Anyone using the Boxee digital media player?

[editor]

Here's what it claims to do:

The Boxee Box by D-Link brings all the stuff you normally watch on a computer to your TV; movies and TV programmes streamed from the Internet, 400 different apps that let you access content from most popular websites, and a full web browser just in case we missed anything. The Boxee Box will also help you rediscover your own media collection by automatically identifying all the files on a hard drive or home network and then building a stunning visual media library for you. And just so you don’t end up watching the same stuff over and over, the Boxee Box pulls recommendations from your friends on Facebook and Twitter to help you discover new favourites. All this plus a unique QWERTY remote so you can search, login, and browse with ease.

Unlimited content
If you can watch it on your computer’s Internet browser, you can watch it on your flat screen TV with the Boxee Box. The Boxee Browser is similar to IE or Firefox, but optimised to create an intuitive Internet experience with our QWERTY remote on your HDTV, seamlessly. The Boxee Box delivers all your favourite web-videos and we -only content, no matter how obscure they may be, straight to your TV set.

Say goodbye to files and folders. Say hello to Boxee
Not only does the Boxee Box give you access to TV shows and movies from all over the Internet, it takes your personal video, picture and music files from a hard drive or home network to your HDTV. Whether it’s MP3, MP4, .jpeg, .avi, .mkv – the Boxee Box works with virtually any file type – if you can create it, the Boxee Box will play it. Tell Boxee where your media is stored, and it will automatically identify and download all relevant artwork and info to simplify your digital collection. Start navigating your personal library with big, colourful thumbnail photos that you can access with a remote. Your friends will be impressed, maybe even a bit jealous.

Watch Video in Stunning HD, The Way It Was Meant To Be
The Boxee Box supports full HD 1080p with 5.1 surround sound so you can experience any video from the web or your home network exactly the way it was meant to be, all from the comfort of your sofa. No PC required.

The Boxee Box is part of the Smart TV revolution
The Boxee Box uses Intel’s advanced Atom Processor, which allows it to playback nearly any HD video file format with crystal clarity. We’ve worked closely with Intel on their Smart TV program to ensure the Boxee Box meets all their criteria for the TV experience of the future – limitless Internet video, easy search, social features and so much more.

It's £189 from eBuyer. http://www.ebuyer.com/240638-d-link-boxee-box-digital-media-player-dsm-380

Anyone using one?

 

[grit]

Haven't used their official device but have it installed on a laptop connected to the television, its pretty good.

 

[Crispy]

You can install the software yourself and try it out. It's ultimately a fork of Xbox Media Center, of which there are many. I use Plex, which is built for OSX and it's very nice.

 

[editor]

You can install the software yourself and try it out. It's ultimately a fork of Xbox Media Center, of which there are many. I use Plex, which is built for OSX and it's very nice.

I've got a Drobo unit which can be used for this kind of thing, but needs plug-ins to make them work. I took a look at the Fuppes plug in and it looked horribly spoddy to set up.

 

[Crispy]

The drobo software is nowhere near the same level of sophistication. Regardless, Boxee will be able to connect to your drobo (USB or network) and index your media (including fetching metadata). A warning about that though - if you have poorly named files, eg:

F:\Media\TV\Police Squad\
s01e01 - A Substantial Gift.avi
s01e02 - Ring of Fear.avi
s01e03 - The Butler Did It.avi
episode4.avi
Rendezvous at Big Gulch.avi
Testim~1.avi

Then it's likely to only index the first three episodes, unless you rename the files and do a re-scan. It doesn't have a folder/file browser so you have to do this with any media it doesn't recognise.

 

[editor]

Cheers for that. I'm still pondering over how best to sort out a proper media thingy for my house. At the moment it seems daft having two PVRs and separate, unconnected music files/CD players etc scattered all over the shop.

 

[joustmaster]

Haven't used their official device but have it installed on a laptop connected to the television, its pretty good.

Me too.
It does a good job of working out what films and series of tv I have on the computer and the iPhone and Android remote controls are easy to use.
Even the Mrs uses it

 

[Crispy]

PS: The plugin you linked to is not required - DLNA is a protocol for serving up media, but Boxee can just connect to any local or network drive. The database of metadata and file locations is maintained on the boxee box (or PC running boxee) itself.

 

[sim667]

You can install the software yourself and try it out. It's ultimately a fork of Xbox Media Center, of which there are many. I use Plex, which is built for OSX and it's very nice.

