# Google TV and TiVo HD Set Up



## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

Hello,

Can someone either walk me through or direct me to a video or website that explains how to set up Google TV with TiVo HD please? 

Thank you,
Joe


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Nothing much to set up, I did it without any instructions. How I would recommend setting it up would depend on which Google TV device you have and whether or not you will use an AVR for audio or video processing. You may get some recommendations to return it but I am using the Logitech Revue Google TV with TiVoHD and it works great for my needs. I just wanted web browsing and access to internet video streaming to supplement OTA with TiVoHD as part of my solution to cut the cable cord.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Chris, when you say "using with" do you really mean side by side using two different inputs on your AV receiver?

I suspect so because as far as I can tell there is very little integration you can do with the two devices.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

ah30k said:


> Chris, when you say "using with" do you really mean side by side using two different inputs on your AV receiver?
> 
> I suspect so because as far as I can tell there is very little integration you can do with the two devices.


It depends on what he has. The Logitech Revue and Sony Blu-ray/Google TV have HDMI pass through which can combine internet with cable or OTA in a usable manner and he may want to run the HDMI output from the TiVoHD through the box. The Revue has some Harmony remote controls built in so he can use it to control his TiVoHD and switch between TiVo and Google TV. I don't own the Sony version but it has faster processor, 1.66GHz Intel Atom although I don't know if processing power allocated to Google TV is much greater than the 1.2GHz Intel Atom used by the Revue.

If he has a Google TV HDTV, I haven't really paid any attention to what can be done but he will just run the TiVoHD to the display HDMI input, either through an AVR or switcher first or directly. How he handles audio will depend on what his audio setup is.

I may be in the minority but I love Google TV, I have a queue of internet programs to stream, not unlike my TiVo now playing list and all I have done when using Google TV for viewing for days is just choose something to watch from the queue. I am not using it in a system with HDMI audio processing, I am running optical audio out from the Revue to my AVR. I do have HDMI audio processing in my home theater but that isn't where my Google TV will reside, at least not most of the time.


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

Chris Gerhard said:


> Nothing much to set up, I did it without any instructions. How I would recommend setting it up would depend on which Google TV device you have and whether or not you will use an AVR for audio or video processing. You may get some recommendations to return it but I am using the Logitech Revue Google TV with TiVoHD and it works great for my needs. I just wanted web browsing and access to internet video streaming to supplement OTA with TiVoHD as part of my solution to cut the cable cord.


Very sorry for the delayed response. Got ordered into work. Should have included in the opening post that I have the Logitech Revue. As luck would have it, my partner at work has had the Revue for about 3 months and he walked me through the set up. Came home, followed his instructions, and voilla, 15 minutes later, it's working perfectly!

Your comment that I may get recommendations to return the Revue is bothersome. Is there something I should know?


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Joey Bagadonuts said:


> Very sorry for the delayed response. Got ordered into work. Should have included in the opening post that I have the Logitech Revue. As luck would have it, my partner at work has had the Revue for about 3 months and he walked me through the set up. Came home, followed his instructions, and voilla, 15 minutes later, it's working perfectly!
> 
> Your comment that I may get recommendations to return the Revue is bothersome. Is there something I should know?


I have read a lot of complaints from people, including some here at this forum, some at AVSForums and some at Google TV Forum. Most complaints make little or no sense to me and I decided to make up my own mind about the product and my intended uses for the product and it works just as i hoped it would before I bought it. Some complaints are abusrd to me, the expectations for a $100 product seem to me unreasonable. You should be able to find lots of complaints online.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

My complaints about the Revue is that the GoogleTV user interface is very disjoint. It seems like every app has a different look & feel. The whole thing just seems like 10 different on-line services that got glued together.


