Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

BoloMKXXVIII wrote:

The resistive touch screen is not very sensitive nor accurate. Typing on the touch screen is not fun.

I am having the same issue with the touchscreen too.

Here is a link to a thread on the Insignia support site/forum for the BB8/Infocast.
http://community.insigniaproducts.com/t … 11331#M953

An Insignia person said they were going to buy one this weekend and I assume help us since he responded to the post saying I was in the correct sub forum.
I listed some of my observations there too (e.g Touchscreen, SSID and UPnP issues).
Regards, Matt

52 (edited by BoloMKXXVIII 2010-06-23 07:43:11)

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

burkhardi wrote:
BoloMKXXVIII wrote:

The resistive touch screen is not very sensitive nor accurate. Typing on the touch screen is not fun.

I am having the same issue with the touchscreen too.

Here is a link to a thread on the Insignia support site/forum for the BB8/Infocast.
http://community.insigniaproducts.com/t … 11331#M953

An Insignia person said they were going to buy one this weekend and I assume help us since he responded to the post saying I was in the correct sub forum.
I listed some of my observations there too (e.g Touchscreen, SSID and UPnP issues).
Regards, Matt

The Infocast8 is a unique product. Lumping it in with cameras, camcorders and photo frames doesn't give me a good feeling of how they intend to support the device. I suspect we will get more input here. I did sign up for their forum anyway.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

OK, am I missing it; where is the Shuffle Apps or random for the BB8 when you run a channel?

On my C1 I have it set via the control panel to shuffle and I can't find a setting like that ("Shuffle Apps") on the BB8 and I don't like running my different channels in the same order each time they run.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Heading out now to see if our local BB has one...

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

prdamrican wrote:

Heading out now to see if our local BB has one...

You can buy online and do instore pickup. It will also tell you if there is inventory on the store. Actually buying online and then waiting for the confirmation email that the item is ready to pick up is the only way to ensure the item is there before going to the store.

56 (edited by BoloMKXXVIII 2010-06-24 03:45:57)

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

pounce wrote:
prdamrican wrote:

Heading out now to see if our local BB has one...

You can buy online and do instore pickup. It will also tell you if there is inventory on the store. Actually buying online and then waiting for the confirmation email that the item is ready to pick up is the only way to ensure the item is there before going to the store.


True, but there is no guarantee they can find it once you get there. They have been placed in different departments in different stores: camera, photo frame, computer, etc.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Just got mine yesterday.  WOW!   Nobody at the store knew where it was.  There was a display at an endcap along with the Sony Dash (which wasn't working due to no wifi connection).  The BB8 was just in a box, not on display.  Shame, because it's pretty nice looking.

Compared to the regular Chumbies it's HUGE!  Don't know if I like the L-shape aspect to it.  But it's actually just about the same depth as a regular Chumby.  I like that the power cord is right-angled.  Fits right where my old Chumby sat, well depth-wise anyway.

Some of my regular widgetslook rather monstrously large on it.  Not a big deal though.  Presumably apps that target large screens will evolve.  Meanwhile several existing ones do look a lot better on the bigger screen, mainly those that use vector graphics and text. 

It's fast too.  Gobs faster UI navigation than before.  It's also a LOT easier to jump between channels.  Still not as convenient as I'd like, but a lot easier.   Also a lot easier to jump between different channels. 

It's nice to be able to browse apps from the device itself.  Although most of my new apps are discovered from the Newest Widgets.  Still, handy.  Also nice to be able to edit channels or selectively omit certain apps.

Is there a way to overlay the time?  Now that there's more screen real estate it'd be nice to have.  Meanwhile, the usual sprinking of clock apps handles it.

I'll probably have more comments as I use it more.  But my first impression is this is a terrific device!

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I like that it powers back up after a power loss.  It's also nice to see it resume displaying the channel last being used.  Nice. 

That was about my only gripe with the old hardware.  It was just plain annoying to have to manually power it back on again.  Not really great for an information ambiance device (or alarm clock).

Hmm, it's now updating the software.  Downloading seems a bit slow.  I wonder what's new in this update?

