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Boxee Box Pre-Orders Start At $229
Engadget is reporting that Boxee is taking pre-orders at $229 for their set-top box that is utterly guaranteed to not fit into any stereo component rack you might have. They also have switched chipsets from the Tegra 2 to the CE4100. I'm not sure about this thing, but I'd sure like to play with one as I lust for the day when every piece of media I have can be played from a single device. I suspect it'll never happen.
Why oh why would they make it so fiendishly hard to place one of these things? Is it really aesthetically pleasing to have to dedicate the whole cabinet under your TV (if you even have one) to this awkward device?
I for one want to see more devices that stay 100% out-of-the-fucking-way. Let me hide it in a low profile cabinet. Let me mount it BEHIND my TV if I want. I bought the TV to look at the TV... I bought your device, TO KEEP LOOKING AT THE TV. Sigh.
their set top box that is utterly guaranteed to not fit into any stereo component rack you might have
Did someone from Boxee get in a fight with slashdot's corporate overlords?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Seriously, the 'all in one' solution you dream of exists - in XBMC. A cheap Atom/ION nettop for ~$200, install XBMC (live, ubuntu, win7, doesn't matter) and go to town.
Design Fail! They need to fire whoever green lit that design...
And for that reason alone I won't get it. I love the idea but more than sick of "edgy" for its own sake. Mebbe I can come up with a new business that creates a case it will slide into allowing it to fit on everyone's furniture.
I've love to see the Boxee Box succeed, but its price point is pretty high compared to its competitors. The WD TV Live set-top is half the price, and the Roku HD player is even less. A netflix/youtube enabled BluRay player is comparable in price, but includes the BluRay functionalities. Ditto for a PS3. I realize that the Boxee may have other functionalities that set it apart from the others, but I'm not sure if the average user will realize that.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
I'd sure like to play with one as I lust for the day when every piece of media I have can be played from a single device. I suspect it'll never happen
HTPC = every piece of media you have can be played from a single device.
With the advent of how powerful (and inexpensively) you can build miniITX systems now, plus being able to buy 2TB hard drives for around the $100-$110 mark, building an HTPC has never been cheaper, easier, or smaller.
Living With a Nerd
I lust for the day when every piece of media I have can be played from a single device. I suspect it'll never happen.
This one works for me.
http://www.captiveworks.com/cw4000hd.php
One of the advantages of the PS3's otherwise ridiculous use of Bluetooth for the DVD remote is that the whole console can be out of site. Mine sits vertically behind the TV which gives it lots of room to breath and since it does triple duty as media server, Blu-Ray player, and gaming console it means that I really don't have much cluttering up my entertainment center; just a cable box and a stereo receiver.
Why oh why would they make it so fiendishly hard to place one of these things?
how about ventilation issues with idiot consumers not heeding warnings about stacking devices, and then filing warranty claims when they break?
TVersity + PS3 (or Xbox 360) = unlimited entertainment.
Living With a Nerd
I find it supremely surprising that a 1.2GHz 45nm Atom processor with an integrated PowerVR SGX535 GPU can decode TWO 1080p full HD streams, something that a normal Atom CPU cannot achieve.... Anybody can shed some light here?
make it very big. medium size impresses no one. Think how important you will feel if you have to replace your TV stand just to accommodate this.....
Perfect solution! If they don't purchase the device because it won't fit anywhere, it can't overheat!
I've been waiting for this little guy since his first announcement.
I once tried compiling Boxee to run along side my mythbox, but eventually I gave up. It's fairly hopeless to compile outside of a debian system it would seem. However, at the time I really just wanted the application for desktop hulu support. Eventually, Hulu released the desktop app and I simply integrated this into my myth setup.
Now, the little unit is still somewhat appealing, but there are some fairly large flaws.
Even though I have the real estate to handle it's rather odd platform I would just rather not give up that space. Seriously, at some point didn't someone say you need to be a LITTLE conventional in the design. I'm also a little displeased with the remote because at this point it is clear to do anything meaningful I will need to use a keyboard. Those are some fairly obvious flaws in a set top design, but at least it isn't my money they are wasting.
I wonder if I can put mythtv on the hardware.....
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
The case is a box, with one corner lopped so it sits at an angle (hence the part in the summary about how it won't fit in a rack.). As if this weren't enough to make it call attention to itself, the default color scheme is carbon and acid green.
The design is meant to sell to people who want to show off how they have one, and create consumer envy as a way of moving more units. The problem is, some customers will be turned off by that - for example, they want a device that blends with the others in their viewing room. The color scheme makes this effect worse - after a certain point, the Boxee Box is already distinctive, and has caught the attention of that market share that values gadgets standing out from the crowd - so more distinction will only cost them customers. Acid green is a color that came into style briefly a few years ago, and is now dated to the people who have strong interior decorator modes and really care about such trends - using it this late in the trend cycle comes off a little like making the device in the customer's choice of Almond, Harvest Gold or Avocado.
If they had kept the price under 200$, all that might have flown, with sales to the college dorm crowd and the general youth market, but with the new price point, the design is aimed at a slightly older demographic, one that will actually care about this sort of thing.
As final proof that the Boxee Box isn't going to sell well, I'd buy one, even at the new price. It triggers geeklust in me. The very last tech-thing I bought was a Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver replica (Matt Smith version). Does that sound like a real market exists?
Who is John Cabal?
