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16 out of 17 people found this review helpful
2.0 stars
"Wait for Firmware Update or buy something else"
Pros: Great Digital Tuner, EPG (Programming Guide), Clock sets itself from the signal (no more 12:00 blinking VCR syndrome!).
Cons: Software is very buggy& need an upgrade& not ready for primetime. No signal strength meter for the digital channels. No evidence that the device has the capability to be firmware upgradeable.
Summary: I purchased this recorder because I do not like paying for cable or satellite TV. I use a roof mounted Winegard Squareshooter SS-2000 antenna to pull in the Free-to-air (FTA) signals (an excellent antenna for about $100) with an additional 12 dB boost amplifier. I live between two broadcast locations about 40 to 50 miles in either direction and am able to pick up all the stations that are broadcast.
I design electronic products for a living so I know a good unit from a bad unit. This device appears to be a good hardware platform with some good software architecture that was rushed to market without being completed or fully debugged.
SOFTWARE BUGS DISCOVERED (one month of use)
1) Often when trying to use the timer record function in conjuction with the programming guide (great feature); the unit provides an error message that the clock is not set correctly. Any attempts to fix the clock manually do not correct the problem& the only solution that works is to unplug the unit for 5 seconds and then power the unit back up.
2) Once the system reported that it did not have any signal on any digital channel. A complete power down (unplug) and repower and all those missing channels were back&while a true scientist could not absolutely conclude that the DVD player was at fault because I had no other source to simultaneously prove it& I would say it is highly likely that the software hiccupped (a technical term for a software bug).
3) When you have recorded multiple programs in VR mode and then you delete program two and three&it disrupts program # one so it still shows it to be present but you cant play it so it is not recoverable& Very frustrating&anybody got the latest episode of So you think you can dance ?
4) When I deleted a station and then unplugged and replugged the unit it did not remember that I had deleted the channel.
OTHER COMPLAINTS
1) No digital channel signal strength meter. How are you supposed to aim your antenna without a signal strength meter?
2) A return and exit key on remote that both appear to do the same thing& too many redundant/near redundant keys on the remote & not well thought out.
3) Default on record time is the shortest instead of the longest& so several times I have filled up a disc and the recorder stops before the show is finished because the disc is full! Each time I unplug the unit to reset it from its buggy operation I have to remember to reset the default record time to the highest time.
4) The fan in the unit runs all the time&even when in standby mode!
5) It sure would be helpful if I could tell you what version of software is in the product right now & but you cant see that unless you have an update firmware CD so I cant tell you what version I have. You should always be able to query a product for it firmware version information.
PRODUCT FEATURE REQUESTS
1) To make the EPG more useful allow the tuner to run though all the digital stations at periodic intervals when in the standby mode. This way as soon as you turn on the player the EPG is populated so you dont have to first run through all the stations to update the guide. Also storing this information though a power cycle would be a good idea!
2) Only turn on the fan when needed & the noise while low is annoying.
3) Allowing a user to program in text with each channel name is a good feature seen on many TVs& so instead of seeing channel 12-2 you can see channel 12-2 FOX. I use it to add the network name to the channel so I am sure I am on the right network.
4) In the Digital Channels you briefly display the channel the DVD player is tuned to and then you go back to the clock. I suggest the you add the channel dash number ie 12-2 instead of just 12&.and I think you should flip back and forth between the time and the channel at an interval of about 3 seconds each.Updated
The tuner now thinks that digital channel 0-0 exists and will not allow the tuner to change channels.... it acts like a software bug as the autotune function still works and it does seem to find the channels that are really out there but then it will not show the picture and will not allow you to change the channel. This issue only affects the ASTC tuner... the analog tuner works just fine. Still no firmware update available as of November 22,2007.Updated
Well, I called Samsung Tech Support to fix the CH 0-0 problem... they told me I had to unplug the unit for at least one minute and then plug it back in.... I tried it and it worked the unit began to work properly again. I asked when the firmware update would be available and they told me there are NO KNOWN ISSUES WITH THIS PRODUCT. I was so outragged by this response that I told them to fire their engineers!
SAMSUNG Why do I have to unplug this device for one minute?
ANSWER - Because it has a software bug which causes the unit to fail in a mode that can only be fixed by unplugging the unit so it can reinitialize the system and start working again.
SAMSUNG How is it that your tech support people know what to tell customers to do to fix this problem but yet you still insist that this product does not have any software bugs; Could it be that you already know what the problem is? If so, why not issue a firmware update to fix this and the other issues listed?
ANSWER ????
Tech support told me if I was concerned I could write the corporate office... I asked for the email address and they told me the corporate office could only be reached by snail mail!!!
SAMSUNG you make great LCDs... but you have lost me as a customer for any other product that you might think about making.
As of January 4, 2008.... still NO FIRMWARE update available!!Updated
7/19/08 Update
Well the software buggy product develops new ways to exhibit it poor behavior.... Now it refuses to format a disk... it crashes during the format process and ejects the disk.
Samsung you make many great products.... however, this one you need to pull from the market until you are willing to fix the many issues with this product.
- 1 reply to this review
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That's awesome, a real, well thought out review that is real value. Outstanding review, well done, well written. Samsung should hire you to debug all their stuff. You hit the nail on the head except for ----
the signal strength meter. I can see your need but is that realy a DVD recorder issue?
