Patriot Box Office vs. Asus O!Play: Head 2 Head

[Cheator]

Originally Posted by JMCD

In stock at NCIX. NCIX.com - Buy Patriot Box Office Network Media Player 2.5IN HDD Support USB HDMI LAN MKV RMVB ISO DTS P2P - PCMPBO25 In Canada.

Woohoo! That means Canada Computers soon. I'll swing by tonight to see if I can grab it.

[JMCD]

$100 after MIR today - NCIX.com - Buy Patriot Box Office Network Media Player 2.5IN HDD Support USB HDMI LAN MKV RMVB ISO DTS P2P - PCMPBO25 In Canada.

[gingerbee]

really wanting to try this out just need the cash as always

[AkG]

One thing worth noting about the Pat Box Office and Asus 0!player is they do NOT up convert video. WD TV Live will up convert to 1080. Its not great at it...but its better than many TVs built in converter. Other than that these little guys are kick ass units :)

[Cheator]

Originally Posted by AkG

One thing worth noting about the Pat Box Office and Asus 0!player is they do NOT up convert video. WD TV Live will up convert to 1080. Its not great at it...but its better than many TVs built in converter. Other than that these little guys are kick ass units :)

Very!

So I can't get my hands on a Patriot Box Office player... so I'm going with an O!Play first. If I like it, I'll get the Patriot for downstairs and compare the 2. Sorry guys.

[coriolis]

Aye, I like my PopCorn Hour but I think its too much of a unit for my basic uses, been looking for a downgrade at these units(O-Play, WDTV Live, etc.), these little units look pretty darn good.

[Cheator]

got the patriot too. I'll write up a summary sometime today, hopefully.

[kingnubian]

One difference that I see in other reviews is that the Patriot doesn't do web radio. Is this actually true?? I'm thinking of getting one of these media tanks to replace my overcomplex htpc and have a few needs.

1) Perfect SD & HD playback
2) Hdmi (1.3 at least) out
3) Responsive pleasant Gui with a good remote
5) Extensive media format compatibility
6) Web Radio station Playback (Live 365, shoutcast, ect)
7) Smooth network connectivity

[Cheator]

Originally Posted by kingnubian

One difference that I see in other reviews is that the Patriot doesn't do web radio. Is this actually true?? I'm thinking of getting one of these media tanks to replace my overcomplex htpc and have a few needs.

1) Perfect SD & HD playback
2) Hdmi (1.3 at least) out
3) Responsive pleasant Gui with a good remote
5) Extensive media format compatibility
6) Web Radio station Playback (Live 365, shoutcast, ect)
7) Smooth network connectivity

1. Perfect in what sense? the playback is flawless as far as I can see
2. Its got that
3. Their GUI's are... ok. Not pleasant and not extremely responsive. The remotes are also fair, not great.
5. They do that
6. There is no feature in either box that does iRadio, sorry.
7. Yeah its smooth, but be more specific if you want more detail.

I haven't found a ~$100 unit that does iRadio yet, most of them are movies music and pictures, thats it.

[snoosebum]

Originally Posted by Cheator

. Both boxes play an imense amount of media, and both have a LAN connection, unlike the popular WD TV Live units.

Actually the WD TV Live does have a LAN connection on the back, I'm guessing thats what makes it "Live".