Written by Steve Lake
Posted on: 02.17.2010 at 02:35pm
Section: Hardware
Today I'm going to be taking a look at the Linux powered Patriot Box Office (PBO), a Personal Video Player (PVP) designed for the home entertainment or theater system. The device is small, easy to use, and provides all the basic features that someone would want in a PVP system. So, let's move on to the system and take a look around.
Unboxing
Here's a quick overview of the PBO shortly after it's been unboxed.
As you can see, the PBO comes standard with screws (for mounting the hard drive), a composite audio/video cable, power brick, remote, the PBO unit itself, a user cd which includes the manual and a transcoding tool for Windows users, an HDMI cable, batteries for the remote, and a quick start guide.
As an additional added feature, you can pick up their special wireless adapter for use in the device for those who prefer to use wireless networking. Now, from here on out I won't have any other screenshots, as there's no easy way for me to get them, and taking pictures with a digital camera just doesn't work and really does not do the PBO any justice.
Overview
The PBO has an impressive list of specs for a simple Linux powered device. Here's some of the benefits and features the device offers:
- Works with any USB storage devices
- Expandable internal storage (IE, you can add a HD)
- Network Streaming - Stream media files through your wired or wireless (optional Patriot wifi adapter required) home network from any PC or file server with SMB access.
- File transfer - Copy or transfer files between USB, NAS, Networked PC's, and the HD.
- BitTorrent downloading - Download and manage up to 5 torrents at once through your PBO.
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) - Support for UPnP streaming on UPnP cabable devices such as Sony Playstation® and Microsoft Xbox®.
- Picture viewing - You can create slide shows to present to your family.
- Movie preview - Preview movies prior to playing them.
- Full function media playback - Fast forward, rewind, pause, zoom, pan, etc.
- Full HD Media Playback - Resolutions up to 1080p!
- Supports subtitles - So if you have a movie with subtitles, it'll support it.
- Music playback - Listen to your entire music library with fast forward, rewind, pause, repeat and shuffle options.
- HDMI and composite video connections
- Full support of AC3, AAC, DTS digital audio
- and much more!
The unit also supports a wide range of media formats. Here's a list of what's supported.
Supported video formats: MPEG1 (AVI/ MKV/ TS/ DAT/ MPG/ MPEG/ VOB); MPEG2 (MKV/ DAT/ MPG/ MPEG/ VOB/ ISO/ IFO/ TS/ TP)/ M2TS; MPEG4 (AVI/ MP4/ MKV/ MOV/ WMV/ ASF); DivX 3/4/5/6, Xvid (AVI/ MKV/ MP4/ MOV) H.264/ AVC TS/ AVI/ MP4/ MKV/ MOV/ FLV)/ M2TS; VC-1 (TS/ AVI/ASF/WMV)/M2TS/ WMV9 (ASF/WMV) REAL VIDEO 8/9/10 (RM/RMVB)
Supported audio formats: MP3, MPEG, Dolby® Digital, DTS™, WMA, PCM, LPCM, ADPCM, FLAC, WAV, AAC, RA, OGG, MKA
Now, while it wasn't listed, I got a nice surprise when I found that it would even play an OGM file, which is awesome, given how rare that format is. The fact that it also supports MKV's was a huge plus. The device outputs video in either composite or HDMI. Data transfer is handled via either USB or network, or you can hook up the device directly to the computer as a portable hard drive of sorts. Well, the PC treats it as such. There's even a USB host port in the front for connecting pen drives and the like.
Another neat feature is that the device has a power off switch in the back. So no more need to unplug the device if you don't want it on. Of course, if you *do* install a hard drive into the unit (or even if you don't), the device is incredibly portable. It's only 5.5"x5.8"x2", and could easily fit into a jacket pocket, a purse (a normal sized one, not those wallet sized purses), a bag, etc, and could go with you anywhere you wanted.
All you need is the unit, the power plug, and if they don't have either HDMI or component cables where you're going, you could bring those along too very easily. The whole thing could easily fit into a bag or pouch no bigger than a quart freezer bag. Although, given the static those put out, I'd be sure that whatever you carry it in doesn't have static issues.
