happening... if you hit either of the STOP options... It stops the recording, then starts it again. Kinda like... I see something is recording here, so I need to stop it.... Oh yah, now that is cleared up, start recording)

InterActive Features
The MIX Channels work.. If you pick one of them, you can navigate across the 6 channels. Audio changes, and if you hit select... You jump to that channel.

Active Button
This jumps you to an interactive "menu"...
(Note: It seems that if you have TWO recordings going, you can't go to the Active Button menu... I get a request to cancel one of the recordings)

Options in the Active Button are:
Weather: You can pick any ZIP code, or a default one, provide a 5 day outlook
Mix Channels: The MIX channels, self explanitory
Best Bets: This is list of "shows" and PPV that DirecTV is pushing
Horoscope: You can pick a sign and get the Horoscope
Lottery: Narrow down to a state, and get the numbers for a particular drawing. Only appears to give the LAST drawing numbers
Help: A very basic Help screen.

Also on the screen.
In the top left, it has DirecTV commercials...
In the middle it has an add for Jeep cheroke... with an INTERACTIVE commercial.... weird.

This Active page reminds me a TON of a hotel summary page.

Lotto Results
Anyone Win?
$265 Mega Million results for 11/11/2005


Caller ID
On Screen Caller ID:
Caller ID

You can also access the "messages" of your Caller-ID from the Quick Menu's

The "Eye" on the front panel


Two points:
1) You have to do this from the FRONT panel... Trying it via remote, doesn't seem to work (probably because the remote can only send one signal at a time)
2) You have to hit BOTH of them at the same time... Upon my first read, I thought I would hold LEFT to DIM and RIGHT to LIGHT... Nope... Hold them both, and it will cycle through. There are 4 levels, and off.

Note though... Even though you turn the RING off... The blue light for the POWER stays on.

Single Line Guide
What was available on many Non-DVR Recievers, is now available on the R15. A single line guide, while watching TV... By hitting the BLUE button on your remote, you can bring up this guide.
You can even scheduled a recording from it (by hitting the R button once or twice)
Single Line Guide; After scheduling a recording

Record Music Channels
AT least with Music Choice channels, you can record them now.
While playing back... You get a "watermark" type screen, with a guy playing a Sax... Information about the song on the screen.
We will see if this changes with XM in a few weeks.

As of 9:45pm on 11/10/2005
-- No button to toggle between both tuners
-- Thumbs Up/Down rankings
-- Suggestions

From a construction point of view... The R15 is much higher quality metal and "feel" then what the R10 was...
The R15 doesn't feel "cheap"...

USB Network Adapter
I connected a Linksys Compact USB2.0
It get's power, and shows the 100bit light... but according to the DHCP logs, it hasn't asked for an IP.

Other USB Device
Plugged a JumpDrive in... did nothing, didn't even light up.

Remote Click -> Results on Screen... performance
I have been using this thing for about 10 hours now...
And it suffers from a delay from remote click to action on screen... Very similar to the TiVos. You hit a button, wait a second... then it does it...
Often so far, I have hit a button again because I thought I didn't which takes me somewhere else.

This is primarily happening in the RECORD settings menu

**** Place Holder

**** Place Holder

**** Place Holder

**** Place Holder

**** Place Holder

____________________________________________________________ ____
ALL RECIEVERS FROM NOW TILL ETERNITY

make a special subsite on directv.com where you can list stuff about eacgh reciver AND list each software update and what it did to the recievers
_____________________________________________________
FEATURES

duel live buffers that are easily switched between
and if switch channel on one of the buffers that you dont loose buffering on the other channel
increase buffers on both tunners to 2 hours

30 second skip

change settings ability
meaning can change stuff from the default on colors and etc

suggestions type feature

wish lists full ones that you can save ala tivo

pip via the multiple tuners
ota & satellite

scroll and choose when see guide ahead & backwards... ala tivo

more info on tv shows ... year actors similar to & etc

if try change channel and away from an already recording show, you get a warning that it will stop before if you change channel

can watch either manual recordings - switchable between and still be able watch a prerecorded show

tell us when last date upgrade or etc happened
say in the system menu what the last upgrade changed or added or fixed

add a warning after hit dash twice before easing something in myvod screen

adjust recordings when shows change times by etc cause of show over runs
by however is possible

a way to transfer settings to same reciever from another reciever
especially useful if you have a reciever go bad but stillc an transfer stuff to new one,,, so you dont have redo everything
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________
MEDIA CENTER

all features of r15/hr20 and upgrades listed on this info sheet

add 3 SAT tuners per box on non media center boxes & 2 hdtv ota tuner on non media center boxes

will record 4 sat shows at once

4 ota tuners built in
can record them as well at same time as sat channels

can view 2 live shows on each client box while other stuff is recording
_________________________________________________________
MENUS

bottom of guide... tabs see where been on guide
ala the myvod and my showcases ones but on bottom of screen, so before you hit back button you see where you been

addition of a fwd button so you can go fwd after go back in menus
would need faster processor or more ram ?

