Furious: XL100, Sony's pathetic attempt at MCE PC

[willbank]

I cannot believe that a large and respected company like Sony can produce such an obviously sub-standard product - and what is so shocking is that they don't seem to have any shame about it, i.e. when you ring support with your issues they don't apologise and they don't even email you the patches they promise will help fix your problems.

My issues:

1. Component video connection may be the cause (according to these forums) of inability to wake from hibernate/away mode/whatever without holding power button for total reboot. No patches seem to be able to solve this at all and it ruins the use of the machine for PVR purposes (and it isn't too good for any unsaved documents you may have been stupid enough to leave open when you left the computer).

2. Lack of support for supplementary tuners so that you cannot attach a USB tuner to the unit to allow recording of 1 programme while watching another - hello, this was possible with VCR's back in the sodding 1980's. GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER SONY - if you can't engineer support for external tuners even when it is in MCE 2005 then at least give us 2 digital tuners built in.

3. Total lack of decent support options that reduce me to writing on this forum rather than fruitlessly calling Support again to be given platitudes and not sent the emailed patches.

SONY you deserve to lose the battle for the living room if you churn out toss like this. Apple, your market is ready.

Cretinous, over-expensive, trading-on-a-decent-reputation charlatans.

[mcfair]

my sentiments exactly,if the damn thing hadn't cost so much I would give it away!

[HITS-UK]

As I have said repeatedly on this and other forums, you cannot expect to get any satisfaction on a public forum unless you feel better for the rant.

If this product does not do what it states that it will do when you bought it, then you have every legal and moral right to take it back to the reseller and get your money back. This is on the proviso that you have not changed its spec from that which it was shipped with (and yes folks that can include Microsoft updates although this is not always the case).

If you are trying to make a product do what it it not designed to do then the only person to blame is ...

Bottom line here folks is very straightforward. TAKE IT BACK - in the UK it comes under the Sale of Goods Act subsection Merchantable Quality. It comes under similar laws in other EU countries so don't be fobbed off, don't rant on the forums, just calmly and serenely put the unit back in the box from whence it came, locate your receipt and take it back to the reseller.

By the way - you can also charge back reasonable costs for doing so.

Hopefully this will smooth some very ruffled feathers.

[kee-lo_]

I feel sorry for people who've bought the XL100, it's been a disaster - specially for HDMI output.

[Hasselhoffia]

Have to disagree! I think my XL100's a little pearler! Connected video up by HDMI, optical audio out to my amp, not had many problems at all.

Are you saying Sony don't support extra tuners, or are you saying that the XL100 won't take them? Because people over on other forums have been adding additional tuners to their XL1's for some time, often of the USB variety so they don't have to open the case.

Wonder if the XL200 series is any better?

[mcfair]

It would help having an extra tuner ,do you or anyone else know what make and also how to install internal tuner cards.Thanks

[robpaxton]

Not sure if this is of use but have a look at the end of this thread at another XL100 forum. The key seems to be not installing the default software that usually comes with these devices but downloading and installing the mce drivers only.