After suffering through the nightmare that is FedEx Smart Post, I finally received my Co-Star 5 days ago. I purchased this unit to replace an old Roku; since the top of the line Roku sells for $89 at Sam's Club, the $99 Co-Star seemed like a gamble worth taking.
Here's how I have the device hooked up...NO cable TV or satellite (I use OTA only); I ran an HDMI out of the Co-Star to a Vizio VHT-215 soundbar; I then ran another HDMI cable (pass-thru setup) from the soundbar to a 46" Philips TV. I'll explain that choice in a bit. I have a Cisco router which is fed by a Panasonic powerline network adapter feeding the internet to the Co-Star (wired connection).
The Co-Star setup took about half an hour; far longer than a Roku, but then again you have to program the remote for multiple devices, pair bluetooth, and download a sizable update. It was very straight-forward; no real issues whatsoever.
I like the device a lot. As a Netflix streamer it's great. It has the newer UI than my Roku, and it loads videos substantially faster. I don't have Amazon Prime Video, so I can't comment on that. I installed the Al Jazeera app and that works as well as the app on the Roku. I went ahead and purchased Plex (.99 on Google Play....free on Roku) and that too worked fine. The Plex app on the Vizio is more full-featured than the one on the Roku; it will show you the Unsupported stuff (e.g. porn, etc.) Other than that, a cursory check showed Plex streaming performance on par with the Roku.
I also hooked up a 2TB Western Digital hard drive full of movies. The Co-Star took probably 15 minutes to scan the drive, but once I did I was able to stream stuff. I only tried doing this with the Vizio program that comes pre-loaded; it's a piece of crap--very limited in capability (e.g. inability to browse by folder structure), but it is functional. I'm aware there are other (paid) alternatives in the app store. As I have a separate media streamer that supports ISOs, I seriously doubt I will make use of this aspect of the Co-Star...why Google doesn't support ISOs is a mystery to me.
I've been extremely disappointed in the Google App store. I have lots of Android devices, and the app store for GTV is clunky and extremely difficult to find stuff that is compatible with your device. The odd thing is the app store will let you download stuff that isn't compatible(?!) There just doesn't seem to be much stuff available for GTV at this point.
I tried side loading a number of apps with spotty success. Pulse loads, but is next to impossible to navigate. Google+ runs, but will force close--which brings me to a side point--Why the F doesn't Google make apps for Gmail, Google+, Maps, Currents, etc. for Google TV?
I was able to get the Amazon MP3 app side-loaded properly--it runs awesome, and the Co-Star will even let you add it's widget (although a widget for Google Music is CONSPICUOUSLY absent). I also got ACV (comic reader app) loaded--now that is an awesome experience! I found a .cbr of a 1940s Shazam comic and read it on my 46" screen--what a beautiful site! Seriously--this has great potential. Unfortunately, you'll be forced to side-load an app like this since you can't get it from the app store on the device. BTW, Perfect Viewer force-closes.
One of the neat things about the Roku is that there are a number of public and private "channels" that you can install to view streaming video. Sure, not all of them are high-quality, but there are interesting ones available. I was pretty surprised/disappointed that GoogleTV pretty much only has Netflix and Al-Jazeera. I know that you can watch stuff on Chrome, but that's clunky and not an elegant experience. On the other hand, I really do like the YouTube app on the Co-Star; I only wish there was a way for it to remember where I paused a video if I can't watch something in one sitting. If you didn't hear, Troma put up 150 movies on their YouTube site recently...not everyone's cup of tea, but it's neat to be able to watch movies on YouTube whilst sitting on my sofa.
I haven't had any issues with the remote control. The only practical thing that Vizio could have done better is to provide lighted keys--at least on the front. But at $99 I'm sure this was a trade-off. Oh, the trackpad is a bit sensitive--it would be nice if there were an app on the device where you could adjust the sensitivity or something.
Earlier, I mentioned I'd explain why I use an HDMI pass-thru setup with my soundbar. The reason I opted for this is because it allows me to start up some music (e.g. using Goolge Music or Amazon MP3 player) and turn the TV completely off. This works well for me; YMMV.
I'm pretty content with the Co-Star at this point. I am disappointed in some things, but that's natural. As a Netflix streamer it's great--everything else is just gravy. I'm a die-hard Android junkie, so I'm sticking with GTV regardless. However, I'm afraid that Apple will revamp their AppleTV product and blow GoogleTV away. Google really needs to get on the app store--encourage more developers and also make the store easier to navigate. The GTV UI is okay, but it requires way too many button pushes to navigate, and there isn't a lot of visual similarity to the phone/tablet version of Android--leaving even folks like me with a steep learning curve...Apple will beat them hands-down in this area.
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