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The Boxee Box
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Author:  Trooper [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:19 ]
Post subject:  The Boxee Box
http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-DSM-380- ... 345&sr=8-1

So the Boxee Box is released next week, and it seems at first glance to be everything that AppleTV should have been...

Anybody tempted? I've tried Boxee on my HTPC, but while the software was ok, my HTPC didn't have enough juice to run full HD content using Boxee. (Works fine using Media Player Classic and CoreAVC, but that's beside the point). This box should obviously fix that problem :D

My only outstanding question is how it gets content from my NAS? If it can map directories in a proper fashion, then it should be fine, if it uses some sore of rubbish DLNA setup, then that is useless to me :D
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital ... B002LZUHMI

Less than half the price, but as far as I can tell, not missing anything important spec-wise. Far uglier UI, far less obtrusive case.
Author:  WTB [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:23 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
What the HELL is up with that case? In the age of sleek Apple products selling by the fuckton, someone actually thought that design would capture the imagination of millions?
Author:  Trooper [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:23 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Oh yes, I have seen that, i've also seen the abortion of the UI! Couldn't face using it :D

edited to say talking about the WD thing
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:25 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Abortion is harsh -- the WD UI does everything it has to, which is display a hierarchial list of sources, folders, and files. It's extremely Spartan but it's also perfectly functional.
Author:  Cras [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:25 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
It looks like it would never fit in any cabinet ever, then you realise it will because it's only 5" on a side.

However, it's 5" on a side yet weighs 6Kg! WTF?
Author:  Trooper [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:31 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Wogan'sTrouserBulge wrote:
What the HELL is up with that case? In the age of sleek Apple products selling by the fuckton, someone actually thought that design would capture the imagination of millions?


I was looking at the pictures of it, wondering why everyone was taking photos of it in such a crazy "arty" fashion, then it hit me :D
Author:  Trooper [ Mon Nov 01, 2010 16:35 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Doctor Glyndwr wrote:
Abortion is harsh -- the WD UI does everything it has to, which is display a hierarchial list of sources, folders, and files. It's extremely Spartan but it's also perfectly functional.


True, that was overly harsh. I guess I was looking at it in terms of comparison to my HTPC running Windows XP. Buying the WD would give me nothing extra over the HTPC, and make other things massively more frustrating, so absolutely not worth it for me. Plus the UI looks shit ;)

The Boxee (or the upcoming GoogleTV) would basically give me my current functionality, plus a bit more, and look nicer on the TV and be more GF friendly :D
Author:  Trooper [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:54 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Looked at reviews and articles on GoogleTV, and it really isn't what i'm after. I don't want the web on my telly, I want a media streamer with a whizzy gui that just works with the content I already have, and access to some internet stuff when I want it.

So, with all that self-justification out of the way, I have preordered a Boxee :D
I shall review once it arrives.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Trooper wrote:
Looked at reviews and articles on GoogleTV, and it really isn't what i'm after. I don't want the web on my telly
No-one has explained to me yet how GoogleTV isn't WebTV 2.0.
Author:  Trooper [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:12 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Doctor Glyndwr wrote:
Trooper wrote:
Looked at reviews and articles on GoogleTV, and it really isn't what i'm after. I don't want the web on my telly
No-one has explained to me yet how GoogleTV isn't WebTV 2.0.


Because, as far as I can tell, that is exactly what it is...
Author:  Trooper [ Fri Nov 12, 2010 20:15 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Trooper wrote:
Looked at reviews and articles on GoogleTV, and it really isn't what i'm after. I don't want the web on my telly, I want a media streamer with a whizzy gui that just works with the content I already have, and access to some internet stuff when I want it.

So, with all that self-justification out of the way, I have preordered a Boxee :D
I shall review once it arrives.


So, it appears that the media streamer with a whizzy gui that just works with the content I already have that I was expecting, and was shown in the 0.9 version of the beta. Has turned into a media streamer with a shitty ui the is hard to navigate around content that I already have, in the 1.0 version release that is on the bebox hardware.

Preorder cancelled :( hopefully they will revert back to the superior ui in the future and I can buy one then :)
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Fri Nov 12, 2010 20:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
See the Media Centre PC thread for discussion of getting XBMC working on Linux on a £200 Acer nettop.
Author:  Trooper [ Fri Nov 12, 2010 20:42 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
I have a media PC already that does the majority of what I want, I just wanted the nice UI and a dedicated remote. Unfortunately my media pc isn't powerful enough to run 1080p content unless I use coreavc to decode. Last I tried XBMC it was piss poor on actual film playback on low spec machines.