Home Screen
The Home Screen consists of three options: File Copy, Browser, and Setup. File Copy allows you to copy files between the Hard Drive (HD), Network, and a USB pen drive or external hard drive. First off I want to say that the home screen looks awesome, even on my crummy old SD TV. (just FYI, I tested this both on an SDTV and an HDTV) The screen is snappy, responsive, and has good popup animation. Now, let's look at each of the different sections this offers.
File Copy
The File Copy section is fairly straight forward, and allows you to copy files from either a USB pen drive or hard drive, the internal hard drive, or from the network to any of those three devices, or the trash can. To copy files you first browse to the files and folders you want to move and select them, then move over to the destination and select where they should land.
Honestly, I believe this section of the unit is nifty, but after playing with it, I find it both redundant, and needless as, aside from the USB to HDD/Network copy ability, I find no need for this section, as there are other, better ways to copy files.
And speaking of file management, since we're on the subject, I actually installed a hard drive into this unit, and then copied over my media files to the device over the network. It took 2 days. Yes, 2 days. I only got a network speed of 1.5mbps up to 2mbps. No 100mbps that my network is capable of. The nic is supposed to be 10/100, but I did not get that. I got at best 2.5% of my network's capabilities. I've got a geriatric old file server that does file transfers faster than that, and it's an old beast that has half the processing power and an OS twice as heavy duty, and despite that it gets 90mbps hands down without trying. So something is wrong with the way the PBO handles network file transfers to it.
And it doesn't matter if you use SMB (samba) to copy files from your pc or media server directly to the device, or if you grab the files directly from the device via the file copy section. That's a huge thumbs down for me. But once all the videos are loaded, you're golden.
Also, file copies directly from the PC via the USB connection are fine. Go figure that one out. So in short, if you copy files from a device to a device, using the system interface, or you copy them over the network to the PBO, it takes forever. But if you pull the unit aside, and plug it into your PC as though it were a portable Hard Drive, files just transfer over like lightning. Go figure that out out. Which then begs the question, why is the only fast way to copy over files also one of the most seemingly tedious and ridiculous ones?
Now if you're just doing updates, file copies to the unit over the network won't be so bad as you won't be transferring such large amounts of data. It's only when you're first setting up the unit and loading fresh data onto the hard drive that it takes a long time, and faster speeds are really necessary.
Browser
The Browser is the systems way of browsing files. And no, it can't go on the web with it, so don't ask.
The browser allows you to browse files from five sources: USB, HDD, Network, UPNP, and Playlist. I wasn't able to test the UPNP function, as this really only works with things like the Playstation and the Xbox, but it's there if you want to play with it. Browsing both the USB or the HDD is essentially the same. And before I go much further, I want to say that having a video preview pane here is completely silly. To add insult to injury, it's taking up half the screen and serves no purpose in this section. That should go away. So should the file type sorting options above, as those serve no purpose in the source selection screen, but they will both come in handy later on.
Another thing that doesn't need to be there in the HDD or USB screens is the device selection step. There's only one device, so why do I have to select it? Anyways, once you're into the next screen you're given a list of files and folders that are on the drive. This screen here allows you to start file and folder browsing. Now I don't mind sorting through multiple levels of folders here, as that's my own poison I created and thus I have to live with it. But if there's one thing that I hate, it's needless steps. (I'll have a few ways to cut out a few unneeded steps later on at the end of this review that will correct that.)
Once you browse to a file you want, you're given the option to play it. But not until it preloads the file and gets the file information. And I have to say that, so far the speed is just amazing. Other than obvious lag caused by network or hard drive/usb delays, the system itself is extremely snappy. Now that's not to say that this area couldn't use improvement, but I'll leave that until the end of the review.
Now, while in this window, and before playing, you're given four sort options at the top of the screen: All, Music, Photo, and Movies. Selecting them both automatically refreshes the file list, and sorts based on known formats that fit those search criteria. You can also build playlists via the browser, and then go back and access them via the Playlist option available on the first screen of the browser. Due note however that you'll need a hard drive in the unit in order to take advantage of this.
Settings
The settings screen has five basic areas: Audio, Video, Network, System, and Misc. Under Audio you can chose between Night Mode and Digital Output type. Video allows you to set the aspect ratio, brightness, contrast, digital noise reduction, TV system (ie, NTSC, PAL, 480p, etc), and if you want to do 24hz resolution at 1080p.
