Firmware

[Crisis]

I'm a little bit unpleasured of the way that the developpers from neuro act!! One other firmware version is out!!! WOuaaaaw it's beautiful, but what brings it from new??? nothing !! Sure only things are fixed but not those that should be fixed! The 442 still don't play .mov format an the platform isn't very attractive! Why is neuros only caring about the new version of the 442!  I think you could do i little bit more!! thankz

[jscott1]

Maybe I missed it, what did 2.0 firmware do for me?

[JEFFH]

I think the bottom line is the current 442 hardware just does not have the power needed to handle all the additional tasks and capabilities that are being planned.
The New hardware platform is needed befor this open source project can go forward.
Its expected most owners will trade-in the current model for the upgrade so why waste resources attempting to make the current version do something the hardware can't really support.

[jscott1]

That sounds a little different than the marketing hype of last fall.  I don't think I would have bought a Neuros 442 if I knew it would never live up to it's promises and I would be forced to trade it in to get a useful device.

[Crisis]

You don't understand ... i don't expect from neuro developpers to put the 442 v2 "abilities" on the 442 v1! The 442 has enough power to provider better things ... From my side i would only expect one thing ... a better platform and library shuffle because everyone have seen that there are some little problems ... ok you aren't forced to do that because i obviously already bought the 442 but it would e very nice and friendly if you could discuss and find a good solution for these problems! Just make us love our 442 more than we already do! ;-)

[JEFFH]

quote:Originally posted by jscott1

That sounds a little different than the marketing hype of last fall.  I don't think I would have bought a Neuros 442 if I knew it would never live up to it's promises and I would be forced to trade it in to get a useful device.

I agree but then thats the nature of marketing hype in general.
Even last fall thoes that read the boards and Wiki would have known only limited firmware updates were planned for the current version and 442V2 was the future open source model.
I actually find the The current device useful and a handy device to own and really looking forward to the New 442V2.
Personally I think Neuros has been more than fair with the options and upgrades they plan to offer owners of the 442.
I suspect no matter what they do they wouldn't please everyone.

[dendocx]

There doesn't have to be an entire linux system operating on the 442, they should just make sure that the anmes aren't cut off in half, so you can see the entire name. You should really be able to play a song while you browse you music ofcourse.  And a shuffle system that lets you shuffle between all the folders in audio. Something else that could come in handy would be something that detects wether the bitrate  of a moviefile is supported by the 442.

[kcmark]

That sounds a little different than the marketing hype of last fall.  I don't think I would have bought a Neuros 442 if I knew it would never live up to it's promises and I would be forced to trade it in to get a useful device.

True.  Actually, most of us wouldn't have bought one if we knew then what we  know now.  Lesson learned.

For those that upgrade to the 442v2 when it comes out, don't be surprised if there are similarly few, if any, firmware upgrades.

[JoeBorn]

[
True.  Actually, most of us wouldn't have bought one if we knew then what we  know now.  Lesson learned.

For those that upgrade to the 442v2 when it comes out, don't be surprised if there are similarly few, if any, firmware upgrades.

Clearly people are upset that we failed to deliver a 442v2 in  a timely basis, and for that I won't make any excuses.  You have every right to be dissapointed, we did fail you there.

However I have to respond regarding the implication that it was marketing hype and we deliberately deceived you.  We did say at the time of the woot sale that we were planning a hardware upgrade to an open source version that would evolve, etc.  We put in place an upgrade program to new hardware(instead of investing effort in trying to evolve a closed source product), and we have extended the no questions asked return policy so that you can decide when the 442v2 comes out if you still want it.  At that point you'll have had use of the 442v1 for over a year and you'll be able to return it for a full refund.  As far as I know, there's not a single incident of a customer returning a product that's been given a hard time about the condition of the device, missing packaging, etc.  As promised, it is a no-questions asked return.

We did fail you in terms of delivering the 442v2 when we expected, and for that we truly are sorry.  Trying to keep all the buyers whole has been a costly exercise for us.  I can promise you it was not something we did deliberately.

[JEFFH]

we have extended the no questions asked return policy so that you can decide when the 442v2 comes out if you still want it.  At that point you'll have had use of the 442v1 for over a year and you'll be able to return it for a full refund.  As far as I know, there's not a single incident of a customer returning a product that's been given a hard time about the condition of the device, missing packaging, etc.  As promised, it is a no-questions asked return.

Gamma testers have already had the 442 for over 1 year.
The Woot sale was Sept 6,2005
The promise of firmware and hardware upgrades and the no questions asked return was all part of the Gamma offer.
Im currently struggling with the decision to return now and be done with it or continue to belive in the project and wait.
Im bored with current 442 and The $330 refund could buy me a nice new toy.
It looks like the OSD will be coming out first.

How about  considering offering us faithful 442 Gamma testers some sort of option to exchange for a OSD when its released soon and then  pay  a increased upgrade fee for the 442V2

[kcmark]

The promise of firmware and hardware upgrades and the no questions asked return was all part of the Gamma offer.
Im currently struggling with the decision to return now and be done with it or continue to belive in the project and wait.

Same boat here.  I'd like to hold out but the indefinite nature of the release date for a 442v2 makes me wary of holding on much longer.  You'll recall that the 442v2 production schedule on the Google Group had a timeline where, I believe, the EE and ME work was to be done on the 442v2 by now.  From what I can gather, it looks like production has fallen behind that earlier posted timeline.  Realistically, I don't think we can expect anything prior to the Summer of 2007, and Neuros, despite numerous requests, won't provide any kind of estimate as to a ship date for the 442v2.

I want to keep the 442 but it's pretty much worthless as an MP3 player so I end up carrying 2 devices as it currently stands.  I assume the 442v2 would have support for ID3 tags, which would mean it could function as both a video and audio device.  The 442 is basically a video only device due to the crappy software.