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

Chris Gerhard said:


> I have read a lot of complaints from people, including some here at this forum, some at AVSForums and some at Google TV Forum. Most complaints make little or no sense to me and I decided to make up my own mind about the product and my intended uses for the product and it works just as i hoped it would before I bought it. Some complaints are abusrd to me, the expectations for a $100 product seem to me unreasonable. You should be able to find lots of complaints online.


OK, thanks. Thought I did my homework before purchasing, but maybe I missed something. I know a lot of networks refuse to let GTV access their stuff but, like you, I bought it mostly for web access on our big screen TV as well as a way to stream Amazon Premier. Pretty good deal for 100 bucks, far as I'm concerned.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

ah30k said:


> My complaints about the Revue is that the GoogleTV user interface is very disjoint. It seems like every app has a different look & feel. The whole thing just seems like 10 different on-line services that got glued together.


I don't know what apps you are talking about but for the most part, I use it to access web sites which are often very different. I don't call going to a web page and playing video through the browswer an app but if that is what you are talking about, yes it would be like hundreds of online services glued together. I don't think we are going to see standardized web sites, except to the extent there are many different ways to play video at a website and each site will be limited to one of those ways. ESPN3 just changed to requiring Flash player 10.2 or greater, the Revue has 10.1 installed, I am waiting on an Adobe update.


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## Alvysyngr (Dec 1, 2003)

Would you guys recommend a GoogleTV (Revue) + S3 Tivo + Digital Cable setup? I am tempted to go for it since the used prices of Revue units are going down more and more.....


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Alvysyngr said:


> Would you guys recommend a GoogleTV (Revue) + S3 Tivo + Digital Cable setup? I am tempted to go for it since the used prices of Revue units are going down more and more.....


I looked for a used Revue for a few weeks before giving up and just purchasing a second Revue new. Where are you seeing these used Revues at significant savings compared to new?


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## Alvysyngr (Dec 1, 2003)

Chris Gerhard said:


> I looked for a used Revue for a few weeks before giving up and just purchasing a second Revue new. Where are you seeing these used Revues at significant savings compared to new?


I just bought one from eBay for $70 free shipping


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## hooverf16 (Apr 9, 2009)

Just bought a Revue and hooked it up. Setup okay but after returning home after a few hours, my Tivo HD box had a flashing yellow light on it and had a grey screen on the screen. Feared a hard drive issue but rebooting the Revue fixed the problem temporarily. I reseated all of the cables and disabled the Anynet feature on the Samsung DLP TV. That seemed to fix the problem but when using the keyboard, the issue recurred. At that time, the right LED on the Revue flashed and the screen again went grey. My suspicion is that the Revue is trying to control the Tivo via IR. I think it is trying to power down the Tivo or some other feature that is locking up the Tivo. If anyone has any ideas on this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

hooverf16 said:


> Just bought a Revue and hooked it up. Setup okay but after returning home after a few hours, my Tivo HD box had a flashing yellow light on it and had a grey screen on the screen. Feared a hard drive issue but rebooting the Revue fixed the problem temporarily. I reseated all of the cables and disabled the Anynet feature on the Samsung DLP TV. That seemed to fix the problem but when using the keyboard, the issue recurred. At that time, the right LED on the Revue flashed and the screen again went grey. My suspicion is that the Revue is trying to control the Tivo via IR. I think it is trying to power down the Tivo or some other feature that is locking up the Tivo. If anyone has any ideas on this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks


Yes, it appears that pressing the STB button on the keyboard of the revue will put the Tivo in standby mode.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Chris Gerhard said:


> I looked for a used Revue for a few weeks before giving up and just purchasing a second Revue new. Where are you seeing these used Revues at significant savings compared to new?


I bought one from Amazon a week ago and got a separate $5 and $10 discount, so it only cost $84.99. No tax and free shipping. It took them 4 days to actually ship the item and then another day for the item to actually be delivered.


