Neuros Technology Forums

quote:Originally posted by JoeBorn

Mossberg had an article that really stirred things up.

I don't agree with him, but it's worth reading

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060511.html

my blog on it is here http://open.neurostechnology.com/node/241

digg it

http://digg.com/hardware/Is_Mossberg_wrong_about_Apple_beating_MS_with_it_s_device_model_


jborn (at) neurosaudio.com

You neglected to touch on the issue of simplicity and ease of use. One of the things that Mossberg gives Apple credit for in its end to end model is tightly linking Hardware, Software and Web services. I think he is completely correct. I know people who have almost filled 30GB iPods with music, all from iTunes Music Store. In contrast, try putting an MP3 or AAC music file on an iPod without using iTunes and get it to play. It is possible, but it isn't a one click affair.

The problem is that to most people music is just music and videos are just videos. As long as it plays, they're happy. This is the challenge that an open approach must overcome. Can the open approach produce a system (or set of systems) that will allow a user to obtain and play media with just a few clicks of a mouse or remote? Where will the media come from? Will media companies co-operate and provide media in an open format or cling to old or obfuscated formats? How much disk space and system resources will these file take?  In an end to end solution such as the one Apple has with iTunes the end user doesn't have to care. Granted you have no choice as to what device you use to play your media, but as long as each piece does its job the end result is the same.

[is]

quote:Originally posted by gopokes85

Let me try to explain, please correct any misunderstanding on my part.  I want to:

1.  Hit the record button on the Neuros recorder to record a tv show, my input is my directTV, ie. start recording.
2.  Pause the recording for a commercial.
3.  Restart the recording by hitting pause again after the commercial.
4.  Viola, I have paused during recording from an input.

Yes, this functionality is readily available on all VCRs.  My understanding is my new Neuros cannot do that.  Am I incorrect?  Thanks for any response!

Electron_Matrix thanks for the support.

You're right. The Neuros can't pause a recording. I've tried it myself using video from my Tivo and the play/pause button does nothing.

Also they do say "Simple setup that works without a PC and operates like a VCR." on the product detail page. Unfortunately thats probably just marketing and you most likely won't be able to hold them to the implied functionality.

What I do when I want to edit the videos that I capture on the Neuros is I open it in Quicktime Pro (the paid version not the free one) and clip out the part I dont want in there. Afterwards I export (don't save. saving takes the video and places it in a quicktime container format that the PSP wont read) the video to MP4 and use the "Pass through" video format for both the video and the audio. That keeps quicktime from re-encoding the file. Yeah it sounds complicated. Heck it is complicated. But its better than watching the same commercial three or four times in the same show and it makes the video file smaller so more can fit on a memory stick.

There is also virtualdub which is free, but its much more complicated. If using quicktime is like driving a car, Virtualdub is like flying a fighter jet upside down 30 feet from the ground.

I hope this helps...

quote:Originally posted by geWAPpnet

quote:Originally posted by Electron_Matrix
You're assuming a temporary patch would "just work" without creating other issues. How much more useless would your recorder be if the firmware patch completely destroyed your device or caused conflicts with other functions? Let them code and test and at least try to put out their best work. Then we can yell at them. []

Come on, we are talking about professionals, not hobby programmers! At the moment this product is completly unusable. If Windows would be for some reason completly unusable for nearly every customer, Microsoft would not need weeks to fix this.

You're joking right?

Microsoft has vulnerabilities and bugs in its Operating system and Browser that are years old. After the Eolas patent mess we waited for a fix for ActiveX plugins. That was in 2003. Its 2006 and still some ActiveX pages come out broken or unusable.

To get back on topic, programmers (hobby or professional) don't just pull correct code out of a magic box. Writing good code is hard. Writing good code for an embedded device thats already in users hands and can't be physically upgraded is even harder. If someone says I need time to make sure its right, I give him the same leeway I'd give someone servicing the brakes on my car. You really want them to get it right the first time not bombard you with patch after patch.

quote:Originally posted by Jeff123

Personally, I would like them to issue a temporary patch now, then work on it some more and get it perfect because right now my recorder is useless to me.

You're assuming a temporary patch would "just work" without creating other issues. How much more useless would your recorder be if the firmware patch completely destroyed your device or caused conflicts with other functions? Let them code and test and at least try to put out their best work. Then we can yell at them. []

Makes perfect sense to me.

Back in the old days when VCRs were king, pausing the recording while live TV was still playing allowed you to skip a section of Live TV and quickly restart recording when the section has passed. It was a quick and dirty method of editing out content you didn't want (i.e commercials). With the neuros, recording is either on or off. Stopping and starting recording produces a brand new file instead of continuing the old one. This can be bit frustrating if you expect VCR like behavior. Doubly so if you take into account the lack of responsiveness in the remote provided.

BTW: The Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2 did not include any video editing software as far as I saw.  The CD only contained the manual and the core pocket media player for Palm and Windows Mobile.

I for one would rather see them take the time to fix the problem correctly and test it thoroughly than rush them into putting out a bad patch. I doubt anything we say here will change that one way or the other.

quote:Originally posted by akts(at)sbcglobal.net

Well no You are right Scart is the better picture, even s video would be better, but the standard here in the states that everyone is so used to is the A/v lines. Unfortunately I think cost cutting went into the design of this. Even my all in wonder pro 9800 vid card in my Pc has the  Scart in/out lines. .. then again it was 380 bucks.. not 149. As well they eliminated the usb access from a pc... from their 1st design.. the mpeg recorder 1.

I'm not sure if it was 100% cost cutting going on here. One side of the connector is RCA the other is a 1/8" jack plug. I'm sure they picked that combo to save space on the Recorder side(S-video plugs are too big) and cut cost (custom cables could be used, but they'd cost alot and you'd have to order replacements from them). Granted they could have put every connector under the sun back there, plus USB ports, plus a harddrive, plus a nicer GUI. But it would cost much more and be the size of a Tivo. I think they were aiming for a tiny device and off the shelf connectors.

quote:Originally posted by Mortal_Elf

I'd like to suggest a conversion application, for those customers with existing videos that they wish to continue viewing on their updated PSP (like teac, above).  Hopefully, such an application wouldn't require anything as time-consuming and quality-degrading as re-encoding the video files  (since other mp4 files apparently still work, I would hope re-encoding is not necessary).



Trying to be helpful.
/Mortal_Elf/

I just hope it doesn't end up being some hurriedly written Windows XP, .Net Framework only application. The only thing worse than having no solution at all to a problem is being offered a solution you can't use. [V]