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[JavaLawyer]

I've been thinking of purchasing the Boxee Box. This would be a substantial move for me as I've been sticking with Netgear media players for the past several years.

Does anyone here own the Boxee Box? My main concern is understanding how the device deals with tags and cover art for video files. Netgear stores tags in an external tag file with embedded cover art for each video file. Although I can extract the tag data/cover art for each file, I expect the migration will be a real PITA.

Example:

• file1.iso
• file1.TAG
• file2.iso
• file2.TAG

[FurryNutz]

I have a boxee box however not sure about the tag issue. I mainly watch netflix and watch blu ray files off my file server. I notice that you can download information regarding the movie and cover art if you search for it. It doesn't do it automatically. At least that I know of. I do like it though. Nice little toy for listening to music or video.

[JavaLawyer]

Correct, the Boxee Box can search for a matching title and will insert metadata and cover art from public sources. I'm looking to use my preexisting cover art, but am willing to let the device find the title descriptions, genre, etc. Just not sure how/where the metadata is stored and if there are options (i.e. PC app) for manual editing.

Netgear provides two options: storing the metadata in an external file or saving the metadata in the header of the video file (similar to mp3 tags). The device then saves a master library file permitting quick indexing/searching of the entire media library (video and audio).

[FurryNutz]

Might ask someone over on the boxee forum...lots of activity over there. 

[JavaLawyer]

I'm sure the answer is readily available over in Boxee land. . . too much on my plate to investigate right now, let alone implement and configure everything. . . that's a project for later this year.

[FurryNutz]

 

[kargo27]

Not sure about the slims however I remember in the 1st gens, the arcade version didn't have HDMI. The Elites did. Not sure if the slims did the same thing or not.....

My Arcade had HDMI but I think it had the Falcon chip.  The power adapter was a few volts/watts less as well so it ran cooler than older boxes.

[Hard Harry]

I've been thinking of purchasing the Boxee Box. This would be a substantial move for me as I've been sticking with Netgear media players for the past several years.

Does anyone here own the Boxee Box? My main concern is understanding how the device deals with tags and cover art for video files. Netgear stores tags in an external tag file with embedded cover art for each video file. Although I can extract the tag data/cover art for each file, I expect the migration will be a real PITA.

Example:

• file1.iso
• file1.TAG
• file2.iso
• file2.TAG

I been thinking of buying the Logitech Google TV. Its down to 99$ dollars. I know it didn't get the best reviews, but for 99$ it might be fun just to play with. Its probably not as feature rich as the Boxee, but still pretty cool.

Also, whats the price comparsion between feature/price for the Boxee vs a build your own HTPC? On a side note, MaxiumPC had a decent how-to a month or two ago. Check it out.

[JavaLawyer]

I been thinking of buying the Logitech Google TV. Its down to 99$ dollars. I know it didn't get the best reviews, but for 99$ it might be fun just to play with. Its probably not as feature rich as the Boxee, but still pretty cool.

Yeah, the reviews for Google TV were pretty abysmal. I got the impression that Google quickly threw something together to compete with Apple and some of the other pseudo-mainstream products. Streaming media players were a novelty ~5 years ago, but are now becoming commoditized. From what I've seen, finding a brand that gets the GUI right is very rare and difficult. Designing the GUI for this category of devices is not as simple as you might think given the multipurpose use, remote control-only driven interface, and broad user base (from techie to Grandma).

Netgear does a decent job and offers a good enthusiast box, but Boxee definitely has their act together on many levels. There are a number of other brands that do a somewhat decent job, but it all depends on what you want to use the device for.

Personally, I'm not that interested in access to streaming media from the Internet so much as complete control and flexibility over my video, audio, and image library. Other potential buyers who are more interested in streaming media from the Internet wouldn't necessarily gravitate towards the brands/models that I'm looking at.

[JavaLawyer]

Also, whats the price comparsion between feature/price for the Boxee vs a build your own HTPC? On a side note, MaxiumPC had a decent how-to a month or two ago. Check it out.

Thanks. . . I have a magazine subscription to MaximumPC (Paper magazine? What's that? ). I recall reading that article last year. It's a good DIY project, MaximumPC features a DIY media center project once a year, but since I'm contending with multiple users and multiple rooms, I really need to stick with a robust commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution.

