Are you a Movie / TV fanatic? Do you miss not having the flexibility to watch your HD shows anywhere in the house? Well today is your lucky day, Patriot Memory released late last year just the ticket with the Box Office HD Media Player. Patriot released this compact HD media player not too long ago, and PCWizKid takes a close look at the features and details to providing a enjoyable HD experience. With today's digital age, almost every new TV / Movie, Picture and Song is in a digital format and encoded in one of many codecs available. The trick with today's DIVX/DVD players is getting them to recognize all the popular and ever changing codecs. For this reason having a flexible media player like the Patriot Box Office solves that problem with firmware updates and out of the box compatibility with tons of codec support to keep you satisfied. Also lets not forget that being a storage device as well the room for expansion is terrific. We performed the review with the default software and firmware AS IS, then we did a upgrade to version P04 available on the Patriot Memory forum.
File Formats Supported Music - WMA, MP3, Real Audio (RA) Graphics - JPEG, BMP, PNG Video - [MPEG-1] MPG/MPEG/DAT, [MPEG-2] MPG/MPEG/VOB/ISO/TS/TP/M2TS, [MPEG-4] MP4/AVI/MOV, WMV9, FLA, [H.264/AVC] MKV/TS/AVI/MOV/M2TS, [DviX 3/4/5/6, Xvid] AVI/MKV, [Real Video 8/9/10] RM/RMVB
Inputs: 10/100 Ethernet, 3x USB 2.0 ports & internal 2.5" SATA HDD connector (HDD not included).
Outputs: HDMI, composite A/V, S/PDIF
System Requirements: External USB storage device or internal 2.5" SATA SSD/HDD with supported video or audio content stored on it. Standard or high definition television with HDMI or composite video connections.
Package Contents: Box Office Media Player, remote with batteries, composite AV cable, HDMI 1.3 cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide, Software and CD Manual.
Watch PCWizKid's Video Review
Things PCWizKid liked - Cool and Quiet - Minimalistic styling with a black brushed aluminium look - Compact case - Lots of support for codecs of many flavours and formats - Included bundle was generous to get you started - Main browser software has a clean polished look and feel (good GUI interface) - FAST! Loading and playback functions are quick, specially if you have the Patriot Torqx SSD Drive installed - Media file streaming and UPnP over your network
What could be improved in the next firmware update... - Transcode Server software usability - Admin GUI is not as good as the Browser GUI, I wished they would match the styling and interface for consistency - Front USB worked better than the rear USB port for the Wireless Adapter and Thumb Drive tested - Process to selecting and copying files could be improved by cutting down on steps (clicks with the remote control) - Bootup and Shutdown time delay is a few seconds too long than I would like
Final thoughts
Patriot Memory has obviously focused on the fact that HD is pretty much a standard today for viewing your favorite movies and shows. Patriot Memory has simplified playing, accessing your digital library and transfer of media easy, making it a replacement option for your Home Theater. The Patriot Box Office plays your digital media stored on USB storage devices, on a network device, or using an optional internal 2.5″ Hard Disk Drive (HDD) what more can you ask for? Overall a great product PCWizKid Recommends.
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