I am really really disappointed with E-Support. (By the way the solution is near the bottom)
It's almost been a month since I raised the issue with E-Support.
Here's what's been happening:
I have had a problem capturing Analogue Video (Using S-Video-In) with my Vaio AR41S.
Click-to-DVD or Sony Content Importer gave me the option to capture Analogue Video, but would always fail to find a signal and so the capture would not work. On other 3rd party programs, an image would appear but would fade to white almost instantly)
19/08/07 - I raise this with E-Support
23/08/07 - I receive a response:
Thanks for contacting us.
Has it worked before ?
Click on start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device manager
Click on sound video and game controllers and expand
Right click on video controller/ hybrid tuner and select uninstall
Restart the vaio
Should pop up with message on restart found new hardware
Does this work ?
Regards
So what they are asking me to do, is uninstall the hardware. They don't tell me that when the system boots up, I would have to find the drivers by looking for through the folders as Vista can't find them automatically.
25/08/07 - I tell them with the revelation that it has always done this and I advise them the driver number (3.3.23.95)
29/08/07 - I get a response telling me to do a full recovery
02/09/07 - I reply back telling them that I have done a full recovery and the symptoms still persist.
07/09/07 - I receive this classic reply:
Thanks for your reply.
Can you confirm the make and model of the tv monitor used here ?
Can you connected using HDMI ?
For BD playback you would need HDCP compliant monitor ?
Regards
I messaged them back asking whether they were an Automated Response System. As you can imagine my faith at this point was completely lost. So as you would do, you reach to the phone to get something sorted.
I spoke to quite a helpful rep, who said he would escalate the case to an engineer (this took quite a bit of haggling tho, who initially stated that S-Video only supports Digital signals). He said that someone would try and contact me on 11/09/07
11/09/07 - My bad I missed the call, but they left a note on e-support saying they would try again between 9-11 on 13/09/07
13/09/07 - No call, so I called them. The rep said the engineer needed more info. He asked whether I was using S-Video to S-Video lead and what make and model TV card I was using, because they didn't know what model I was using. The rep said I would get a call Friday or Monday. I urged him to tell the engineer I was 100% confident it was a driver issue.
After the call the rep left a note:
In response to our call earlier , the following is the information you require:
You can watch sky plus and vcr via s-video through media centre using a ir blaster on your unit. Vaio content content centre and click to dvd do not have this function. If you do not want to use a ir blaster you need a co-axial cable connection. Please be aware that this is what you need to do to get the desired video imput from your vcr and sky plus box. If you want to use a third party program you will need to contact its manufacture for further help
I had already tried the Co-Axial method and that was fine, but I want to use S-Video In(That's why the port is there). I'm under the impression the rep thinks that because Click-To-DVD can't use a IR Blaster, that S-Video-In isn't supported.
After all of this, I thought I'm just going to go it alone. I looked around on the net and found an
OLDER driver for
WINDOWS XP (
http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads/info/info.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&url=Downloads/AV/D/TVT/AV... ) This is for the Vaio AR11S.
I gave it a go and initially it failed, so I used Winrar to extract files compressed in the Installation Program and then ran Install Driver. The driver then installed, I didn't even need to reboot. I ran Click-To-DVD and it WORKED!! Also it works in Media Centre, previously it was showing a black screen (before it continues to say you need an IR Extender to progress) but now I see something there too.
So even had I bought an IR "Blaster" I would have STILL had the same issue but have £20 out of my pocket!
What I want to do now is get the address to write a letter of complaint, it's almost been a month and all the information they have given me has been absolutely pointless(as well as really amusing sometimes) and any helpful information I've tried to give has just fallen on deaf ears and blind eyes.
