nebtek support

[mark morgan]

i have had my nebtek hd monitor for about 3 maybe 4 years now and its been great,

i have used in every camera application i can think of and it always worked well even in the infant days of the red,

also a big thanks to having hd/sdi thru my post,but any ways "huge" props to nebtek and there team

for some speedy repairs and great support,

they got my monitor on monday and i got it back on thursday and i live in hawaii and i am loving the new software updates,

framelines and false color man these guys rock and i can't wait to get the new solar hd monitor,

i have always said you get more bang for your buck with the nebtek monitor and its built tough

[Thomas K. Jensen]

i have had my nebtek hd monitor for about 3 maybe 4 years now and its been great,

i have used in every camera application i can think of and it always worked well even in the infant days of the red,

also a big thanks to having hd/sdi thru my post,but any ways "huge" props to nebtek and there team

for some speedy repairs and great support,

they got my monitor on monday and i got it back on thursday and i live in hawaii and i am loving the new software updates,

framelines and false color man these guys rock and i can't wait to get the new solar hd monitor,

i have always said you get more bang for your buck with the nebtek monitor and its built tough

 

I have heard a lot about the Nebtek Solar monitor - and I can't seem to find any information about international distributors and service? It would be great to try it out, so if any one knows where I could get my fingers in one? I'm located in Denmark, Europe.

 

And one more question. Does the Digital Bubble work in HD?

[Charles Papert]

And one more question. Does the Digital Bubble work in HD?

 

Yes, it does.

[Thomas K. Jensen]

And one more question. Does the Digital Bubble work in HD?

 

Yes, it does.

cool... Thanks Charles.

What about sales and service outside the US?

[Jess Haas SOC]

And one more question. Does the Digital Bubble work in HD?

 

Yes, it does.

 

So is it available now?

 

~Jess

[Charles Papert]

Yes, it's available...still in beta form though. I'll let Gaylen chime in on the current status with the monitor and accessories.

[Tom Daigon]

Thanks Charles and Mark for the positive comments on Nebtek. I just placed my order for the Solar 7 SC. I didnt get the level unit since it sounds like that is still under development. But after doing a test for a possible project in the Vegas midday sun...and not seeing anything on my current monitor (smallhd DP-1) I felt it wise to get something to allow me to see images in the midday sun ;-) My poor old 401K is dwindling away.

[Robert Starling SOC]

Sorry to rain on the parade here but my experience with NebTek between July 2009 and March 2010 was not good at all. I invested / wasted many many hours in phone calls discussing Steadicam monitor needs and wrote pages of detailed descriptions to help them build a good monitor.

 

I'm sure they're a well-meaning small business just trying to make a living but there were too many balls dropped before, during and after the beta-demo process.

 

The monitor itself performed okay for it's price point but communications between staff, Gaylen and me as a beta tester was abysmal.

 

I sent my personal monitor, cable and yoke via FedEx at my expense to Gaylen with an agreement that they'd measure for a bracket, make a cable and return my monitor within 24 hours. It was ten days before I got it back. When I called, Gaylen was always "in the field and unable to receive messages or return calls".

 

It was a month or more before I received a demo unit... with NO cable and NO bracket. Again, Gaylen was unavailable and staff was unaware or unable to provide any answers. Why did I waste $65 sending my monitor kit? When I finally got a cable it was the wrong cable even though I sent them a proper cable which they had for ten days.

 

Every time I'd finally get correspondence or a call from Gaylen he was "outraged" and the staff members were thrown under the bus for dropping the ball.

 

This isn't a personal attack on Gaylen, he seems and sounds well meaning and eager to please but the support and follow through simply wasn't there in my case. Maybe it's because he's trying to run a video assist business and develop new products at the same time... I don't know.

 

The fact is I wasted nearly nine months trying to help them launch a viable Steadicam monitor and it was ultimately a complete waste of time for me.

 

I don't have time for uncertainty and doubt, double talk or owner-centric business cultures that are pinned to the availability of someone making their primary work as part of the crew.

 

It boils down to communication, performance and confidence; given a clean slate the game was theirs to lose as I was more than interested in seeing the project through and spent considerable time trying to help.

 

When it comes to my work and my equipment, I've simply tired of "vapor-ware" and beta testing products that quite frankly the MANUFACTURER SHOULD INVEST IN THE $$$ R&D for.

 

My final choice was the Transvideo SBL Evolution and the only negative to it was price; but you get what you pay for in most cases. But it WORKS out of the box, has a full set of useful features (not prototypes) the staff understands rig cabling / connectivity and they listen and responded quickly to operator suggestions for improvement. The price seems steep but for the extra $4000 I have a monitor built on hundreds or thousands if not millions of dollars in R&D. Plus, the physical manufacturing and design is professional and reflects a quality product.