Do you know if its possible to run plex media server on a NAS? Ive got 2 apple tv's with plex on that currently WOL my mac pro when they need access but I'd much rather run a lower power NAS.

 

[Crispy]

Do you know if its possible to run plex media server on a NAS? Ive got 2 apple tv's with plex on that currently WOL my mac pro when they need access but I'd much rather run a lower power NAS.

No. Plex requires an OSX computer for the server part. You could use a mac mini as the server, for lower power. That's what I'd like to do, with a fat USB drive plugged into the mini and also use it as the main playback device on the TV. Then have ipad and imac as clients.

 

[sim667]

Mini's are just too expensive for that alone..
Ill stick using the mac pro, and I use my ipad, apple tv's and an iphone (via VPN when im out) as the clients

 

[Crispy]

Mini's are just too expensive for that alone..
Ill stick using the mac pro, and I use my ipad, apple tv's and an iphone (via VPN when im out) as the clients

Appropriately specced ones go for under £300 on gumtree. Added bonus of having a DVD drive I can't convince myself it's worth the money though, just to watch TV in a nice way.

 

[sim667]

Appropriately specced ones go for under £300 on gumtree. Added bonus of having a DVD drive I can't convince myself it's worth the money though, just to watch TV in a nice way.

My view exactly, however if it had an HDMI in and a blu ray burner too I'd be all over it for 300

 

[bmd]

Just had a look at the Endgadget and Gizmodo reviews and they aren't exactly glowing. I use a Squeezebox with a plugcomputer attached to a 1GB hard drive as a server for the music and a Mede8er for video files. I haven't really worked out a good solution for web stuff through tv yet. My tv has a lan connection but for some reason the connection drops and when it does iPlayer closes and I have to fuck about finding where I was again, so I just torrent whatever tv I've missed.

I love the handset for the Squeezebox Duet and the fact that it has Spotify but then certain AV amps have that and Youtube etc now but the interface isn't as good as the Squeezebox Duet. I can leave the plug computer on 24/7 as it draws very little power and the hard drive just spins up when I'm playing music off it, which isn't very often as I use Spotify for most of my music these days.

The Mede8er just does what it is supposed to, plays any format apart from proper Bluray rips. I have a 2.5" 1GB external hard drive attached to it and a 1GB internal too. I used to stream over a wired network but have moved house and until I set up the wired thing again I just transfer the movies from my pc to the Mede8er via the 2.5" drive.

It would be great if I could get all this functionality in one box but the Boxee doesn't look like it. Any tried the Google TV box?

 

[editor]

Just had a look at the Endgadget and Gizmodo reviews and they aren't exactly glowing.

That's because the US version is an entirely different kettle of fish, as the rave review in Wired explains:

The good news is -- should you be living in the UK -- the wait has been entirely worth it. The Boxee Box takes all the good aspects of Boxee: a clean, intuitive UI and class leading codec support, and packages it in one of the most innovative media player designs we've seen. Yes it may be just a cube with a corner cut off, but it does look fantastic under your TV...

By now you'll be thinking: so why the transatlantic divide in opinion? In short it all comes down to the Boxee Box's second major feature: online content. In the US Boxee has so far failed to agree terms with the leading content providers so the omission of Hulu, Amazon, Fancast and others make it little more than a glorified media streamer. In the UK, however, it has deals in place with the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5 as well as ad-supported movie services (with many titles in HD) meaning you'll be able to jump from Father Ted to Fifth Gear to The Fifth Element in the blink of an eye.

What's more, the Boxee Box platform is open to third party developers and over 130 "apps" are currently available to UK owners giving access to popular websites and services including Last.fm, YouTube, Flickr, The Onion and even Wired. While locked by default, even adult themed apps can be accessed such as YouPorn and Suicide Girls. Given all this online content it is worth pointing out a small piece of design genius: the Boxee Box remote has a full Qwerty keyboard on its rear making searching for content a breeze.

Also worthy of praise is the "Friends" feed, a stream that ties together all the media shared by your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz into a single stream you can browse and watch at your leisure. It's like having a social TV channel...

