Universal Electronics Nevo SL

[Red2001GSR]

Hello, I've been lurking this board for quite awhile, but never posted anything. I figured that since I've leeched so much from here, my first post should be a contribution as opposed to a plea for help (which I'm sure will eventually happen)

I'm by no means a professional reviewer, and this should be taken with a grain of salt, as it's just my experience and I could be an idiot.

A bit of background on me:
I'm a partner in a fairly new integration firm in Indianapolis, IN. I've been in the A/V industry for 10 years now, started in sales - then moved on to become a trainer for Thomson Multimedia... I trained the New Technology team (think early days of the DTC100, I probably talked to some of you, and told you how to get the raster centering right when breaking VGA out to 5 BNC's. I'm also the one who broke the news on AVSForum about the software upgrade which addressed the different retrace timings, almost got in trouble for that one)

Anyhow, nice to meet ya,

WARNING!
This review ONLY applies to the Nevo SL prior to the upgrade. I have not yet tried to play with it since then, but will give it a shot after writing this review, and then update it where appropriate as to track UEI's problem solving.
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I will start by saying that I bought the first Nevo SL/NevoLink combo to hit the shelf at our local AVAD store. I was skeptical, but intrigued by it's capabilities, so I bought one to tinker with and see what I thought. My impressions are as follows:

First Impression - Opening it up
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Upon peeling the plastic off the box I was immediately pleased by the solid firm feel of the box. Lifting the lid did nothing but encourage me. I know it sounds stupid, but this is one hell of a nice box. I suggest at least getting one so you can use the box for whatever you use boxes for.

After lifting the lid, I was still VERY impressed. The remote and charger sit side by side in form fitted gray foam, with a little Nevo lapel pin in the middle (not just a fancy box, but a lapel pin too! at this point the remote is looking like a bonus!)

Being a sucker for the SBL factor (sexy blue light) I immediately plugged the charger in.... jeezum crow! coolest blue light ever lights up around the edge of the cradle.

At this point, I'm thinking potential product of the year. Blue lights, lapel pin, kick ass box... I don't know what to make of all these bonuses.



Software
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Installing the software was your standard windows affair... you install the design software, and the media player software, as well as the server. This went pretty much as expected.

Actually using the software... now THAT was a different thing all together.
This program has so many different programming panes, that at first I just stared at it in a confused daze, wondering if blinking a lot would make it better.

A quick smoke break, and a cursory glance of the manual made everything clear. Each navigation pane was actually just a different way of doing the same thing. You program it in the manner you want.
Oh!
Not complicated... simple.
So stupidly simple that I was immediately confused by it.

Once I knew this fact, I immediately began plugging away with my programming.
This was a very simple ordeal, laying out the buttons... of course I immediate began photoshopping custom backgrounds and buttons (who uses template buttons? oh, productive people? roger that.)

At this point I'll say that I've programmed probably 50-60 HTM remotes, MX-700/800/850 and 3 or 4 RTI remotes (T2+/T3/RP6) so while I'm not a stranger to how it works, I'm by no means a master programmer.

Finally I'm ready to open the IR library and see what perils lurk there.
HOLY MOSES!
I've never seen a library like that. It seemed like the list of manufacturers went on forever. This is definitely a good sign.
I programmed it for my system in short order... took maybe 15 minutes to get the basics up and running. I even learned a few codes for fun (somewhat time consuming, and a bit involved, but at least it's USB)

Okay, so far I have a touchscreen remote that more or less works without a hitch from opening the fantastic box (I really can't tell you how fascinated I am with that box, also shiny objects) to controlling the basics of my A/V system. This thing is definitely looking like a T3 competitor at worst, and we haven't even played with the wifi yet.

Operation
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Now we hit a spot where I'm not so sure...
the touchscreen isn't really what I was hoping. It has poor corner sensitivity when compared to the T3, and often requires the use of a stylus. Sorry but I'll NEVER use a stylus with my remote control. If I can't use it 1-handed, I can't use it. (in fairness, the T3 is almost too big for my little hands)

Aside from that, things are positive. The hard buttons are good, and the navigation toggle on the side is very intuitive. I do wish it had a tilt sensor like the RTI's, the toggle key and backlight are easy to mix up if you're slow like me.

