Is it worth to buy Zidoo Z9S?

Discussion in 'ZIDOO Z9S' started by mecedo, Jul 27, 2020.

  1. mecedo

    mecedo New Member

    If you are considering if it's worth to buy Zidoo Z9S I can help you describing my experience.

    I've bought Z9S about a half year ago. During usage I've spot some bugs which spoiled enjoying watching movies. I've reported five problems to support team. The main problems were:

    - Problem with detecting frame rate on some movies, device say that it's 90000fps - as a result horrible stuttering during movie watching.

    - Problems with auto framerate switching as a result green blank screen is displayed during whole movie watching.

    - Faulty displaying subtitles (device is drawing subtitles from down to top. It can be spotted easily and it's very annoying. So I've stopped watching movies with subtitles on Zidoo device).

    - Poor subtitle configuration options for embedded subtitles. For external subtitles device has much better engine with better options. I think it's 5 minutes of work to fix it for experienced programmer.

    Reporting was time consuming because I had to describe problems, making screenshots, making sample videos for checking, upload these samples etc. I wanted to help them to improve device as I could. They thanked to me and said that they will look for these problems. After a half a year they finally released new firmware. And guess how many of the reported problems they resolved? ZERO!!! NOTHING!!! They have focused mainly on stupid "Home Theater" application which many people is not using at all like me. They focused on it instead of resolving main problems with playing videos and displaying subtitles. Really brilliant.

    In the past I had similar problem with Dune device because they stopped develop it very soon after I've bought it. And now I can see it's the same with Zidoo.

    I think Zidoo support team was focused on developing new models with RTD1619 chipset that's why they had my reported problems deep in the ass. If you read changelog of latest firmware you will spot tons of "Home Theater" application improvements. Why? Because this application will be used in new RTD1619 devices so they readily included this improvements in Z9S device too. But it was made by the way. Real work for resolving Z9S specific issues was almost zero.


    I really regret I've bought Zidoo device. It was my last purchase of dedicated video player and I will advise you against buying it. It's much better to buy small PC like Intel NUC and made own HTPC. It's much more flexible, much less problematic and it has couple of times higher lifetime. And applications for Windows have much better support and much faster bug resolving. So think twice before you buy. My Zidoo device is mainly catching dust lastly because I'm watching movies on my PC upgraded with GeForce GT1030 +madVR renderer :)
     
    Daviduko likes this.
  2. Lofas7777

    Lofas7777 New Member

    Я согласен на 100%
     
  3. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    @mecedo
    Normally one compares solutions in igual price ranges. Please send me a few copies of your alternative at going Z9S prices. Good business for me. ;)

    The Zidoo players are mainly meant for customers watching original movies in DVD / BD / 3D-BD / UHD HDR formats at choice with or without Menu's. They do an excellent job for that. For watching AVI's and MKV compressed files and /or using KODI there are other (a lot cheaper) solutions than PC based. Yes you can add some APP's to get that on a PC too at even higher spending. I can tell you as I have been doing so too a number of times. Also for watching streaming /online movie services there are other solutions with a Smart TV being the cheapest one.

    The Zidoo FW has problems like all solutions but for the target playback formats these are minimal: :confused:
    - Yeah I have seen some crummy MKV's with that idiot/faulty frame-rate in their header. No idea what the new AFR handling does with those badly mastered sources?
    - The problem with a sporadic number of movies with AFR resulting in green screen was solved with FW 2.3.33 (available for Z9S).
    - Embedded DVD/BD Subtitles (PGS) are reproduced as intended by the studio who made them. Indeed a few players are more flexible there. No idea how difficult it is to change that as these are graphical not TXT based like external subs.
    - I have no problems with how PGS subtitles are being displayed and never heard about a problem with it.

    Nothing against preferring a different product but remaining a bit more objective making a comparison is always a good idea. :D

    No the FW/player is still not perfect and have reported a number of pending problems myself but the value/money ratio is very good when used for the purpose designed for.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2020
    cavedarter likes this.
  4. Lofas7777

    Lofas7777 New Member

    Nvidia Shield many times better and cheaper.;)
     
  5. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    Sorry to say but it is also not cheaper than Z9S where I live. If you mainly like watching streaming services it is an excellent choice though.

