A Quick Status Update on The Echo

[Motz]

Hey everyone! We just wanted to let you guys know we just did a little blog post on the echo. Including firmware updates, issues we are working on, and a lot more:

http://cetoncorp.com/blog/state-of-the-echo/

[makryger]

Glad to hear that you're working hard to rectify some of the main issues people are seeing. I think the take home message for the early adopters is not to give up on the echo- that all these issues will be ironed out sooner or later. We have faith in you!

[RealCodeGuy]

Glad to hear that you're working hard to rectify some of the main issues people are seeing. I think the take home message for the early adopters is not to give up on the echo- that all these issues will be ironed out sooner or later. We have faith in you!

+1

[cdcellular]

Thank you Ceton for this update

[kingwr]

Again, how confident are we that the thing has sufficient hardware uumph such that the issues, specifically the 1080P jitter/stutter and the UI responsiveness issues, can be fixed?

[bobbob]

nothing sensible to add other than, if a raspberry pi can play 1080p then i'm sure an echo can. also the difference in performance observed between Release Candidate 1 and Release Candidate 5 was significant. i'm guessing you're seeing less than 50% of the echo's potential at this stage. yes it would be nice if the developers acknowledged that, but no-one does

[Crash2009]

Thanks Motz. The Status Update should help to quell the negative press.

[pduncan1963]

There was no mention of work to make the Echo Windows 8 compatible. Is that currently being worked on?

[Cryofax]

Again, how confident are we that the thing has sufficient hardware uumph such that the issues, specifically the 1080P jitter/stutter and the UI responsiveness issues, can be fixed?

This is my only hesitation buying this. It hasn't shown it can do all the things it should, and it might turn out it can't via firmware updates alone. Once I see people giving the thumbs up (and especially if android is in there) I'll pick up a few of these.

[Motz]

The hardware is more than completely capable and has significant uumph It will all be taken care of in a firmware update.

@pduncan1963: We only broke down a few of the key issues, Windows 8 support is still being worked on.

[hobbs2k12]

I hate that this is going to be my first contribution to this community but I feel like it needs to be said. Selling a device like the Echo means that it can at least do what it was designed to do and advertised to do out of the box. That simply isn't the case. All of the posts and replies seem to suggest that Ceton sold the Echo as a small box of hardware with potential to do one thing or a another but nothing more. Respectfully I would like to say I think that is unfair to the community as well as Ceton's reputation. Please keep in mind that I have introduced a lot of people in my circles to WMC and Ceton products...this is not intended to be a rant but rather tell the true story

To anyone thinking of buying an Echo I would urge you to read the following email that I recently sent to Ceton in regards to their Echo device:

Having purchased two Ceton Echos with so much hope and trust in your products it pains me to say that this is the biggest disappointment in technology within the last decade. If this was my first experience into WMC and your products I would have walked away and never looked back. Furthermore I would have recommended that anyone even considering such a setup look elsewhere. It is my opinion that Ceton knowingly shipped a product that was unfinished and unusable for its very specific intended purpose. Among a slew of serious and detrimental issues with your Echo, the Jitter/Lag makes watching TV/ Media impossible. How could you let that happen? The remote control in a disgrace to reputable technology offerings and should be considered a travesty. Sub-par line of sight in 2012??? No working volume control???? These are basic and rudimentary tasks that no self-respecting company would exclude. The worst part is all of the pain and disappointment at a price PREMIUM. For $10.00 more I could have procured a device to do everything the echo said it would do but didn’t. The kicker here is that the alternative does it flawlessly...right down to a programmable remote. Short of voluntary recall and replacement of each and every Echo sold and replacement with a solid offering, sadly I will never be able to purchase another Ceton product again.

Extremely disappointed former customer,

[haydongreenbutton]

Again, how confident are we that the thing has sufficient hardware uumph such that the issues, specifically the 1080P jitter/stutter and the UI responsiveness issues, can be fixed?

They're probably using a hardware decoder which has lousy firmware. The hardware should be capable of decoding but... It's going to be up to the vendor and not Ceton to fix this. We'll be at the component supplier's mercy.

What concerns me more is that there is plenty of jitter/stutter at the native 1080i resolution and that was not acknowledged or addressed. It's not just a 1080p problem.

The product really ought to have been able to do what it's most basic of functions were from day #1 - play video. But to be somewhat fair, if you were an early adopter of the InfiniTV you'd have expected this. That didn't work right from day one either. The Echo experience shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. Eventually they got it right. I'll bet that will happen but it's going to take some time.

Some UI things are faster than an Xbox and some are slower. But the video quality is not there and the Echo is unplugged because of it.

[cdcellular]

Having purchased two Ceton Echos with so much hope and trust in your products it pains me to say that this is the biggest disappointment in technology within the last decade. If this was my first experience into WMC and your products I would have walked away and never looked back. Furthermore I would have recommended that anyone even considering such a setup look elsewhere. It is my opinion that Ceton knowingly shipped a product that was unfinished and unusable for its very specific intended purpose. Among a slew of serious and detrimental issues with your Echo, the Jitter/Lag makes watching TV/ Media impossible. How could you let that happen? The remote control in a disgrace to reputable technology offerings and should be considered a travesty. Sub-par line of sight in 2012??? No working volume control???? These are basic and rudimentary tasks that no self-respecting company would exclude. The worst part is all of the pain and disappointment at a price PREMIUM. For $10.00 more I could have procured a device to do everything the echo said it would do but didn’t. The kicker here is that the alternative does it flawlessly...right down to a programmable remote. Short of voluntary recall and replacement of each and every Echo sold and replacement with a solid offering, sadly I will never be able to purchase another Ceton product again.

