Nero Liquid TV
by Nero Inc.
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Software Reviews of Nero Liquid TV
Customer Review: It was a mistake to buy this product.
Summary: 1 Stars
I've bought about 1 trillion dollars worth of products from Amazon and this is the first product that made me feel the need to write a review.
My daughter has always raved about her regular Tivo and I thought that this product would be a good alternative for me. I bought the product before it was released. Bad move.
I'm not a computer expert but I consider myself more technically inclined than a "typical" consumer. To make sure I had the hardware to support this application, I bought a new desktop (Quad Core processor, 3 GB ram, HDMI video card, large hard drive etc...).
This product is terrible. The software is cumbersome to set up and re-set up. I have uninstalled and started over several times in the past few months in the hope that I could make it work acceptably for more than a few days at a time. It is also very user unfriendly when it comes to making changes to the setup.
As of Feb. 2009, Nero has done one software update since the original release. The product released in October and the update was in late November. Judging by the software's current performance and user unfriendliness, they need another gigantic update.
I don't know much about TV tuners. Maybe the software's interaction with the supplied Hauppauge WinTV USB tuner is contributing to some of the problems. I've pretty much accepted that this isn't going to work for me and gone back to using a VCR to record programs. The quality of playback is about the same and the reliability is many many times better.
As of this writing, I agree with all of the other 1 star reviews.
If you need a DVR, I recommend that you look elsewhere.
Customer Review: Unwatchable
Summary: 2 Stars
A huge disappointment!
I really hope that this software gets updated and the problems fixed, but as of now (2/2009), this works like half-baked beta software.
I really wanted to love this software because I love Tivo, but this software doesn't deserve the name.
Customer Review: o.k.
Summary: 3 Stars
Tivo is super cool, however I wonder if the resolution could be a bit better. I got the haupage tv tuner that came with the set up (plugs into the usb port) and I wonder if an internal tv tuner would have a better effect on the resolution; in full screen mode on a 20 inch moniter, it's noticeably substandard. I wonder if maybe it's a matter of the cable service comming through the coax into my computer--I have standard Comcast cable, but if that's the case then why isn't the resolution on my television sub-par. I have a more than adequate graphics card on my p.c. that can play blue ray discs at high resolution so I know that's not the issue. also I am curious as to how I should configure my set up to have the ability to watch one channel while being able to record another. For now I do not have that ability; I suspect that I would need two seperate sources (another cable box). for now the only source is comming from one cable box. All n all this was an o.k. buy and it does what it said it would--gives me Tivo on my PC. And if I find a way to improve the resolution then I have no complaints at all.Customer Review: This Software Is Made of Fail And Broken
Summary: 4 Stars
EDIT: 9-JAN-2009 - I just got Verizon FIOS and a new cable box. Since the cable box is newer than the software, the software can't change the channel and is thus unable to record shows, so it is now a useless brick.
EDIT: 16-MAR-2009 - After waiting over two months for Nero to reply to my tech support email I decided to try again to fix the problem myself. I discovered after installing from the CD that it was upgrading to the new version as recommended by Nero that broke the software's ability to change channels on the cable box. This means that I can never upgrade the software to resolve such tasty issues as these problems covered in the release notes for the new version:
"Resolved error that deleted all recorded shows"
and
"Fixed system shut down when attempting to delete a show from Now Playing"
and
"Resolved Service Expired: Stuck on incorrect service message - Blocks access to application"
Furthermore, there's no way to delete a Season Pass, so once you've created it, you're stuck with it forever, even if the show is no longer on the air.
Yes, these are all critical failures that I can never have the fix for because upgrading the software makes it useless.
This software is utter garbage and Nero's technical support team is loaded with fail and useless.
I could call them on the phone if I wanted to pay $2 a minute to fix problems that are not my fault.
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EDIT 19-MAR-2009:
Dear Josh,
thank you for your e-mail.
We were able to reproduce the problem in the meantime.
We are working full speed at a solution to this problem and will implement this in the next update of Nero LiquidTV.
Nero LiquidTV update page:
[..]
Sadly we have no means of offering a patch or a workaround to solve the problem in the meantime.
We apologise for the inconvenience.
Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Best Regards
Sven Bolz
Nero Support
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EDIT 21-MAR-2009
In their latest email response Nero's support team indicated that they do not have any intentions in the near future of releasing a product update to resolve the channel changing problem.
Given that the last update has been on the website for over six months and has not been pulled even though installing it completely breaks the software, I'm not looking forward to an update anytime soon.
Unfortunately because this product is sold as "software" it can't be returned to the store if it's been opened, so I have a $200 product that I can do nothing productive with other than throwing it in the trash.
EDIT: 29-MAR-2009
The problem with the IR blaster was fixed with a new release of the software. However, now none of the shows on TV match the guide, so I can't record any shows: Any show I schedule for recording is recorded at the wrong time. Also, all of the Guide data is wrong and the channel banner shows show info for a show that is not on at that time. Nero tried to fix the problem by pushing a lineup change but then the channel banner displayed NO INFO AVAILABLE on every channel.
EDIT: 07-ARP-2009
After 34 emails and over six months of waiting, I was given a Beta version of the Liquid TV software that displays the correct Guide data and records shows at the right times.
This resolves all of the issues I have been experiencing with the service. However, I discovered Tivo service cannot be transferred to LiquidTV so you have to cancel your Tivo account, which may result in an "early termination" fee. I also discovered that when I signed up for LiquidTV, the Tivo account was not automatically terminated so I was being billed for service I was no longer using.
I called Tivo to resolve the issue but the CS agent I spoke with refused to resolve the issue (cancel the account with no early termination fee and refund the double billed service). I had to request a supervisor and wait on hold for ten minutes. Then I had to explain the situation again to him, after which he resolved the issue.
The only remaining problem with the software is that the Tivo remote only works when the Liquid TV software has focus, so if you're browsing the web and you have the Liquid TV software going, you have to switch away from your web browser to the Liquid TV window before you can control the Liquid TV software with the remote.
Customer Review: Horrible tech support
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm a long-time fan of TiVo and have owned many TiVo standalone units over the past 5 years. I've been using Microsoft Vista Ultimate's Media Center for the past year, and was looking forward to "upgrading" to a true TiVo experience.
I'm pretty good with computers, but even I was confused by the setup process. There's no step-by-step setup instructions, and it feels like someone took three completely separate products and stuffed them in a brown box and shipped it to you; you have no way of knowing what to hook-up first. The hardware drivers for the USB tuner (which comes in a separate box and has no instructions for using it with Nero's Liquid TV at all), don't get installed when you click "Install Drivers" on the CD-ROM, and for some strange reason are installed during the TiVo software install.
Poor documentation is the least of the problem; I've been using a DirecTV with Microsoft Media Center for years without a problem. With the IR Blaster positioned in EXACTLY the same place, Nero's LiquidTV cannot change the channels.
Calling Nero's customer support reveals that you have to pay $150 PER MINUTE to speak with anyone. An email to their support team went unanswered for three days, when they finally responded with a generic form letter asking for more details on my PC's specs. Useless.
A call to TiVo, which has fantastic customer support, revealed that the IR blaster hardware is made by Nero, and you have to call Nero for support.
I've ordered a serial-to-usb cable to try and circumvent the IR blaster altogether, but I'm very dissatisfied with Nero's lack of support. All-in-all, it's probably not worth all this effort, and I should just stick with a dedicated standalone TiVo.
For now, I'm back using Media Center and hoping I'll get this thing working eventually. Either that, or it was $160 down the drain.