*glances at my popbox*
*sighs*
"Update: We just learned that Amazon will be selling it for $199, though the MSRP will remain $229.
At a rendezvous in San Francisco, Avner Ronen told us the decision to abandon Tegra 2 was about performance and nothing more: "The major problem we had with the Tegra 2 was support for high-profile HD playback," he said. "You can do high-profile VC-1 with Tegra 2, but not H.264." It was a problem of bitrate, he told us, and while NVIDIA's dual-core Tegra T20 was apparently not up to the task, the team had internally tested Intel's CE4100 decoding streams at up to 90 megabits per second. The newly revamped Boxee Box is now capable of 1080p H.264 playback at 60fps, and... well, that's actually about it."
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Mine sits vertically behind the TV
Doesn't that make it a pain in the ass to change discs?
I like Boxee, and here's why. I'm not post pubescent (over 25), I have a girlfriend, and I don't fantasize about her. I like her because she is the antidote, the antithesis, the hemlock in the cup to Internet Tough Guyism.
I was surprised to see that, for all its posturing, slashdot really does hold one thing sacred: its "bad muthafucka" image of itself. slashdot really believes that it's frightening, that it's tougher than a Ford Chevy, that it's badass masculinity personified, in a sense. And, before, there were very few ways to disrupt this image, to give it a good hard kick in the shins.
And then Boxee came along. Boxee love is everything slashdot hates - passive, gentle, adorable, sweet. It gives without asking, it loves without asking in return. Instead of being aggressively faux-adult, it's happily faux-childlike. That's why Boxee became a meme - because she DIDN'T want the attention; because she provided no pics (as the slashtards will attest). As a result, Boxee turned into the most successful way to troll the slashtards ever devised. It actually makes the gore and violence and sexism and racism fantards squeal, because it hits them where it hurts - in their image of themselves. How can they be tough, scary guys when their favorite hangout is one long love poem to Boxee love? So that's why I love Boxee - the sound of slashdot's humiliation is sweet music to my ears.
i would never buy one of these because it doesn't do anything that the devices i already own can't do...
you're an idiot.
Which media can't my HTPC linux system play again? Oh yeah wait there isn't any.
Transcode anything it doesn't understand. Simples really. Stupid post ftw.
- http://www.milkme.co.uk
What if you have an older set that doesn't support HDMI, or doesn't support the HDMI handshake? This is something my parents would actually use, but their TV (HD ready Panasonic CRT) doesn't have any HDMI/DVI inputs..
So you make a device that's stackable, and you know that a good number of customers prefer to put their equipment in a cabinet, and yet you blame the customers when they do so, the device creates enough heat to cook it, and it fails?
Problem 1: not enough fans or vents / device designed for too low of a temperature envelope
Problem 2: No hardware fail-safe / device can go into thermal run-away and not shut down before permanent damage is done
I say that lack of very easy fixes for these two problems are *definitely* the manufacturer's fault.
I guess connecting a PC to your TV is simply too complicated? Those HDMI cables can be a real pain, can't they?!
I'll know what someone will say, the mouse and keyboard is too clunky for the living room.
First, you don't need a keyboard for day-to-day use.
Second, a mouse is infinitely better in your living room than a remote.
I have my media mapped as drives. So I can access hundreds of movies or shows with only a few mouse clicks. Using Media Player Classic's scroll-bar I can instantly jump to any portion of the video I want. I can control the volume by simply scrolling the up wheel or down.
By the time you picked up your remote, looked at the remote to find the right buttons to click (you never have to look at a mouse), scrolled and clicked through various menus to finally find what you wanted, I'd have already been watching.
And because I'm using a PC, I can play any format the world gives me and not have to pray and wait for some firmware update.
And one last thing, my computer is whisper quiet, much quieter than my 360 or PS3.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
It's a box right? You don't want it sitting slanted to one side?? Turn it on its side. NOW it'll fit into your AV Cabinet.
Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
Tell that to the mainframe guys.
If you mean digital media, I suggest you look at the one I got -- HV335T. Got mine from New Egg. Awesome device. If I were to complain about it, though, it would be the really plain and really slow user interface. It doesn't play music back randomly. (Seriously, who doesn't turn on the shuffle/random when playing back MP3s?) I get the feeling this thing has a rather weak processor and low amounts of RAM... but it explains the sub $100 price tag (without hard drive). (I still hold out hope that some Linux hacker will build a new menu system and/or create a web interface for it.) Still, it plays everything including bluray images and other high-def content.
But if you mean vinyl records and VHS tapes? Yeesh.... yeah, never.
I lust for the day when every piece of media I have can be played from a single device. I suspect it'll never happen.
Especially because device makers insist on treating interactive media as fundamentally different from books, music, and video.
Maybe it's me but does anyone else think that the design might be off-putting to consumers. It looks like it's missing pieces. Remember consumers judge by first impressions more than technical specs. I remember one lady was flabbergasted that the original iMac wasn't just the monitor. She couldn't believe that it was the whole computer and thought it was magic even though many companies including Apple have been selling all-in-one desktops before.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
They just allow others to make money by selling a missing piece of the cube which will allow to align this shiny new piece with the rest of rectangular feng-shui of one's basement
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
It's called SageTV. Runs on Linux, Windows, MacOS. It will play pratically any format you throw at it and keep chugging. Need to expand to another room well just buy an extender and run it wired or wireless. It is infinitively expandable with plugins and has a strong community of developers and hobbyist to help you along the way. Not to mention the form factor of it's extenders are to work and not be seen.
