Customer Reviews

Keyspan TVI-200C TuneView for iPod classic 4G, 5G (Black)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought this product for my boat. The idea was to jack into the AUX of my boat's car stereo, have TuneView Dock plug into that, and remotely control the iPod out on the deck via the TuneView remote.

Initially it seemed to work fine. I even updated the firmware without a hitch. However, near the middle of the boating season for me (May-September), I noticed that the batteries housed in the unit (2 AA) started to rattle around, and if I shook it, they'd easily lose their connection, and the remote would go black.

I opened the battery door and looked a little closer. It appears that the actual housing for the AA batteries is physically larger than it should be, and and the battery terminals have the sole purpose of holding the batteries in place - and thus keeping the power source in tact. This is a pretty serious design flaw. What ends up happening is that over time, those slim metal terminals bend (its not like they are spring-loaded), and eventually the two AA batteries just jostle around in there and its up to the alignment of the moon and stars whether you end up getting power. I tried bending the terminals forward. This is a hack, and did not work in the end...as one of them just broke.

Here's my other issue with the unit: about a month after I had it, a black horizontal line showed up on the LCD and would not go away.

Now, here's my big issue with the company: Keyspan was purchased by Tripp Lite recently (2008). I bought the unit summer 2007. I *should* have contacted Keyspan immediately when I started to have issues...but I did not, and this is my fault.

I contacted Tripp Lite support and I was told that I could ship the unit to them at my expense, and if they thought I had dropped it, then they would simply return it to me. I explained that I felt the battery terminal issue was a design flaw, and I failed to see how that could ever be the result of dropping the unit, and they told me that "Past experience has shown us the bent battery terminals is sometimes a tale (sic) tale sign of the unit being dropped."

Given that, and the fact that I was 2 months past the 1 yr warranty, I did not ship it back. They indicated that if it was not in the 1 yr period, they were not liable to do anything anyway. I can understand that, and it is my fault for not taking more timely action, but still...I paid $170 USD for this thing, and now it is pretty much worthless.

One end of the battery terminals is a removable piece that I can probably re-inforce. The other side is soldered to the PCB, so I have fewer options there.

I felt compelled to post my experience here so others would be warned. I really feel the customer service at Tripp Lite could have taken the high-road here, but they chose not to. Your mileage may vary.

This is one of those rare consumer gadgets that works like you hope it will. It hooked up easily and displayed my iPod on the screen immediately....Was adjusting volume and changing songs out by the pool as I had hoped to....It seems a little more rugged than one reviewer thought, so I would say its average in that area....I can recommend it....

Jim
Alabama

I have been researching for over six months now a good iPod dock that I could hook up to my Bose Home Theater system. Things I wanted to have was a remote that was anything other than IR. That is one that did not need line-of-sight to work. It must have TV viewable hook ups via RCA or S-video, and be able to handle a wife range of Apple iPods that we have found in our home. When you get into other than IR remotes you greatly reduce the market. When the Tuneview TVI-200C came out it boasted to have everything I wanted. So I took the chance after exhausting reviews, and carefully studying the specifications.

It has surpassed all my expectations to date. It definitely works anywhere in my home. I have adjusted play-lists, and volume from all over the entire 2,700 sq ft home. It mirrors the iPods selection screens just as if you are looking at your iPod. I played a number of iTunes videos over my HD TV with remarkably good clarity. It was very easy to use the remote and the keys are very nicely laid out. I would have to give it a 4.8 out of 5 stars.

My only negative feedback is like you will read on many other reviews. It does have a high pitched whine when the screen is function on the remote. The keys have not stuck on me yet, but they do feel a like they could have been engineered a little differently. I have found it very easy to use the wizard key to mute the sound when needed. One thing I was hoping to see was a display similar to iTunes juke box mode for the music while playing on your TV as well. I have not been able to make this work, but I am able to play any video footage on my TV via my 5th gen iPod Video (80G). The screen more than makes up for this one want.

Bottom line is the Keyspan Tuneview, TVI-200C has filled a need in the market that easily allows one to hook up your iPod and in my case over 20,000 songs to scroll through at a moments notice.

