Daily Giz Wiz 435: Panasonic Showstopper

Episode 435 of the podcast

Panasonic Showstopper
Subject: Review of Panasonic Showstopper
Released:Friday 2 November 2007
Length:about 14 minutes
Download file:dgw0435.mp3 (6.5 MB)

Listen to the episode

Detailed information

Featured at CES 2000, the Panasonic Showstoppers were made for the ReplayTV service, as PVRs (or DVRs).  The original PV-HS1000, 2000 and 3000 models did not require a subscription fee for downloading the programme guides nightly.  Older models used a dial-up connection, while later models had ethernet connections as well for broadband connections.  One of the best features of ReplayTV was it allowed you to skip the commercials, which ultimately attracted copyright infringement suits.

TV programmes were recorded into MPEG-2.  The model 2000's hard drive offered 30 hours of video recording (at the lowest quality setting).  It also allowed you to pause a live broadcast and resume watching after the interruption.  Other features included Instant Replay and QuickSkip.

Snoopy in Petaluma

Wayne Thume was reminded by the talk of different levels of Mad jokes (Episode 424) of a Peanuts strip which featured Sam Snead.  At the time he just thought the name was funny, and it was only years later that he realised that Sam Snead was a great golfer.  There was another series of Peanuts strips in which Snoopy went to Petaluma to compete in the World Wrist Wrestling Championship.  He thought Petaluma was another made-up name, until he learned that's where Leo lived.

Leo adds that Charles Schultz used to live in Santa Rosa whose nearest city is indeed Petaluma which also used to host the World Wrist Wrestling Championship.

Henry in Mad

Henry Laporte has followed Leo's footsteps (see Episode 61) by appearing in the latest issue of Mad as a contestant on the game show 1 vs 100.

(source: insidedgw.vox.com)

Related gadgets & episodes

Subscribe on Twitter or Twit Army