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

[snoosebum]

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

You might want to look at the WD TV Live.
1. I'm not sure how they compare to the Realtek chipsets but the Sigma seems good to me.
2. sure
3. Its OK, it does have thumbnails/coverart but not anywhere near XBMC quality.
5. (what happened to 4?) Havent found anything it wont play yet.
6. wd tv live does Live 365 and youtube, I looked at it but cant see myself using these services very often. All Asus, Patriot and WD machines I believe will play MP3's off your share, This I find more usefull.
7. I had a couple disconnects after a few days of smooth sailing, I updated the firmware on my router seems to have resolved my problems.

[Moneyless]

I see the Patriot Box Office has the advantage of having space for a 2.5" drive internally, but with the WD TV/TV Live, couldn't you just plug an external drive to it using one of the two provided USB ports? Sure it would add to the size of the total unit, but it would still work fine, right?

If the WD TV/TV Live has a nicer/better/more polished interface I think I'd personally rather do that. Get one of those, along with a nice quiet WD Caviar Green or something along with a cheap all black enclosure and just have the WD TV sitting on top the HDD enclosure.

[Cheator]

Originally Posted by snoosebum

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

Ooops. I meant the WDTV, not the live one, sorry.. typo.

Originally Posted by Moneyless

I see the Patriot Box Office has the advantage of having space for a 2.5" drive internally, but with the WD TV/TV Live, couldn't you just plug an external drive to it using one of the two provided USB ports? Sure it would add to the size of the total unit, but it would still work fine, right?

If the WD TV/TV Live has a nicer/better/more polished interface I think I'd personally rather do that. Get one of those, along with a nice quiet WD Caviar Green or something along with a cheap all black enclosure and just have the WD TV sitting on top the HDD enclosure.

Well first the WD TV Live doesn't play ISOs and a few other formats the Asus does, which is an issue for me (I have lots of ISOs). But secondly, you can do the same thing with the O!Play! Just plug in the USB or esata and away you go. But the O!play is also cheaper, as far as I've seen.

[snoosebum]

The live does play ISO, 1/2 my library is ISO. I dont think it will play menus or extra features etc however, I'm not certain as I normally cut those out anyway. Menu's would be really nice for episode rips however. Live doesnt have Esata, only USB. I dont think it has a torrent service either, that might be nice if your into that.

[Cosmic]

The Live doesn't indeed have Bittorrent and/or Usenet. It doesn't either show menus on Blu-Ray's or DVD's, but when you load the ISO it will automaticly open the largest file. Other way is to manually navigate through the folders and select the file.
But if you are into Usenet and Bittorrent, there is the Eminent EM7075dts for the (almost)same price. The menu of Eminent is actually a bit better, but the remote control isn't the best.

[Rison]

I agree with the OP over choosing the PBO over the Asus unit. The deciding factors to me were the internal hard drive ability (store mp3s) and the PBO had a better remote.. it's a small thing, but over time it will make a difference to me.
It is missing the webcast radio, but I have digital cable with comes with a bunch of stations.. and I don't use it often anyways.

[AkG]

Its funny but I strongly dislike the remote which Patriot has gone with. I prefer the fewer but BIGGER and better (layout) buttons Asus has gone with. Each to their own I guess :)

[||Console||]

I got a Bo for xmas , and I love it .

[Mark]

Never had one of these units but I don't see the difference between one of these units and a PS3?

Originally Posted by Mark

Never had one of these units but I don't see the difference between one of these units and a PS3?

Price. Not everyone plays games. Believe it or not... not everyone wants a gaming console under their TV.