 

Again, sorry to rain on the parade and nothing personal to NebTek Gaylen; business is business and I'd have loved to see them bust out with a full-functional working version but I don't have time to waste and no matter what I still always came back and compared the service, product and support of Transvideo as my "gold standard" for a HD LCD fully functional monitor.

 

My biggest regret was wasting nearly nine months on a product that has still yet to fully materialize when I could have written the check last summer and moved on to more important aspects of my kit / operating.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

Robert

[RonBaldwin]

lcd blows

[Tom Daigon]

Robert, I completely understand your position on this product. To a much lesser degree (since my technical needs are less complicated than yours) I also experienced difficulty getting a hold of Gaylen. Luckily his brother Loren answered my basic questions. However, spending another $4,000 is not an option. Hell, spending $3,700 hurt like hell. But a professional like you whose survival relies upon the performance of products and their support, is understandably justified in demanding professionalism from the vendors you purchase from. Since I am a newbee with a DP-1 montior that was useless outside, Nebtek is the only viable solution that worked for me. I think its good that your were able to communicate your "story" since there maybe lots of other full time ops that will appreciate hearing it.

[Joshua Harrison]

I just received my Nebtek monitor solar hd-sc and I'm pretty happy with it. I can't really give a detailed report because I haven't run it through the paces yet but it seems to hold up pretty well in bright daylight. It's not gonna compete with a tb-6 or pro green screen brightness-wise but all in all pretty good.

Nebtek has been responsive to me so far, and I feel like they have taken care of me, hope this helps everybody thinking of this monitor, for the price point it seems quite viable.

 

Josh

[GAYLEN NEBEKER]

Hi Robert,

 

I am sorry your experience was as you listed here.

We have many happy customers and often receive excellent feedback.

 

As we discussed, I really appreciated you sending us your monitor and bracket. We saw that you were using a Tiffen bracket that used 10-24 mounting screws where we use 1/4-20 and we immediately drew up and ordered brass fittings custom made for your monitor so you could put our monitor in your existing bracket. It became clear later that you were asking us to design a whole new bracket! I was busy trying to upgrade our product for the needs of steadicam users.

 

My staff was telling me that you were insistent that we ship the modified monitor to you to test along with your bracket and cable. I placed the monitor and cable on our shipping table and I was indeed upset that they choose to not send you the monitor and cable back that Friday. They made this choice because they thought you wanted it shipped back with the modified beta monitor. When I was later told of how upset you were that we did not ship you stuff right back I called you and told you that I was upset also cause wanted it shipped right back to you right away also, not shipped back after we finished your custom designed side brass fittings...does this make sense? I was upset that my staff member did not get your property back to you as you had expected and now it's throwing them under the bus? Honestly I am not sure what you said but the impression was that you were mad that we did not have your demo ready with the newly machined parts that day and that she had better wait until we had them done. Once I caught wind of the situation I said ship his stuff back to him right now!!! He was nice of enough to send us his monitor and cable to evaluate he should have got it right back! I knew that custom parts take time especially when we don't machine in house.

 

Once the parts arrived I again asked why your demo had not been shipped to you. I was told that you had been contacted several times but had not got back to us as to whether you wanted a new cable from your Custom 7pin sled to HD/SDI connector or were going to just use the one you already had for the test.

 

The cable you sent us for the test was also a custom cable for your custom sled and even though you asked us to just duplicate it to be sure it worked ok. You did not label which side was monitor and which side was sled. As it turned out we got it wrong. We use 8 pin at the monitor and your cable was different. We assumed...I am sorry !

I even called Robert Orf at Tiffen to clarify but he was not able to be clear because your sled was an "early version"

 

I am a video assist operator who is currently working on a "127 hours" in southern Utah with Danny Boyle. I am up very late replying to this email with a 5 am drive to location. I have built and operated this company doing just this exact thing since 1986.

 

Many customers are happy with the fact that I actually work in the business alongside operators.

 

Robert, I acknowledge that you had hoped for better and faster then I was able to deliver in one of the most challenging financial years on in my memory but I could only do the best I can! I hope you enjoy your new monitor sorry you had to wait to see what I would do. I have the up most respect for the Transvideo Products. They are truly the "Cadillac' of the industry.

 

As for NEBTEK Support and customer service, I am proud of our quality, service and support!

 

We have come along way in a short time to improve or 1000NIT LCD monitor into a "Steadicam" monitor at our price point.

I understand now from the great feedback we received at NAB what will improve the LEVEL and I am sure we can go the extra amount needed to make it do what is being asked of us.

 

Gaylen Nebeker