If it isn't broke, tinker with it till it is!
SGX is a 3D accelerator only. I'm sure there is something in that system that is doing video acceleration, but the SGX isn't it.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
I lust for the day when every piece of media I have can be played from a single device. I suspect it'll never happen.
from thinkgeek:
But what makes the Ultio so special you say? Simply put, it's got everything you want in a digital media player.
so which one is a lie, LIAR?
slashdot = stagnated.
This device's technical specs or price or whether it would fit in your cabinet are all completely irrelevant when it's so damn ugly. Who would look at one and say "I want to put one of those in my living room"?
you're an idiot.
Oops, I take my comment back. It has 3rd USB port sticking out at the "bottom" of the cube, so you cannot put it flat on it.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
I'm not really sure what people see in the boxee box...
The boxee box looks like ass, won't fit anywhere, and it expensive to boot.
Gimme a decently configured Atom Motherboard/CPU combo from the egg and a power supply, and I can throw that into the case of a dead DVD/VCR player to get the same capability in an aesthetically pleasing look. Probably at a cheaper price-point too.
Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
Second, a mouse is infinitely better in your living room than a remote.
I think many people would disagree with "better". A mouse is better at a computer interface than a remote but most people don't want a computer interface when dealing with a media center. If you're watching a show and you decide to fast forward, how do you do that with a mouse? Program alternate buttons? Also with a mouse you need some sort of surface. Some people don't have coffee tables or end tables and that's how they like it. Most consumers use remotes because it's rather simplified. A mouse while workable isn't what they want.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Does anyone know if I can use the Boxee Box as a torrent seedbox? It'd be nice to have it download torrents and let me powerdown my laptop overnight. I'd also like to use it as a NAS so I can plug in a couple of 1TB drives and access the media from my laptop and maybe even an Apple Airplay device.
Where in a rackmount in a datacenter? Ooooh, you mean "out of sight".
That said, I'd like to have a bluetooth remote for my (future) HTPC... Can you get anything like it, I searched a bit but didn't find anything. Most seems to be infra-red and using a cellphone isn't ideal.
You lost me at Passive, gentle , adorable,
Am I feeding the paid boxee marketing troll ?
- Dan
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
"A mouse is better at a computer interface than a remote but most people don't want a computer interface when dealing with a media center"
But a computer in your living room necessarily is a computer interface. So what's the problem. And I don't care what "most people" think or want. Most people are idiots.
"If you're watching a show and you decide to fast forward, how do you do that with a mouse?"
God, can't you read?! I specifically addressed that. You use the scroll bar feature on the bottom of Media Player Classic.
"Also with a mouse you need some sort of surface."
The arm of the chair. Next to me on the couch. My leg. On the floor. We keep two blu-tooth mice around like remotes.
"Most consumers use remotes because it's rather simplified."
I've already explained how using a mouse is more simple. I can double click an icon on my "desktop" it opens and I have access to hundreds of movies. I then use the scroll wheel to find the one I want, double click it, and I'm watching. I can quickly skip through using the scroll bar on the button and not have to waste time fast forwarding or rewinding.
So I can access hundreds of movies or shows in under ten seconds. How fast could you do that with a remote?
"A mouse while workable isn't what they want."
Once again, I don't care what they want, but at least you agree that it's "workable."
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
I'd really like to see Plex hacked onto this device myself. Not all that keen on the boxee interface,but the Plex and XBMC interfaces are much nicer, esp with the skins available. Of course, with plex's recent announcement of a partnership with LG, maybe we'll see a dedicated box from LG too? david
Yes. It looks dorky and self-obsolescing.
The solution: throw it behind the media center and run an IR-extender cable to it.
Yeah, I noticed my homophone slip up the instant I hit submit but by then it was too late.
As for the remote, would something like this work? I realize it's branded for Vista but I would think the drivers for a PC remote would be standardized by now. It's not Bluetooth but it is RF so you shouldn't need line of sight, I imagine there are similar solutions using RF out there, that's just the first one I found.
The medication isn't working like it used to.
hey, give him credit for trying his hand at an original troll. At least it isn't ancient GNAA copypasta.
All IR devices can be hidden. IR repeaters have been available for 30 years
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
boxee is a well known (alleged) girl on the internet.
I'm marked "troll" because I succinctly defended my opinions? Is this what Slashdot has been reduced to?! God, I miss the old days before Digg.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
is a hell of a drug.
I prefer the open source PS3 Media Server myself.
I lust for the day when every piece of media I have can be played from a single device. I suspect it'll never happen.
Um, I bought a Mac Mini in 2006 that does exactly that.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
I've got an HTPC setup myself... I use boxee mainly with an MCE remote, and a wireless keyboard (when needed). I've been considering switching out to a general device, and if it weren't for my utter despising of Sony, would probably go the PS3 + TVersity route. The 360 works too, but the PS3 adds BluRay. I've done 360 + TVersity, and it works pretty well. I do prefer Boxee over about everything else at this point, but do wish that some of the apps were a bit better consolidated, and the feeds worked a bit faster in some of them... The Revision 3 app is about the best one available... I've never gotten much use out of the "friends" portion of Boxee though, and don't really care to broadcast everything I watch (I disable this). Just adding some worthless commentary to the fray. One thing I do want to do as soon as it's available is order the separate remote.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
I for one initially thought it was some weird marketing idea from Boxxy.