If the Acer Revo will play everything I throw at it without any stutters, then I may be tempted, but I would also need a remote adaptor for my Harmony remote :)

I might have a play with xbmc again and see if they have sorted out the performance issues I had.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Fri Nov 12, 2010 20:50 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Performance issues come down to hardware accelerated decode, which the Revo's ION chipset has. It's nothing to do with xbmc itself.
Author:  Trooper [ Fri Nov 12, 2010 20:57 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Well, it is down to xbmc. As the same hardware will play 1080p mkv files using coreavc decoder, whereas on the exactly the same hardware xbmc can't play a 720p mkv without stuttering.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Fri Nov 12, 2010 21:05 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Trooper wrote:
Well, it is down to xbmc. As the same hardware will play 1080p mkv files using coreavc decoder, whereas on the exactly the same hardware xbmc can't play a 720p mkv without stuttering.
This is telling you that Window's codec handling is retarded because somehow coreavc isn't getting used by the xbmc binary. In either case, xbmc doesn't do the decoding itself, the OS provides the codecs; it's just providing the wrong one. There's sort of registry ninja hackery you can do to fix that, I believe. Personally I'd just install Linux.
Author:  Trooper [ Fri Nov 12, 2010 21:40 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Having a read, it appears that xbmc doesn't use DirectShow on the Windows build. Which seems to be one of those oh so lovely developer prejudices that so often screw over users, because the dev team are just stubborn :D
There is a DSPlayer build which has been built by the user community that needs some hacking around to work, I might give that a go.
I'm not going to go linux, I use linux boxes at work, and no matter what anyone says, the driver support and arsing around you need to do to get everything up and running is too annoying for me to bother with ;)
Author:  Trooper [ Sat Nov 13, 2010 15:12 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Ugh, been playing with XBMC, and the interface is just awful, No matter which skin I use I can't get it setup in a simple way.
The Boxee UI is so much better, they took the bones of XBMC and threw away all the crap, and left the bits that work :D Or at least they did until Version 1, which is just terrible.

How hard can it be to create some media centre software that just show the films and tv shows I already have, with info scraped from the net, without having to navigate through a billion different options to get there?
The problem with XBMC is that it has been created by committee, and tries to do way too much...
Author:  Trooper [ Tue Nov 23, 2010 11:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
New firmware coming out in the next week or so that fixes a lot of the outstanding major bugs, a few more weeks before firmware that fixes the UI is released, and a company that actively listens and talks to the community regarding their product and progress on fixing issues.

I'm tempted again. I think i'll put one on my xmas list :)
Author:  Trooper [ Wed Nov 24, 2010 13:14 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
First proper proper reviews are out.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4029/the-boxee-box-review

Doesn't look half as bad as the user reviews have been saying. Getting more tempted.
Author:  Trooper [ Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Boxee Box got as an early xmas present off Mrs Trooper.

It is awesome :D

Sure, it has a few bugs in it, but it plays everything I have, has a cute little remote and recognised virtually all of my content right off the bat.

Two thumbs up.
Author:  Blucey [ Sun Dec 05, 2010 15:10 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
All these media box things need a manual audio sync function.
Author:  Trooper [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
A couple of years ago I would have agreed with you, but the only lip sync issues i've had in recent memory, were with Sky HD channels.
Not had lip sync issues with either my HTPC or the Boxee Box.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:57 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Gngh. A firmware update appears to have fucked my WD TV Live's ability to play DTS. Now I wish I'd bought a Boxee instead. Gngh gngh.
Author:  Grim... [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:40 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Blucey wrote:
All these media box things need a manual audio sync function.

The thing that sends power to the speakers (so TV or amplifier, then) should be the one with the delay function.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Most of the amps I've seen only have +/- 100ms or so -- I've had the odd broken download where it was out by much more than that. As Trooper says though, seems to be far less these days.
Author:  Trooper [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
But that only works if the sound is coming before the image, if the image is coming first, then the delay needs to be at the image sending end...
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:47 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Run HDMI to the amp like a grownup, then it can control both :D
Author:  Trooper [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:35 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Very true.

Even though Sky seem believe that HDMI can't carry sound. Morons.
Author:  Grim... [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:48 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Trooper wrote:
Even though Sky seem believe that HDMI can't carry sound. Morons.

Er... What?
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:53 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Sky HD boxes cannot send their sound over the HDMI channel.
Author:  Grim... [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Doctor Nadolig wrote:
Sky HD boxes cannot send their sound over the HDMI channel.

