VIZIO Co-Star (VAP430) GTV set-top box - Page 3

found it here on eBay, good luck, I might go get it. I can't wait for Vizio

I will sell you mine. Still brand new in box, never opened. If interested PM me.

Thanks for the review, it actually has me considering the Co-Star again. I have a question about how well the Co-Star works with a Harmony One remote. I'm not willing to give it up and I don't mind switching to the co-star remote when I need to use the keyboard but would want to use my Harmony the rest of the time. Is that possible, how often do you have to use the touch pad on the Co-Star remote? Can you move the cursor around with the directional buttons on the Harmony remote?

I ordered my Co-Star as a pre-order unit and it arrives a while ago, but until now I did not have the time free to hook it up to try it out.

Does anyone know the power consumption when it is active vs. sleep mode? I asked Vizio support if the unit should remain on all the time (since it does get very warm) or should I have it power off with the HD Monitor using a smart power strip which cuts power to connected devices. Vizio support said it could remain on all the time since after a while it will go into sleep mode which I presume is at a lower power consumption. Maybe this is how they earned their EnergyStar rating? I did not measure the start up time, but from a cold start it adds maybe 20 seconds before one can watch Live TV with Verizion FiOS. I guess I will keep it powered on all the time and do some comparisons since people in the house complain a bit --- we've become an "instant gratification society."

The technical specs for power consumption are "not yet released" per Vizio support. I have a Kill-a-watt device so maybe I will try it out. I will also check the adapter and unit since the power consumption may be stamped on the power adapter.

I also have seen the Google Chrome browser and a few other apps crash after only 1-2 minutes of use. Not sure why it is unstable, but it seems to recover fast.

My Co-Star has Firmware v3.2, and Build Number v2.3.1. The unit says it's up-to-date now so we'll see if it detects an update or if I need to check back later for any improvements.

Netflix App comments

With the Netflix streaming app we noticed that it regularly has a blank screen/pause for 2-3 seconds during media streaming. This results in no audio, a blank screen, then the HD Monitor displays HDMI (1) as the input source and then the display and audio return. It can happen 2-3 times during a 1.5 hr movie. I asked Vizio support about this and they said it happens with "all devices." I've never seen this, and we do a lot of Netflix streaming. I have two separate 10Mb/s wired connections for Blu-Ray players with the same Internet connection and I never observed this issue in 2-3 years of Netflix streaming with the same HD Monitor and cables (ethernet, HDMI, coax, etc.). I wondered if this could be that the Co-Star is set for 1080P and i should step it down to something lower? I'll have to experiement. Obviously Netflix will check the content and the connection to adjust quality per se, but we often get "HD" quality because of the faster wired connection. WIth 50/25 FiOS Internet speed we probably don't run into bottle necks with streaming media with wired 10Mb/s connections even if there's other Intenet usage at the same time in the house.

(updated 9/3/12): The Netflix app with the Kids Only opon is nice. But my kids are frustrated when they sometimes pick a show and the then press OK and it does not play the program. I had this happen to me a few times. I have to go out of the app, go back in, and then it works. Slightly annoying and it has happend a few times.

Other FiOS DVR related info with my QIP-7232-2 (IMG 1.9.1):

1. The Co-Star remote will control FiOS LiveTV (Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, Record, Stop) but there is no SKIP back or SKIP ahead like the FiOS remote. Maybe there is a way to program this with some of the unused buttons? Not sure yet.
2. Using the MENU button the Co-Star remote displays an DVR option but this will not access the FiOS DVR content. I need to use the FioS remote to access the local or multi-room DVR content (we have 2 FiOS DVRs).
3. I have to check back if Verizon has finally released any newer Apps for DVR content playback, maybe this would be a workaround?
4. The documentaiton is okay, but a lot of these things are going to be a bit of trial and error.

I have a lot of experimentation to do ... since the "smart TV" options are interesting but I actually have to find something useful other than Netflix ;-)
Edited by kj2005 - 9/3/12 at 11:43am

I am having the same issues with Netflix as you. My PS3 and roku on the same network have no hiccups with Netflix. I have chatted with them and their only advice was to reset the router and reassign the Costar. I have not done this yet but do not think it will do any good. Have tried the Costar on both wired and wifi and it is still unreliable when it comes to Netflix. Have also had issues with streaming HBOGo.

Others have reported good results with wifi and wired connections with the Costar. I got the first batch that was shipped. Early adopters always hit all the bumps!! Still have a few days before having to return.

I also noticed that on every video clip in the Spotlight (TV) app I get a echo on the audio regardless of which channel I watched. Not sure what would cause this, but I'll try it again today after a router restart (a long shot to solve such issues).

