Philips LED TV owners

dnme

Philips have a new firmware out for pfl 7000 series and probably others. See here

The new fw update, adds a new widget to their Net.Tv which suggests that the 7000, 8000 and 9000 series can take their new and amazing Wi-Fi MediaConnect software which allows you to stream your PC/Laptop desktop to the TV.

Here's the problem though, they say you can download the software for free but they ask you for a 12 digit code that is only available when you buy their WiFi USB dongle. In my case, I have the TV connected to home lan/internet via a wired connection to router (I have no need for the wi-fi dongle) - so how do the like sof us avail of this new software ?

The Ritz

Mod Comment:

I'm leaving this thread here for now to allow Ashley the chance to comment, then it will be moved to the Home Entertainment Forum in line with the Charter.

Thanks,

Ritz.

Richersounds.ie: John

The Ritz wrote: »

Mod Comment:

I'm leaving this thread here for now to allow Ashley the chance to comment, then it will be moved to the Home Entertainment Forum in line with the Charter.

Thanks,

Ritz.

Thanks Ritzy & DNME,

Ashley has thoughtlessly gone off and taken some ill-deserved hols and both Nicola and Dave are off ill at the moment so I'll do some research on this over the next couple of days as soon I get a moment and revert - I have no issue leaving the post here or it being moved whichever you prefer Ritzy as I think it's of interest both in the RS Forum and the general HE forum,

Thanks guys,

ATB,

John Mc & Crew

Richersounds.ie: Ashley

Nicola on behalf of Ash:

Hey dnme,

I just got off the phone with Philips Technical Support and the news is...you have to buy the Wi-Fi dongle to obtain the number from the cd case that comes with.

The point they say is that this Wi-Fi Dongle has had the software specifically designed for it and that is why it is only available this way.

I have asked if there is a way around it and they have said unfortunately not.

I will have a look online though and see if I can find out anymore information.

Sorry about this and I do hope this helps.

Thanks, Nicola. (p.s. Am feeling much better now all. lol )

dnme

Hi Nicola and thanks for getting back to us

I see this as Philips trying to add value to an already expensive TV. Either the TV is networkable or it is not.

What's the point of putting a network port on the back of the TV if they then force consumers to purchase their wifi dongle. My TV is already networked, I can already access it wirelessly from my PC for dlna streaming.

I was a pretty loyal Philips customer. I bought a decent spec LED TV and a decent spec Blu-Ray player. I won't be buying Philips again, partly because of this and also because their customer support is non existent. They have no user forum, its difficult to email them and in the three times that I have done so, I have never once had a reply. Absolute shambles.

Many thanks for your efforts ats

Richersounds.ie: Ashley

Nicola on behalf of Ash:

Hey dnme,

See below for the Live chat with a Philips Agent. I am the "Visitor". This service is available on www.p4c.philips.com with your modal number 37PFL7605. Technical support is available via phone on (01) 601 1777 and of course you can read through the many FAQ's listed with answers on the www.p4c.philips.com website.

Welcome to Philips Chat, you're chatting with Andreá. How may I help you?

Andreá: Good afternoon

Visitor: Hey Andrea. I have a 37PFL7605 and I want to be able to use it with the new philips Wi-Fi Media Connect software.....

Visitor: However I want to do this with out purchasing the Wi-Fi Dongle PTA01 from Philips

Visitor: The software requests a 12 digit code for download only available on the cd case of the PTA01. Can you tell me if there is a free way to download this software without buying the PTA01?

Andreá: Unfortunately, the software is only available for customers with the dongle to make it compatible

Visitor: Ok no worries. Thanks and enjoy your day.

Andreá: Thank you, you too

Andreá: bye now

I think this is all the information that is available at the moment. I do reccomend the live chat feature that philips provide though as it is a quick and easy response each time I have used it.

Thanks again, Nicola.

Richersounds.ie: John

dnme wrote: »

Hi Nicola and thanks for getting back to us

I see this as Philips trying to add value to an already expensive TV. Either the TV is networkable or it is not.

What's the point of putting a network port on the back of the TV if they then force consumers to purchase their wifi dongle. My TV is already networked, I can already access it wirelessly from my PC for dlna streaming.

I was a pretty loyal Philips customer. I bought a decent spec LED TV and a decent spec Blu-Ray player. I won't be buying Philips again, partly because of this and also because their customer support is non existent. They have no user forum, its difficult to email them and in the three times that I have done so, I have never once had a reply. Absolute shambles.

Many thanks for your efforts ats

Dear DNME,

firstly can I apologise for the obvious frustration you are feeling - to be fair the Philips 7605 is networkable as standard straight from the box - however as you know there is an optional Wifi dongle available for approx €49 which offers you WiFi & Philips media connect which is an excellent little programme.

On the subject of support - I do feel that you are perhaps being a little harsh - Philips have a live chat forum at www.p4c.philips.com and it is pretty unusual not to get in contact with a real live individual on this and most times you get an answer.