Extremely disappointed former customer,

How extremely short sighted of you. I too was concerned about this product when I received it. My hope was that Ceton would release a statement acknowledging and addressing the issues, which they did. Ceton is catering to a community of enthusiast who are a dying breed. Microsoft has all but pulled the plug on Media Center. We are fortunate that any company at all is working on media center products at this point. If you are going to bail on Ceton at the first bump in the road, then I truly pity you. The loss will be yours and yours alone. Some patience would serve you well.

[Crash2009]

I kinda like bumpy roads. They keep me awake

[kingwr]

The first gen extenders (Linksys V1 extenders) were the same way. They really sucked when released, but improved quite a bit through a combination of back-end improvements by Microsoft and firmware improvements by Linksys. If Ceton had come out and said "we are delaying the devices for 3 months because the firmware is not ready," there would have been equal outcry. As long as the consensus is that the hardware is capable, I am confident that the firmware can be fixed. I may hold on to my Echo, for now. The TV I bought for my daughters room for Christmas won't go up until after December 25th, so that will give them some time to work out the kinks.

[hobbs2k12]

How is it short sighted to expect a quality product for a premium price? Can they fix a flimsy, lacking and shameful remote control with firmware? There is $25.00 hardware out there that can do 1080P video just fine...

[fallen888]

I feel a lot of the same pain that hobbs2k12 writes about. The difference is that I'm not giving up on the company yet. So far I've received two Echos (from Newegg and Amazon) and have sent them both back. I'm waiting for two more to get delivered. I will keep ordering and sending back until I get ones that can boot up, get a firmware update, and actually tune to a channel. Ceton wanted to use us as guinea pigs? No problem, but it'll cost them. But I'm not giving up.

[staknhalo]

A bit off topic; but I'm getting tired of people complaining about lack of support and claiming the sky is falling in regards to Ceton. The Ceton guys are all over these forums and the AVS forums. We all know they hear us; and they reply to our concerns and complaints on these forums all the time. I understand you're frustrated as you spent money and it doesn't do what you want. No one, even Ceton, is denying the Echo has issues. As being a member on one of these forums though; that signals to me you should be familiar enough with technology to know early adopters of any tech product (and niche tech products at that) more often than naught have similar experiences with buggy products. And yet you're on these forums in discourse with the members of the company/product teams. How can you say you're abandoned? I guess patience really is a virtue. Plus does anyone remember the forums when the infiniTV first came out? If it were some average Joe who bought this on Amazon and never heard of any of these forums I could see them getting riled up over their purchase. The members of these two communities should know better though.

Now, I didn't buy an Echo (yet). So maybe it's fair game to say I have no clue what I'm talking about and should shut up. But when I try read the threads to gain an understanding of where the product is at, I leave with the sense it's these certain users - not the Echo - that have the bigger issues.

[TeddyR]

A bit off topic; but I'm getting tired of people complaining about lack of support and claiming the sky is falling in regards to Ceton. The Ceton guys are all over these forums and the AVS forums. We all know they hear us; and they reply to our concerns and complaints on these forums all the time. I understand you're frustrated as you spent money and it doesn't do what you want. No one, even Ceton, is denying the Echo has issues. As being a member on one of these forums though; that signals to me you should be familiar enough with technology to know early adopters of any tech product (and niche tech products at that) more often than naught have similar experiences with buggy products. And yet you're on these forums in discourse with the members of the company/product teams. How can you say you're abandoned? I guess patience really is a virtue. Plus does anyone remember the forums when the infiniTV first came out? If it were some average Joe who bought this on Amazon and never heard of any of these forums I could see them getting riled up over their purchase. The members of these two communities should know better though.

Now, I didn't buy an Echo (yet). So maybe it's fair game to say I have no clue what I'm talking about and should shut up. But when I try read the threads to gain an understanding of where the product is at, I leave with the sense it's these certain users - not the Echo - that has the bigger issues.

I did buy an echo, and I agree. As a device in this niche market am very happy that Ceton and even SD are still working to make the experiance better. Both the ITV4 and the Prime have had growing pains, and unfortunately it may take 3-6 months for things to get better for the echo, there is no need to give up on a company for some initial issues. Everyone that got an echo on preorder should have known that there would be issues and expected a day 1 firmware update since the beta period was so short and the beta testers in their limited NDA voices already mentioned that there were issues... [and as long as it was purchased from an "authorized reseller", Ceton has not abandoned anyone since they continue to monitor these and other forums and provide support and updates]..

[RealCodeGuy]

If Ceton had come out and said "we are delaying the devices for 3 months because the firmware is not ready," there would have been equal outcry.

This is so true. I remember all the belly aching about the delay of InfiniTV. And, SiliconDust was practically crucified on their own forums for delaying HDHRPrime. You'll just never be able to please everyone regardless of what you do.