The list of little idioscriancies, limitations, or annoyances is growing with the Co-star---maybe some future updates and the new content like Hulu Plus will make up for it in the end.

Except the Sony will be infected with Cinavia, so playback of your MKV files will be just as problematic as it is when trying to play your video backups on a PS3. In other words, roll the dice and hope it works.

Has anyone tried watching an MP4 file off a HDD connected to the USB port? Does it support SRT subtitle files?

Just finished a tech support chat with Vizio. The Co-Star will not support SRT subtitles for localized playback. That's a deal breaker for me. The Co-Star just doesn't add much of any extra capability to what my Panasonic ET5 can already do. On the plus side, the Co-Star is not currently infected with Cinavia so for those of you buying one for local playback of ripped back-ups of your movie collection, you'll be able to play them all. Just without subtitles unless you hard coded them into your rip.

Onward in my search for a device in this price range that works worth a darn and supports SRT's. I'd love some suggestions.

boxee box, micca 600??

There are at least two apps in Google Play store that display SRT on Co-Star.

Guys I stuck it out for a while, but I sent mine back for a refund. It stopped working AT ALL with my Dish Network DVR, couldn't even see my DVR'ed shows through the Google TV menu and it was locking up a couple of times a night. After multiple "factory refreshes" and a couple of hours of trying to get the thing to work, I gave up, called 'em, got an RMA, and sent it back.

Gave up on the Co Star. It is anything but a star. Freeze-ups, unstable with Netflix, very poor wifi performance and unreliable IR remote performance are the main reasons for returning. Also disappointed with the google tv experience. Useful apps are few. When connecting my Dish sat DVR through the Co Star it affected my picture quality negatively.


I like the concept, but the experience is frustrating. Maybe in the future, someone will get it right and that may even be Vizio.

Vizio is a good company and I had no problem in obtaining a return authorization.

Henry

The problems are most likely coming from android. I guess this is why pivos Xios runs better in xbmc Linux than xbmc android.

I am also having a lot of difficulties with this box. I am to the point where I just unplugged it and its sitting there waiting for a firmware to hopefully fix all the issues with it. Mine also locks up constantly, doesn't resume from sleep. The Amazon VOD app just loads up like a web page, not an app, very disappointing. The remote is clunky but still kind decent w/ its QWERTY keyboard, but the layout of the Play, Pause, FF,RW etc buttons is terrible. I will say the Netflix App is very good, possibly equal to the Apple TV. I also like what google is doing by integrating the video database between services. When you look up a TV show like say Doctor Who Season 6, it tells you where they are on Google Play, Netflix, and Amazon. Vizio has a Long Long way to go, and I am willing to accept the device as somewhat of a beta at the moment and hope they get this thing fixed soon.

Actually android is a whole is far far away from primetime.

I received my Co-star on August 18th and still have problems.
The WIFI range was not even 35 feet howeve3r the WIFI range of my 2 year old VIZIO Tablet is at least 70 feet. And which worked fine in the same location at the Co-star. After two firmware updates I was still having trouble and VIZIO replaced by unit the new unit also had WIFI performance problems after testing temporarily I found that WIFI would work most of the time at 20 feet. I purchased a Cisco WIFI extender and by using the ethernet port on it I no longer have WIFI connnection problems.
I had some other problems some due to poor product documentation and other such as I canuse Google Maps after it comes up. My principal problem is that I still have not found a way to stream my laptop screen to my TV using the co-star which is the primary reason for my purchasin it, any suggestions for this functinality? I thought that Chrome to Phone would be one way but the Co-star does not have the right release of Chrome for this feature.

and yet...it still SUCKS! I can not remember being this disappointed in a product in YEARS.

same here...it's totally unusable. Constantly feezing up,,Netflix does not load the movie...Surely they knew this before they sold it.

Go to Playstore and search Google TV
Cool Fireplace App

I cant get Netflix to work either. I have a Cisco DDR router. It wont let Netflix work. Netflix worked thru the hotspot on my SPRINT phone. Port 443 not working for mapping.

my netflix will not work thru century link and cisco router, HELP

Is anyone currently using this box? I see they just updated to the GTV 3.0 version. I'm looking for something for my upstairs kids' TV, and I'm wondering how this unit is performing.

I have it. The new version v4.6 made the box a little faster and they added vudu also. The problem with android devices is no support for local playback files of different formats. Very very limited play back support.

Local playback would be a nice to have on this TV, but not MUST have. Does it have local playback at all? Are there formats it does support for that? It seems elsewhere in this thread folks indicated the performance of this box in other respects was pretty bad. Is that still the case?

delete please
Edited by comicguy - 3/23/13 at 9:02am

delete please
Edited by comicguy - 3/23/13 at 9:02am