Network allows you to specify how your device will communicate over the network, either via the wired connect, or wirelessly via the wireless adapter shipped by Patriot (that's available separately). This includes setting up static IP's for use on the network, wireless AP information, and more. System allows you to setup the menu language, text encoding (IE, how the text will appear or be interpreted), login control (only available if you have a HD installed), BT and Samba (allows control of the bittorrent and samba file sharing system, but only if a HD is installed), system update (you have to download and update manually via a file from patriot's website), time, HDD format, and restore defaults.
And finally, Misc has resume play (a nice feature, but poorly executed compared to other methods of doing this), slide show timing, transition effect, Ken Burns (a rather nifty little feature that allows zooming and panning of an image or video), seemless playback (allows you to move between videos without stopping after each video), background music (you need to have mp3's already on the system, and a source folder specified for this to work. It also only works when in the browser screen.), screen saver, and movie preview.
Video Playback
So let's say you play a video. It will load the video very quickly, and the video playback is incredible, no skipping, no lag, and no problems whatsoever. Even the lag and load time when automatically switching between videos is incredibly fast. SD and HD quality of the video is excellent as well. And yes, I admit I'm not a videophile, and while videophiles might find something to nitpick on the quality of the video produced by the unit. But for the other 95% of viewers, it's more than good enough. In fact, it's great.
I tested all of the supported formats, and aside from a couple of videos that failed to load, every one of the supported formats loaded. Even OGM formatted files. Given how little that format is used, that left me pleasantly surprised. The one format I had the biggest issues with was WMV files. Of course, given that Microsoft changes their video encoding standard every time they bump their version number, and that only WMV9 format is supported, that doesn't surprise me. So that's an issue that can only be blamed on Microsoft.
Also, video up to 1080p is fully supported on the player, and yes, it plays even video that big without a single issue, skip, any lag, etc. I'm extremely thrilled and pleased with how well it played. There's also a reasonably good playback information screen you can bring up.
Photo and MP3 playback was also good, and very simple to navigate and use. The biggest problem I had in this section, (and many others as well) was the fonts. They're decent sized in some areas, but could serve to be larger. In other areas they need to be a LOT bigger. Some of the dialogs have fonts far too small to read, and even at a reasonable distance they required me to squint or get out of my chair to read them. Same is true with the video information popup.
That's something that really needs to be fixed. If nothing else, they need to all have consistent sized fonts. Preferably large and easily readable on a 25" screen. I say for a screen that small, because with component out, 19-25" screens will be the norm for people using this on older SD televisions.
Also, some people will ask if the player has DVD or BlueRay iso support. Right now, no. However, the beta firmware coming in the near future will have that support, although it will only be preliminary, but will improve over time.
Another thing that will bum out some people is that there is *no* thumbnail support in video preview or the file browser. Also, I couldn't get any confirmation if that would come in future versions of the firmware, but given how popular it is, I can easily see that coming.
And lastly, the PBO does support chaptering on MKV files, but it's rather flaky and doesn't always work, and when it does it's only basic support.
Other Stuff, Problems, and Gripes
For all the great stuff this player has, it also has its problems. The first thing is the way the remote is setup. For one, the buttons are *sorta* laid out in a logical fashion, and yet there's buttons mixed in with other buttons that are completely unrelated. Take for instance the bottom grouping of buttons. There's a skip function in there that doesn't belong in there, but rather up with the playback buttons.
Same with the slow key. The setup button is tossed in with the playback and volume keys (I'd say it would be a good idea to swap those two). Most of the rest of the groupings of buttons are alright, but they really need to improve the organization and groupings of the buttons, and especially the sorting of them by relevance. That's something I think would do a lot to improve the remote.
Honestly, if you want a great example of a great remote (and the FOSS community will likely shoot me for saying this), take a look at the Microsoft Media Center remote. All of the most important buttons are fat, easy to work with, and the layout is not complex at all. Just point, click, use. I have yet to find another remote as nice as that one. And no, it's not because it's a Microsoft remote. It's simply because they got their remote right the first time.
Another gripe I had was how the image spills off the screen. Not just a little. I'm talking that it spills off the screen a lot. About 5% of the image on both sides, and in some cases 5% of the image at the top disappears off the screen, regardless of what view setting I have the unit set at.