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## hooverf16 (Apr 9, 2009)

Any ideas on the flashing of the LEDs and the grey screen? It is really more than just a standby mode. It appears to lock the Tivo up until the Revue is restarted, sometimes multiple times. I don't want to damage the Tivo because of conflicts caused by the Revue. Please help...I think this has great potential but the Tivo will take priority over the Revue.
Thanks


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Chris Gerhard said:


> Some complaints are abusrd to me, the expectations for a $100 product seem to me unreasonable. You should be able to find lots of complaints online.


Wasn't it a $300 product when it first went on sale? I don't think it's worth $300, but for $100 it's not bad to have a browser on the TV with a small set top box and wireless keyboard controller. It also seems like everything is up-scaled to 1080P


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

hooverf16 said:


> Any ideas on the flashing of the LEDs and the grey screen? It is really more than just a standby mode. It appears to lock the Tivo up until the Revue is restarted, sometimes multiple times. I don't want to damage the Tivo because of conflicts caused by the Revue. Please help...I think this has great potential but the Tivo will take priority over the Revue.
> Thanks


Have you tried pressing the STB button on the keyboard to see if the Tivo is brought out of standby mode? You also might want to turn off the keyboard for the revue when you're not using it to avoid inadvertent button presses.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Logitech says the Revue has apps for Netflix and Amazon videos. Can it put these full screen HD on your TV? I'm wondering if it's just putting a browser window on your TV. IIRC, Netflix won't stream videos in HD to browsers.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Logitech system requirements for the Revue state:


> Your set-top box must be connected to your HDTV via an HDMI cable


I assume "set-top box" would be replaced by "TiVo HD" in my case. If this is really necessary it would be a major problem since I have to use component from TiVo to TV. If I use HDMI, the TiVo frequently locks up and reboots.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Logitech says the Revue has apps for Netflix and Amazon videos. Can it put these full screen HD on your TV? I'm wondering if it's just putting a browser window on your TV. IIRC, Netflix won't stream videos in HD to browsers.


I don't have Netflix but I have used Amazon Prime Instant Video and the videos have always been in the correct aspect ratio and able to fill the screen subject to black bars on the sides or top due to different than 1.77:1 aspect ratio. If you are talking about having the ability to crop to fit the screen, I don't know but it certainly isn't limited to a window in a web browser.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I have a TiVo HD. If I get a Revue can I run HDMI (output) from the HD into the (HDMI) input of the Revue and integrate TiVo output with Revue/GoogleTV output, and also control the HD with the Revue?

*I would be curious how many people are successfully doing this*. I found one thread on the Revue forum where a user was unable to do this (got blank video from TiVo-thru-Revue but the same TiVo HDMI output played fine directly into the TV) and asked for help. The thread went dead in August with no resolution to the problem.

What scares me is the HDMI DRM stuff. I have Time Warner Cable and they copy protect almost all channels. I wonder if this couldn't lead to the problem described above?


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## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

been wanting this since it came out but didnt bite because of the dolby audio problem. hope its fixed with honeycomb.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

dlfl said:


> I have a TiVo HD. If I get a Revue can I run HDMI (output) from the HD into the (HDMI) input of the Revue and integrate TiVo output with Revue/GoogleTV output, and also control the HD with the Revue?
> 
> *I would be curious how many people are successfully doing this*. I found one thread on the Revue forum where a user was unable to do this (got blank video from TiVo-thru-Revue but the same TiVo HDMI output played fine directly into the TV) and asked for help. The thread went dead in August with no resolution to the problem.
> 
> What scares me is the HDMI DRM stuff. I have Time Warner Cable and they copy protect almost all channels. I wonder if this couldn't lead to the problem described above?