I do appreciate that we did keep you waiting for just over 24 hours for the information you requested but we did update you in the intervening period to the best of our ability.

On the subject of Philips forcing you to purchase the PTA01 dongle - this really is not the case - The TV has a network port as standard - the wifi option is clearly in the specifications as an available option - I am not sure where you bought your TV but if your retailer said that it should be included as standard I would take the issue up with them.

Once again apologies that you are annoyed with us - we do try to offer a good both Customer and technically based service to Philips Customers and I apologise if you feel that we have let you down in this instance.

Best regards,

John McDonald

dnme

John

Many thanks for the reply. Unfortunately you may have have misread my points. I am not angry with you (richersounds) at all and I was surprised that you took it that way.

In the past I have emailed Philips three times about various things relating to my TV. In each case I received a auto generated confirmation email and nothing else. Not a single reply. In this day and age, for a company to ignore emails is inexcusable. I don't want to phone, I want to email or even better still, use a forum - thats the way support is done nowadays.

Their live chat is all very well but my experience of it is that the support rep's are not overly technical and the one time that I used it, my question went over the rep's head. Reading many posts on the avforum website - it seems that I am not the only one who has experienced this.

Finally
Philips have released a piece of software (WiFi Mediaconnect). They state that this software is free. It simply is not free. One must buy a dongle in order to obtain the software. In my case and the case of many others, the dongle is absolutely useless as we have already networked out TV's. It's a very simple point I hope you'll agree.

Again many thanks for your input. I would not normally bother you good folk here in this forum but due to my previous experiences trying to deal with Philips support, I felt like I had nowhere else to go.

Richersounds.ie: John

Dnme,

thanks again - no problem - as discussed you can ALWAYS use us for tech support on Philips products - no matter if you bought your Philips products from us or not - that's what we are here for and we are always happy to oblige - if it suits you better we will contact Philips with any of your queries and we will pass the information to you asap.

I am also trying to investigate where the software is advertised as free - I have seen that it is advertised with the PTA01 dongle as free software included with the PTA01 (which is approx €49) I cannot find where it's advertised as available on it's free of charge as a stand alone item - if you point me in the right direction I'll do my best for you.

ATB

John Mc & Crew

dnme

Thanks again John, I wonder if it might be useful to pass this thread on to Philips. Maybe some valuable customer feedback here. (A complaint can often be a valuable piece of info to an organisation)

Regarding the free software. I have read in various places that it is "free" on the web. Also, if I recall, the new Net.Tv widget on the tv suggests it's free but I cannot confirm this right now as NetTv seems to be down.

Anyway, if you go to Philips WiFi Mediaconnect page itself - See here
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/wmc.pl?language=en&country=GB or here http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/wmc.pl?language=en&country=IE

I quote

To download the free software, enter the code you find on the label on the CDrom envelope.

Richersounds.ie: John

dnme wrote: »

Thanks again John, I wonder if it might be useful to pass this thread on to Philips. Maybe some valuable customer feedback here. (A complaint can often be a valuable piece of info to an organisation)

Regarding the free software. I have read in various places that it is "free" on the web. Also, if I recall, the new Net.Tv widget on the tv suggests it's free but I cannot confirm this right now as NetTv seems to be down.

Anyway, if you go to Philips WiFi Mediaconnect page itself - See here
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/wmc.pl?language=en&country=GB or here http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/wmc.pl?language=en&country=IE

I quote

DN,

Thx again,

I always pass any issues onto Philips and that is why I was enquiring where the software is advertised as free to see if I can bring this to resolution - to be fair to Philips - everywhere I have looked to date I can only see that it is free software if you have purchased the PTA01 - but if it is advertised as free on a stand alone basis or if you were advised that it should be free on a stand alone basis 'll take that issue up with Philips towers on your behalf.

As far as I can see from research to date it is advertised as free when bundled with the PTA01 and to be fair it's pretty common to see software bundled in this way.

If you wanted to attack it from a different angle - I'm also happy to do you a Boardie Price on the PTA01 if it resolves this for you?

Keep me posted,

J

dnme

John

I take your point about it being advertised as free as part of a PTA01 bundle. Thanks for the offer but my TV is already networked, I have no use for an extra WiFi dongle, in fact all it would serve to do is use up the TV's one and only USB port for nothing. Like I say in my first post, this redundant WiFi dongle is a way for Philips to add value to an already expensive set of TV's.

I wont be buying any Philips dongles. I have already given a lot of cash for Philips kit, no more.

Many thanks for your help on this, much appreciated.

The Ritz

Richersounds.ie: John wrote: »

....... I have no issue leaving the post here or it being moved whichever you prefer Ritz as I think it's of interest both in the RS Forum and the general HE forum.....

John,

Happy for things to stay as they are, now that the facts of the matter have been made clear.


Ritz.