Another gripe is the browser screen template. That need some serious improvements. I'll be giving some suggestions on how that can be done later in this review in my recommendations for improvements section. (these would be recommendations for Patriot to consider undertaking)
Another gripe is how the system handles fonts. Or more specifically, how they're sized. The fonts on the main screen, the browser, and in the system settings is fine. They are not fine in the dialogs, as they're very small and hard to read. I had to lean forward and squint to read them. The video information screen also has fonts too small to read properly.
Another thing is how it handles rewinding videos. Previous and next work great, and so does fast forward, but rewind really has issues. It's like the device is fighting against the play function which wants to move the video forward. So you have to go to 4x rewind in order to properly rewind the video.
Now on a positive note, despite all the downers I've listed here, the USB wireless connection worked beautifully and actually played nicely with my sometimes picky network. So that was a huge plus for me, even if I only use wireless sparingly. The reason this is good in my book is not on my account, but rather that it means other people who have wireless will have an easy time using it.
Aside from those few things, I really didn't find a lot that I didn't like about the unit. I really found it to be a great PVP overall. Yes, it needs a few improvements to its existing features, but overall it gets two thumbs up from me.
(continue to page 2 for more useful information)Suggestions for Improvement
Now, as a proper reviewer, I would be remiss if I didn't at least offer some suggestions for improvements to the unit, especially in areas I felt the device was lacking. So here's a few of my recommendations for ways to make the Patriot Box Office PVP even better than it already is. Also, this part of the review is directed at Patriot, as these ideas are here as suggestions to help them improve the device. I like it a lot, but that doesn't mean that there's not always room for some good improvement. And as a reader, you're also welcome to post your suggestions in the forums for them to read as well.
If they take these to heart, and they're meant to help the company, not criticize them, I think that an already good product could become a whole lot better. Also, don't take this list of suggestions as a criticism of the product. If I didn't like it as much as I did, I wouldn't go to this level of depth in suggesting ways to make it even better.
Anyhow, on to my list of suggestions.
Better File Management
Now while I don't compare all my experiences against the MediaPortal DVR software, there are and were a lot of things that it did right (the newer 2.x version destroys some of the UI things that made it great in 0.2x, but that's another story entirely. However, MediaPortal had an excellent file management system. The three key areas that I, and I'm certain most others are concerned with are: Delete, copy, and rename.
Sure, PBO does that, but it's in a separate area, and its clumsy. There is a way to delete files from the file browse menu, but a copy feature should be added there as well, and the mass file delete/copy system be completely removed from the main menu. I really don't see that as being of major use there, since most people won't want to back all the way out, manage a few files, then browse their way back in. Also, mass file handing should really be left to other methods such as the computer browser. Single file copy, deletion and rename is plenty from the UI, but not anything bigger.
Now what about copying of USB to the device? Oddly, of the 98% of people who I've talked to, unless they don't have a network, usb copy to disk isn't something they'd use, so I fail to see a purpose for it here. If they've got no network and the files are on USB, given the easy portability of the device, it wouldn't be much to unplug the device, hook it to a computer, copy the files, and then hook it back up. Only if someone were updating the unit daily would I see a need for something more than that. Of course, if you're updating the unit daily, you need at least a media server, or a network.
RSS, VODcast, Web Streaming and WebDVR
One thing that, at least in my book, would really be a “killer feature” for the PBO is the ability to handle web streams, VODcasts, and rss. The RSS support would be needed only for tracking VODcasts (cnn, fox news, etc offer VODcasts on their site and list updates via RSS), and enabling automatic downloads of new content. Since the system already supports BitTorrent, a feature like this would not be difficult at all to add.
I already do this via a simple rss tracking perl script, which means that support for this would be easy to add to the system. The web streams and RSS entries could be tracked (I'd suggest allowing up to a total of 200 streams and RSS feeds, which should be plenty for anyone) and managed via the web management interface (more to be discussed on that below).
Support for bulk streaming download files (ie, one asx or similar file referencing up to 30 or so separate VOD streams that are downloaded and played in order, creating a larger, single, static stream.) would also be welcome.
And to top all this off, the ability to have a “WebDVR”, aka an option to record live streams, or schedule stream capture, such as for sports events, and save them to the drive. So when all is said and done, you'd have a system similar to what Neuros has with their Link internet PVP. Now I'm not suggesting something *THAT* involved, but it's worth adding some similar features.
