Hated it, returned it. Revue sucks

[androidkook]

Just got it, hated it, packed it up and returned it.

1) way too slow
2) harmony remote app doesn't work
3) Dish charges $4 a month
4) apps suck
5) confusing UI
6) took me forever to figure out how to set a bookmark
7) logitech help pages broken
8) Android 2.1. No Jit == super slow
9) Keyboard layout is ******ed. Function key and control key should be swapped

I already have a mac mini hooked up and that's 1000x better. There's no reason to use this poorly designed garbage. Packed it back up and returned it.

 

[indianajonze]

Just got it, hated it, packed it up and returned it.

1) way too slow

no it's not...

2) harmony remote app doesn't work

yes it does...

3) Dish charges $4 a month

you should have known that going in

4) apps suck

those are not "apps". android library launches in january. what you call apps are the programs the revue needs to have to be on par with every other iptv and bd player on the market

5) confusing UI

its intuitive for me...

6) took me forever to figure out how to set a bookmark

no comment about this. havent tried it

7) logitech help pages broken

website help works for me...

8) Android 2.1. No Jit == super slow

that will change

9) Keyboard layout is ******ed. Function key and control key should be swapped

i dont agree. keyboard is fantastic

I already have a mac mini hooked up and that's 1000x better.

then why would you want a google tv???


There's no reason to use this poorly designed garbage. Packed it back up and returned it.

see my comments above. i dont think you're fair at all

 

[androidkook]

Try scrolling in Chome. So flickery and slow.

I could not get the harmony app to work. Called support and they had no ideas either. I've seen many complaints about this in other forums.

I was hoping to replace my mac mini, so that's why I bought it.

The Dish fee was not announced until after I had preordered it, and I thought it must be for the $179 price, not the full price.

The logitech help app on the google tv doesn't work. try it.

I felt stuck and lost everytime I tried to do anything. Sure, if I used it for a few days, I could learn the tricks to get around, but I would rather return it than learn it.

 

[fdossantos]

Just to be clear on the DISH portion of your comment. The $4 fee is charged on a monthly basis if you want to integrate the Revue with your HD DVR. It's not a requirement. The revue will work just fine.

The fee IS a requirement is you chose to order the Revue through DISH at a subsidized price of $179 vs. the $299 retail price. Since DISH is not selling the Revue just yet (inventory issue) and you apparently have Revue already, the fee is not required.

 

[androidkook]

As far as I could tell, it doesn't work well without the $4 fee. I pressed guide and it refused to show my channels. I could still use the old remote and watch the Dish, but could not view the program guide using Google TVs UI. Maybe I set it up wrong, but that would be the fault of confusing configuration.

Dish asked for a $4 fee, they did not mention it being free if you paid $299 from Logitech. I called Dish multiple times to complain, and no one mentioned I get for free. The phone number I called to activate it said "do you agree to a $4 charge" and did not say it was free.

 

[lament]

If you thought this would replace a Mac Mini, that was your first problem.

 

[booboolala2000]

If you want to scroll, use two fingers on the touchpad and pull down or push up. No, it's not as slick as a home computer, but for lightly navigating websites, works pretty well for me. And as for the keyboard, it's awesome in my opinion. And I don't have the IR Blaster hooked up, YET. Seems like maybe you were expecting too much, and didn't even give it a chance.

 

[kamtsa]

If you want to scroll, use two fingers on the touchpad and pull down or push up. No, it's not as slick as a home computer, but for lightly navigating websites, works pretty well for me. And as for the keyboard, it's awesome in my opinion. And I don't have the IR Blaster hooked up, YET. Seems like maybe you were expecting too much, and didn't even give it a chance.

I think that you can also scroll in Chrome using the up/down and pgUp/Dn keys. Sometimes you need to click once with the mouse on the page as if the the page needs to get the focus. Personally I prefer the keys over the mouse whenever possible. Easier and more accurate.

As for the IR blaster, the Revue has a built in IR blaster. Try to look at the front of the Revue through the view finder of a digital camera (e.g. an Android phone). you will notice IR blinks when you press TV/AVR keys. I think that the external IR head is redundant.

 

[androidkook]

I was scrolling with two fingers.

Yes, I probably was expecting too much. I have a mac mini, and since it's faster, there's no reason to use the slow google tv. I assumed the google tv would be OK for simple web browsing. I don't use the mac mini for anything but browsing.

 

[androidkook]

Another big problem. I bought this for my wife and kids too. I didn't think it would be easy to teach them how to use it. I didn't find it very user friendly. The keyboard with all those special keys is overly confusing.

 

[androidkook]

I still don't understand the youtube lean back UI. I found it very weird with no obvious way to use it.