My living room disagrees.

[edit]As it did in London, actually.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:56 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Enjoy your stereo-only Sky HD setup. You need to use optical to get 5.1.
Author:  Grim... [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:57 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Doctor Nadolig wrote:
Enjoy your stereo-only Sky HD setup. You need to use optical to get 5.1.

I am well aware of this.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:57 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Grim... wrote:
Right. So?
You don't like surround sound?
Author:  Grim... [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
I like being the best kind of correct ;)
Author:  Zardoz [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 13:59 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Doctor Nadolig wrote:
Grim... wrote:
Right. So?
You don't like surround sound?

His expensive cabling sorts that out.
Author:  Grim... [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 14:02 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Your mum sorts me out.
Author:  Zardoz [ Mon Dec 06, 2010 14:03 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Still into the whole pegging thing?
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
I pre-ordered one of these.

A recent flurry of firmware upgrades seem to have knackered my WD TV Live's ability to play... most stuff, and I was all HULK SMAHS last night. Downgrading the firmware has made it work in stereo only for now but it's irking me beyond belief. If I wanted to piss about I'd have built a media PC.

Amazon are out of stock of the Boxee until Dec 12th, so I stuck my name down for a pre-order and I have a few days to think about it.
Author:  GazChap [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
My TV (Hannspree 32" jobbie) has a couple of HDMI ports, but can't output sound through them. This is very annoying.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:46 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
GazChap wrote:
My TV (Hannspree 32" jobbie) has a couple of HDMI ports, but can't output sound through them. This is very annoying.
Almost no TVs can do that. Very new ones with HDMI 1.4 jacks might offer the so-called "return path" feature to allow this, but it's not common. Why do you want it to do this though?
Author:  GazChap [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:23 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
I discovered it around the time I bought the PS3 you now have in your possession, so I couldn't get any sound out of it and didn't have anything else to run the sound to/through.

Sorted now with the purchase of the Sony amp I got a while ago, although there's no HDMI sockets on the amp so I'm running it over optical on that.
Author:  Grim... [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:36 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Doctor Nadolig wrote:
GazChap wrote:
My TV (Hannspree 32" jobbie) has a couple of HDMI ports, but can't output sound through them. This is very annoying.
Almost no TVs can do that. Very new ones with HDMI 1.4 jacks might offer the so-called "return path" feature to allow this, but it's not common. Why do you want it to do this though?

Mine does, apparently. So what, I can run the output from the TV to the amp?
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Grim... wrote:
Mine does, apparently. So what, I can run the output from the TV to the amp?
If your amp also supports it, yes. You can then cable things directly to the TV's other HDMI ports and have the sound end up on the amp. I'm not really clear who needs this feature, as most people with capable amps would be better off cabling to it directly. Could be handy for plugging mobile devices in, if the TV is more accessible than the amp, I suppose.

Oh, I think it has lipsync benefits too -- the TV can control synchronisation.
Author:  Grim... [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:41 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Handy if you use the TV to play media from your network, I guess.
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Grim... wrote:
Handy if you use the TV to play media from your network, I guess.
Oh, actually, yes -- downright vital if you use the TV as your MKV decoder and you want surround sound.
Author:  Trooper [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 15:47 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Doctor Nadolig wrote:
I pre-ordered one of these.

A recent flurry of firmware upgrades seem to have knackered my WD TV Live's ability to play... most stuff, and I was all HULK SMAHS last night. Downgrading the firmware has made it work in stereo only for now but it's irking me beyond belief. If I wanted to piss about I'd have built a media PC.

Amazon are out of stock of the Boxee until Dec 12th, so I stuck my name down for a pre-order and I have a few days to think about it.


FWIW I've watched a fair amount of stuff on it so far, and only experienced one bug that is significant.
I've got season 1 and 2 of Life downloaded (the US show) which it identified as Life (the BBC show). I set it to the correct show and it has now disappeared from the boxee completely! :D I had a couple of other films misidentified and those re-identified fine. I can only assume that there is a problem if a whole series is incorrect.

I could reset the box and try again, but I think i'll do that after the upcoming UI changes in the next firmware release.

Other than that, it has been lovely to use, plays everything without issue, and Mrs Trooper is also more than happy with it! :D
Author:  Doctor Glyndwr [ Tue Dec 07, 2010 15:56 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Boxee Box
Have you had problems with it not polling SMB sources often enough to add new shows you've downloaded? What do you have yours connected to?

I also see it won't support RF universal remotes like my beloved Harmony without a USB dongle, but fortunately I already own one.
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