One thing that I was always a proponent of… DTV stations not coming in, mainly in apartments…so the public loses local info. Sezmi does not change this. If the locals are not from the net, you cannot guarantee reception of any locals. So why pay $300.00 to Best Buy to have an expensive tuner/DVR? I already have that, courtesy of Panasonic. Without a guarentee of locals or cable nets, I would waste $300.00 and pay $5.00 p/mo on what I get free. I will not be getting any new stations, so from that aspect, it won’t be a cable killer.

I can get youtube already on my PC. I can get other videos as well. This will not change by paying that 300 dollars and then 5 dollars afterwards.

This reminds me of “Wireless Cable” from the late 80′s and early 90′s. You needed an antenna to get you locals. You also needed a separate antenna to get a few cable nets. Does anyone else remember this?

Another thing… the operator did not know for sure if the tuner inside the box was ATSC (DTV) and NTSC (old standard, snowy TV) or both. I get local Canadian stations on NTSC, along with my low power locals.

According to the search that the guy did, I am not guaranteed to get the one station I always watch… ION Television (on WPXD-DT 33).

No, it’s not a cable killer, at least of yet. If they add many more cable nets, keep costs to consumers low… it can compete. It won’t kill cable though… and FIOS (Verizon) and Uverse (AT&T) already have advantages in most markets.

Here’s my list of why this is a fail.

1- This product is pre-alpha. I’m embarrassed that BestBuy is putting the product on their shelves. I encountered major bugs while performing simple tasks. Try downloading any content with it. You’ll get white static for about 3 seconds.

2- The product is touting itself as bridging the gap between internet & TV. But meanwhile, the only web content I can get is YouTube and Podcasts. And the only channels I get for $5 a month are channels I can get for free with a wire-hanger.

3- You need 3 clunky devices to make this thing work!??!! I have no idea why they didn’t put the receiver and the DVR together. It must have been to get it to market faster. Their antena is the size of a speaker from the 80′s. FAIL!!

4- It took literally 1 hour to setup the box. That includes 15 minutes of putting the three devices together, and downloading new firmware for the glitchy product. Once up and running, I was forced to go through a painstaking process that required info such as Gender and Age. This including zip-code is invaluable for advertisers, but crappy for a user who is paying a subscription.

5- The interface and remote are inconsistent. Each screen requires a different set of buttons. These guys have no user-interaction sense. I constantly had to look down at the remote to control the screen. It should be a passive experience!!

Normally I give new products the benefit of the doubt, but this has no future. A total waste of money. Just buy yourself a cheap computer and hook it up to your TV and run free software such as Plex or Boxee on it… You’ll save yourself $500.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sezmi+-+Personal+TV+Entertainment+System/9721917.p?skuId=9721917&id=1218159872340

I don’t see how this can be successful in any way. I get a much better picture using my mac book pro (with a mini display port to hdmi cable) connected to my 50″ plasma. I get all the content I need with Hulu and Netflix. Not worth the $25 a month going to ask for.