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

We addressed the "power up" issue in the old chumbys with a hardware mod - the 3.8 Ironforge and Falconwing (Chumby One) both automatically power up when power is supplied to the device.  Unfortunately, there was no way to update the first-gen (3.7) Classic.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I am seeing a common theme here...
This can't help sales. It's makes you wonder how many other devices they could sell at BB if the sales staff was educated but BB (on what they have, sell and how/what it does). At least have one one site "Tech Guru" that they could say, "I don't know, but I'll ask Bob, our store Gadget Junkie".

wkearney99 wrote:

Just got mine yesterday.  WOW!   Nobody at the store knew where it was.  There was a display at an endcap along with the Sony Dash (which wasn't working due to no wifi connection).  The BB8 was just in a box, not on display.  Shame, because it's pretty nice looking.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Is there no option to dim the screen at a certain time?  I have two custom alarms set up for this.  I really like having my Chumby go dim at around 7pm, and wake again at 7am.   (Daily, no audio, 7pm, no backup alarm, snooze off, after alarm set night mode on).

I don't see an option for doing this on the BB8, just a single alarm.  Realizing the UI for setting these up might be considered somewhat complex, I could see where someone would've nixed this.  But it also helps avoid the worry some people might have about leaving a device running all the time.  Granted, it's not like this shuts it down, but it does at least give the impression that the unit is in a low-attention mode.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

When looking at the reviews on BestBuy.com, one poster mentioned that the screen viewing angle wasn't great on the BB8.  Any opinions from people here that have already gotten one?

63 (edited by BoloMKXXVIII 2010-06-25 07:18:59)

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

unwiredben wrote:

When looking at the reviews on BestBuy.com, one poster mentioned that the screen viewing angle wasn't great on the BB8.  Any opinions from people here that have already gotten one?

Seems good to me. I haven't really looked at it from a very high or low angle but from normal use I never noticed a problem. It is not the best LCD I have ever seen but it is as good as some netbooks. It surprises me anyone would complain about the display.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

@ Unwiredben
Looks fine too me. There is more of an up and down difference then a side to side. No worse (or in fact better) then a Chumby. Then again, it's a under $200 device, so I don't hold the LCD to TV or HD standards. BB has a good return policy, if you don't like, bring it back for a refund.
I think you will like it.

@wkearnry99
Not that I know of, I want that too. I know on the Chumby device it can be confusing to some users since both changes are called alarms. This is perhaps why it's not in the BB8; hopefully it may come with a software update?

I want it on the BB8 too, but not to auto-dim (but that would be nice) but to have it switch to my "wake up" channel in the morning on it's own and then back to another channel later in the day (on it's own). This is how I run my CC and C1 now.

Back to the "alarm" term in the Chumby. I wish that there was a choice called "Alarm" and another called "Event" ("Timed Event" works too) and the only differences would be that they don't use the word "alarm" that some people have a mind block with and can't grasp having the alarm not make any sound and the last difference is there is no choice for sound, it goes right to the choice for what to do (event) Pandora, Dim, launch channel and so on. So the "alarm" would function just as it is now, but the "event" would be minus the what sound to use (even thought there was a "no sound" option).

I tried to explain this to a friend at work that has a CC1 of how I set mine up to turn dark at 10PM and to change to a certain channel at 6:46AM, but he had a very hard time with it because he kept thinking audible alarm, I told him there was not noise, but still had a hard time with the concept. The concept of a silent alarm that triggers an event. I am sure the same issue would throw my parents for a loop too and I would end up having to set up an silent alarm event for them. I hope I am doing an OK job with trying to convey my thoughts on this.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Picked one up last night at BestBuy.
Device works rather well, but has one gaping hole in its ability.
It can stream video from your home server, but it cant do music !?
Or am i missing something?
It has a network devices icon on both video and photo fields (and it works grea) but nothing in the music tab.
Is this in the works???
Its mostly the reason I purchased the device.  (actually thinking of putting one of these in various rooms to tap into the server and stream music)
Thanks

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

+1 on post 65 and 66 thank you. While it is not an "alarm clock" it does happen to have it as a function. I just wish it performed same function as the "Chumby".

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

BoloMKXXVIII wrote:
pounce wrote:
prdamrican wrote:

Heading out now to see if our local BB has one...

You can buy online and do instore pickup. It will also tell you if there is inventory on the store. Actually buying online and then waiting for the confirmation email that the item is ready to pick up is the only way to ensure the item is there before going to the store.


True, but there is no guarantee they can find it once you get there. They have been placed in different departments in different stores: camera, photo frame, computer, etc.