I was hopeful until I was enlightened.
---jstlook ---For that is the way of Elves, for they say both yes AND no, and mean every word of it. --- J.R.R.T.
So, if my memory serves me, the CE4100 is basically a single core atom, fairly low clocked, paired with a GMA500-ish IGP for high definition video acceleration. Intel's driver support for the GMA500 absolutely sucks a mountain of ass through capillary tubing, since they didn't actually design the thing or get the rights to make an OSS driver for it on any reasonable timescale. The GMA950 and later are minimally capable; but at least X works.
At $229, The Boxee Box is starting to compare dangerously poorly with an EEE Top, or any of the other basic Atom Nettops, paired with a broadcom "crystalHD" video accelerator. Or, for just a bit more, you can get one of the dual core atom/CULV units, with a decent slab of RAM and have web browsing and modest multitasking actually work properly.
If they had stayed with the power-sipping ARM concept, they would have had something modestly interesting. The CE4100, though, makes them just another atom design, and there are already plenty of good ones out there.
Considering most home A/V devices take in air from the sides (or sometimes top) that would be awfully difficult to do.
I tried to use Boxee on the Mini attached to my TV for a good month before giving up in frustration - it was buggy as hell, crashed daily, refused to recognize any of my media without them being named in a maddeningly specific way and without them being organized in a manner that IMDB would be able to parse without any manual override. Practically every fix required a keyboard and mouse to implement which completely defeats my assumption of how a media center is supposed to work.
I'm assuming they've fixed these problems? Because as it stands, you'd be flat-out nuts to lay down 200 bucks for something like that.
But a computer in your living room necessarily is a computer interface. So what's the problem. And I don't care what "most people" think or want. Most people are idiots.
A consumer device needs to cater to consumers, not you specifically. Remember most people can't tell the difference between xfs and X Windows. And they don't care. Technically the best efficient computer UI for me is a command line for me. But I don't think that is the best for everyone.
God, can't you read?! I specifically addressed that. You use the scroll bar feature on the bottom of Media Player Classic.
I didn't see that but can you see how most people don't want to do that?
I've already explained how using a mouse is more simple. I can double click an icon on my "desktop" it opens and I have access to hundreds of movies. I then use the scroll wheel to find the one I want, double click it, and I'm watching. I can quickly skip through using the scroll bar on the button and not have to waste time fast forwarding or rewinding.
Many people abhor computers. Putting a desktop on their TV is only going to turn them away from it. It might be less efficient that using a desktop to search hundreds of movies but what would be more efficient would be a command line. I however think a command line would really turn off consumers.
Once again, I don't care what they want, but at least you agree that it's "workable."
Again, you fall back to the same disregard of people. This is supposed to be a consumer device.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Is an awesome device. It can play just about any format you throw at it -- avi/mp4/mkv m2ts etc. It has a remote control. It connects to external usb hard drives. It networks. It can stream youtube. It's only about $140. It outputs HDMI. Seriously, when a 20GB "unofficial" blu-ray rip of Avatar looks flawless on this thing, you know you've got a good thing going.
A bit of cunningly placed aluminium foil is an effective and far cheaper alternative.
How the fuck is discussing the summary offtopic?
so a device takes in air from the top you say? and another expels hot air out of it's bottom... and you're saying it would be awfully difficult to line those up by stacking them?
i bet you're great in bed... "sorry hun, that'd be awfully difficult to do"
Wasn't MythTV headed down this path for many years? The "all in one" solution...
Is that project dead now, replaced by all these other alternatives? I've used MythTV successfully for about 4 or 5 years, but I was thinking it's time to reinvest in my setup. Just not sure what's the best solution.
I don't think I'm looking to do anything too unconventional: DVR functionality, Music Jukebox, etc. Ideally it would be HD capable (mine isn't currently HD), and I like the idea of pulling stuff from the internet (besides just schedule information) - why not integrate with torrent downloading for the ultimate music and video library?
My question - do I even screw with MythTV anymore, or move onto something new?
NOT MAKE THE DEVICE FIT BEHIND THE DOORS.
i'm not saying it's the right thing to do, i'm responding to an idiot that dramatically stated "WHY OH WHY" when there are many obvious logical reasons.
Where do I get the separately-sold remote as was promised so many months ago?
Only speak when it improves the silence.
but then where do you hide the IR repeater?
You're such a geek. I am too, but I have a family of non-geeks - techincally savvy, but non-geeks nonetheless. Do you have a power button on your mouse for the amplifier and TV? To switch sources (say, to a DirecTV box)? Is your volume button labeled for your guests (grandma, the babysitter?). IS the scroll button ALWAYS the volume, or does it change when your program focus changes? If it does, is there an indication how to get volume focus back?
And because I'm using a PC, I can play any format the world gives me and not have to pray and wait for some firmware update.
That's my favorite. Really? I've never had a PC that can play any format without my manually finding and installing a the new codec. And some of them don't always work quite right. Or they break something else. Or they have an unusual dependency you have to go find. Sure, it CAN be done, but each time I think this is a good idea, it usually means 4-8 hours of screwing around to get it right. I've found it better to just recode the offending file if I need it.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Why would I pay $229 for a Boxee when I can pay just an extra $30 more and get a Dell Zino which is a full powered PC that will not only run Boxee but anything else I might need (VLC, XBMC, Flash, ...)
