neuros OSD Digitize your VHS tapes, DVDs and other Videos

Pros: -If you have a LAN network at home, can record and playback media from sharing computers on the network (sweet!)
-Easy way to record from your tv show and use them for on the go!

-Xvid encoded files playback is very smooth

Cons: *It only records/encode in MP4 format .. not Xvid or Divx and the video quality is decent at best (2100Kbps) but the audio is horrible at the highest bit rate at 128Kbps

*The USB port on the neuros is version 1.0 not 2.0 which means you wont be using it for much, its way too slow
tried using 3 different hard drives with no luck at all and the psp was a bust too

*Mp3 player sounds poor

*Forget about support or upgrades..the community that developed the neuros stopped firmware upgrades last year ,so its as good as its gonna get

*WMV files simply dont work!!along with a few other hybrid encoded files ive tested

*Youtube feature is clumsy and needs work.. cant play any video with an age restriction .. will tell you the video has been moved.

*unless your VHS tapes are in good shape without little need for tracking..the neuros wont hold the video signal .. will get a blank screen

*Some recordings record out of sync!

*Have to eject media

Other Thoughts: i originally got the neuros to replace my VCR but its not what i hoped for .. i still have mines and use it as a video player on my TV instead of burning dvds when i download movies.

thats about it .. i dont record with it much

Recommend Use:
Neuros with 16 -32g SDHC card and load it up
use for movie player

Pros: Records anything, plays most things. Record and playback via network connection or SDHC slot. Video can be transfered to most any video player from smart phones to laptops. A network SAMBA share works best for recording and playback. Playback is near DVD quality if you transcode on a computer.

Cons: The software is very quirky, slow and the unit locks up a lot. There is no power or reset button - unplugging it is the master reset. The USB port is does not support most devices and is only USB 1 speeds - very slow transfers and useless for recording. Recording quality is not very good for large screens.

Other Thoughts: The current version no longer has the CF slot and now uses 'Arizona' software - this is the newer hardware/software - the software is still classified by Neuros as Beta and a lot of pictures still show a CF slot - it does not exist.

Great idea not very well implemented. This is mainly a tech toy and requires a good understanding of linux and networking, and a lot of patience to get it working correctly. Once it does its a nice DVR/media player replacement.

Pros: Intuitive, small and does a very good job at recording VHS and DVD movies. Haven't tried recording from my satellite recorder yet, but I have no doubt that it will deliver. If you want to get rid of all your old VHS tapes without having to buy new DVD's this is the ticket

Cons: I bought a 500 Gig external hard drive to use with it and it doesn't work. The manual says to format the hard drive in FAT32 and it still didn't work. I used an older 50 gig external, reformatted it to FAT32 and it didn't work. It does work with SD cards. So if you can live with recording 3 or 4 movies on a 6 gig SD card and transfer them to your PC then you'll be modestly satisfied like I was.

Other Thoughts: I bought the OSD to get my kids VHS and DVD movies onto their MP4 players. Mission accomplished. I still had to convert the system's native .MP4 format to .avi using viDrop, it would have been nice to have various format options on the OSD menu.

If you have time to play around with it, you may find value in it but this product does not deliver on everything it promises. It's a good open source idea that (like most open source products) is not quite ready for the non-technical market.

As always, Newegg was cheap and fast. Free shipping always rocks

Pros: It is one nice looking item.

Cons: It did not record to the external hard drive
It did not record to the USB flash drive
It did not record to the SD card
I worked on it for 8 hours over a three day period.

Other Thoughts: I have confirmed that I will not buy another product from any company that I cannot speak to a live person. This emailing thing back and forth is not cool. The product may have worked for others, but it did not work for me.

Pros: The idea is really cool and the product's feature set will expand through firmware downloads. This is a great way to get rid of all your VHS tapes and lower-quality dvds, archiving them in a single location. If you have an in house network, its even more sweet because you can host a storage location on your computer or use NAS or the like.

Cons: 1) Support for storage is limited. For example, an external hard drive must be formatted FAT32. This is an archaic file system. I could not format my External hard drive FAT32 with anything on Vista x64. When I formatted it with some command line software on XP it did not work. Although FAT32 theoretical supports up to 2TB, I can't make it work on a 1TB drive with this device. Windows seems to be able to read and write to the drive. However, action like backing up are rejected because Windows does not like a FAT32 drive of a size around 1TB.

2) The interface is slow to react. This not easy get used to. When you change a channel on a TV player, it happens pretty much instantly from your perspective. The Neuros menus often move slowly while giving no indication something is happening. Of course this could also be due to my external USB drive not working. I don't know.

Other Thoughts: This is for people who like to be on the cutting edge and have time, energy, and resources to spend on this. I was hoping to back up my VHS tapes and toss them in the trash. This is seeming less likely now, but perhaps I will work something out. Also, its an 'exchange' item, so I can't return it.

Pros: I no longer need proof of "a supreme being" for the Neuros OSD exists!

Cons: Due to it's inability to properly see my Vista based computer via SMB I am forced to pour more money into a rapidly declining currency feeding a system of greed and "rational self interest" to build a NFS file server with parts I will probably end up purchasing from this binary based store front of electronic goodness.

Other Thoughts: My car got repo'd, the rent is late, and serveral creditors harass me over the phone on an hourly basis. But I fear not the hopeless of my financial existence because this little box and it's open source community inspired me to keep up the good fight.

Pros: Small and does everything I need. Updates are free.

Cons: Might have some limit's for those using a Media PC.

Other Thoughts: This replaced a GeekBox. Use this to watch movies and some music from a WHS. Records a few VHS that I could not find DVD replacemnts for. A nice change over having a PC next to the TV.

Pros: Nice glossy finish and easy to set up. Everything you need in the package. Can record from TV

Cons: Playback not up to par even under different formats, set-ups, and using current firmware version

Other Thoughts: The nice appearance is ruined quickly by the fact that you have a nasty looking memory card hanging out of the side of it. If you want to play back DVD's without changing the format better look elsewhere! Used DVDFAB to change to every format that it could play and lost picture quality and (could not see bark patterns on near trees) and audio stopped matching video by about 0.5 secs.

Pros: The Neuros OSD connects to your TV or home theater system and allows you to archive all of your DVD and video content. It it simple and works

Cons: none

Pros: Able to legally archive all your media including TIVO and DVR. You can browse YouTube and watch them on your TV (my teen loves that part). This thing is simply amazing and easy to use. Picture quality is excellent. Audio is excellent. I save my videos and playback on my home network. I may buy two. The remote is very slick too.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: This is open source at its best.