Not sure if this helps you.... but DirecTivo's default to "DirecTV style" guide... please tell your friend to disable this (I think in "Guide" view you hit the info key). The other option is "Tivo Style" guide which is much faster. Tivo might have to update more frequently in the first few days of ownership, but after that, it should be only at off peak times like 3am. And that'll only use one of the tuners to do it... Geography shouldn't matter, that's the whole point of satellites.

That being said... I can see why you'd want to stick with Replay after having invested in the hardware.