Customer Reviews

VuNow VN1000HD High Definition Kit Includes Wireless Adaptor and HDMI Cable

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I will be returning this item. I do not recommend this at all. I understand how some may think that this is a great item because it's the first time they've been able to realize anything web-centric on their TV BUT... I feel that this item over promises and under delivers.

Without a keyboard the alpha- numeric selections are on a grid in alphabetical order. This becomes very cumbersome to scroll and select and gets old real quick.

Video format not supported in a premier Channel for trailers. Cinema now may play some movies but at the $3.99 per movie I was not going to check it out as I already have a netflix account. There is no excuse for incorrect format on a featured channel. This is even after the automatic firmware update, it still did not recognise.

90% of the channels are garbage or curiosities at best. The two that promised any substance are, Netflix and Hulu. However, Netflix and Hulu and 2 others are NOT accessible without a 3rd party plugin called PlayOn. On the off chance you discover how to use the 3rd party PlayOn (you have to install it on a PC within your LAN and, as if by magic, your PC is turned into a conduit media server). The search ability and breakdown of movies into genre is not only inadequate but from what we can tell doesn't provide the same programs as is available from the website and is limited in.

Oh... and about that search; horrible search functionality with no foreseeable way to sort your Video or YouTube results renders the search almost useless. You have to scroll thru 200+ results 4 selections at a time. It's just like the iPhone interface, only the iPhone gives you more information.

YouTube allows you to login with your credentials. Why? I don't know, because anything useful like my favorites is not accessible. So even if I favorite a movie on my PC, where the search and selection is useful, I would not be able to access it through this interface and would still need to navigate the overwhelming dump of results ofer 50 screens 4 items on each screen.

On general video searches, other than YouTube, any of the Videos we searched for were inaccessible or did not have the correct codec, despite it showing up in the search. In fact, on 2 occasions it locked up trying resolve one of these phantom videos and required a physical power cycle by unplugging it.

Video Quality was very good, it has more to do with the quality of the video than the device anyway. The WiFi works great and was an ease to install. It is compact and discrete with no more than 2 wires (power and HDMI) in WiFi mode.

So if you want to buy it for the novelty of it and be the first person on the block with a half-assed itv, get it. Otherwise I'd wait about 2 years until it becomes usefull.

I initially bought this product to view a few international channels that they advertise to be available. I understand that some of the channels might be down because it's all coming through the internet, however, the main channels I was looking for have never worked and the others have no sound.

In the Live TV sections, if you go to the Americas, more than likely it will not be the live TV you are looking for. It will be, for example, the local FOX channel in San Francisco. Don't expect to watch American Idol or any other prime time shows through this box.

After paying $150 for this box, I found it more convenient and cost efficient to buy a cheap computer and hook it up to your TV. You might spend double the price on a basic computer, but you have a full computer rather than a box that is limiting to what you can watch.

Conclusion: I'm returning this product. Maybe if it was cheaper I would have kept it and looked forward for updates and improvements, but at this price, I'd rather return it and buy it later when the technology gets better.

Throw your money out of the window as I did buying this product.
Believe me this product will be waste of every cent. It is not worth it

1. It says that it is HD - It cannot read video files which are 720p - read their manual to prove it - It has a name HD to it - since it can output 720p signal out of DVD quality 480p.
2. User interface is very bad and sluggish and slow.
3. Last when I tried, CinemaNow was unimplemented.
4. Integration with Windows Media Player is too slow.

At the end, I will recommend to give your money for charity but not buy this product.

I had high hopes for this product after reviewing many other options. Basically, my objective was to be able to stream Netflix and Hulu to my TV.

The device is small, easy to set up, and the included remote is handy. However, the quality of the streaming content is miserable. I have a high-speed Internet connection (22 Mbit/sec) and hooked up the device using both, wireless with the included USB adapter and wired (using an Ethernet cable). The connection speed as measured by the device was 2.2 Mbit/sec and 16 Mbit/sec respectively - more than enough to have highest quality streaming as per the manufacturers description. The device was connected to my TV via HDMI and the highest setting (720p @ 60 Hz) was used.