I'm able to run the HDMI output from a Tivo HD to the HDMI input of the Logitech Revue and integrate the Tivo output of the Tivo with Google TV. My TV now shows all output from the Tivo HD as 1080P.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

dlfl said:


> I have a TiVo HD. If I get a Revue can I run HDMI (output) from the HD into the (HDMI) input of the Revue and integrate TiVo output with Revue/GoogleTV output, and also control the HD with the Revue?
> 
> *I would be curious how many people are successfully doing this*. I found one thread on the Revue forum where a user was unable to do this (got blank video from TiVo-thru-Revue but the same TiVo HDMI output played fine directly into the TV) and asked for help. The thread went dead in August with no resolution to the problem.
> 
> What scares me is the HDMI DRM stuff. I have Time Warner Cable and they copy protect almost all channels. I wonder if this couldn't lead to the problem described above?


I have used the TiVoHD connected through the Revue then to a display without any audio processing through a surround sound setup and that works fine, the audio output is PCM. I have only used it with OTA as I don't have cable. I understand that the Revue with current firmware will not permit Dolby Digital 5.1 pass through in that manner and won't permit processing 2.0 to surround as it outputs null audio for the center and surround channels. I haven't gotten around to setting it up in that manner with a surround sound system and probably won't before the update to Honeycomb, which we hope will fix the issue in any event.

I am sure someone at Google TV Forums is using Time Warner Cable and can comment on whether or not the Revue will have problems with DRM but I don't think so as it won't convert to analog video or permit recording, it works strictly as a pass through with DRM intact for the video.

http://www.googletvforum.org/forum/forum.php


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

shwru980r said:


> I'm able to run the HDMI output from a Tivo HD to the HDMI input of the Logitech Revue and integrate the Tivo output of the Tivo with Google TV. My TV now shows all output from the Tivo HD as 1080P.





Chris Gerhard said:


> I have used the TiVoHD connected through the Revue then to a display without any audio processing through a surround sound setup and that works fine, the audio output is PCM. I have only used it with OTA as I don't have cable. I understand that the Revue with current firmware will not permit Dolby Digital 5.1 pass through in that manner and won't permit processing 2.0 to surround as it outputs null audio for the center and surround channels. I haven't gotten around to setting it up in that manner with a surround sound system and probably won't before the update to Honeycomb, which we hope will fix the issue in any event.
> 
> I am sure someone at Google TV Forums is using Time Warner Cable and can comment on whether or not the Revue will have problems with DRM but I don't think so as it won't convert to analog video or permit recording, it works strictly as a pass through with DRM intact for the video.
> http://www.googletvforum.org/forum/forum.php


Thanks to both of you! I probably will continue to settle for stereo-only but I wonder if there is any way (before Honeycomb) to get surround sound using another Revue output (RCA or TOSlink ?) and an AV processor ?

Can you control your TiVo with the Revue?

Also, a general complaint with the pre-Honeycomb version is the browser is slow for a lot of sites. Do you guys use the browser a lot and do you find it slow enough to be annoying? (I'm not sure if I'll like browsing on a TV anyway.)

From what I've read so far, it appears the appeal of the Revue is it's current low price and Google TV's future potential, do you agree?


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Thanks to both of you! I probably will continue to settle for stereo-only but I wonder if there is any way (before Honeycomb) to get surround sound using another Revue output (RCA or TOSlink ?) and an AV processor ?
> 
> Can you control your TiVo with the Revue?
> 
> ...


Yes, the Revue can control the TiVo. I use the browser a lot, now in fact, and it isn't slow for the things I do. I am delighted with the Revue right now as it is. I use it very simply, find programs I want to watch, put the programs in the queue and watch them whenever I want. Mostly I just watch now since I filled the queue up weeks ago and it will take months to get through it. Without cable having OTA and Google TV, I go to the Revue queue and TiVo Now Playing list and decide what I want to watch if I don't know before I sit down. It is a breeze to use both products.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

How does the Revue compare to the TiVo for Netflix? I'm more concerned with PQ and absence of buffering stalls than I am the search features.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Logitech says the Revue has apps for Netflix and Amazon videos. Can it put these full screen HD on your TV? I'm wondering if it's just putting a browser window on your TV. IIRC, Netflix won't stream videos in HD to browsers.


