![]() ![]() My AT&T U-verse still looks better, but not by much. HD content is excellent, with little extraneous noise and lots of detail. That said, the stock AIV interface found on most DMRs blows, so by default this is a step up. Navigating isn’t difficult, but it’s not fast or particularly easy. It’s “interface” is merely access to the Instant Video portion of Amazon’s actual website. Īmazon Instant Video isn’t quite as user friendly as Netflix. ![]() It’s probably the best looking streamer going, up there with the better streaming Blu-ray players. Standard definition content looks exceptionally detailed with very little noise. The picture quality is excellent, though, with one of the best scalers I’ve seen in a DMR. The Netflix interface is of the new variety with big, high-res cover art and search functions. ( Update: Or I’m wrong, see Alvin’s comment below) It does allow you to use two fingers to scroll, so the lack of a tap is totally troubling. One unfortunate quirk, the touchpad doesn’t allow you to tap-to-click, something anyone who’s used a laptop does intuitively. It’s more lap-based than hand-held, but for what it does that’s OK. Wireless, with a built-in touchpad, it makes navigating the web and searching easy. LOGITECH REVUE UPDATE 4.2.2 TVUnlike Sony’s TV that had integrated Google, the Logitech’s keyboard/remote is excellent. It’s this “almost a good thing” that has plagued Google TV from the start. Instead, you have to navigate separately to their specific apps and search again. LOGITECH REVUE UPDATE 4.2.2 PLUSFor this search to be truly useful, when I type in Sports Night I’d want to know if it’s playing on cable, plus that it’s available to stream from Netflix or Amazon. One of the major shortcomings of Google TV is that it doesn’t search all the available content sources. If you want to set a record, though, you have to navigate through your DVR’s interface. The search function also searches local listings, so if you heard of a TV show you want to check out, the search will list the show’s website, plus what channel and when it’s playing next. Press the Dual View button, navigate to the Chrome app, and Google search till your heart’s content. Say you’re watching a movie, and you want to know what else the director has done. ![]() While this does add an extra level of complexity, and slows down the overall “I just want to watch TV” navigation, it does allow for the Revue’s best feature: Picture-in-Picture (Dual View). You plug the HDMI from your cable/satellite box into it, and there’s an included IR blaster to let it drive your system. This is because the Revue likes to integrate itself into your system, a sort of central hub of content. Beyond the normal network and TV setup stages, you tell the Revue what TV service you use, what the cable/satellite box model is, plus what TV and receiver you have. Setup is a more extensive process than the point-and-shoot Apple. An added bonus if and only if it works as well or nearly as well as the Apple TV does for what it does. Now, more DMRs are adding features Google did “first,” with mixed results.Īt a new, more competitive (as in, realistic) price, all these extra features seem like an added bonus. It’s practically a reactionary product, at least it was when it came out. A web browser, a keyboard, extensive search functions, these are all well above the functionality of the Apple TV.īut the beauty of Apple’s beauty is in its simplicity, something Google TV is trying to not be. Right off the bat, it’s easy to see the Revue offers more than the King of the DMR space: the Apple TV. Well now you’ve got something worth checking out. Lots of things to write about, all of them bad, and the chance to add some clever puns to repertoire.įor $99 though, the Revue goes head to head with the likes of Apple TV, Roku, LG and others. Reviewing the Revue now that it’s $99 and a few, I have things to say, some of which are new.Īt $300 (or a $300 premium), Google TV in its various forms has been the kind of joke we tech folks adore. ![]()
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