Keyspan's Tuneview is a superior product. There's something to be said for a full-color display, not to metion the ability to know track info directly from the remote. This product is long overdue.

There are some things that a person might want to be aware of though.

1. This can probably be corrected with a firmware update, however, currently, the ability to sort sequentially only applies to a level one menu. This means that when selecting a particular album from your list (a level one menu) the individual songs (a level 2 menu) may appear (and thus, play) out of order. Don't ask me why this is an issue, but again, I'm sure it will be corrected in a firmware update. Buyers should also know that this does not mean that all albums and songs play out of order. In fact, 95% percent of the time, the correct order is played, but not in all cases for some reason.

2. Currently, Keyspan does not offer the option of purchasing additional docking units for use in different locations throughout your home. The reason they don't is because, as I have been told by tech support, each remote is designed to pick up the signal of one (and only one) docking station at a time. This means that, if you did have more than one Tuneview docking station in your home, and only one remote, you would have to unplug all the other docking stations so that the other stations would not "confuse" the one you're currently using.

The only improvements here would be the ability to purchase multiple docking stations and have them be controlled by a single remote. As it stands right now, I have three main locations that I like to listen to my IPOD. If I want to use the dock in another location, I have to physically unplug the dock from location 1 and plug it into location 2. No big deal, but it would be nice to be able to use multiple docks with one remote.

Don't let these minor things keep you from purchasing this vastly superior product. Once you own one, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

I just received this product and within 5 minutes, had it up and running. Simple to connect and yes, the buttons are a little fragile-feeling but for version 1.0, it works just fine. As for the wireless, it works all over my backyard and is a perfect pool accessory (not waterproof)!!! I wish all my remotes were 2.4Ghz... Great product!!

Love this remote! Works just about everywhere on my .25 acre property. 2 things missing. I still haven't figured how to shut it off. So for now I put the music in pause, shut down my stereo receiver and assume it puts itself to sleep. The other thing missing is a scroll wheel. With 4700+ songs in my iPod, there scroll function is annoying and much slower then a scroll wheel. Otherwise, installation was a snap and it does exactly what I need it to do.

I have purchased three of these for my business. The application is terrific, unfortunately, we're rough on the remote and the two purchased in March 2007 need repair. I spoke to Jose in customer service on Nov. 16th and was given a warranty repair number. He was extremely helpful and assured me my repairs would be done immediately. I returned two remotes, and they were received in-house by Keyspan on Nov. 21st. I have yet to hear from anyone regarding the status of my repairs. I have been unable to reach a live person. I have left messages on Jose's voice mail, the main voice mail, and I have emailed numerous times. I have not heard a thing!!! Now the phone just rings and rings. It doesn't bode well. Beware!!! As of today's date, 1/16/2008, I have still not heard a word from Keyspan regarding my two repairs. Nobody returns my calls!!!

This is the best accessory for the Ipod I have yet to find. A friend recommended it and now I know why. The best way to hook an Ipod to your home stereo, period!

TuneView is one of the best remotes for signal coverage and not needing line of sight back to the dock. We're currently using this in a 5,000 sq ft. facility with full range and no signal loss from all locations.

However, TuneView lacks ruggedness in its design. The keypad takes a little getting used to and *feels* like it may go bad after heavy use. I'll update this comment later on if this turns out to be the case.

Also, the design for the batteries is extremely poor. The contact prongs protrude too far out causing them to bend and loosen after even short-term use. This might be fixed with wads of tin foil providing sufficient padding for the batteries.

Since the TuneView is such a critical part of our business, we're actually going to get a second one for backup purposes.

Thats a real perfect solution if you don't want to run your pc all the time.
You have all your playlists, songs, albums at your fingertip in a handy and stylish remote-control which perfectly controls your ipod in its dock. The dock and the remote have an usb connector and you could get updates for the firmware. ( No need at the momemt but always good to have an option )
The device runs without problems even in europe. I've get my device in the US but use it at the moment in europe. No problem !