For $229 I get some piece of hardware that can only run Boxee. Some new service comes out and I get to wait months or forever until someone decides to make a Boxee version. Or I could just use a PC and not have to wait.
I love Boxee the software. I use it everyday. But Boxee the hardware sounds like a losing proposition. Heck, the Zino even has a DVD drive and an optional Blu-ray and far more powerful GPU.
I thought everyone was being cruel to the design when I read about it. Having just looked at the design what were they thinking? Did they take some LSD and thought "hey, lets design the Boxee case now".
Even the Nintendo Wii looks sane compared to this and that was a bit odd when standing upright in its base. Even the original PS3 bread bin looks attractive.
Certainly one to pass on I think. My Mac Mini fits on a shelf and at times I forget its there.
I keep seeing stuff that was supposed to use it postponed, cancelled, switching SOCs... Is there a big flaw, a resistant bug, a big customer who bought all the supply ?
I smell a rat. And dirty SOCs.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
"A consumer device needs to cater to consumers, not you specifically."
But I've already shown how a mouse is better. The fact that people don't recognize that is irrelevant.
"I didn't see that but can you see how most people don't want to do that?"
Why would most people not want to do that. With a remote you have to look at it and find the fast forward button, click it, and then wait and wait and wait.
With a mouse and scroll bar you just move the mouse to where you want to be and then click. You're instantly half way through the movie. That's objectively better.
"It might be less efficient that using a desktop to search hundreds of movies but what would be more efficient would be a command line"
How can you justify saying a "command line" would be more efficently to wade through hundreds of movies and hundreds of shows.
I specifically explained how fast using a mouse is to access my media. I asked anyone how they could access their media faster or more efficiently using a remote. No one has done that yet.
I'll just add, I've been using a PC connected to my TV since 1999. I've wasted a lot of time and money using numerous interfaces to access my media. A PC/mouse combination is the best.
Close your eyes, imagine how easy it would be simply mouse clicking to what you want, and then imagine doing the same thing with a clunky remote.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
I don't care what "most people" think or want. Most people are idiots.
is most likely why you were modded Troll. I am guessing that "most people" apparently don't like to be called idiots.
"But this one goes to 11!"
You're a remarkably awful troll. Either that, or just incredibly immature.
Worst form factor ever.
Behind the tinfoil
GENERATION O98346: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig and remove a random number from the generation. T
It's yet another example of form over function. One thing I hate about my forty two inch Trinitron is you can't put anything on top of it, while thirty five years ago you could put all sorts of crap on a twenty five inch console, and they didn't even have VCRs back then. Lots of people put the stereo on top of the TV in those days.
That Boxee thing is ugly as sin to boot. Damn it, what foolishness are the design schools teaching these days? Or did these idiots even go to design school? The first rule of design is "form follows function." Making your device's form take away from its functionality is not only ignorant, it's just plain stupid. It's a media player, not a piece of sculpture.
I don't want one. With the case designed that badly, how good could the designe of what it does be?
Free Martian Whores!
Second, a mouse is infinitely better in your living room than a remote.
you must have the most uncomfortable couch on the planet if you can use a mouse on it.
uh... so I turn it on its side, what did that gain me exactly?
Its a cube. It is also taller than many other components in most TV stands which are modeled to hold dvd players; most are slim; and receivers/av which stack nicely with other components.
This device is just odd for odd's sake. At least the new Apple TV is black meaning I no longer have to work to hide it, it blends now.
There just is no point in making this device in the shape it is. Its more gimmick than anything else.
Oh, Amazon sells it for $199 and has the dimensions and pictures
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038JE07O
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Yeah, idiots tend to think that way. If I were reading that, I'd naturally assume I was not one of the idiots.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Nope, it's soft and comfortable. Go out and get a new blu-tooth laser mouse. As long as the surface is not shiny, it works.
Or sandy, it probably wouldn't work in sand. But most people don't have sand in their living rooms. So it's a moot point.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
And the disadvantage of the PS3 is its lack of proper Audio codec support for streaming media. None of the software solutions can stream DTS-HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD.
I've found that it works better in some ways, but worse in others.
Sometimes my PS3 has trouble finding it, while TVersity never has that problem. TVersity's use of bandwidth is also far more efficient, even if I crank the quality way the hell down on PS3MS--high quality standard-definition movies will halt frequently to buffer with PS3 Media Server over my 802.11G wireless network, while TVersity can usually play 720p over the same connection with only rare hiccups.
On the other hand, TVersity doesn't always like to transcode files, sometimes simply telling me the format is not supported, and PS3 Media Server has better thumbnail capabilities.
Overall, I'll take the watchable TVersity over the often unwatchable PS3MS. If I ever get around to running a cable from the router in the basement to the PS3 upstairs, though, I'll probably switch.
I got a reply from someone at Boxee R&D. "You will be able to share a storage device that is connected to it via samba."
If I were reading that, I'd naturally assume I was not one of the idiots.
Then you must be too big of an idiot to catch the insult. You said you don't care that most people don't want a mouse for their TV...most people are idiots. Although you can mince words and claim you didn't technically say so, there is a VERY strong suggestion in your post that anyone who doesn't want a mouse for their TV is an idiot. I don't want a mouse for my TV. You essentially called me an idiot.