Hulu content was jittery at best - like watching TV on your mother's really old set. Not enjoyable. Netflix was a bit better but still grainy and much worse then watching Netflix streamed on my PC. The navigation is slow and clumsy. Fast forward or backward does not work at all. If a stream is lost, one has to start the movie from the start.

Not ready for primetime.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the PlayOn software is crippled with the VuNow device. You will not receive the YouTube channel on your PlayOn Menu.
YouTube will not work on PlayOn if you have the VuNow device.

I have a couple of home theater PC setups at home using Media Center as well as Media Portal, but the problem is that you need the PC, it needs to be powered on, it needs to be close to the TV, etc. So the VuNow is refreshing because it operates without a separate computer. You just need your TV, a network connection (wired or wireless), the VuNow, and you're set.

The VuNow can search through a whole slew of online video websites to find what you want to watch, even websites I had never heard of. Of course YouTube is the most popular, so the VuNow has a separate YouTube section where you can login to your own account and go through your Favorites and Subscriptions. By the way, don't expect to watch Hulu on the VuNow. I didn't personally expect it, but I imagine others might.

In terms of watching or listening to local content on my networked hard drives, well, I'm still trying to get that to work properly. I don't have issues with pictures or music, but my videos are hit or miss. I have some videos that play fine, but the videos that I encoded into divx or xvid format don't get recognized, even though I believe they should. This may not be a major issue if you're just interested in the online video content.

I'm still waiting for CinemaNow to rent and buy movies (which can be stored on a USB flash or hard drive)...hopefully it's coming soon as promised.

So is the VuNow actually being used? Yes, it is, mainly for YouTube and other online videos. But as mentioned above, not everything is working just yet, and that leads me to my last point, which is the support. I've sent about 3 or 4 emails through their support link regarding separate questions that I can't find the answers to online (there is one good externally-run forum and a couple of blogs out there). I've gotten no responses from Verismo except for my first email, which was a question about ordering the device. So I'm not too happy about that, of course. I haven't tried calling them; maybe that's what I'll have to do.

Back to a positive note, I'm likely to buy at least one more VuNow as a gift for some YouTube-watching family members.

Setting up this product (VuNow), was as simple as turning on a TV. Wireless connectivity is a breeze, with a super fast "AUTO DETECT" feature.

An extremely simple user interface for navigating through all the hundreds of channels, gives you an experience, better than paid TV channels.

This product is an absolute value for money , with hundreds of free live channels from the likes of BBC, CNN, NBC, FOX, EPSN, etc and a slew of International channels. This also comprises a search engine for videos of your choice. You can also plug in a USB flash drive or HDD and play all the A/V contents or from multiple computers in your home through this super product VuNow, all Wirelessly.

The picture quality on TV is perfect; the set comes with an HDMI connection with cables and composite A/V cable too.

Kudos, to this cute new "Internet" revolutionary product at a great price/performance, and for sure the Internet A/V experience will change for ever, when experienced on TV directly.

A one time purchase and you get an A/V experience for lifetime from Internet.

I bought this product thinking I would be able to add any internet stream however it's limited by the provider and the content is limited. The support is not there, it takes them a while to answer e-mails and the response is very generic.

I bought VN1000HD and a Roku last week. They both are up and running on my new HDTV. I use the Roku for Netflix access and the VN1000HD for viewing Internet videos and streaming videos from a thumbnail USB disk drive. What a wonderful combination. This gadget is quick and easy to setup. It uses little power and is very quiet. I finally get to choose when and what I want to watch. This is another Silicon Valley winner!

This is really very bad kit.
1.Horrible User interfac.
2. Wirelessnetwork is too worest
3. Paging through long search results is horrible.
4. Remote control features are too limited.
5. initial load of streaming is too slow.