Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I own two Logitech Revues and was eager to upgrade to a newer Google TV with a faster processor and more RAM. Unfortunately, what I received was a half-baked device with hardware and software malfunctions. I am in the process of returning it and going back to the Revue, which had its issues, but were fewer and farther between. It was easy enough to setup. The same process as my Revue. Unfortunately, after finishing the setup process I was presented with a blank screen. I left it on for a few minutes guess that it was booting up still. Eventually I had to unplug the unit and hard reboot. It turned on and immediately prompted me to install a firmware update. Sure! Low and behold, after the update finished I was presented with another blank screen. I unplugged/replugged and the box booted up as normal (note: I haven't had the blank screen issue since, aside from when it freezes after about 24 hours of uptime). I quickly noticed three things: 1) Vizio did to Google TV what cell phone manufacturers have done to Android phones: They put their own UI on it. Keeping in line with expectations, their custom UI is not nearly as full-featured or snappy as the stock Android Google TV experience (owning two Revues, I can say that confidently). For example, the settings menu is not nearly as full as the normal Android settings. I still can't find out where it shows my used & available storage on the device. 2) The remote was not going to cut it. The remote was one of the more attractive parts of the Co-Star compared to the Revue when it was first announced. One side is your standard TV/DVR remote; the underside is a QWERTY keyboard. Using an accelerometer (I think), it knows which side is facing up so you don't have accidental button presses. The problem is that the accelerometer is very sensitive . So when I have the remote held at a slight angle, the buttons don't work. It, basically, needs to be flat - one side or the other. There is also no "Cancel/exit" button on the remote. Say you type in the wrong channel number and want to back out. There is no way to do so. The two "Back" buttons will change you to the previous channel. It's strange and a big oversight. 3) I missed the Harmony features of the Logitech Revue. For the most part, I could customize any button on the keyboard of the Revue to a specific function. With that device, the first thing I did was change the "Fast Forward" to "Skip Ahead." I couldn't make any kind of changes to the Co-Star remote. Whatever it downloaded as the keys for my devices was what I was stuck with. The Co-Star Box: It is super tiny. I wondered how they were able to cram all that hardware into such a tiny form factor. It didn't take long to figure out that the form factor would lead to constant overheating and freezing of the device. Vizio's advice (indicated below), was to turn off the box at night. No offense to the energy savers, but a Google TV is not a device meant to be turned off - mainly because it just takes so long to boot up. No one wants to wait 60 seconds for their TV to turn on (this isn't the 70's). There are no lights and no on/off switch/button. It is very utilitarian. The Remote: As I said above, the two key downfalls to the remote are the remote not working at certain angles, and not being able to customize the keys. It really was nice to have a smaller remote. But I also felt (compared to the Revue) that having to flip the remote over and over to switch from mouse to keyboard was getting extremely tedious. It was a great idea, but not a great result. Random gripes: - There is no way to switch the input, so I can't change my receiver to anything with this remote. - There is no way to turn off the system sounds (like a chime when selecting something in a menu). - The interface "ghosts" at times - you push a button and nothing comes up but you can't push any other buttons. It happened a lot pressing the bookmarks button. I push it and nothing happens, but I can't do anything else until I press the "back" button. The device thinks that the bookmarks are showing, and I could even blindly pick one. - It is bad with switching between audio outputs from my receiver. So, when watching TV it is outputting in Dolby and sounds fine. Then switch to stereo when a commercial comes up - there is a good 1 second hiccup for the Co-star to adjust to the stereo input. Then, a 1-second hiccup again when the Dolby comes back. PROS: - Chrome browser is quicker. - Small remote compared to Revue. - Quiet (no noise, really). At a $200 price point, this could have been the best Google TV hands down. With a bit more time put in to the interface (or just using what Google gave us!) the gripes I had with the UX would have diminished. At a $200 price point, they could have afforded the "cooling fans" that my Vizio rep so defensively stated it does not have. What's worse? I paid $110 for the device ($10 shipping). Now to return it I have to pay for shipping and a 10% ($10) restocking fee. So, $10 to receive, $10 to send back, and $10 for them to put back on the shelf. $30 to rent this for 30 days. If I had only waited 4 more weeks I could have gone through Amazon and paid nothing to receive or return the device. A $30 mistake. Vizio has really lost any future purchases from because of this whole experience. Here is an excerpt from the transcript with a Vizio representative on my chat to return the Co-Star. Notice that he admits the device will overheat, but that it's not a design flaw: Brett: Why are you wanting to return your CoStar? Robert Alexander: It overheats and freezes, and the interface does not work correctly. Brett: Afre you turning off the CoStar when you shut off your TV? Brett: Are* Robert Alexander: No. Robert Alexander: Because then it takes an additional 60 seconds just to watch TV. Robert Alexander: Waiting for it to boot up. Brett: Well, because of the form factor of the CoStar there are no colling fans and if left on for extended periods it will overheat and freeze and not work correctly. Robert Alexander: I understand; to me that is a design flaw, though. Robert Alexander: It was not worth making such a small box at the compromise of overheating. Brett: There is a 10% restocking fee and you're responsible for shipping costs Robert Alexander: I currently own a Logitech Revue and do not have these issues with that box. Robert Alexander: I understand. I am willin gto pay that although the device is defective. Brett: No, the device is not defective.