Sony Google TV box user opinions

pwood

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My local Sony shop just got these in and the interface seems quick and easy enough but I know that initial impressions are not always a good indicator.

Does anyone have one of these and how do you find it via wifi on a decent internet speed say 11meg. I have started using Youtube a lot and like the idea it fits the screen spot on. The shop were not sure if you could have say Sky on one side of the screen and a web page or twitter/facebook on the other side as it had just arrived but they did have it using a remote eye connector to the Sky box and the Sony remote worked the whole thing a treat.

I would welcome users opinions good and bad. It seems a tad expensive at £200 if it had been £100 then I may have just bought one. I have a SGS2 which seems a good match for it as well.
 
Not many people have one due to the rather high price on them & limited app support. There's some more impressions over here.

The box can overlay it's GUI but I don't know if you can have your apps overlay the video input signal too, they might go full screen when run.

Is there iPlayer/Netflix available on these, from what I last heard there isnt but it was still in the works.

If your looking for media players to use on it, the GTVBox Player and Plex are your best alternatives.
 
Thanks for the link:smashin:. I tried a search but must have got the model number wrong. iPlayer is on the Sony Google TV. For me it would have to have Lovefilm as well unless they ever get HD sorted on my PS3.
 
I have one of these. Been looking for a decent way to access the internet on my TV for sometime now. The box is a little expensive at £200 but I guess that's what you pay for being an early adopter.

It does have Netflix and YouTube apps, but no iPlayer yet. It also has a full Chrome browser making it really easy to surf the internet. The remote is brilliant with a trackpad one side and a full qwerty keyboard the other and you can have it control your TV and amp as well if you so wish. The amount of apps are limited, but will no doubt improve with time. Along with the netflix app you also have Sony Entertainment which gives access to tons of movies as well. At the moment you can't have TV one side of the screen and any web content the other side, hopefully that will come, but you can have a TV picture within the app on screen, not ideal but it does allow you to browse the internet while keeping an eye on the TV. I have mine connected via ethernet cable so don't know how well it works with wifi, but I'm guessing with 11 meg speeds that wouldn't be a problem. YouTube works really well and is brilliant watching it on your TV.

Overall I'm really pleased with it, just could have been a bit cheaper and have more apps, but I'm sure that will happen in the near future.

Mark.
 
I have one of these. Been looking for a decent way to access the internet on my TV for sometime now. The box is a little expensive at £200 but I guess that's what you pay for being an early adopter.

It does have Netflix and YouTube apps, but no iPlayer yet. It also has a full Chrome browser making it really easy to surf the internet. The remote is brilliant with a trackpad one side and a full qwerty keyboard the other and you can have it control your TV and amp as well if you so wish. The amount of apps are limited, but will no doubt improve with time. Along with the netflix app you also have Sony Entertainment which gives access to tons of movies as well. At the moment you can't have TV one side of the screen and any web content the other side, hopefully that will come, but you can have a TV picture within the app on screen, not ideal but it does allow you to browse the internet while keeping an eye on the TV. I have mine connected via ethernet cable so don't know how well it works with wifi, but I'm guessing with 11 meg speeds that wouldn't be a problem. YouTube works really well and is brilliant watching it on your TV.

Overall I'm really pleased with it, just could have been a bit cheaper and have more apps, but I'm sure that will happen in the near future.

Mark.

Got to say I agree with what Mark has said here. The general performance is really quite impressive and I was surprised how well the browser worked (which is much better than all the Smart TV browsers I have tried). It is however painfully short of apps so Google really need to concentrate on getting support for the platform as quickly as possible.
 
great replies so far, thanks. I cant understand why Google would release without iplayer i was sure i read that was going to be on it. I somehow doubt lovefilm will other with an app as they still havent sorted HD on the ps3 last i checked on mine anyway. really interesting to see the chrome browser is very good.
 
iPlayer works via browser.
 
As does ITV player but it is a clunky solution compared to an app.
 
I have one of these. Been looking for a decent way to access the internet on my TV for sometime now. The box is a little expensive at £200 but I guess that's what you pay for being an early adopter.