    I hope the new RTD1619DR based models catch a bit up for streaming services with the OS being based on Android TV9 now (like many Smart TV's are)? Netflix support in 4K HDR with DD5.1 is mentioned but no others yet.

    Another question will be how good Music Player 6 really has become? Not many use their media player for music yet but I moved not so lang ago to use it as my main music platform. The reasons being the ample range of audio source formats supported (including HiRes plus Multi Channel albums) and the possibility to control playback using the Zidoo Controller APP on my phone (TV remaining off).
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2020
  6. kfpanda

    kfpanda Member

    while i agree w u on zidoo's firmware support, for ~100 us, its acceptable to me, consider the convenience of a media player box. I am not sure I will buy the more expensive models though.

    are u sure GT1030 is sufficient? i read elsewhere that if u turn on all the features in madVR, best to go for 1060 (guess it will be 1650 super now)
     
  7. molhopicante

    molhopicante New Member

    For me no.

    40% of my old videos do not working when all work in my old ASRock with Kodi.

    I regret to have bought it...
     
  8. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    The only thing about old videos not working known by me are DIVX AVI's (no license) but XVID does work. Use my Egreat for these for the seldom case I still want to see one of those.
     
    xskip likes this.
  9. cappy1

    cappy1 Member

    I have several Zidoo’s and for my purposes have been very happy relative to the competition’s offerings. However, some issues have been carried forward into new firmware (and models) that might have been fixed beforehand, given the resources and emphasis. Of course, there is a delicate balance of efforts to be considered by management, given the pace of new technology and competition. For sure, when engineers are pulled away from solving old issues to focus on new designs, the list of problems will grow. Sometimes a company can lose complete control if they move too fast. I am sure that Zidoo is well aware of this possibility.

    The early days of the Xerox copier is a classic example. The engineers were instructed to focus on new designs before old problems were solved, with a number of new models released in a short period. Copier downtime was so prevalent that Xerox had to hire more field technicians to keep the machines running. In fact, it was reported that a technician spent so much time at one company that he was always invited to the annual Christmas party! (This didn’t last for long once the Japanese entered the market with reliable machines that changed the quality paradigm).
     
  10. mecedo

    mecedo New Member

    I'm talking about txt subtitles. Zidoo really sucks with it. I don't want to make pgs subtitles for every movie. It's very time consuming and painful.
     
  11. mecedo

    mecedo New Member

    You don't need to turn on all features in madVR. I can't see any differences comparing to DXVA mode. Do you think Zidoo is processing video like madVR with the best quality setting? I don't think so. I found setting where I can watch fluently 4k 60fps and HDR movies. So for me GT1030 is enough in my small mini-ITX PC.
     
  12. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    For me Zidoo is perfect with TXT subtitles. Everything can be changed at liking: Font, Size, Color, Location, easy time-shift
    , download etc. Also recognizes the language automatically. What is wrong there?
     
  13. kfpanda

    kfpanda Member

    believe 1050 is the min recommendation found on the web but of course if u use a mini-itx, ur choice will be limited anyway. considering the total cost of a htpc, i'd question why not go w a higher spec graphics card to enjoy all the features. htpc enthusiasts local in my region swear that they could see a lot more colors but I guess that depends on the rest of ur equipement and content sources too.
     
  14. mecedo

    mecedo New Member

    Remember I'm talking about embedded txt subtitles, not pgs. If you demux these embedded txt subtitles you have better options for configuration. So engine for processing both kind of subtitles can be the same. On embedded subtitles I can't configure subtitles as I like. On external txt I can, because then there are better and more powerful options (i.e. you can load your custom font).

    But it doesn't matter now. I couldn't watch movies with txt subtitles because zidoo's subtitle engine can't display them correctly. Look at the sample https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KnLPfEdALB25dwO66mEAEITlkHpjpNdf/view?usp=sharing. Zidoo displays txt subtitles from down to up. It’s very annoying. Especially when I’m quickly starting reading lower line before upper line is showed up. I wonder why it doesn't render subtitles from up to down, or to display whole subtitles instantly like on media players on PC
     
  15. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    Never seen this and watched 1000+ movies. This is with MKV files? Hardly use MKV myself.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2020
    xskip likes this.
  16. mecedo

    mecedo New Member

    Yes, mkv. The same if srt subtitle is muxed or in external file. The same on every movie with srt subtitles.
     

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