Also, support for YouTube, NetFlix, Hulu, CNN, Fox, Discovery Channel, TLC, History Channel, National Geographic, and other web streaming movie, tv and video on demand services across the web. The Neuros Link has excellent support for this, as do other network enabled players.
Web Management
The Patriot Box Office comes with an apache based web management system. The problem is, it is too limited on what it will allow you to do. You can only see how much space you have left (a feature I like), management your BitTorrent downloads, and adjust the user login for the interface. To me, that's a complete waste of a perfectly good admin control panel.
I would recommend expanding that panel's functionality a LOT. Add full access for system configuration settings, a file manager, RSS feeds for VODcast and streaming media as mentioned above, and maybe a few other things. Either way, make the web interface very powerful, as I know a lot of people, myself included, will appreciate it.
Also, there should be the ability to specify where files go. Things such as files saved via the VODcast download tool (as suggested above), WebDVR files, BitTorrent files, etc, management of shortcuts (I'll explain that in a second), and other things like that.
Community
One of the things that will make nearly any project awesome is the community behind it. Linux has made great use of the community system of support and promotion. Building a community of users around the device, getting their input on ideas, features, bugs, etc, and then also giving back to them in other ways, allows you an incalculable resource for making the product better.
Module Support
One of the things I love about Firefox is its extensions system. There are other DVR software systems out there with module support. In fact, almost everything is going with module support. This would be plugins that could extend or enhance the feature set and functionality of the unit. This would allow for feature expansions without bloat by allowing the user to decide which extra features they will have, and which they will not. And if they want a generic unit, they can have that too.
And building on the Community idea, since the PBO runs Linux, drawing in the developer community to build modules through a standardized API would really help build the community, and increase the appeal of the unit to end users. Also, if storage space becomes an issue on the unit in regards to storing these modules, then just save them to the hard drive.
Better UI
I must say that, while the UI is good, it could use a lot of improvement. Two of the best UI's I've seen to date belong to MediaPortal and XBMC, both open source projects. It's not because they're open that I like them (although that's a plus), but rather it's because of how they handle navigation. It's so darned simple and easy to do, and it's quick to get where you're going.
Also, the fonts should all be bigger (I can't stress that enough) and the file names should be center stage. Fonts also need to be of a consistent size. The preview window is alright, and I like that, but if the preview feature is turned off that should go away entirely and leave just the file list centered in the window. Also, when the preview window is in use, it should be no more than 1/3rd the size it is now and positioned to the side, out of the way of file navigation. Again, look at how MediaPortal handles their file browsing UI and you'll see what I mean.
Another thing to note would be to completely get rid of the file information lines that appear below the preview window prior to playing that show the file name and file size. Those are completely useless IMHO, and actually create a lag between selection and loading that is rather annoying. Also, a better main menu. Drop the options there, and simplify it down to a basic list of four things: Network, USB, HDD, and Settings in a vertical list. And if you add web streaming, then that would be the fifth item on the list.
Better Shortcuts
The shortcut system that the PBO has is alright, and again I'm using MediaPortal here because I think that the way it handles this is top notch, but I believe that MediaPortal has it right in this regard. For example, the hard drive. PBO navigates you through several unnecessary layers to get where you want. Simple solution: Allow the user to chose where stuff goes, then build shortcuts to accommodate that. And this of course plays back into the web management system mentioned above.
What MediaPortal does in this regard is it allows you to specify the default landing folder for everything you need to do in regards to the cdrom, video folder, etc. So, let's say that the main screen was replaced with a simple menu of “USB, Network, Hard Drive, Web (for streaming content only), Settings” and maybe one or two other items, depending on the features.
A Better Update System
The update system is alright the way it is, however, I've found the update system that Neuros uses to be the best update system around, at least from the user's perspective. You turn on the player, you're notified if any updates are available, and then accept, confirm, and then sit back and wait for the updates to complete. It's quick, painless, and a lot easier as it doesn't require the user to keep track of changes and updates.
Conclusion
Well, that's all the suggestions I'm going to add, at least for now, and I know that if Patriot does these, their PBO will improve immensely. Even if they don't, I think this is a great PVP product, it's solid, fast, stable, reliable, and despite a few warts, it's already become one of my favorite systems for watching digital video. I really hope that Patriot keeps developing these devices, as I think they've really struck on a winner with their first PVP device. It can only get better from here.