netflix streams HD also. amazon seems to be just a fill screen flash browser window, netflix appears to be another app altogether that doesn't use the browser. (not really sure of either though- sorry- all i know is both play full screen)

Myself- I have the sony BD player version. I have the tivo and BD player in different inputs and toggle. I prefer the tivo remote for transport controls (although the bluetooth keyboard of the sony remote is really nice to have) so never investigated connecting the tivo through the sony.

netflix is better on the gtv then the tivo. No buffering nonsense. No crashes. No issues. (I'm not a giant picture quality guy- to me both look good- sorry i'm not a better judge of that for you).


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

ps- my DREAM is that once GTV is upgraded to include the market (any week now) we'll be able to use an app to control the tivo from the gtv over the lan. Then maybe I would learn to use just the one remote from the GTV and run everything through the GTV.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

MichaelK said:


> netflix streams HD also. amazon seems to be just a fill screen flash browser window, netflix appears to be another app altogether that doesn't use the browser. (not really sure of either though- sorry- all i know is both play full screen)
> 
> Myself- I have the sony BD player version. I have the tivo and BD player in different inputs and toggle. I prefer the tivo remote for transport controls (although the bluetooth keyboard of the sony remote is really nice to have) so never investigated connecting the tivo through the sony.
> 
> netflix is better on the gtv then the tivo. No buffering nonsense. No crashes. No issues. (I'm not a giant picture quality guy- to me both look good- sorry i'm not a better judge of that for you).


Thanks for this info. When you say you toggle between two inputs (BD player and TiVo), how are you doing this? Does the Revue have two inputs and its software can select between them?


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Thanks for this info. When you say you toggle between two inputs (BD player and TiVo), how are you doing this? Does the Revue have two inputs and its software can select between them?


He isn't using the Revue, read the post you quoted, he is using the Sony Blu-ray player/Google TV.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Chris Gerhard said:


> He isn't using the Revue, read the post you quoted, he is using the Sony Blu-ray player/Google TV.


Ohhhh.... I'm such a newbie concerning GTV I didn't realize the Sony BR was a GTV device. 

Another question, if you don't mind:
When you search using the Revue does it integrate (existiing) recordings on your TiVo in the results? I'm pretty sure the answer must be "no" since technically it seems very difficult -- it would have to interface through the TiVo server I guess. So let's fall back to something more likely: Does Revue know your local Cable lineup and search over currently showing or upcoming programs?

I guess the general issue I'm trying to get at is: Besides remote control functions and passing through the video output, is there any other type of integration of TiVo into the Revue experience?

Thanks


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Thanks for this info. When you say you toggle between two inputs (BD player and TiVo), how are you doing this? Does the Revue have two inputs and its software can select between them?


Sony has just one input but i dont even use it.

I run an hdmi from the sony gtv to my receiver and one from my tivo to the receiver and use the receiver to switch (i set the tivo's "input" button so that it switches to he tivo's input and set the sony gtv's "input" to switch to it's input)


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Ohhhh.... I'm such a newbie concerning GTV I didn't realize the Sony BR was a GTV device.
> 
> Another question, if you don't mind:
> When you search using the Revue does it integrate (existiing) recordings on your TiVo in the results? I'm pretty sure the answer must be "no" since technically it seems very difficult -- it would have to interface through the TiVo server I guess. So let's fall back to something more likely: Does Revue know your local Cable lineup and search over currently showing or upcoming programs?
> ...


