This post is part 3 of my ongoing saga to create the perfect home media rig. Rather than write a complete review of my latest purchase I'd like to give you an overview of my experience.
For reviews of the Patriot Box Office Media Player please check out the following links:
Amazon
AnandTech
Legitreviews
These folks have said all that I might say and more.
For the product page simply go to Patriot Memory.
The forum community is well populated and versed in the ins and outs of the Patriot Box Office (aka: PBO)
I was stomping around the local Micro Center today, thinking about picking up a low profile video card with HDMI output so I could connect my older Vista box up to the network and watch my streaming media on my 51 inch LCD. I was in a quagmire.... Did I want to spend $70 on a barely-able-to-perform card that was adequate for HTPC stuff or did I want to shell out $170 for a video card that would allow me to play video games as well?
Out of the corner of my eye a somewhat plain box caught my eye. Rather, it was the picture of what looked like an external CD ROM without a faceplate that snaked me in. It looked wrong for some reason. Then it struck me, it wasn't an external CD ROM. Closer inspection revealed that it was a media player that played almost every format of media under the sun from almost any place in the universe. All for under $130.
Now that sounded pretty sweet to me. I looked closer and found an identical product made by another company with almost exactly the same specs. For another $50. Hmmmm. Doing what I always do when I'm not quite sure, I picked the box up and carted it around for awhile. My shopping techniques are a bit strange.
I'm always hesitant to part with my money but I'm also hesitant to pass up a good deal. To help overcome the internal conflict, I'll carry the box around the store for awhile. If we make it to the checkout counter together I'll probably buy it. If it becomes a pain in the butt to cart around, I'll drop it somewhere along the way. I save tons of money that way. 200 inch plasma TV? 5 feet and it gets dropped. 15 boxes of 16 Gb USB thumb drives for $5 dollars? They get dropped after 100 feet because they're too unwieldy to carry anymore. 14 boxes do me no good. 15 or none. (And I refuse to use a shopping basket, too girlish for me.)
This box made it to the check out, thus it made it home. I really wasn't expecting too much when I hooked it up. Power cable? Check. Network cable? Check. Rats, it only does 10/100. Oh well. HDMI cable? Check. Rats, no more ports on the amplifier. Well, plug into the tv. Yep, it fits.
Then I hit the toggle switch on the back, fired up the TV and was completely disappointed. The menus looked horrible. The graphics were obviously designed by Andy Warhol after he went color blind, cut off his dominant drawing arm and removed his remaining opposable thumb.
A few minutes poking around the setup menu and all that changed. Especially useful was that one little setting I accidentally clicked, the one that says "HDMI Video format". Change it from NTSC to Automatic and the PBO began a very polite exchange of display capabilities. Much to my pleasure.
The menu navigation was a bit clunky but given that it's obviously trying to serve several classes of user, it's understandable. The option I wanted was to select "Browse" then go to "Net". From there work my way to my media server. .mkv files played about as well as I expected. Artifacts are visible but tolerable. Audio just as I converted it. 2 channel, 5.1 channel and 7.1 channel. All there. Multiple languages. Subtitle files available as well. Nice.
Then I backed up. How about the main movie .iso files I created? Those should be full DVD quality images. The PBO will play almost all flavors of video out up to 1080i and 1080p. Kind of like that guy in the latest Office Depot commercials, I was jolted into yelling "WOW!" The quality was pixel perfect! Audio? Perfect! Fast forward? Yep. Reverse? Yep. Other languages? Yep. Subtitles? Yep. Ugly as mortal sin but yep.
Music files streamed music. Just like I had hoped.
Pictures streamed pictures. Again, just as I had hoped.
Full DVD .iso files streamed perfectly.
I couldn't stream BluRay .iso files because I don't have any but I suspect it would have been just fine as well.
I spent 45 minutes watching the beginning of "Casino Royale". Not the old classic but the new one with Daniel Craig. The video was almost flawless. A few blips here and there due to network congestion but really not bad. A gig connection rather than a 10/100 would have helped smooth things out but I can live with it as is. But WOW! The video looked so good. No pixelation or any other artifacts that I could pin to shortcomings in the PBO. Just gorgeous, silky smooth video and audio. The opening scenes of this movie are technically demanding for a video streaming system due to the amount of background detail and action. Didn't bother the PBO at all.
So, all in all, I must say that this was the best ever $130 I spent on computer stuff. Except..... I want another one. Well, three more, actually. Now I want to put one on each of my other TVs.
A quick search on the internet reveals that these boxes are available for less than $100. Some places have them for $80. Some for $100 with a wireless adapter. I could be upset that I spent $30 more than I needed except for one minor detail.... I got a mail in rebate for $35.
This is the part where I jump out of my chair and dance a jig. Except I don't. I'm too old and fat. So, don't let that image creep into your brain. Just imagine me looking like Daniel Craig. A strong, beefcakey Daniel Craig with no shirt, dancing a jig. That's me. Happy as can be.