WiFi and Media Control
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Okay... here's the nuts and bolts for me. Can this thing control my mp3's, pictures, and other cool stuff?

I load up the media server, and media player on 2 of my PC's, and activate the wifi in the editor software which is not the easiest to do unless you read the manual, but these days who has time?

Once active, I gave the server access to a small mp3 folder on my bedroom PC. Wandered out to the living room and fired it up. Ding Ding Ding! It picked up my ID3 tagged mp3's without a hitch. Playback wasn't too badly delayed from button press to action either. AWESOME!

I went ahead and have a 14gb folder to the server and gave it a whirl.
WAAA-WAAA-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Immediately this thing got molasses slow. After a couple track skips it was taking 5-8 seconds to change songs. No sir.. I don't like it.

I also noticed that my PC was now running incredibly slow.
Mind you, I don't have a VooDoo PC gaming machine or anything, but it's a 2.8Ghz P4 w/ 1GBram and a 7,200rpm HDD... so it's not like a Packard Bell 486/33 or anything.

Okay, so now I've found weaknesses.
The box can't make up for the fact that the server is a resource hog, the media player is goofy looking, and it has trouble with large amounts of data. Luckily, all of this is addressable w/ software/firmware upgrades.

after a little bit of use I found what I think is the Nevo's fatal flaw.
The battery.

This thing has GOD AWFUL battery life. Enabling wifi all the time doesn't help it either, but let's be honest. How many end users are going to have the patience to wait for that thing to come alive?

I also played around with picture viewing. Not sure how this is useful, as it's a tiny picture, but I guess I could see some applications wherein the media player were onscreen. I've just never been enamored by the idea of showing my pictures on a TV. I don't want to see my neighbors slides on their slide projector, so I probably won't want to see them on their TV either. I tossed about 5,000 pictures from a "special folder" I keep just for laughs. As expected it fell on it's face.

Conclusions
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Pro's
Great First Attempt at a WiFi enabled touchscreen controller
Excellent form factor, packaging, presentation
Simple to program
Ergonomics are great

Con's
WiFi gets bogged easily
Chews through the rechargeable battery
Who wants a Stylus?
incl. media server sw is a resource hog

Solutions
If used on a dedicated audio server, I imagine the performance would improve significantly
soft/firmware upgrades could remedy the majority of the problems

I really think UEI is onto something cool here, and the 3rd generation may even be ready for general consumption. Until then, T3's work just dandy for me.
This product has a lot of potential, but early reviews from some publications are making it out to be something it might not be just yet.

I'll give the new firmware a shot, and see what I think.

[Darren]

RED,

Great review. You are correct in that the box is very mezmorizing... I can stare at it for hours!

I picked mine up last month along with its mate; the NevoLink. Unfortunitly I have been too swamped to spend much time with it. Hence, the beautiful box sits on my desk... taunting me much like the Sirens did the nautical sailors spun from legends of sea sailing lore.

However, I did find about an hour the other afternoon to actually connect the NevoLink and design a few pages in a Demo program. Within a few minutes I had the NevoSL accessing the media on my laptop. I didn't give it a fair shake as I was only randomly accessing small photo files and a few music files... but it was fast and smooth without any hitches. I do have the latest firmware upgrade... which addresses many of the WiFi and battery munching issues you mentioned.

I still seem to have a passion for the RTI T3, but perhaps more time with the NevoSL will sway me the other direction. Maybe if RTI would use a pretty package... nahhhh. Fundamentally RTI products allow for much better control of components... especially when dealing with TOADS and other difficult integration devices.

But... I still love that box!

[Red2001GSR]

Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself by name.
I guess a signature might be in order. I use the Red2001GSR name because it's from car forums dating back to '01... that was 3 cars ago.

Anyhow, I'm Joe... I'll go ahead and throw that in a sig.

[idodishez]

I use the Red2001GSR name because it's from car forums dating back to '01... that was 3 cars ago..

Just realized there's NOT an "X" in your screen name. I always just assumed you were a rider (Suzuki GSXR aka "Gixxer")

So what kind of CAR is a GSR?

[Red2001GSR]

Yeah, used to be an Integra GSR...
then I got a '92 NSX, and an '05 RSX Type-S.

The NSX replaced my '01 GSX-R750 (death machine)