ScreenPlay Pro HD problems - user review

The number of serious issues with the Screenplay MX HD is truly mind boggling, and with little (if any) support from Iomega. Ralph the mod. at [http://www.iomegasupportforums.com/phpbb2/index.php] needs the patience of a saint to try and do his best, but I get the impression that he too is not well supported by Iomega. Many issues remain without responses for months. Or they are simply censored. Likewise the 'how-to' documentation is almost non-existent. I get the impression that this may be because the design and implementation of the unit is so poor that trying to do *anything* with it is too complex and beyond the computer technical illiterate (like myself). First of all I need to get my unit to connect to my laptop via the USB cable - I switch the unit on, and Windows Explorer can't find it.


 I try to connect via a wifi dongle, and nothing happens, nothing appears in the list of wifi servers. Then I read on the Web (and on Wiki) that only some makes of dongle work, and many do not (including those recommended by Iomega itself!!). I really need the unit to act as a backup for gigabytes of files on my PC / laptops, and yet I read here of lost files and corruption. I read that many video and audio file formats are not recognised for playback such as FLAC or MKV or even MP4. I read that the unit will not play on many manufacturers t.v.s. For such an expensive piece of kit that doesn't meet its specifications and for which support and documentation is so poor - this is absolutely appalling. Mine is still under warranty - it goes back for a refund next week.

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If you want to say something to the users, don't forget to leave comments!
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Iomega Screenplay Pro HD User Review

Dear Sir:

I saw your website and I couldn't agree more what you have posted.  Here is my story:  I bought an Iomega ScreenPlay Pro around a couple of years ago and my hard drive just went "tits up".  I tried replacing the hard drive and I got error messages trying to install the latest firmware, which is vR1.98 and I am pissed.  I can't get phone, email, and chat support because my warranty is expired.  The only support is left is the user forums and looks like that is out dated too.  If you have any answers, I would be grateful.  Otherwise, there is my story.  Thanks!

Garett *. *****

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Iomega Hard Drive user Review

Email from visitor:

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Hi,

 

Was just doing more research on the net to see if other people were having the same problems I am. 

I bought this device over a year ago thinking it would be great to get all my home movies onto one device.  From day one this piece of cr*p never worked!  At the time I thought it was something I was doing wrong.  However, after downloading numberous programs to try convert my movie files I realised this was just a piece of crap!  

I can use this device as a external drive, and files will play no problem on my pc, but when I try to play anything on the tv I get the same error every time "invalid file". 

Please let me know if you have had any luck getting onto Iomega...I haven't even tried, but really should to see what they say.

 

Thanks,

Roisin

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Iomega ScreenPlay user review - firmware issues

Dear Visitors,

Yet another story from the owner of an Iomega HDD. His name is Peter and he is from Ireland.

Email as it arrived to us:

============================================

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I have had a very bad experience with the Iomega Screenplay director and the support is total shit.

They are simply not interested, I do not know why they exist, maby to fitful some basic legal quality standard.

They are simply unable to help in any way - completely useless ! and I really mean that.

1

My Problems with the unit and this is confirmed on 3 others as friend also bought it.

It shows up in black and white on standard Tv's, Only one TV in my house will show up in color.

I tried neighbors and family same prob. I am aware of the different resolutions and frequency.

This was using the composite connection, which should be the most compatible. I have had 2 other media drives, very cheap one in maplin, I have never seen this issue b4. When i connect this media player through a brand new dvd recorder and then to the  previous black and white tv, it shows in color. So its not the TV. Out of 9 TV's it shows color in only 3. Those 3 tv are very new.

It outputting a composite signal close to the standard but clearly its going to be a prob for a lot of people.

I have been working with cameras, and vcrs dvd for years i have never seen this b4. The same tv showing up in black and white works perfectly  on the same port with the following. My old media player, my camcorder, 2 other media players (friends) my dvd player my 10 year old vcr. The brand new 

servlaance system in my house so its not te tv. I found a blog on line same prob ... 

I contacted support - guess what, they are doing about the problem.

 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055782908

The man in the blog had the same prob.

2

Ok second prob Youtube just stopped working - Youtube made a change to their site and now one of this units biggest selling features no longer works.

I contacted support - guess what they are doing about the problem. NOTHING , Suggested I do a firmware update.

3

When I opened the box for the first time a page was inside advertising the wireless adapter.

My first taught was WOW now thats really cool, no more bring the player to the computer for downloads.

I then spend another €40 on this adapter to find out its a lod of SHIT.

Its so fucking slow, its unbelievable, I mean the adapter is a wireless N for fuck sake, 

It could take a half hour to move 500mb. its literary operating like 16 times slower than usb.

I never use it, my first download to the box took a day and a half for something that should have taken max 1 hour.

I also tried the LAN option same problem. 

