Gamma Group first impressions

[Alex JS]

just got mine from woot this afternoon

my quick impresions:

size and weight were about what i expected. feels pretty solid.

recorded about 20min of a U2 DVD just to watch it go and the quality is great. I think it defaulted to the highest quality - didn't see how to adjust that until after i started - but but it looks wonderful. Who needs a PSP and those $$$ discs?

the navigation key feels awkward to use. i have fat thumbs, what can i say?

this thing apparently doesn't like DRMed WMVs... I tried to play one i downloaded and it pixellated and froze after just a few seconds. Hello reset button.

how about some guidance on recharging? will it cut off when it's done?

[JEFFH]

Received mine late Wed.
The 442 box was not shrinked sealed and looked like it had been opened a few times.
Unit was centered in box properly.
Everything is in the box as expected except the stand that has already been explained.
The unit itself had alot of smudges and finger prints on it so I know it had been handled alot.
The battery was dead and would not turn on.
Im not impressed with the Case fit and finish. The ends show signs of rough grinding where they did not fit together properly when first put together at the Manufacture.
At this point im thinking I received a used unit.

I didn't get to try it out yet as the battery is charging and I had to leave for work.

[miglo]

More gripes and suggestions:

*MP3/Video player needs to REMEMBER what and where the last song/movie played.  Without this, long audio books (the reason I bought this machine) is pretty annoying to get back to where I left off.
*Not being able to turn off the machine on the fly is minor, but quite annoying.  As it is right now, I have to return to the main menu to exit.  It would be nice to just exit right in the middle of a movie/song/book and be able to return to that exact position when I turn it back on.
*Inability to display long filenames is going to be a problem, for me anyway.  Once again I use this for audiobooks and rather NOT have to rename 500+ files.
*More DIVX files are not playing on the machine even though it plays fine on windows media.  Don't know why.

Have you guys looked at the XBOX Media Player?  It is a really nice piece of software and compatible with pretty much everything I've thrown at it.  Best part is its OPEN SOURCE.

[Doug M.]

I would like to see a built in speaker...it doesnt have to be much, just something that will allow me to show someone (or a group) a quick clip without making them put on the headphones.

The multi-square direction thingy doesnt really bother me.  I guess I have the correct sized fingers

Ability to handle long filenames is a must

Continuing where you left off is also a must...one interruption and you have to fast foward through the entire movie to find out where you left off.  Maybe an option like my dvd player software I have on my computer, it asks you if you want to continue where you left off, or start from the beginning.

It would be nice to be able to plug a usb thumbdrive in and transfer files back and forth.  Just a thought.

I also would much rather prefer a CF slot over a SD slot.

I used the ULEAD Toolbox to convert a dvd to divx and it worked perfectly.  Simple and played fine on my 442.  Looked great and sounded great.  Very nice!

[pete7919]

I just need to chime in here again and say that I prefer a SD slot over compactflash.  Both would be fun, too!

[Doug M.]

also...have the unit be usb powered when usb is plugged in

yeah i guess the memory type is a toss up seeing how different people use different memory types (sd, cf...)

[JEFFH]

the black rubber cover ripped-off first time I removed it.
I recorded video from the TV and could find no way to pause it during recording mode.
poor quality ear phones that came with it caused audio to cut in and out so I had to find another pair right away.
Audio sounded good with the new ear buds.
Playback on the 442 looked good except for the very top edge of the screen where there was always a  white dash line jittering.
Playback on a 26 inch TV looked poor but there was no white dash line jitter at the top of the display.
Playback on my computer using windows media player looked good but also had the white dash line jitter. full screen mode the jitter goes away and the video still looks good.
No way to bookmark your playback is a big negative.
Interfaced with my PC with no problems, easy to move files,rename or delete.
I loaded some video files I had and could not get any of them to work.
When I tried to delete these using the 442 it deleted 1 file but would not delete the others. No errors and it did not hang just would not delete the files for some reason.
I attempted to use The Video Toolbox to convert a dvd video but it kept getting errors and shutting down the program so I gave up on that for now.
I don't care for the protective case. the clear plastic has too much meterial and bubbles out and crinkles distorting the image when trying to view. Its also hard to use the controls when in the case.

[game_writer]

I found out about the rebate. You have to play with your new toy for two weeks and then the feedback survey will be posted at:

http://www.neurosaudio.com/store/442woot.asp

I guess they didn't want premature feedback. Two weeks, I guess, is a good evaluation time. I would like to get the recorder sooner, tho! I'm excited about getting it, too!

Someone mentioned no shrinkwrap. I was surprised to hear that somebody expected it. I didn't even think about it. I did think the thickness of the box made it feel flimpsy, but other than that, the packaging seemed good to me.



