Ceton extender beta shipping in Sept

[cncb]

I decided to send mine back. The Android thing sounds interesting but they still have to deliver which is not guaranteed by any means given their track record. They still won't commit to DTS support even though they had that formal announcement last year! File playback support is still not where it should be (including TV). This thing was a total mess from the start. How they are not utterly embarrassed is beyond me...

[Gustovier]

This new running WMC INSIDE of android is rather huge. If they can pull this off this will definately make me re-evaluate some things and possibly pull the echo out of my storage drawer.

[Skybolt]

I sent mine back last week, I did that for more then one reason though. Besides the state of the Echo is in now, I had one of the earlier beta's. I am hoping that mine may have had a hardware issue, above and beyond what may be common to all echo's.

If the Android addition actually comes about and there is actual movement towards ripped content working then I will most likely pick up another one.

[bcjenkins]

I think there will be a glut of refurbished models coming to market.

[reggie14]

I doubt the actual return numbers have been that high. I don't think they've sold that many to begin with, so it would be tough to get overwhelmed with returns at this point unless the percentage is quite high. There's a relatively small set of people complaining on TGB and AVS, and the reviews on Newegg and Amazon aren't too bad once you get past the initial problems with firmware updates and the major deinterlacing problem.

I think Ceton is going to have a decent number of returned Echos that they can use for warranty replacements.

[Skybolt]

I don't think the Beta was much more then 100 units. And I would guess that 50% at best are going back. I am not sure what there sales have been since the beta though. So those numbers would be differant.

[videolog]

I've been following this, hoping this might be the answer we were looking for. Also following used echo's showing up on fleabay. There have been a number of them over the last couple of weeks. Would Ceton unload used one's there?
I mean with the extended warranty, why try to unload there?

From what I've read so far, I'm glad I didn't make the jump. Hopefully Ceton will get this worked out.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by videolog

Also following used echo's showing up on fleabay. There have been a number of them over the last couple of weeks. Would Ceton unload used one's there?
I mean with the extended warranty, why try to unload there?

Yeah, that's kind of weird. But I can't imagine that's Ceton. They're not being sold from Washington state.

My guess is its either 1) people that bought early and don't know about the extended returns, or 2) beta participants that think they can squeeze a little more out of eBay users than they would get back if they did the return (paying for return shipping in the process).

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Skybolt

I don't think the Beta was much more then 100 units. And I would guess that 50% at best are going back.

In this context I'm not sure what "50% at best" means. At most 50% went back? At least 50%?

[bcjenkins]

Mine went back, and given the price of the units, why would anyone want to sit on them for the promise of anything?

[cncb]

I held on to mine so long because I am desperate to find a replacement for the HD300s (thanks a lot, Google). I was hoping against hope that Ceton eventually would prove to be not as incompetent as they seem to have been up until now but a grand idea and a few screenshots doesn't change anything.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by reggie14

In this context I'm not sure what "50% at best" means. At most 50% went back? At least 50%?

Sorry, Yes I am thinking %50 of the beta units went back. Not what was sold after the public release, as we have no idea what those numbers actually are.

It seems there were only about 100 beta units at best. Maybe not even that many. Ceton originally spoke of ~1000 beta units. But from their beta forums there wasn't even 100 registered for the echo, unless I miss understood the registered users count.

My only point in stating this is that we don't know how many Echos are really out there. Most of the posts around the few forums are from the beta testers. Basically I am agreeing with one of your previous posts, saying the returns are not going to effect Ceton that much. Unless ofcourse the Echo totaly tanks. But too many WMC fans seem ok with the Echo offering.

It seems only the SageTv crowd is expecting an HD300 clone.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by cncb

I held on to mine so long because I am desperate to find a replacement for the HD300s (thanks a lot, Google). I was hoping against hope that Ceton eventually would prove to be not as incompetent as they seem to have been up until now but a grand idea and a few screenshots doesn't change anything.

Well said. This is as misleading as the build up before the beta Echo release.

[bcjenkins]

Actually, my expectations were kind of low. All I wanted it to do was play recorded TV. Between the constant studdering and the volume not playing issue, I lost interest quickly.

[cncb]

I was reading through all the great reviews on Amazon of the Echo with disbelief. One former SageTV user even claims this thing is as good as his old HD200! Well other than no HD MKV support, no DTS, bad general video playback, a pokey interface, etc. I guess he's right .

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by cncb

I was reading through all the great reviews on Amazon of the Echo with disbelief. One former SageTV user even claims this thing is as good as his old HD200! Well other than no HD MKV support, no DTS, bad general video playback, a pokey interface, etc. I guess he's right .

I can't believe those reviews. It almost makes you think there on the payroll.

[cncb]

I keep following the Echo because for some reason I think at some point it won't suck and I might want to try it again. But, for the last several months it has hardly improved and they can't even get a simple blog post out in a timely manner. I hate to throw this word around, but it is starting to look like they are incompetent over there. Even if it does improve to the point it is usable, I don't know if I even trust them at this point to be able to fix any problems going forward.

[reggie14]

I stopped following the AVS and TGB threads about a month and a half ago when I returned my Echo. I just looked at them again and it doesn't look like there's been any progress since then.

I'm sure glad I sent the thing back.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by cncb

... I hate to throw this word around, but it is starting to look like they are incompetent over there. Even if it does improve to the point it is usable, I don't know if I even trust them at this point to be able to fix any problems going forward.

Exactly.

No regrets here sending it back either. I guess now we can only look forward to the Xbox-720 and it's possible new uses? But that's another thread isn't it ...

[reggie14]

Ceton just posted an update announcing the failure of the Android project. It sure sounds like problems with the Freescale SoC killed it. That sure was a disastrous choice for Ceton.

Between this and Microsoft letting WMC slowly die, I don't think Ceton can survive that much longer. I think their only chance was to get Android working on the Echo and later get it working with other DVR software. Ceton's commercial solutions business might live on for a while, but I don't think their consumer-oriented business has much time left.