Conclusion
Brits may get stiffed on pricing, but the Boxee Box is a winner in every other way. Codec support is immense, the interface is easy to use, there is a lot of online content and the app and firmware support suggests it will continue to improve week on week, month on month. We're not fans of trite sound bites, but the Boxee Box really is the media player Apple should have built.

http://www.wired.co.uk/reviews/tvs-and-home-cinema/2010-12/d-link-boxee-box-uk?page=all

 

[Crispy]

I'd buy one if it also did live transcoding for streaming to ipad. But it doesn't

 

[editor]

The more I read about Boxee, the more I'm inclined to buy one.

Five Star review
Verdict:
It supports tons of file formats and has access to hundreds of online services, making the best media streamer we've seen."
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/media-streamers/1281118/d-link-boxee-box

Boxee Is The Apple TV Killer We've Been Waiting For
Apple only allows you to play content from iTunes, meaning you have to buy everything from them or convert your video ahead of time.
That's a pain.
Boxee, on the other hand, is plug and play. We had no problem getting it to recognize our USB external hard drive and playing everything from .avi to .mp4 files. You can also play files over your wireless network.
For that reason alone, we think Boxee is a much better device than the Apple TV if you have movies on your network saved in several different formats.
On the down side, the menu system is a bit difficult to use. And the clunky remote doesn't make it much easier. You have to hit the "menu" button several times to go back to the starting point. We suggest downloading the iPhone or Android app that will let you control Boxee from your phone instead.
Now that Boxee has finally added Netflix, its library of apps is almost complete. We're still waiting for Hulu Plus, but there are over 170 other apps to choose from including Pandora, AP News, and Flickr.
http://www.businessinsider.com/boxee-box-review-2011-2

Macworld - 5 stars
http://www.businessinsider.com/boxee-box-review-2011-2

 

[mack]

Gonna give the software a test running on my laptop tonight, already got the phone remote

 

[joustmaster]

The more I read about Boxee, the more I'm inclined to buy one.



Macworld - 5 stars
http://www.businessinsider.com/boxee-box-review-2011-2

It is pretty neat. But i often end up just reverting back to using windows on the big tv..

 

[mack]

Hmmm, the software for windows is old, iplayer doesn't work, there is supposed to be an update in "the fall". It looks quite nice and is easy to navigate. Think I'll come back to it in a couple of months. Gonna try out the XBMC next.

 

[netbob]

I tried Boxee, but the interface is a bit annoying. Ended up with a macmini running Plex + EyeTV.

 

[editor]

I tried Boxee, but the interface is a bit annoying. Ended up with a macmini running Plex + EyeTV.

Mac Minis are a *lot* more expensive!

 

[netbob]

It's worth installing the Boxee software and having a play about with, it's nearly really good, but I found it very clunky when you actually try and use the thing. Plus the iPlayer and Spotify apps werent working when I last checked, and those were the main things I was after.

Yep mac mini is tres expensive - although I didnt get it just for watching TV on (it's for backup and various other bits and bobs, so actually worked out cheaper).

It looks like a PC version of Plex is on the way, or apparently you can install it on a jailbroken Apple TV (£99).

 

[editor]

Plus the iPlayer and Spotify apps werent working when I last checked, and those were the main things I was after.

Boxee updated the iPlayer app in June and most of the user reviews seem positive about it, although I'm going to see if I can blag a review model to check it out for myself. I'm currently having to access iPlayer in the lounge via the Wii and that's as clunky as fuck.

I really can't be arsed to start jailbreaking things just to make them work really and I don't want a PC humming away when I'm watching TV!

 

[Crispy]

Boxee updated the iPlayer app in June and most of the user reviews seem positive about it, although I'm going to see if I can blag a review model to check it out for myself. I'm currently having to access iPlayer in the lounge via the Wii and that's as clunky as fuck.

I really can't be arsed to start jailbreaking things just to make them work really and I don't want a PC humming away when I'm watching TV!

Jailbreak?

Just download the Boxee software from boxee.tv and try it out on your computer.

 

[editor]

Jailbreak?

Read memespring's post.

 

[Crispy]

I know. But you said it like that was an impediment against you trying out boxee

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Appropriately specced ones go for under £300 on gumtree. Added bonus of having a DVD drive I can't convince myself it's worth the money though, just to watch TV in a nice way.

Tempting, I'm presently ripping my entire DVD collection so I can go mostly digital within 18 months (music and books are already there, games still have some way to go) and am just beginning to think about in house media networking solutions...

 

[editor]

I know. But you said it like that was an impediment against you trying out boxee

That's not what I meant, but no problem.

 

[Crispy]

So, download it and try it out