That case/box/cabinet/whatever is about the worst design I've seen in a long time. Did these jokers attend the Microsoft School of Compatability and Interoperability? It won't fit in a cabinet unless it's all by itself. It won't fit well in a component rack. It's too fat to slide behind anything. It's too wide to stand on edge. Ugly color green too. Thanks but I think I'll stick with my Revo and XBMC which I can cleanly hide behind my TV cabinet using its VESA mounting plate.
Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
While I use TVersity with both my 360 and my PS3 (depends on which one is turned on when we decide to watch something), in my experience TVersity works with the 360 far more frequently than the PS3. I find that with my PS3, I often have to stop the sharing service before turning it on, then have to enable sharing after the PS3 is booted up.
Never had to do that with the 360 ::knock on wood::
Living With a Nerd
Boxee is a fork of XBMC with social networking addons much like what Apple has just been credit for inventing.
The Boxee box would be a nice box if not for it's "we aren't going to let you put anything else in the media cabinet" approach to design.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
"there is a VERY strong suggestion in your post that anyone who doesn't want a mouse for their TV is an idiot."
If that's how you interpret what I wrote, then I do deserve to be modded as troll. However, that was not my intent at all. My point was that in my experience, and as I've objectively explained, using a PC/Mouse combination is better. I've asked people to offer me a better solution, but no one ever has. (I've brought this up before. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1686750&cid=32578802 )
The fact that people irrationally believe that a remote is better than a mouse is completely meaningless to me. Subjective opinions do not change facts.
I guess instead of idiots I should have called them ignoramuses.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
I have never seen an A/V component take in air from the top/bottom and spit it out the directly opposite side (the bottom/top, respectively). It could certainly happen, but the fact of the matter is that anyone designing something to be sat on a shelf would certainly see the flaw with it sitting on it's own vent, even if they weren't envisioning a whole stack of such devices. No, most ventilation happens 'out the back'; with air feeding in from the front or sides. This is typical thanks to the desire to keep the fan pointed away from the user to improve the ambient noise metric.
I stand by my insistence that any company making a TV accessory not ready to take into account someone turning it on and putting it inside one of the many popular TV cabinets that have no active cooling is downright negligent and they should be ready to warranty their products when they fail.
The simplicity and low cost involved in using a thermal cutoff circuit is *amazing*. Anyone designing a several-hundred-dollar piece of electronic equipment is absolutely a failure at life if they overlook that. Hell, there probably IS one inside the Boxee Box (considering it has an Intel chip at it's core) and you are just here arguing so you can score cred with your troll buddies.
> Second, a mouse is infinitely better in your living room than a remote.
No it isn't.
If your HTPC interface can't be effectively dealt with with a few cursor keys than it's a failure.
For stuff beyond the basics, it's nice to have appropriately labeled buttons on a remote that's already recognizable to most people TV/VCR/DVD/PVR.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
>> "A consumer device needs to cater to consumers, not you specifically."
>
> But I've already shown how a mouse is better. The fact that people don't recognize that is irrelevant.
No you haven't you've just shown a strong bias and a readiness to insult people.
A wii-mote makes a cool TV interface. A real mouse does not.
Any HTPC interface should be fairly simple and navigable without a mouse.
I am someone willing to modify his own HTPC software and I don't want to sit down on the couch with PC controls.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
> I've never had a PC that can play any format without my manually finding and
> installing a the new codec. And some of them don't always work quite right.
> Or they break something else. Or they have an unusual dependency you have to go find.
Perhaps you need a better OS. Perhaps one that has tools built in to address these sorts of problems, or a better underlying multi-media architecture.
It sounds like you've been fighting with MCE.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
The Amazon website specs say it's b/g/n capable, but that's it. Anyone know if its dual band?
"A consumer device needs to cater to consumers, not you specifically."
But I've already shown how a mouse is better.
You've put forward your argument about why a mouse is better. Some might or might not agree with that argument.
The fact that people don't recognize that is irrelevant.
No, you're about as wrong as you could be- it's completely relevant if you actually want to sell the device to consumers! If people don't like it, they won't buy it. Which is the whole damn point of a consumer product(!)
This applies regardless of whether that dislike is irrational or not.
You're free to hold the opinion that "most people are idiots", but if you disregard their opinion as "irrelevant" without even trying to convince them otherwise, you won't sell anything to them... even if they *are* idiots.
Though in this case, it's more likely that they just hold a different opinion, and your "I know what's best" attitude is simply arrogance promoting your personal preference as absolute fact and dismissing everyone else.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Moreover, my experience with D-Link switches and routers has been that they tend to die from overheating, rather than any other cause.
I want to see machines following two parallel paths. Same internals in each, of course. I want to see an XBox 360, PS3, Boxee (or whatever) that looks ugly, can't stack for shit and has all these pointy lines or curves, and another device that is just as wide as my amplifier and is 10" or whatever deep with holes all over the place for good ventilation.
If you want to sell to children who have a table to put the thing on, fine. I have an entertainment center. I won't make room for some stupid form factor machine, unless it can be put out of the way (Wii). My DVD player, CD player, amplifier, etc. all sit in a nice stack. The way the XBox slim and PS3 slim were artfully redesigned on the inside makes it more than apparent that I should be able to buy one of those that's mounted properly in a stackable device with the fans pointed back. Not some kludge metal box that has the same game chassis inside, but a real front with the indicators and buttons on the front and real jacks on the back.