I thing they should be in court for advertising such a complete waste of money.

I could not see any one using the wireless option, It do not make and sense to use it. 

I contacted support - guess what they are doing about the problem. NOTHING , 

4

It crashes sometimes and i have to plug it out and back in and So slow to boot.

O my go, if support even mention their one and only firmware update I will scream.

The F***ing firmware update, I installed that with in 30 mins of purchase b4 i ever saw and problem.

I contacted support - guess what they are doing about the problem. NOTHING , Suggested I do a firmware update.

5

My brother also has one and has noticed and audio problem when using HDMI and now has gone back to Composite (very sad)

I contacted support - guess what they are doing about the problem. NOTHING , Suggested I do a firmware update.

6

If i watch a film with DTS i do not get any audio on my tv.

The unit states on the box HiDEF but if you watch a film with DTS audio you must have a very expensive amp and speaker system.

Connected to the screen player via optical or wired. It ONLY had DTS PASS through.

I was shocked that it did not have dts downmixing !!. so any film like that has to be reprocessed prior to watching. OMG !

I am sure i would probably find other problem if i had it connected to an amp

 

I contacted support - guess what they are doing about the problem. NOTHING , Suggested I do a firmware update.

7

Watching high def stereo movies, The picture dose not keep up, like it forgets to refresh, the corrects itself. 

This happen maby evey 20 mins, so unprofessional.

Iomega is such a shit product, I used to love their stuff

Hope your drive gets corrected anyway

Regards

Peter ******

Ireland 

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Iomega ScreenPlay Pro reviews and user comments

Dear Iomega users,

Sometimes we don't have time to answer to your emails, but you can rest assured we read all of them, and will publish those who are worth it.

Here's another story that arrived to our email, about how Iomega Tech Support manages its users -aka, the people paying their salaries, bills, etc-.



EMAIL FROM A VISITOR TO THIS BLOG

Please find the customer support reply to my earlier logged case


Regards,
*** NOTE: I REMOVED NAMES AND REFERENCE IDS TO KEEP HIS PRIVACY*** 

“Silence is argument carried out by other means.”  (Che Guevara)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Iomega Europe Support <iomega_eu_en@mailca.custhelp.com>
Date: Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at *:** AM
Subject: Screenplay Pro HD not working [Incident: 0908*****]
To:  *****



Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support
center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

We will assume your issue has been resolved if we do not hear from you
within 96 hours.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

To update this question by email, please reply to this message.
Because your reply will be processed automatically, you MUST enter
your reply in the space below. Text entered into any other part of
this message will be discarded.

[===> Please enter your reply below this line <===]

[===> Please enter your reply above this line <===]

To update your question from our support site, click on the following
link or paste it into your Web browser.
*****

Subject
---------------------------------------------------------------
Screenplay Pro HD not working


Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response (Sridhar) - 29/08/2009 -- AM
Dear  ***REMOVED*** 


Thank you for writing to Iomega Technical Support.

With reference to your mail below ,please confirm whether you have upgraded the firmware and then restored the unit to factory settings or just restore the
unit to factory settings.


If you have any queries, Please write to us with the complete History of the case or you call us at 1-800-425-9888


Thanks and Regards
Sridhar S
Iomega Technical Support
1-800-425-9888

Customer ( ***REMOVED NAME***  ) - 28/08/2009
> The Screenplay is working fine now after i went throguh the steps

Setup->Default settings
But i am unable to restore my earlier medias which i had stored on the disk.
Can you please help me restore the same? I teied using the file recovery
software (not Retrospect) but in vain.
Please let me know if there is anything that can be done. I have lost about
500 Gb of data from the same

>
>

Customer ( ***REMOVED NAME***  ) - 27/08/2009 - PM
Please refer the chat transcript (link as well as attached file) of my issue with reference ID **REMOVED*** 


Request you to check the same and revert at the earliest for speedy closure. What are the steps required for RMA?

Auto-Response - 27/08/2009 08.34 PM
Dear  ***REMOVED FOR PRIVACY***

This message is to confirm that we have received your request on 27/08/2009 *:** PM and are working on it now.
Your Reference ID is  ***REMOVED***  and you will need to quote this number in any further correspondence regarding this incident with Iomega customer support.  You should receive a response by email from our support department within 24 business hours for NAS and REV and 48 business hours for any other product.

Thank you again for using Iomega's Online Support!

Sincerely,
The Iomega Support Team
https://iomega-eu-en.custhelp.com/

------------------------------
View our online privacy policy at http://www.iomega.com/privacy.html
------------------------------



Question Reference  ***REMOVED FOR PRIVACY***
---------------------------------------------------------------
     Product Level 1: Multimedia Drives
     Product Level 2: ScreenPlay Pro HD Multimedia Drive
    Category Level 1: Windows Vista
        Date Created: 27/08/2009 08.34 PM
        Last Updated: 29/08/2009 06.29 AM
              Status: Response Provided
       Serial Number: ***REMOVED FOR PRIVACY***
        License Code:


So basically Iomega's Tech Support view about loosing your data and money is... suck it!

