Final Thoughts

Information technology's easy to be disquisitional of a product like the Patriot Box Office that is designed to perform many different tasks instead of focusing on being best on a scattering few. To be fair, withal, at $100 it is difficult to ask for everything, specially if yous take been following the HTPC scene over the past twelvemonth or so.

All in all, we are impressed with what Patriot has put together here. It wasn't long ago that devices capable of delivering the level of operation and flexibility demonstrated by the Box Office simply didn't be. This and similar products have raised the bar for what a media player should exist capable of and they really owe it all to the very capable Realtek RTD1073DD SoC.

This is Patriot'southward kickoff try to enter the consumer electronics market, and while it's a very practiced effort, we cannot help but feel they take jumped in the deep terminate get-go. Products similar this demand a great deal of support and already information technology seems the visitor is falling behind some of their competition when information technology comes to firmware updates.

Asus for example has released over half a dozen updates for their Realtek-based media player, the O!Play HDP-R1. Some of these updates have added very useful features such as Cyberspace TV Channels and RSS News, besides as the ability to access online services like Flickr, Picasa and Weather information. In that location are a few things in the works on Patriot's front, merely updates take long and at that place are many things that could use a refresh -- like an improved GUI, a search function, and about importantly, work out the kinks with network support.

When it comes to navigation the Asus O!Play HDP-R1 and Patriot Box Part are virtually identical. They'll both have some time to scroll through a large folder of files, and at the end of the day, neither is ready to supercede more powerful HTPC systems. Withal, they are cheaper, easier to use, and more meaty solutions for media consumption in the living room.

Where the Box Office stands upwards stiff is in its power to play virtually any media codec y'all are probable to come across, and do it well. Patriot'due south digital media player blows about upkeep players out of the water. We were amazed by the clarity of its 1080p playback. In the end that's what information technology's all nearly, being able to play all forms of media with good quality results and at this price.

Update: Although we are non fans of mail-in rebates, there is a substantial one on offer because the price of the Box Office. Amazon and Newegg among other retailers accept rebates that driblet the price of Patriot'south media player to $58 and $65, respectively.