I live in a beach hut, you insensitive clod!
it's the height of a can of soda....it'll fit just fine in the cabinet. everyone acts like this thing is the size of a PC. It'll fit in the cabinet just fine. plus it's got an RF remote. put it wherever the hell you want.
That said, I'd like to have a bluetooth remote for my (future) HTPC... Can you get anything like it, I searched a bit but didn't find anything. Most seems to be infra-red and using a cellphone isn't ideal.
Check out the snapstream firefly . It's RF (not bluetooth), but if avoiding line of sight is your objective, then it will fit the bill. Works quite well with MythTV, and I've messed about with it on Windows (but not MCE) as well. My one complaint (and a fundamental one that I should have considered first) is that I can't control my tv with it. Next time, I'll get a single, converged remote.
Take off every 'sig' for great justice.
"If you're watching a show and you decide to fast forward, how do you do that with a mouse?"
God, can't you read?! I specifically addressed that. You use the scroll bar feature on the bottom of Media Player Classic.
Possibly, you're marked troll because every response begins by insulting the other person in the conversation. Your method of fast-forwarding requires to sit up, grab the mouse or place it on a mouseable surface, move it to expose the Media Player Classic interface, and twiddle the scroll bar. The remote method requires to press a button on a device that's likely already in your hand.
"Most consumers use remotes because it's rather simplified."
I've already explained how using a mouse is more simple. I can double click an icon on my "desktop" it opens and I have access to hundreds of movies. I then use the scroll wheel to find the one I want, double click it, and I'm watching. I can quickly skip through using the scroll bar on the button and not have to waste time fast forwarding or rewinding.
Your use of "More Simple" seems to involve a lot of different clicks, mouse moves, and scrolling. Some people consider "simple" to mean press "Enter" and "Down" until you get what you want. "fast" and "simple" are not the same. In fact, they're often antagonistic.
Hot air doesn't rise because of osmosis. Osmosis is the phenomenon of solvent crossing a semi-permeable membrane.
We had this same debate when this was first announced. This thing is tiny. It's not designed to sit in a rack, it's designed to perch anywhere you want, you've probably got ornaments or a pile of books/CDs/DVDs/remotes near your TV that take up more space than this.
But I've already shown how a mouse is better. The fact that people don't recognize that is irrelevant.
It must be frustrating being you, having all the right answers -- hell, proving them yourself! -- and having all those idiot people refuse to see your infinite wisdom.
IMHO, if a mouse was somehow better, chances are they would be much more widespread than they are now. Because despite your 10+ years of HTPC expertise, my guess is that the people who work at all the various consumer electronics and computer companies know a thing or two about home theater and have probably concluded that a mouse has some fatal flaw or other that prevents them from adopting it.
Personally, while I can see some of the wisdom of a mouse for very menu-heavy stuff, I don't really feel like I'm missing one. An actual keyboard (or a slide-out one like some phones) would make more sense, but the basic remote works very well for Tivo even if spelling stuff out is tedious.
The Boxee boxshape reminds me of the 2001-2005 era Nintendo Gamecube after a saw accident.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Maybe this question has already been addressed, but can someone explain to me WHY I would want a Boxee over say, Hulu, the upcoming GoogleTV box, a PS3/Wii, etc? What's the upshot? Why would I choose one over the other?
I realize that its a bit of a loaded question as everyone has their preference, but what I'm looking for is an objective feature-by-feature comparsion and figured Slashdotter's were the folks to ask.
Thanks and cheers!
Or do you have LP's?
Will they sell me the remote?
Is it bluetooth?
Maybe it can go the way of Phantom, and they will just sell the accessory, with no real product, I hope at least.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
The fact that people irrationally believe that a remote is better than a mouse is completely meaningless to me. Subjective opinions do not change facts.
That you believe in your subjective opinion to such an extent that you think it is a "fact" does not change the fact it is a subjective opinion.
I don't think that you're a troll- I think that you genuinely *are* that arrogant, and blinkered as a consequence.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
I use a Playstation 3 remote with one of my MythTV frontends. It took a bit of fiddling to get it working, but once it was paired up and the right software was installed, it works pretty well. Cost for the remote and a Bluetooth dongle (if you don't already have one) should be about $30.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
What if you want to watch a movie on BluRay?
No, its small and awkwardly sized (hard to put it to the side of a shelf, etc). The new Apple TV is tiny. There's a difference.
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
Indeed. I don't know how big the intersection is of /. and 4chan readers...but it made me laugh.
...they should have sold both an obnoxious version and another version that plays nice with your other components.
They did.
And this was your second error.
so it's my fault you don't look at any A/V components? or understand OSMOSIS? hot air rises.. when one component is on top of another you can obviously see what happens.
you are NOTHING
Wow. No. Convection, Entropy, Second law of Thermodynamics, Archimedes' principle... All these things would have been accurate. Osmosis? Not at all.
Of course the kernel in there is true; hot air indeed does rise. How does this affect the Boxee Box? Let's see, they designed it so that if it encountered other devices in a stack, it would indeed have to be the thing *on top* of everything else. If they were interested, as you insist, on keeping it cool; they would have designed it to have a large footprint and flat top that it would have to be placed at the *bottom* of the stack.
Feel free to throw out another badly planned, mostly wrong argument, and don't forget the petty insult at the end. This is fun.
