AV & Epe & ErkkilaDotOrg & TV & drm 29 Jun 2006 03:21 am
And where’s my flying car?
Finally got the Philips RC9800i all programmed. Good: it’s in color, not bad interface, price, wireless stuff (I guess, seems pretty useless for me). Meh: Not very configurable (no PC software to edit every last button/screen as in Pronto series); the only user editable keys are 8 user defined ones for each device; very limited hard keys (only the ones you define for menu up/down/left/right/ok, mute, volume, channel); no way to mix keys from different devices on one screen or assign them to a hard key (biggest problem one for me is the ‘aspect’ button for TV); locks up sometimes; device icons are listed as very generic ‘PVR’, ‘DVD’ etc so if you have more than one you have to remember what order they’re in; it displays keys on the remote even if they have no code assigned to them; no way to move around or delete keys from the display. I like being able to set up remotes exactly as I like; this doesn’t quite fit the bill but I guess it’ll work for now. I do like the form factor and UI, and it seems pretty responsive.
A CableCard HD Tuner card. Meh: Windows only (probably due to the CableCard requirements).
ReplayTV PC Edition. Meh: no HD support yet. Windows only, even for streaming.
HDTivo (standalone; series 3). Meh: no more lifetime service fees. Isn’t it weird how they announced this right after Replay exited the set-top business?
Blu-ray/HDDVD. Meh: why did there have to be two? And the whole thing about possibly limiting resolution on component outputs (thus screwing us early HD monitor adopters).
I used to be an early adopter. Lately I’m feeling like I’d be a schmuck to buy into any of these half-assed technologies.
2 Responses to “And where’s my flying car?”
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on 29 Jun 2006 at 9:54 pm 1.weet said …
I hear you, I’m looking for a lot of the exact same things and finding similar frustration for being an early adopter. I was always the same with the videogames, at the store in line at midnight to pick up my console that was reserved 6 months before but I’m not even feeling that anymore; this round I’ll only be getting the cheapest of the three anytime soon? Everyone wants to out-price themselves out of the early adopter market–who does that cater to? It’s so hard to even buy anything anymore without paying a 13$/month subscription fee. F that lifetime sub crap with tivo@#@$@#$ I have so much more to rant about!!!
on 01 Jul 2006 at 2:46 am 2.epe said …
I want no more subscriptions. I’m even going to go pay as you go on the cell phone later this year. I notice the EPG on the new remote is good for 3 years…wonder what then. It might take me that long to decide that an EPG on my remote is not a totally useless feature. :)