The conundrum is that once a video library reaches a certain size threshold, it's difficult to switch brands unless you're using widely accepted containers and video/audio codecs; a well organized directory structure; and easily portable tags. Video isn't anywhere near the maturity level of audio files in terms of portability between devices and platforms.

[Hard Harry]

I don't know guys..just helped kevchall set up his Asus RT_N56U. Had a DIR-655 I was helping him with, and despite doing EVERYTHING with it, couldn't get Open NAT with his 360. Turns out was a firmware bug in the B1 series. But man, this Asus beast owns. My next router might not be Dlink. ::cringe:: I won't go into all the cool stuff it has unless people ask, because this is a Dlink forum and all, just thought I would mention it. It was fun seeing how someone else does it.

[JavaLawyer]

I don't know guys..just helped kevchall set up his Asus RT_N56U. Had a DIR-655 I was helping him with, and despite doing EVERYTHING with it, couldn't get Open NAT with his 360. Turns out was a firmware bug in the B1 series. But man, this Asus beast owns. My next router might not be Dlink. ::cringe:: I won't go into all the cool stuff it has unless people ask, because this is a Dlink forum and all, just thought I would mention it. It was fun seeing how someone else does it.

There's no moral or ethical conflict with checking out and discussing how other manufacturers approach things -- that's the only way to improve. Each brand has different strengths and weaknesses.

[FurryNutz]

Ya I talked with Kevchall on XBL the other evening. I think we both feel that there could be an issue with the B1 FW however we both feel that the UK ISP systems there are somewhat different and there just could be a possible incompatibility issue between the ISP and that particular model of router there. I have noticed some odd issues once in a while from that region. Over all he is happy that the new router works and doesn't have any ill will towards Dlink. It's just the way things are for him. I would recommend sending a message to one of the Mods on here or the Admin and advise them of it so maybe some could have a looksee as the 655 is still a current model and I believe still under FW development here and there.

Thanks for all your help Harry.  

Can alway feel free to talk about other OEMs.
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=41146.15

I do encourage discussion about other OEMs in general however I don't encourage people bragging about other OEMs over others in regards to bad mouthing OEMs due to personal experiences before we've had a chance to troubleshoot the problem and possibly find the solution.
There are some people who take there emotions out before really thinking about things or asking for help and fly off the handle before the real problem is identified.

[Hard Harry]

Yea, I feel ya. I don't think the issue was the model, but that particular router was defective. What cinched it for me was the logs. They would have complete gibberish in them, which to me says a serious firmware issue. And if you tried to change the log settings, the entire router would reboot. When he sent it back they found it was a defective unit. So that takes the blame away from Dlink design, and puts it more on quality control. I am sure there are lots of DIR-655 out there that work great, he was just unlucky.

On the other hand, his new modem, which I helped set up, showed me some nifty new features I haven't seen before. They include:

1. The ability to use a different SSID for your 2.4ghz and your 5.4ghz. Makes it handy when troubleshooting.
2. A specific application pass-through for Battle.net NAT flags. Anyone that plays Starcraft2...should know that is GOOOOD.
3. Very little changes require reboot. And when they do, it only takes..5-10seconds? Compared to most other routers 30-60. And 90% of the changes I made didn't require anything at all. Made it easy to set up remotely.
4. A QoS system that had options to which the priority was given.
5. A traffic management system that is better then any I have seen short of one running local on a machine. Put's Netgear's one to shame.
6. Ability to download from a torrent seed direct to a USB harddrive on router, the ability to share that USB to all on network, and the ability to FTP into that drive from anywhere in the world. Potent stuff.
7. With QoS off, the NAT turns to hardware mode, using a chip on the board that can handle 100,000 sim sessions. Thats 2-3 more then any other router I have seen.

Don't get me wrong. I still love my DGL...but its starting to show it's age with these new generation routers which are coming out. Even compared to some other Dlink models. I think I may make the switch when I run my new network for my entertainment system. I will still post here ofcourse though :-)

[kargo27]

I think whichever router we get we should all keep our group together.  I think we all get along really well and I enjoy our discussions.