Boxee. When I was a kid, I FUCKED him. And my mom took a picture.
http://byyourcommand.net/photogallery/albums/Battlestar-Photo-Concept-Art/BSG_Boxy_Muffy.jpg
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
Never used media remote to fast forward a show/movie. Mouse clicking on a progress bar is much quicker and controlled. I use piece of carton with old rubber pad as portable flat surface for the mouse. Patented: attach media remote as a handle to this pad!
Lucky for you, they said it uses an RF remote. At least the engineers realized that no one would want to look at this crazy box the designers came up with and added a workaround. Shove it wherever you want, and enjoy the awesome remote.
At the risk of possibly being redundant, I must point out that the remote is RF rather than IR, so you are free to put it in a cabinet. It is a truncated 4.5 inch cube. It is very small.
yes, and [osmosis] is also the diffusion of molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration....
you're an idiot.
No, no it really isn't. I suggest you actually look it up before throwing around the "idiot" tag. It's actually very specifically the movement of water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane. Both of those parts of the definition are important. This is compared to diffusion, which just requires a concentration gradient (ie, no membrane required, and the particles in question are not specifically water molecules).
Alternatively you can borrow my shovel if you want to keep digging that hole you're in.
What are you smoking and where can I get some?
No, you were marked troll because while you might be succinct with your valid opinion, you put it across like a petulant teenager. The only thing missing was calling anything you dislike "gay" while proclaiming your superior (to you) opinion.
The reason slashdot has been "reduced to" the state it is in is *exactly* because of posts like yours (and I suppose, like mine right here, since I am barely hiding my contempt for such an idiotic reply in response to an obvious moderation decision). Pot, meet kettle.
My All-In-Wonder Pro from 10+ years ago came with an RF remote that used a USB RF receiver. I don't know what frequency they used (probably the same 2.4 GHz), but it worked great through walls and such.
Learn to love Alaska
Lucky? All that means is that it will be impossible to get a universal remote to run everything. Or are there RF/Bluetooth/IP universal remotes I haven't seen running around?
Learn to love Alaska
I bet the ladies just love you.
like a plastic stand for the boxee box, that completes the missing corner, so it at least sits up like a regular cube looking thing..
or is that their plan to finish the box with the the eventual external USB or e-SATA drive attachment to store more content like a PVR.?
To fast froward on my latop based HTPC, all I need to do is place the mouse over the timeline and use the scoll wheel. This was the standard setup of VLC. Easy!
Logitech's Harmony 900 does RF according to the blurb on their website. Nothing about Bluetooth though. Oh, and it retails for $400... ouch.
The people complaining that there is no way that this will ever fit into their entertainment cabinets appear to be misinformed.
“Rest assured the Boxee Box will fit into your entertainment center. If the look doesn’t quite fit with your decor, not to worry. The RF remote means you can place the box out of sight and still control it. Of course, the Boxee Box prefers being on top.” http://mashable.com/2009/12/09/boxee-box-2/
It's no taller than a can of Coke. If you don't appreciate the design, you can hide it. It uses an RF remote and Wireless N. No line of site is necessary.
I read through and it appears that the 900 can't control the PS3 directly, but you can get a separate dongle that you put in the PS3 and the 900 can give commands through that. I guess for the Wii and others with USB ports, that's one way to do it, but you'd be buying a separate dongle for every RF controlled device you have, and that seems to be the popular thing now.
Learn to love Alaska
Even if it is tiny, the arrangement of the sockets means there is no neat way of arranging the cables which is what most of us struggle with. It's bad enough having a USB stick in the front of a Xbox 360 but at least it's pointing towards you. Can you imagine having flailing cables in this thing?
My woodwork teacher extolled the virtues of identifying face-side and face-edge - the remaining sides being those that the eye would not see. It is the same with current A/V equipment where the hidden sides house the sockets and conceal the inevitable mess of cables.
Perhaps it is a cunning plan to sell 'addons' at the point of sale such as 90 degree USB cable, 37 degree optical audio and 16 degree HDMI - all as a pack for only $200!
I tried the Boxee software some time ago, and while I was impressed, there was just enough stuff wrong with it to render it unusable crap. I presume they'll be running the same stuff on the Box?
Refused to index any of my movies past the ones beginning with 'P'. Didn't have a way for me to correct any mistakes it made in auto-identifying the movies. Didn't have proper brightness/contrast adjustments for video. Refused to index 99% of my MP3's.
Anyone know if these have been fixed?
Dyolf Knip
Have you ever looked at any home theater equipment? The bottom is nearly always filled with components, no room there to exhaust heat, not to mention how impractical that would be.
you're an idiot.
Please exercise some reading comprehension before you go around calling people idiots. Notice I stated all the equipment I had seen not all equipment in existence. You also ignored where I said that regardless of that exhausting hot air out the bottom is completely impractical which is still true.
Calling people idiots and trying to display your "intellectual superiority" on the internet just comes across as childish. If you want to be taken seriously you should change your approach.
you're an idiot.
I for one want to see more devices that stay 100% out-of-the-fucking-way. Let me hide it in a low profile cabinet. Let me mount it BEHIND my TV if I want. I bought the TV to look at the TV... I bought your device, TO KEEP LOOKING AT THE TV. Sigh.
The Boxee Box uses an RF remote. Feel free to hide the box behind the TV if that's your preference.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
ur mum's face is smoking