I'm under the impression there is ZERO integration. Hence i do one or the other and dont have them connected.

hopefully once google adds the market any day now, people make third party apps to integrate them. I'm guessing using the current android tivo apps as a start to make something isn't unrealistic (but no coder here)


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## pgoelz (May 1, 2005)

I've had a Logitech Revue for about a week and a half and am using it with a TivoHD. They do integrate... to a point. The Revue and its (terrific) keyboard can be easily programmed to control just about all the Tivo functions as well as your AV receiver. That, and the HDMI passthrough, make the two work together pretty seamlessly. From the Revue keyboard, you can watch the Revue or the Tivo as if they were one device. Press the "TV" button and you are watchign the Tivo. Press the "home" button and the Revue overlays its menu on top of the Tivo video until you actually select a function. The Revue enables picture-in-picture.... you can put the Tivo video in a small window and continue to use the Revue. The Revue keyboard has access to all Tivo functions including the now playing list. Most are enabled by default as soon as you tell the Revue you have a Tivo. Others can be added by programming the second function of most keyboard buttons and keys. For example, I have some yeys programmed as "info" and the forward skip. I have other buttons programmed to switch the inputs on my AVR and TV. It is pretty easy to set up. 

A generic "search" on the Revue simultaneously searches the web, local cable / OTA listings or any media files you have accessible to the Revue. It does not search your Tivo recordings, though. 

I find the Revue Netflix player better than the web or the Tivo players. Very smooth operation, no buffering issues, and it remembers which program in a series you last watched and offers to play the next int he series. Fast forward and rewind with the four way rocker on the Revue keyboard brings up thumbnails that you can select. 

My only major complaint is the fact that most of the TV web sites have blocked GoogleTV, limiting the non-cable sources that can be viewed. 

If you like the keyboard, Logitech sells it for.... the same price as the Revue! So buy the Revue and if you don't like it, keep it for the keyboard. You can buy a keyboard receiver for a PC for about $15 online, or you can unplug the Revue from the TV and just use it as the brains of a programmable remote keyboard that can control your AV system. The Revue converts the RF commands from the keyboard to I/R, which it emits from the four corners of the box and a plug-in I/R puck. 

Paul


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

pgoelz said:


> I've had a Logitech Revue for about a week and a half and am using it with a TivoHD. .........
> Paul


Thanks for the detailed review of the Revue, Paul!

This looks like such a good deal at $99, especially with the hope it will become even more capable in the future with updates. I suspect when it does become more capable (and thus more popular) the price will go up!


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

pgoelz said:


> My only major complaint is the fact that most of the TV web sites have blocked GoogleTV, limiting the non-cable sources that can be viewed.


I have found maybe less than 5% of the sites block Google TV. All major OTA networks block Google TV but I get those with an antenna on the roof. A few services like Hulu block Google TV and that is unfortunate and I hope will be changed but there are enough sites I can access that I am happy. I like public domain movies and there are dozens of sites for that available. There is very long thread at Google TV Forums with free streaming sites titled Project Free TV in the General section, it is a sticky thread. It took hours to go through it but I bookmarked many sites I wanted and put about 100 programs from those sites in my queue a few weeks ago.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

You may already know this but you can view Hulu using PlayOn running on a PC on your home network, so these links say:
http://binarybiker.com/2011/07/10/how-to-view-hulu-through-your-google-tv/

http://www.gtvhub.com/2010/11/09/playon-offers-a-limited-workaround-for-watching-hulu-on-google-tv/
Of course it's not free; PlayOn costs $80. It has a 14-day free trial though.

I'm also not clear if it applies to both Hulu's (free and plus) or not.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Chris Gerhard said:


> I have found maybe less than 5% of the sites block Google TV. All major OTA networks block Google TV but I get those with an antenna on the roof. A few services like Hulu block Google TV and that is unfortunate and I hope will be changed but there are enough sites I can access that I am happy. I like public domain movies and there are dozens of sites for that available. There is very long thread at Google TV Forums with free streaming sites titled Project Free TV in the General section, it is a sticky thread. It took hours to go through it but I bookmarked many sites I wanted and put about 100 programs from those sites in my queue a few weeks ago.