speed ALL of them up in all areas

Being able to put a checkmark on programs. This is usefull specialy to checkmark movies that are viewed

tivo type double channel guide

a icon showin what buttons are bein used at that time in use

in guide being able go back ala tivo
____________________________________________________________ ______________________________
INTERACTIVE

make interactive useable with out having to hit active button for the mix channels

make interactive able to be used even if you are recording on both tuners make mix to be able to be used on the unit

Make the recommandation in "Best Bets" a link to the actual program in the guide, so that we can put a recoding action on them
____________________________________________________________ ___________
MYVOD

list maximums you can have for recent finds in each find by category next to how many have used and ability to erase some

be able to desigate single episodes of saved programs as save till delete in a series, instead of having it only be till disk full or till i delete for each program only

fix glitch in only recording first run and repeats
define what a repeat and first run is better

guide response times needs be faster

channel logos in my vod in all areas

do not change channel 5 min prior to show recording make it wait till 20 seconds before

make it not go out of myvod when after watch and dont erase a prerecorded show

shows in vod screen appear without having hit red and then green tab after erase show watching - and when 1st get on it

add a find by tab in the scheduler full screen menu as well as keep one in mini menu

when using the channel up down menu when trying move priotry of a recording let the show move with that button as well as directional one

when watchin show dont leave myvod when confirm taping

when click dash 2 times to erase a show have a warning pop up

when making a new series pass automatically make it last and let us change it at the end to where we want it to go
____________________________________________________________ ________
SCHEDULE CONFLICT

add option to cancel none / cancel new request-program

add a prioritzer right when make new series pass record request - keep other one where is as well

reverse padding so can start recording a show late and end early
____________________________________________________________ ______________
REMOTE CONTROL

all buttons glow in the dark

put the enter button where the dash button is

put the previous button where enter button is

in the new space created by moving the volume and channel button down
lower the greyer highlited area
add minus- button / then the dash button / then add a plus+ botton / all for rating shows

move the volume and channel buttons down so they begin where mute and previous button used to be

put the mute button between between the new location of volume and channel buttons

on top of the select arrows make the buttons in this order
active guide info exit

below the select arrows make the buttons in this order
menu - back - fwd - myvod/list
could then elimanate the 4 color buttons OR reuse them somewhere else - or for other purposes

put the pause button where the play button is

put the play button where the stop button is

put the stop button below the play button

on the left of newly placed stop button put qr-quick record

on the right of newly placed stop button put ar button-it be a shortcut to series recording of the show

above the grey area
put ETC format button all way to the left
then ETC input
then pwr button
then ETC power on
then ETC power off
____________________________________________________________ _____

Hey newbie question here. And I mean this in sincerity, not smartassishness. How did Earl get to be top dog on all these initial runs of new products? I haven't followed his history enough to know the answer to that and was just curious if he had a relative or something like that?

Earl volunteered to become the unoffical "first reviewer" of the R15. After his nice review of the R10, he arranged with Robert of VE to get one of the first ones shipped out overnight.

But if anyone else odered one with overnight shipping, and can get their review online before 7PM CST, they can claim the title of "actual first review".

While I am interested in hearing EVERYONE's opinions regarding the R15, I know that I'll be getting an in-depth and top notch analysis from Earl. I've been looking forward to his review of this for a very long time now.

I don't know how... but I guess it just happened.
I purchased a Zenith SAT-520 (don't quote me on the model) from Robert about 2.5 years ago. And I had such a good transaction, I continued a lot of buisness with VE.

About a year ago now, Robert asked if I would like to do a review on the R10... Since they day I heard about them, I asked when they would be available.... So I did the review on it...

When the R15 was announced, it was almost like cross mail... Robert asking if I wanted to do another review, and me asking when I can order it.

Over the past few months or so, by the graces of this forum (and other forums... yikes)... some how some way, "The Review" has been talked about for a while.
I guess people liked the "Review" of the R10 (not necessary the results, but at least the contents)...

Anyone is more then welcome to do a review on it, and I am not trying to "Jockey in " for position or anything... Just right place, right time.... I hope my luck continues with the H20 and the HMC....

I also try to keep a fair mind about it to... as I am "love" with DVRing... not necessary TiVo persay.

And for the record: I wasn't the first to "review the R10"... other had it before me, and posted about it. And If I am not the first to get the R15 review done... so be it, but I still am going to do it...

Personally, I think the idea of putting all the placeholders in ahead of time is GREAT. This way, the info is divided into categories and yet easily accessible at the top. Much better than scrolling through a long post and/or long thread.

Nice job, Earl.

I love the place holders. The last thing I want is to see part of the review posted, wade through a ton of responses to that post (maybe two pages or so.. just a guess) before I get to the next part of the review. I want to be able to pull this thread up later and see ALL of the info upfront without going through the other stuff.

I think ebonovic is doing it the right way.

I agree. Can't wait to read some first impressions tonight.

Where exactly is the "contribution" here?

Wow. Only 44 min to first troll!

Earl, take your time.

The trick would be to have the thread locked so only Earl could post to it, and everybody else puts their comments in a secondary thread.

But that's probably asking too much.

I for one appreciate an honest review of anything. Call me crazy, yeah go ahead , but if a problem was found or somthing was found that was not was anticipated, I would like to know. I am not one for "sugar coated" opinions.

Thanks Earl.