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firmware iomega screenplay hd

Dear visitor,

We have been trying to research what leads people to this website and this is the list of related search terms.

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 Here's the best resource I could find: http://screenplayprohd.wikia.com/wiki/Firmware -it's the latest firmware (dated 2008 though) with tutorials and instructions on how to install and use it.

I also came accross this page -> http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/DVD-BluRay-Media-Players/Iomega/Iomega-ScreenPlay-Pro-HD-Firmware-2H13.shtml dated 2012 but not sure if legit or not. Those who can test it please report your experiences either by email or on your comments.

Thanks!
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2012 update - we decided to keep this blog alive

Dear Iomega sufferers, 


Long time have passed since the creation of this blog. Thanks for keeping it alive with your emails and comments.


At some point I wondered if I should keep this blog alive or not, as I don't even own an Iomega ScreenPlay anymore. 


 At first, I thought about deleting it. But then I remembered how I lost my valuable data (and some money too) because a faulty product, and how helpless and impotent I felt when I saw my data and money just go. 


Then I realised that I should keep this blog going, using my freedom of speech and all my power as a user to help my peers to find solutions to their problems, and also to help them to voice their complaints. 


Hence, I will keep this blog alive, posting your stories, linking to resources and trying to help you to get a solution. 


Remember that you can send me your stories and useful related links (i.e new custom firmwares) to screenplaysucks@gmail.com.


We are open now to post firmwares and stories to other Iomega models, so don't hesitate to send us those, even if it's not a ScreenPlay. 


Thanks!
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I know it's been a while...

But I feel I must publish some of the emails people sent me:

Teepireddy reddy writes:

"hi,

i had this iomega SCREEN PRO for two years,it says supports many type of files,but it won't recongnise .avi,.mp4 many more.Recently i tried to upgrade firmware,now it won't recongnise tv all.i am able to connect from pc and see every thing.i did used upgrade option.i could n't find any in forums,if you have any similar,please let me know the solution or you can publish.IOMEGA service is worst i have ever seen.

Thanks and regards,
reddy"

Carlos García writes:

"Hi there,



I don’t want to go into all the problems I have seen in Iomega forum but here is my short story



I bought the Player Pro HD to be able to stream my videos from my PC and after buying three different wireless dongles finally I got the Trendware TEW424UB or known as Trendnet TEW424UB to work, I added it here myself to the wiki

http://screenplayprohd.wikia.com/wiki/Wireless_Adapters



When I thought I was ready to stream video I had to go through lot of late nights trying to connect the Player to my Linksys router, finally after so many late nights reading forum and wiki I managed to get it to work, no for long though.



After playing movies it started to stop back and forward in the middle of the movie, at this stage still I couldn’t copy any DVD or long files over the wireless connection from my PC



I gave up last year and I said to myself I will just copy my ripped DVDs to my player and I play the movies till a new firmware is release, then it’s when I came across that connecting the player to my PC to copy my DVD movies was another disaster because I had installed Norton Internet Security 2009 which was messing up my NTFS partition, according to the wiki if you had any Norton 2009 product you were in trouble so I uninstalled my Norton which I still I had 10 month subscription left and I installed AVAST for free.



Few month later there was a release to fix this problem so I decided to get the firmware so that I could use Norton and so I did, I had to back up my 1tb HD which was nearly full because every time you update the firmware you need to back up the HD (very awkward) and so I have done this around 10 times. Only for updating the firmware I had to buy 1 tb external hard drive more to copy my movies



After the new firmware installed I installed my Norton again and one day I just copied some more movies and again when I went to my TV videos will not show on the TV only on the PC when the Player was connected to PC like it was happening before, imaging copying again from the Player to my PC and vice versa 1tb of movies every so often because every time I was going to watch a movie on my TV some of the DVDs wouldn’t display at all, they will show only on the PC



After lot of investigations, testing, dedication and reading I just came to a conclusion, I couldn’t use NTFS partition so I went for fat 32 and it is working fine now, my movies don’t get mess up connecting the player to my PC



I forgot totally about the wireless connection which was my main idea about buying this player but this year with the release of W 7 I saw a post in Iomega forum saying that they will release a new firmware which will support the new w7 network structure and I got very enthusiastic again about my wireless connection so I was waiting for this because I have w7 Ultimate in my machine

Finally w7 firmware was release and so I installed it

Now I can connect my Player to my Linksys N dual band router but I can’t see any shared folders I have on my PC and if I go to my PC I can browse on my Player through all my DVD movies



It has been over a year and I have spent money on a new external HD, on three wifi dongles and still I can’t use Iomega Pro HD wireless streaming capabilities



When I bought my player it was €250 euros now you can get it for €169 and the Director player (new one) for €199 with free wireless dongle but in my experience I can’t go for this suffering again



I’m thinking about getting the AC Ryan Playon!HD -FullHD Network Player, just reading about it in the forum before I go for it"


You can answer them in the comments
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Contribute!!