I tried a few of the Project Free TV sites last night on IE8 and didn't get much satisfaction. Seemed like each one either (1) wanted my email address or (2) wanted to install a custom player or script. (I'm not eager to do either of these things for security reasons.)

Could you please list several of the public domain sites that you like to use? And do they want to install a player or script when you access them on the Revue? Do you trust them with your email address?


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

First of all, they can give you an option of downloading a custom player, but you can't do it and don't have to anyway, at least with every site I wanted. 100% of the sites I bookmarked from that thread did not require a player be downloaded and 100% of those sites worked with Google TV. It would be too much trouble to list all of the sites I use but about 95% of them were from that single thread. One favorite is Free Movies Cinema, if my memory of the name is correct, and it has public domain movies. A movie I have wanted to watch for a long time, Matango was available and in the correct aspect ratio and picture quality was good. The site doesn't have any HD content but as far as I know, very few or none of those movies have ever been encoded at HD resolutions.

Some of the free sites do require registration, some don't, I didn't care if it was a site I wanted to use, I registered. That has nothing to do with Google TV, as far a I know the requirements are the same regardless of whether a streaming player or PC was used to access the site. Crackle from the Spotlight group is another I have used quite a lot as is South Park Studios (I think that is what it is called), just episodes of South Park in very low bitrate HD but it looked pretty good. I will probably notice some of the names when I use it again, all I do is access the sites from the queue or bookmarks I don't need to know the name of the site to do that. Streaming will probably only account for 10% of my viewing, I prefer OTA, Blu-ray, DVD, D-VHS and HD DVD for network shows and movies. We have used Amazon Prime Instant Video for a majority of our streaming thus far and it works great in my opinion.



dlfl said:


> I tried a few of the Project Free TV sites last night on IE8 and didn't get much satisfaction. Seemed like each one either (1) wanted my email address or (2) wanted to install a custom player or script. (I'm not eager to do either of these things for security reasons.)
> 
> Could you please list several of the public domain sites that you like to use? And do they want to install a player or script when you access them on the Revue? Do you trust them with your email address?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Thanks Chris,

Free Movies Cinema worked fine, no strings.
Crackle looks good and I attempted to register, but haven't got the confirmation email after several hours.

Ordered my Revue just now.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Update: Hooked up my new Revue today and am very happy with it so far!
I elected not to run the TiVo through it, mostly because my wife has accepted the TiVo peanut but I think the Google controller would not be quickly accepted. The only bad thing about that is I can't try the pic-in-pic, which would be a novelty for me.

Everything I've tried so far seems to work great:
Browser,
Netflix,
Amazon Instant Prime
Crackle
You Tube


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Update: Hooked up my new Revue today and am very happy with it so far!
> I elected not to run the TiVo through it, mostly because my wife has accepted the TiVo peanut but I think the Google controller would not be quickly accepted. The only bad thing about that is I can't try the pic-in-pic, which would be a novelty for me.
> 
> Everything I've tried so far seems to work great:
> ...


I will recommend Internet Archive for public domain movies and TV shows. I wouldn't worry about running the TiVo through the Revue although your wife can still use the peanut remote if you do, just be sure to hit the TV button on the Revue keyboard when leaving it to your wife or show her where it is.

We should have the big update to 3.1 in 3 weeks or so and maybe things will get a lot better. I am not a very sophisticated user, only wanted access to public domain movies primarily and for that it works great as is.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Thanks for the free movie suggestion.

I like my Revue more and more as I get familiar with it. Got the media player going today with Win7 media player 12 as the server. Setting it up on Win7 was so easy, just enable access and set up library folders. I have a number of good TCM movies recorded, transferred and transcoded back when I had analog cable and a TiVo Series 2DT. That ended in mid 2009 when I went digital with the TiVo HD (Time Warner copy protection).

There's no metadata support but the ease of selecting movies and the instant play is nice compared to pyTiVo, plus the automatic folder organization (whatever it is on your PC).

