Computers & Electronics

Patriot Box Office vs Asus O!Play vs WDTV Live

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  • Dec 24th, 2010 9:44 pm
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Nov 7, 2006
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Toronto
Coleus wrote: Right now, memory express is selling Patriot Box Office Media Player for 40 bucks (after rebate and saving) which i think the best pick up comparing to others

It's actually a no brainer @ $40.
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Feb 21, 2006
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I've just been experimenting with a new Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-Ray player (currently on sale for $118), which seems to include much of the functionality of the media players as well as being a Blu-Ray/DVD player.

For example:
- HDMI, component and composite video connections up to 1080p, audio output via HDMI, optical DTS, and analog stereo
- Plays video files in various formats from a local USB drive (haven't tested format support extensively, but plays all the existing files I tried)
- Reads FAT32 and NTFS drives
- Streams from DLNA servers on the local network, including Win7 PC (and Samsung offers their own free server app as well)
- Offers a small variety of downloadable internet-connected apps from Samsung and others (e.g., weather, news, games, Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps, Picasa photo albums etc.)
- Streams Netflix and Youtube very well

The user interface isn't brilliant, and the unit is a bit wide compared to most media players, but otherwise pretty compact and light. WiFi isn't built in, but you can add it with a $25 dongle plugged into a 2nd USB port on the back (I'm using Powerline ethernet).

What more would a dedicated media player like Patriot, O!Play or WDTV Live do for me?
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Nov 7, 2006
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Aske001 wrote: I've just been experimenting with a new Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-Ray player (currently on sale for $118), which seems to include much of the functionality of the media players as well as being a Blu-Ray/DVD player.

For example:
- HDMI, component and composite video connections up to 1080p, audio output via HDMI, optical DTS, and analog stereo
- Plays video files in various formats from a local USB drive (haven't tested format support extensively, but plays all the existing files I tried)
- Reads FAT32 and NTFS drives
- Streams from DLNA servers on the local network, including Win7 PC (and Samsung offers their own free server app as well)
- Offers a small variety of downloadable internet-connected apps from Samsung and others (e.g., weather, news, games, Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps, Picasa photo albums etc.)
- Streams Netflix and Youtube very well

The user interface isn't brilliant, and the unit is a bit wide compared to most media players, but otherwise pretty compact and light. WiFi isn't built in, but you can add it with a $25 dongle plugged into a 2nd USB port on the back (I'm using Powerline ethernet).

What more would a dedicated media player like Patriot, O!Play or WDTV Live do for me?
Probably still no RMVB, DVR-MS support...If it is true that the Samsung plays almost EVERYTHING otherwise and does it well (you should download the VIDEO TEST PACK on aasoror's thread and run it), then it's a good alternative and a no brainer for anyone who also needs a BD player.

Apart from that, it's just a lot harder for you to take the whole sherlong to a hotel or to your GFs :)
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Nov 1, 2006
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Aske001 wrote: I've just been experimenting with a new Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-Ray player (currently on sale for $118), which seems to include much of the functionality of the media players as well as being a Blu-Ray/DVD player. (snip)

Interesting. According to the Samsung website, here is the list of supported formats: VC-1, MPEG2, H.264, HD JPEG, WMA, DivX HD, AVCHD, MKV, MP4, WMV9
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Nov 7, 2006
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2 FW update in the last 2 weeks. With the annoying prompt, I had to update my unit.

The latest firmware added Deezer, Accuweather, FB and Flingo.

To my surprise, Deezer is actually pretty good in streaming songs though the quality is typical low bitrate.
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Jun 30, 2007
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the first of the last two updates was the big one with lots of tweaks and fixes. the latest one yea just added some more content plugins afaik.

my nic protocols were dying on my unit after the first update quite a lot (stable before that otherwise). since the 2nd update things are better. there weren't any notes on fixes for the 2nd so it might just be a coincidence.


the only thing I miss on my unit is Netflix. I like the pretty UI on some of the other streamers but meh I can live with WD's. best hundred bucks I've spent in a long time.
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Jun 8, 2003
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Scarborough
WDTV live is getting better and better with each new firmware upgrade. I just bought a Box Office in addition to what I have (Asus O!Play, WDTV and WDTV Live).
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Menace wrote: WDTV live is getting better and better with each new firmware upgrade. I just bought a Box Office in addition to what I have (Asus O!Play, WDTV and WDTV Live).

While it's nice for the added internet based application, the quality is poor for both sound and video. I remember giving other member a hard time in the past using these gadgets for low definition material.

I can confirm that the Blu-ray rip playback (with ot without menu) is still far from foolproof. I ripped my Disney Cars a long time ago and it still doesn't play it right.
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Nov 16, 2006
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I was hoping someone here can lend me some advice. I've been poring over the different threads here and on the web about the benefits of each media player and/or HTPC solution. I just want to be able to download 720p xvid files from usenet onto my external drive and watch it on my TV, but I don't want to have the external attached to my PC. All my stuff will be wired.

I think the PBO suits my purpose for this, but I was wondering if anyone can share some insight. I'm assuming I can have my external drive attached to the PBO, and download directly onto it from my PC over the wired network.
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Dec 12, 2009
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Menace wrote: WDTV live is getting better and better with each new firmware upgrade. I just bought a Box Office in addition to what I have (Asus O!Play, WDTV and WDTV Live).

The latest WDTV update provides usb keyboard support. This makes surfing youtube a whole lot easier. Now if only they would add a browser next...
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May 30, 2005
49008 posts
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Richmond Hill
Haven't been caught up with the scene lately.

Are there any firmwares available nowadays that lets me default the media to a mapped network drive, instead of having to choose where the media is located? This is the prime reason why I haven't purchased one of these NMT devices yet, and am still using a HTPC for the purposes.

Apple TV would've been perfect but Jobs decided 1080p wasn't important enough for the 2nd generation, so I'm still stuck :(
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