You can send us your horror stories about the Iomega ScreenPlay Pro HD, or any faulty product from Iomega.

We also encourage you to send original pictures of your hdd in the place where you think it belongs: the rubbish bin, under a lorry, falling from a flat, etc etc... pretty much like our header.

We will publish all submissions!

You can send your stuff to: screenplaysucks@gmail.com
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Iomega ScreenPlay Pro HD is a faulty product, and why Iomega an untrustable company.

Note: if you reached this post looking for support for your Iomega ScreenPlay Pro HD unit, you better forget the guys at Iomega. There are a fantastic group of people doing for free what Iomega should have done themselves: check them out http://screenplayprohd.wikia.com



Dear Iomega:

I bought your product "Iomega Screenplay Pro HD" in January, and paid a substantial amount back then, I must say.

Now, as a customer I expected to have a multimedia drive that works. In terms of functionality I'm not asking for too much: I just want it to play files when I connect it to my TV, and to transfer files from/to my pc. I think that´s fair enough for a 250€, ¿isn't it?.
Well, it seems it doesn't. All I've got for my money was the Ultimate Data Loss Machine, and I'm really dissapointed with your product.


I remember that you, as a company, had an enviable reputation when I was in University. There weren't pen drives or massive portable hard drives back then. All my colleagues used not-so-trustable floppy drives while I was the proud user of your 100Mb external drive unit. It was fantastic. Not only it was able to store up to 100Mb (a substantial amount back then), but it also transfered files a a fast speed. I used to love your company because it made products that work.

But that was then, and this is now, and all the trust and credibility you built over the years, is gone with the wind after I bought this poorly produced unit called ScreenPlay Pro HD.

Why is that? Well, to start with, it just doesn't work at a basic level. Yes, sirs, your unit has an unusual low transfer speed for a USB 2.0 unit. I know 1,44 floppies that work faster. Network speed is a joke. But above all, it is the fact that your hard drive likes to give I/O errors, make clicking sounds, and loose any conectivity with the external world, either by usb, network, telnet or anything, thus letting you without a chance to access your data anymore.

I understand high spec technologies (1Tb, HDMI...) are brand new and sometimes things get nasty. It happened to me before with a broad range of products from different companies in the past. But I must say what trustable companies do is to work hard to make their faulty products again. They release updates, fixes and technical documents that solve their issues. Unfortunately, you are NOT a trustable company, and all you did is letting me with a faulty product that eventually looses my data for more than 4 months (that's a fair amount of time to wait for a fix, isn't it?).

You never updated the firmware and/or fixed any of the problems, nor give technical support about your various issues. I browsed your forums, searched the net and found out that you basically ignore that there's a substantial database of customers loosing their family memories, favorite shows and movies, and all you do is telling them "you just go and flash your firmware", only to start over again and loose your data when your faulty unit decides to stop working again.

I lost worth 500Gb of videos just a couple of weeks after I bought your faulty product. Now that was a brilliant start. Then I updated the firmware and it worked for a while, just until you "fantastic" product stopped working again. That happened a couple of times, and yesterday i just lost everything again.
I'm seriously pissed off, and I wonder how a company can put on the market a 250€ data loss machine without getting a penalty from the goverment or agency. You are not different from scammers: you took my money from me and all I've got is an unusable brick.

Your company is a joke: not only it made a faulty product, but it is also unable to fix it. To make things worse, it had to be your own customers (like the fantastic people at http://screenplayprohd.wikia.com) that help each other giving themselves advanced support, because all you say to us is "hey, install your firmware again and loose all your data", while there are other solutions available like flashing the faulty Seagate hdd you selected and getting an updated firmware that you never released because you pulled it out from your website for unknown reasons.

How unfair is that? You should be ashamed of making such a crappy product and above all, giving such a poor support to the people that trusted their money to you. All you did was to add a pre-censored version for your forum so people doesn't know what really happens with your product.

But enough is enough, I'm seriously pissed off after loosing the memories of my loved ones and the movies and shows that I love, and I'm devoted at the moment to make people know that Iomega is not trustable anymore, and all they will loose their data and get a poor support if they trust your company.

I will never EVER buy a product from you anymore, and I will try to spread the word so people do the same, at least until you behave like a proper company again.

Remember people, that there are serious companies out there who takes serious matters seriously, people who you can trust your data and your money, but unfortunately Iomega it is not amongst them.
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