 

[digity]

Fret not, my friend - Google has yet to prove they can produce a decent UI on any platform. The user experience and their desktop, web and mobile products are cumbersome and lackluster to say the least and its no surprise their TV product has the same problems. The simple fact that consumers expect a company whose bread & butter is their algorithm would give them a great UX is bananas. Gingerbread, honeycomb, ice cream, etc. - it doesn't matter how sweet it sounds, Google's user experiences are going to continue to be sour

 

[GMoney749]

Fret not, my friend - Google has yet to prove they can produce a decent UI on any platform. The user experience and their desktop, web and mobile products are cumbersome and lackluster to say the least and its no surprise their TV product has the same problems. The simple fact that consumers expect a company whose bread & butter is their algorithm would give them a great UX is bananas. Gingerbread, honeycomb, ice cream, etc. - it doesn't matter how sweet it sounds, Google's user experiences are going to continue to be sour

No need to repeat yourself, Mr. Jobs, you were very clear on the investor call a few days back.

 

[AJFSTORM]

no need to repeat yourself, mr. Jobs, you were very clear on the investor call a few days back.

lmao!

 

[itguy09]

Fret not, my friend - Google has yet to prove they can produce a decent UI on any platform. The user experience and their desktop, web and mobile products are cumbersome and lackluster to say the least and its no surprise their TV product has the same problems. The simple fact that consumers expect a company whose bread & butter is their algorithm would give them a great UX is bananas. Gingerbread, honeycomb, ice cream, etc. - it doesn't matter how sweet it sounds, Google's user experiences are going to continue to be sour

They are decent. There are lots of rough edges, even in Froyo but it does take time to learn how to do a decent UI. About the only one that does it really well is Apple and there are some rough edges in its UIs as well.

Either way Froyo is better than that FUGLY MESS that is Windows Phone. Microsoft still can't design a decent User Interface. But then again they never could.

 

[majortom1981]

hmm

i got the sony one. i am wondering if there is still a difference in the two despite having the same ui and specs.

scrolling in the sony one isnt as bad as the op says . my wife doesnt think its too hard to use. maybe sony has something with the cellphone like controller. i find it easier to use everyday

i also have the new apple tv in the bedroom. netflix ui is better on the apple tv but the sony google tv is much better at streaming netflix. on the google tv no stoping to catchup with the stream. on the apple tv it would stop 2 to 3 times during the cours3e of the movie. i am guessing its due to the difference in ram . the google tv has 1 gig and the apple tv has 256 megs.

also my sony one is a blueray player also so if i dont use google tv i still have the bluray player.In teardowns of the sony one its shown that the bluray part has its own arm processor. could make for interesting hacking.

 

[anon(879)]

I was lucky enough to pick up a Revue at my local BB on the 20th!
I thought that was pretty cool. I'm also very pleased with it so far.
Yes, it needs some works and the market will be great to satisfy all our needs. I think the OP is being a little to hard on it. Its a brand new product with which most of the support items aren't even up and running yet. It has already replaced my HDMI switch and PC behind the TV as I can now play music off my media server through it and the HDMI pass through means no more switching for me.

I'm very happy and looking forward to the many improvements and new apps coming soon.

To the OP, get an Apple TV and revel in its complete limitations

 

[digity]

No need to repeat yourself, Mr. Jobs, you were very clear on the investor call a few days back.

Nah buddy, I'm not a fan of Apple and their Fisher Price garbage. I'm an Android man and developer. Google has never delivered a truly decent UI on any level, its just a fact. I'm just one of the few Android folks who stopped inhaling the smoke and started looking for the fire... how's your lungs?

 

[Beandogg]

Love my google revue. Very easy to use, though you do need a modicum of intelligence to use it. For instance pressing the play button causes videos to play but also paused videos to play. Interestingly, pressing pause causes whatever video or music that is playing to pause. When you press the live tv button I was blown away because live tv started playing. Seems so counterintuitive but that's google I guess.

Seriously though, scrolling with the page down button is smooth and quick. And remember this is a work in progress.... It will be updated and improved, ad infinitum.

If you don't like android you probably shouldn't be getting a revue and you probably don't want to be on this forum for that matter.

 

[kamtsa]

Another big problem. I bought this for my wife and kids too. I didn't think it would be easy to teach them how to use it. I didn't find it very user friendly. The keyboard with all those special keys is overly confusing.

Personally I found the Sony keyboard to be very friendly. It fits nice in the hand and has out of the box the functions we need for the Samsung TV, Tivo STB, and Sony AVR. The wife is also happy with it but I think she uses only the keys, not the 'mouse'.

Obviously it is not perfect (e.g. backlite, mouse accuracy, etc) but was good enough for us to put away our carefully programed universal remote and use the Sony remote alone.

That's my 2c. YMMV ;-)