A directional navigation pad is repeated on both sides, and gaming buttons adorn the rear. There's a traditional remote control on one side (plus a touch-based trackpad), and a QWERTY keyboard on the other. Speaking of buttons, the Co-Star remote has them in spades. You can slide it out onto the screen at any time with the click of a button, without needing to exit the current app first. This menu is pre-stocked with over a dozen apps and services, and has a customizable "Favorite Apps" section at the top. Rather than filling up the entire screen with large app icons (or even just the bottom portion of the screen, as in the standard Google TV interface), the Co-Star's main app menu is a quarter-screen-sized pane that slides out from the left-hand side of the TV. Vizio's skinned Google TV interface takes a completely different approach than competitors like Boxee, Roku, or Apple. There's no dedicated audio output, so unless your audio system has a way to accept HDMI input, you're stuck using your TV's speakers, or otherwise relying on your TV's optical-out (if you have one) to feed the audio signal to your speakers. After connecting everything, pairing the remote, and optimizing its display area for your television, you can then integrate the Co-Star with the rest of your living room: a cable or satellite box, a DVD or Blu-ray player, another internet device, and your sound system. Initial set-up took me around half an hour. Inside are radios for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. On the back are HDMI ports (in and out), Ethernet, and a USB port. The 4.2-inch square black case looks like a cross between a hockey puck and a coaster. If you're sold on Google TV, however, Vizio's device is half the price of the other Google box on the market, the $200 Sony NSZ-GS7, and it's a great cost-saving alternative. The little $100 box packs enough might to handle 1080p HD streams and files, but content options in Google TV are lacking, and the Co-Star can't compete with more full-grown streaming set-ups like those from Apple and Roku. It offers the full Google-curated complement of streaming options, plus live TV integration, the ability to install apps from Google Play, and compatibility with Bluetooth accessories and other peripherals. The Co-Star is Vizio's first venture into the set-top box space. After being unceremoniously abandoned by key hardware partner Logitech last fall, the Google TV platform seems to have found a worthy replacement in Vizio.
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