Actually, this isn't the case. If you buy online with store pickup the sale will go through regardless of whether someone can find it or not. Within about an hour or so the BB employee goes to pick the product and then puts it in the instore pickup area. You then get an email indicating that the item is ready for pickup. If they cannot find the product the update the system for "no pick" and your order is canceled and you get an email update to that affect.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

OK, hopefully Best Buy knows what the Infocast / BB8 is now since it was in this weekends newspaper flyer.

On mine here in Austin, it was page 11 and they called it a "Person Internet Viewer" and it was on the same page as the Sony Dash ($169 and $199 respectively).

So I think they days of the sales associates being lost over the BB8 are over I hope.

just wanted to pass this on, Matt

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

burkhardi wrote:

So I think they days of the sales associates being lost over the BB8 are over I hope.

I was in BB on Friday, the Dash was the "only Chumby device we sell".

On Sunday, I walked over to the digital picture frames shelf, picked up one of the two InfoCast (BB8), and showed it to the clerk who told me about the Dash on Friday.

They're still lost.

Now I just need to bend the BB8 to my will.... (streaming internet radio...!)

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I must have really bad timing!
Just before I got my Insignia Infocast, I bought a Seagate Dockstar to set up a SqueezeBox Server to stream my music.
Then I realized that the Infocast doesn't have SqueezeBox Server as a music source. sad

Here's hoping that it will be added soon!

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Got mine today... they had two in-stock, and a quick look on line showed all the area BB's had them now.

Overall, I am quite happy with it.  The build is of good quality, and I don't think it is all that bad looking a device... at least from the front.  I agree with all the comments I have seen regarding the home screen, seems redundant and unnecessary.   The unit seems quite responsive most of the time, and I find the touch-screen to be not to bad, considering its a resistive type.  I do typically use a stylus which probably helps, and it helps with (no) fingerprints as well.  I like the interface for the most part, the drag and drop is pretty cool.  The large screen is really nice, although many apps still need updating.  Pandora works great on this device... as do my (now ancient) Microsoft Digital USB speakers.  One of my Chumby's (either the C1 or the BB8) will probably go to my work desk and the other stay at my home desk, the hard part will deciding which goes where.

I think there is a lot of future potential here with this device.  It is awesome to see Chumby Industries expanding

.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I ended up connecting an old amp with a couple of bookshelf speakers to my Infocast. The built in speakers are just too tinny for me to listen to for any length of time and my Infocast plays Pandora most of the time. Now it sounds fantastic! I tried hooking up a similar rig to my C1 but the sound quality was too poor to enjoy. The C1 sounds better with it's single built in speaker (to me).

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

After a week of solid use I've not had to use the home screen but on rare occasions.  The one thing it IS good for is being able to jump right to the desired functions without having to scroll up/down the left side menu.  If you're digging into the menus and have a lot of them expanded you then have scroll around to get to the other functions.  Tapping Home and then one of the functions eliminates that effort.  So I wouldn't be so quick to write it off as useless.  For newbies it might be quite helpful, but even old pros find use for it now and then.

I've had zero problems with the touchscreen.  It even still looks clean even after a lot of use.  The only thing that's a problem is the small target area when viewing the widgets within a channel.  The bottom right widget is very close to the (>) play button, close enough that sometimes the widget gets deselected and then the channel is played.  But that's a pretty small nitpick.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

wkearney99 wrote:

After a week of solid use I've not had to use the home screen but on rare occasions.  The one thing it IS good for is being able to jump right to the desired functions without having to scroll up/down the left side menu.  If you're digging into the menus and have a lot of them expanded you then have scroll around to get to the other functions.  Tapping Home and then one of the functions eliminates that effort.  So I wouldn't be so quick to write it off as useless.  For newbies it might be quite helpful, but even old pros find use for it now and then.

I think they could have added icons at the top of each screen instead of a separate "home" screen. Glad I don't have to see the ugly home screen unless I reboot.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Well, to each their own, I suppose.

I have found it useful.  I haven't had to use it much, but it does work for me.

I agree it could be more attractive.  But then someone at Insignia probably made the design choice of that gawd-awful green color and is unlikely to change it.   It'd be nice if it were a selectable color.  I'm sure some folks would like to personalize it.  I just hope it's not some preference that people get "hung up on" such that it deprives them of seeing the rest of the great features. 

I've never really been one to get into the whole "theme" or "skinning" concept.  It's astounding how much time some folks put into all that.  But I suppose it's better to let them have the choice of doing it so they don't raise such a fuss and ruin the rest of the experience (for themselves, or others).