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Topic:
Another Connection Nightmare!
This thread has 10 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Saturday February 8, 2003 at 11:47
Eric Shapiro
Founding Member
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May 2001
15
I just got my new TSU3000, and after spending a frustrating three evenings attempting to connect this device to my computer and after reading the other connection thread in this forum, I've decided to give up!

It shouldn't be this hard! If my specific Win 98 computer just doesn't want to see this new Pronto, I guess my choices are to try another operating system, buy a new computer, or return the Pronto.

I've decided to return the TSU3000, and here's why:
-First and most important...I'm not willing to put up with the non-connection frustration.

-The build quality of this remote is terrible...certainly inferior to my original TS1000. The plastic seems flimsy by comparison.

-There is very poor tactile feel for the volume & channel up/down buttons. Also the backlighting for these buttons is very poor--there is more light bleeding from around the buttons than there is coming through the translucent symbols on the buttons. The same is true for the hard buttons beneath the screen and on the cursor.

-Response time is SLOOOOOWWW!! The amount of time it takes to jump between pages-even with all animation off--is much, much too long. Also, IR transmit speed is very poor. It's impossible to enter the three digit channel numbers for DirecTV without taking long pauses between presses. I know that there's a firmware update to address the IR problem, but without a connection there's no update for me. I guess I'll never know if there's any improvement.

-In my opinion, the screen resolution and brightness is at best marginally better than my original Pronto. It's certainly not enough of an improvement to make it a reason to upgrade.

The new hardware & NG software hold great promise in terms of new features. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they look better on paper. Philips has, in my opinion, not lived up to the quality and performance standards we should expect from them.

Eric

Post 2 made on Saturday February 8, 2003 at 12:34
Archer
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2001
877
WOW...You must really be bummed about this remote. Was there anything you did like about it?!?!

Anyway, sorry you had troubles with the remote. Kinda sounds like it is a windows 98 problem with USB.
Jack of all trades..
Master of None
OP | Post 3 made on Saturday February 8, 2003 at 12:56
Eric Shapiro
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2001
15
Not really. It feels really flimsy in the hand. Certainly doesn't feel like $400 worth of technology.
Post 4 made on Sunday February 9, 2003 at 10:48
liaudio
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2003
46
I disagree about the build quality. It feels less lunky and more refined. It also feels more comfortable in the hand to me. I prefer the rubberized texture of the side. I dont care for the hard buttons on the ng and prefer the 1000 or 2000 but far. I like the backlight on the hard buttons with the surrounding light thats obviously intentional. Try using them without looking though...good luck. Another qualm: I thought with the usb connection uploads and downloads would be MUCH faster. I was wrong. Where the light sensor is at the top looks like shit. It almost looks as if its broken. And why the hell do you have to use the side buttons to flip through pages?
Post 5 made on Sunday February 9, 2003 at 15:31
jmedin
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
June 2002
17
Just a thought, on your "Win 98 Computer", are you using Windows 98 SECOND EDITION (or SE)? If not, UPGRADE! (My brother ran into the SE problem unknowingly last week with his DSL provider..the upgrade to Win 98 SE fixed it.)
Post 6 made on Monday February 24, 2003 at 17:19
fxthemovie
Long Time Member
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Posts:
February 2003
37
I'm having problems too with my Win98SE and WinXP machines. This is crap and it should not be having this many problems. I'm now going to try it on my Win2K machine.

My problem: No connection to my remote.
Post 7 made on Tuesday February 25, 2003 at 16:05
Peter Dewildt
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2001
6,307
Windows 9 is officially in run down (since last July) and will be unsupported from July this year.

USB was not supported in the initial release of Win 98. Support came with Win 98 SE.
Peter
Pronto 1000 (retired), Pronto TSU7000, RFX6000 (retired)
Pronto 2xTSU9600, RFX9400
Post 8 made on Tuesday February 25, 2003 at 16:31
ddarche
Mr. RemoteQuest
Joined:
Posts:
February 2002
2,309
Yes, 98 didn't have complete USB support. Win 98 SE did. I have my 3000 on XP Professional and everything has been flawless, other than an occasional "Pronto not ready" when learning.

Dave
Dave D'Arche
http://RemoteQuest.com
Fine Home Theater Remote Controls & Solutions - Programming services for most remotes
Post 9 made on Tuesday February 25, 2003 at 16:42
ddarche
Mr. RemoteQuest
Joined:
Posts:
February 2002
2,309
On 02/08/03 11:47, Eric Shapiro said...

-Response time is SLOOOOOWWW!! The amount of time
it takes to jump between pages-even with all animation off--is much, much too long. Also, IR transmit speed is very poor. It's impossible to enter
the three digit channel numbers for DirecTV without
taking long pauses between presses.

Eric,

Yes, the update seems to have taken care of the IR xmit speed and the screen jumps seem reasonable to me, after the update. No question, if you cannot connect, that is the main issue. What OS are you running on your PC? I had a recent problem connecting to my TSU1000 Pronto after I had installed something in my PC that was somehow using the same system IRQ that the serial port was using. I don't know if usb is effected in a similar manner but it certainly sounds like a PC problem. Just for kicks, you might want to shut off some of the other programs that are running and see if the problem goes away.

Dave
Dave D'Arche
http://RemoteQuest.com
Fine Home Theater Remote Controls & Solutions - Programming services for most remotes
Post 10 made on Tuesday February 25, 2003 at 21:38
David Harrison
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2001
275
Peter and ddarche - Win98 original edition most definitely did have USB support. You may be thinking of Win95, where (partial, and rather flaky) USB support was added in Win95 OSR2.
OP | Post 11 made on Wednesday February 26, 2003 at 10:59
Eric Shapiro
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2001
15
Having started this thread with a rant brought on by my connection problems, I feel obligated to report that I did NOT return the remote. I brought it to work, and discovered that it connects just fine on my office computer, which is running the same version of Windows(98)as my home machine. I can't figure out why.

It's a real pain to have to work this way, a temporary solution at best, but at least the thing connects. I managed to successfully download the firmware upgrade, and I have converted the CCF from my 1000.

Now that I've been using the 3000 for a couple of weeks, I'd like to report my impressions:

I still feel that the build quality is inferior to the 1000, but the upside is that it's significantly lighter, making it less likely that I'll drop it.

I know that others feel that the hard button edge/backlighting is a really cool, but I wish more of the light came THROUGH the icons on the buttons.

I love having the hard cursor buttons--they're much easier to use than the soft cursors I had on my 1000. I've also been able to reclaim a good deal of screen space on my device pages. I've managed to get a couple of devices down to one page. But the buttons take a little too much pressure to activate, in my opinion. There's too great a difference between the soft tap on the screen and the strong pressure needed for the hard buttons.

The firmware upgrade has improved IR transmit speed, but it is still much slower than my 1000. Also, page jump speed is stilly PAINFULLY SLOW!! I hope that Philips will address this problem in a future upgrade.

I'm still getting used to the new software. I think the best feature is being able to make multiple changes to multiple buttons without having to close & re-open the properties window--a real time-saver.

I'd be happy to share my somewhat crude, but workable PCF with anyone who would like a peek.

Cheers,
Eric



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