New 442 owner

[JEFFH]

quote:Originally posted by game_writer


Someone mentioned no shrinkwrap. I was surprised to hear that somebody expected it. I didn't even think about it. I did think the thickness of the box made it feel flimpsy, but other than that, the packaging seemed good to me.
New 442 owner

Normally when I purchase electronics the product boxes are sealed in plastic wrap.
I mentioned it because the 442 I received had finger prints and smudges all over it so I know it was handled.
The back of the case has a couple minor scratches as well.
The course grinding or filing on the top and bottom edges of the back case plate really lowered my first impression.

[JEFFH]

I followed the How To:442 instructions from the Neuros website and converted some DVD files to Xvid using autogk a few days ago and none of them will play on the 442. I just get the hour glass.

I hope others are having better luck actually using the 442 than I am.

[Gamma442Tester]

Well, i had to wait around all day for the Fed Ex guy yesterday (didnt show up till 6pm), then i went to a concert so i only got to play with it for about an hour last night.  The 442 came about half way charged.  Mine also shifted during shipping (not a big deal though).  I opened it up and immediately transfered 5 XVid movies i had waiting on my comp.  The player said that none of the file types were supported.  I transfered a few songs on plugged in the headphones and sounded good.  Only problem was that if i didnt have them plugged in exactly right one of the ear buds was not working.  Didnt have a chance to try another headset last night, but i will today.  Id there a firmware upgrade for the 442?  I cant seem to find info on it.

Now for the good, i opened it up and i loved the color, size of the screen and the nifty case.  Started it up and i was wow'ed by the size of the screen (i expected it to be much smaller).  The hum of the drive put an instant smile on my face.  Showed some of my buds online over the webcam and they also thought it looked great. (They were jealous i bought one i think [].  Anyways other than not getting the movies to play, and the issue with the headphones, the 442 looks awesome.  Maybe once i update the firmware my existing XVid movies will play?

Ben

[FJ]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am not able to answer all the questions, but I can assure you that someone will. As for problems with Xvid, you can take a look at the beta tester thread: http://neurostechnology.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6399

There is also another more recent thread under feedback and discussion.

As for the unit that had prints ?!?! what the hell! I really don't know what happen there but we will look into it.

Thanks again for the feedback and remember to edit the wiki as well. I am sure your feedback will help others greatly.

Johan
Neuros

FJ

[Doug M.]

I got a chance to play with the video out feature of the 442 today.  I played a divx file made from a dvd.  I played it on my 42" Panasonic plasma and it looked great  I did notice some pixelation on some fast action scenes, but on slower-normal paced scenes, it was near dvd quality.  It looked much better than I expected from a 600mb file.

[bravotsx]

i also had the box shifting problem, in addition to the smudged back plate.
i thought the color was strange, almost a titanium color, but the pictures make it look more gray or silver.

the power adapter seemed cheap for some reason, and so did the earbuds.

so far, i've tried many of my movie files, and they simply won't play!
wmv
divx 5, ac3
div3

the unit is quite hefty, so any size reduction wuold be greatly appreciated. im' guessing you guys are using a stock 2.5" notebook hd?

the interface for music, especially, is very clutzy. i'd like to be able to listen to music or whatever while navigating the menus. the silence is disturbing while i am selecting tracks! <- bad! bad! bad!  i also found the headphone jack to be tempramental. if you jack in and turn connector, the audio will start to crackle...not a good first impression, especially for a $400 device.

i have big fingers and hands, and i'm finding the 4 day d switch to be a little clutzy at well, since sometimes i hit up/down when i want to go left/right, or vice versa. also, a few more buttons wouldn't hurt!

the placement of the rubber cover is indeed a consern, since it is propped up at a 90 degree angle when the charger is in place.

the changing color of the neuros logo is cool, but it's also kind of distracting, as if it can't make up its mind on what color it really wants to be.

maybe supply some RCA gender changers? i wanted to hook my digital camera's video out to this thing, and even my laptop, but since they also have male RCA, i'll need to buy some female-female connectors to make this work.

if a movie doesn't play, i think the player should say why instead of
1) doing nothing
2) playing the next clip w/o notification

maybe visualizations for mp3s?

also i found the image browser to be very clutzy as well. load times for 2mb images is pretty bad..also i'm missing the zoom feature for digital images. i heard you can play music with your slideshow, but i'm having difficulty doing that as well.

i've only had it for a couple of hours. we'll see how it goes. i'm very particular about my hardware. []

[summerblink]

one thing that I noticed right off the bat is that if your folder names are 8 letters or less, they're repesented in all caps . . . big MINUS for me - i'm big on lowercase!  i had the same problem with my iAudio x5 . . .