Teardown| Vizio Coaster Co-Star Teardown Tutorial

[ashley]

Introduction
It's been nearly two years since Google unveiled its flop of a streaming media player, the Logitech Revue. After a lengthy hiatus from the spotlight, Google TV is back to take the stage. Its lead actor? The ironically-named Vizio Coaster Co-Star.

Step 1 Vizio Co-Star Teardown

[*]Providing the market with a $99 answer to the Apple TV (also $99), the Vizio Co-Star brings a refreshing reincarnation of Google TV to the world of set-top boxes.
[*]Notable tech specs:
[*]Google TV platform
[*]Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled
[*]Hot buttons for Amazon, Netflix, and M-Go
[*]720p, 1080i, and 1080p resolution support
[*]MP3, AAC, and WMA audio playback
[*]Universal QWERTY remote with trackpad

Step 2

[*]The rear side of the Vizio Co-Star includes an impressive lineup:
[*]USB 2.0 port
[*]HDMI-In port
[*]HDMI-Out port
[*]Ethernet port
[*]DC-In Power port
[*]On the bottom we see the reset switch and four suspicious-looking rubber feet.
[*]Spoiler alert: the feet aren't hiding anything.

Step 3

[*]A little prying around the edge with a plastic opening tool, and we've got the bottom panel free.
[*]Comparatively speaking, the Apple TV required two metal spudgers to open, as opposed to a single plastic opening tool here. No need to split hairs; they're both easy to open up, and we love it.

Step 4

[*]We pull off what looks like an EMI shield only to find a thermal pad sitting on top of a sea of small resistors.
[*]It's not often that we encounter cooling for the back side of a motherboard, but Vizio took extra precautions as this Co-Star has no fans.
Step 5

​

The only thing standing between us and the motherboard are some screws and two connectors. Say hello to our little friend!
For those of you tuning in at home, a grand total of five screws and two cables must be removed once inside the device to free the motherboard. That's going to give the Co-Star a nice ratings boost.

Step 6

[*]And here comes the Co-Star's motherboard strolling down the red carpet:
[*]Marvell Armada 1500 1.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor
[*]Marvell 88DE2755 QDEO Video Processor
[*]Nanya NT5CB256M8GN-DI 2 Gb DDR3 SD RAM (2 Gb x 4 for 1 GB total RAM)
[*]Samsung K9GBG08U0A-SCBO 32 Gb (4 GB) NAND Flash

Step 7

​

[*]We're used to the innards of devices being dominated by a single component, but those space hogs are usually batteries or power supplies.
[*]Over a third of the real estate in the Co-Star is inhabited by the aluminum heat sink.
[*]You may be asking yourself why the Co-Star has such a huge heat sink?
[*]The answer lies in air movement. Without fans to circulate air, there is no forced convection. Therefore, the Co-Star must rely on conduction and natural convection to keep the processor cool

 

[ashley]

Step 8

[*]We remove an additional board to reveal a whole lot of nothin' underneath.
[*]The board houses the USB port and, well, nothing else.

​

Step 9

• We use our always-trusty spudger to disconnect the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antenna cables from the wireless board.
  
  
• A Marvell Avastar 88W8787 WLAN/Bluetooth/FM Single-Chip SoC brings life to what would otherwise be a very bland and boring board.

Step 10

• A plastic opening tool and a steady hand are all we need to separate the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas from the Co-Star's lower case.
• This antenna cable is too short.
• This antenna cable is too long.
• This antenna cable is just right!
  

Step 11

• That's pretty much it for the Co-Star, but we do like to do a thorough teardown here at iFixit, so we took a quick look at this flashy silver bezel. It sadly revealed nothing more than a flashy silver bezel.
• Modders, take note: the bezel comes off easily and would probably look pretty slick when painted neon green.
  

Step 12

• Just like the Boxee Box, the Co-Star comes with a neat two-sided remote.
• Unlike the Boxee Box though, this Vizio controller is universal and features a touch-sensitive trackpad. Point, Co-Star.
• As a finishing touch, the Co-Star remote has ABXY buttons and a directional pad for OnLive gaming. Not only is that an incredibly unique feature, it gets us all nostalgic and stuff.
  

Step 13

• The battery tray comes right out, but this isn't much of a surprise. How often did you try to "fix" your TV remote by pulling out the old batteries and just switching them around?
  
  
• A pair of AA batteries were included for the remote. That's a legitimate selling point right there.
  

Step 14

• Here's another opportunity for the modders out there. How cool would it be to have a neon green keyboard bezel to match your Co-Star?
• Whether you're painting it or not, the bezel pries off the keyboard quite easily.
• Following suit, the rubber button cover peels off without a problem.
• Since the button cover and the bezel are the components that usually get the dirtiest, it's great they are easy to remove.

 

[ashley]

Step 15

• Buttons on both sides mean lots of data transfer. Luckily, the data cable slides out from connectors on both PCBs.
• The Co-Star's remote looks to be as easy to take apart as the media player itself.
• Once again, this isn't really a surprise. Remotes, unlike smartphones or laptops, aren't subject to strict space constraints.

Step 16

• The keyboard backer sports a couple of ICs:
• Maxim MAXQ610 16-bit Microcontroller with Infrared Module
• Broadcom BCM20733 Human Interface Device Bluetooth 3.0 single chip

Step 17

• A few Phillips #0 screws and some prying and the lower case of the remote is gone. See ya!
• With the case removed, we learn the screws were pulling double duty and holding the motherboard in place.

 

[ashley]

Step 18

• We grab a handy pair of tweezers and gently pluck out the trackpad data cable before removing the other board.
• This board is powered by a Renesas R5F2133 16-bit microcontroller.
• No flash photography, please, but this PCB does host the two IR blasters, with one conveniently on the side for the QWERTY keyboard.

Step 19

• Peeling back the remote's keypad is as easy as peeling a banana. Underneath is the capacitive touch trackpad.
• A lot of strong adhesive is used to hold this board in place.
• If this comes loose, your movie night will be gone with the wind, hence the generous amount of adhesive.
• Excess adhesive usually doesn't get in our way. With a little bit of patience, our guitar picks, and a spudger, we free the trackpad from the frame.

Step 20

• The trackpad is controlled by the popular Synaptics T1021A Touch Controller, also used in the Logitech Revue.
• Which reminds us, it's time to revue the Vizio Co-Star's repairability.

 

[ashley]

Step 21

• Vizio Co-Star Repairability: 8 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair)
• The outer case only requires a little bit of prying with a plastic opening tool to open.
• The only screws used in the Co-Star are standard Phillips #0.
• Most of the components are easily accessible and thus easily replaced in case of failure.
• Removing the remote's QWERTY keypad is painless, making regular cleaning a relatively simple task.
• An abundance of glue securing the trackpad to the front of the remote makes removal difficult.