It does have Netflix and YouTube apps, but no iPlayer yet. It also has a full Chrome browser making it really easy to surf the internet. The remote is brilliant with a trackpad one side and a full qwerty keyboard the other and you can have it control your TV and amp as well if you so wish. The amount of apps are limited, but will no doubt improve with time. Along with the netflix app you also have Sony Entertainment which gives access to tons of movies as well. At the moment you can't have TV one side of the screen and any web content the other side, hopefully that will come, but you can have a TV picture within the app on screen, not ideal but it does allow you to browse the internet while keeping an eye on the TV. I have mine connected via ethernet cable so don't know how well it works with wifi, but I'm guessing with 11 meg speeds that wouldn't be a problem. YouTube works really well and is brilliant watching it on your TV.

Overall I'm really pleased with it, just could have been a bit cheaper and have more apps, but I'm sure that will happen in the near future.

Mark.

Mark, i'm thinking of getting the sony google tv box. Can you tell me if you can enter the DNS server address anywhere in the box? Reason being i need to access the US version of Netflix so should be able to do this if i can enter a DNS i obtained from Unblock Us - smarter faster VPN

Also how well does Sky HD work through the NSZ-GS7? I presume the picture quality remains unchanged and using Sky+ playback/recording etc works fine?

Cheers
 
Works fine through my Virgin V HD box.
 
I'll check later as at work now.
 
Cant see one yet. I am on Ethernet, would that matter?
 
It seems to be under IP settings.
 
If it does, what does that allow you to do?
 
If it does, what does that allow you to do?
Instead of faffing around with VPNs, changing DNS servers is a far easier (& cheaper) way of accessing content not normally available in your country eg accessing Netflix USA in UK (yes i know there is a UK version but its pants compared to USA version) or accessing BBC iplayer in USA.

If you go to Unblock Us - smarter faster VPN they will provide you with a DNS address and you simply enter this in your router or box such a Sony Google TV or Boxee Box. I suggest you give this a try as unblock-us offer a free 7 day trial (no payment details needed) and report back with your findings on the Sony box...basically your box behaves as if it was connected to a USA ip address which means you can access far more & better quality online content (many of it free). I've been using this on my Boxee box and it works like a dream but unfortunately there are too many serious bugs on Boxee which is making me dump it. Full setup details for unblock us here:
Unblock-Us | Setting up Google TV
 
Wayne, when you get a chance please do let me know if the DNS server address on the NSZ-GS7 can be input/changed manually because someone on a different forum is saying it can't. Cheers mate :)
 
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I've only got my box for casual web browsing, apps, to avoid Flash and Youtube. I dont watch films over the net.

When you go down to them dns numbers it does allow you to put a number in but I didn't ok it as I dont want to mess my settings up, having only just bought it.

How serious a bug has the Boxee, as none of these are rock solid really, including mine? Mind you, I have been putting it through it's paces.
 
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Just returned to this thread, sorry a belated reply. I'm pretty sure you can manually set the DNS over an ethernet connection, however I'm unable to check because for some reason I'm unable to connect via the ethernet cable, it was working quite happily up to a few days ago and then stopped! Router is working with other ethernet connections, so it's not that, box is working on WiFi so I don't think it's the box, the only thing I can think of is that it might be the cable, which seems doubtful to me. Anyway, there is no way of inputting the DNS manually using the WiFi settings as far as I can see, but I do seem to remember the box for manually inputting the DNS settings when you were connected via ethernet.
 
Thanks fellas. My Boxee Box refuses to shut down via the remote...this is a well known bug affecting those connected by wifi and this only started happening after the last update in March. With Boxee blatently refusing to release an update to fix this and other bugs such as audio issues on Netflix, i'm on the lookout for an alternative box.

Ermmmm may have to reconsider the Sony box as it would need to be connected by wifi :(
 
What about using homeplugs?

I prefer wifi N but may have to use a pair of homeplugs though they might play havoc with those insect repellers i've got plugged in...they work on the same principle as the homeplugs. Anyway have ordered the Sony Google box (NSZ-GS7) from Asda direct - they're offering £15 off using the code google1 so its £174. Will test it out and give my feedback. Thanks for all the help chaps, much appreciated :smashin:
 
Mine is connected via Ethernet and it allows me to enter a dns number.

I got mine for £185 from Argos.

What media sources can I use Dolby Digital 5.1 output from?
 
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