The search and shortcuts are very nice. It bothered me initially that you couldn't set up multiple folders on the home page for organizing web shortcuts, but the search feature makes that unimportant. I love the way it searches everything.

The mouse pad isn't bad but I just ordered the Logitech M570 cordless trackball to perch on the arm of my recliner. It uses the "Unifying" connection so will pair right up with the Revue box.

I need to go back and read the "beta leak" reviews. They will mean something to me now!


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

The media player functionality is one area that users are expecting big improvement with the upcoming big update to Honeycomb. I don't have any local content to play so I don't use it and I assume I would use one of my other players if I had any audio and video stored on hard drives in any event. People seem to be expecting an awful lot from a $100 box. I wanted access to internet streaming and web browsing for $100.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I wonder what a reasonable price point for Revue is. $100 seems low while the original $300 seems high. The pending update probably will increase value to the consumer. I wonder if $100 even exceeds their production cost?


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## uw69 (Jan 25, 2001)

I just purchased a new Revue for $80 with free shipping on e-bay. Looking fwd to trying this device out with my OTA Tivo HD, the accessories for the revue (camera and mini controller) are more expensive than the unit itself!


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

dlfl said:


> I wonder what a reasonable price point for Revue is. $100 seems low while the original $300 seems high. The pending update probably will increase value to the consumer. I wonder if $100 even exceeds their production cost?


I don't know the costs to manufacture the Revue but it is a big money loser at a selling price of $100 after distribution costs, retailer profits, warranty cost and customer service. I suspect that price is close to the manufacturing cost, probably a little less. Who knows but if the product is ultimately a success maybe with a subsequent model it will be possible to sell it at that price profitably but I wouldn't even predict Logitech will try a second time with the huge losses associated with the first edition.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Chris Gerhard said:


> I don't know the costs to manufacture the Revue but it is a big money loser at a selling price of $100 after distribution costs, retailer profits, warranty cost and customer service. I suspect that price is close to the manufacturing cost, probably a little less. Who knows but if the product is ultimately a success maybe with a subsequent model it will be possible to sell it at that price profitably but I wouldn't even predict Logitech will try a second time with the huge losses associated with the first edition.


I just hope an avenue for software upgrades (Android, Chrome and Apps) is kept open, either via third parties or by Logitech itself. I would even be willing to pay for these rather than see the product dead end.

After a couple of weeks, I'm still very happy with mine --- *for the $100 price*. At $300 I would be complaining about several things, number one of which is how easy it is to crash it with Chrome navigation while viewing videos -- I've learned to be very ginger about trying to do any navigation to another web page while a video is playing on one web page. I'm not too concerned since I think the potential is there for great improvements -- as long as updates continue to be available.

My internet (wired) is rated, and tests, at 10 Mbps. I still get an average of about one pause or glitch per movie when watching Amazon Prime movies. These are the non-HD variety which they say is 1.3 Mbps, 480p. Their little network quality indicator at screen lower right says High speed and 4 bars. This kind of bothers me, although it's tolerable I guess. I was able to get an Amazon Prime HD movie with their highest quality connection (2.5Mbps). I haven't watched long enough at that quality to know what the glitch rate will be.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Logitech says they "will begin delivering" the Android 3.1 update this week:
http://blog.logitech.com/2011/12/07/logitech-brings-next-version-of-google-tv-to-logitech-revue/
Sounds pretty definite, although I would have preferred wording that indicated when they plan to complete delivering it to currently connected Revue's. 

I don't agree with those who are castigating Logitech for pulling out of Google TV, although I am disappointed and it does look like "mistakes were made". Maybe I would feel different if I paid more than $100.


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## TomWho (Nov 16, 2012)

I have an old Revue and just got a TiVo I'm planning on hooking in. My 5.1/7.1 audio is controlled by the Revue but the input/output from the AV just goes directly to the TV. Seems to do 5.1 fine.


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