Boxee Box Tricked Me! It's Terrible Junk!

[LocalMediaFan]

So I bought this box the play movies I have on my computer mkv etc. I wanted a beautiful interface showing movie / TV show cover art which boxee could download etc and organize. I wanted to stream 1080p wirelessly from my network and I also wanted to see you tube in hi def and use the keyboard remote.

I think that's what most of us wanted and Boxee totally failed to deliver!

This junky box cant connect to my wireless network.
It will not recognize a 64 gig flash drive with movies on it but my o!play air does...
Even if I connect using Ethernet the movie titles that are web based take about 20 mins to load and look very poor.

I am going to return this mostly because I feel totally lied to and abused this is worse than the popbox!

[zorlan]

What the hell are you talking about man? Rant supreme! First of all, I can't believe you even own a 64GB flash drive. Second of all why would you ever expect web content to play like local content? You tube should not be the reason you bought the boxee box...period. Are you talking about watching all youtube content in high def? If you are...that is impossible. That content has to be recorded in hi def in order to watch it in hi def. I don't watch you tube, but my guess is most of you tube is not even in hi def....so how can you possibly blame the boxee box? Maybe its time for a network upgrade. Many people always want to blame the streamer for network problems, which is what I think you have... when in fact it is the ISP service, the router and modem, interference in the home...etc....

[LocalMediaFan]

What the hell are you talking about man? Rant supreme! First of all, I can't believe you even own a 64GB flash drive. Second of all why would you ever expect web content to play like local content? You tube should not be the reason to by the boxee box...period. Maybe its time for a network upgrade. Many people always want to blame the streamer when in fact it is either the ISP service or their router and modem. It could even be a combination of the two.

What the Hell am I am talking about? Seriously you are asking me that? I never said I wanted web content to play like local content so what the hell are u talkin bout? My network is perfect and I was looking for a product that worked better than the O!play Air. The Boxee box advertised it would when in fact it is an epic Fail...like your post...

[judgeschambers]

What the Hell am I am talking about? Seriously you are asking me that? I never said I wanted web content to play like local content so what the hell are u talkin bout? My network is perfect and I was looking for a product that worked better than the O!play Air. The Boxee box advertised it would when in fact it is an epic Fail...like your post...

zorlan,

See what I mean....

[lukad]

Not to sound like an elitist or anything, but given the infancy of web tv on the whole, many consumers will be sorely disappointed when they come to understand the disconnect between the quality of content and the quality of the platform they're trying to access it on.

[growlf]

He actually used the Boxee Beta on a real machine (I have it on a 2010 Mac Mini with whole house HDMI distribution) and knows what the experience could be.

Those who keep saying that this is somehow an acceptable user experience have quite obviously never run the boxee beta on a decent system. Better access to local media, way faster response, waaaay better online content streaming.

I wanted the Boxee Box because of screenshots that indicated it would support refresh rate switching based on the source material. The beta can't do this. The Boxee Box does allow it, but that's about the area where it doesn't come up way short against the beta.

[zorlan]

zorlan,

See what I mean....

LOL.

Yeah...he doesn't even say specifically what the problem is. I just got mad because these types of posts are clogging this forum with nonsense and I have to filter through it all.

[judgeschambers]

Well, I'd not be so harsh on him. Besides, it will just provoke additional rants. He is free to speak his mind on a first post and all. Though his post filled with "specifically vague" points. (disclaimer--don't mean that in a negative way)

Would be nice if there were more details explaining each issue in detail

[jmilum]

First of all, I can't believe you even own a 64GB flash drive.

I have one, but I am out of town and away from my bbox this weekend. I'll try to replicate this issue when I get home.

[padrino]

I am a huge Boxee fan but I have to agree strongly with the OP. I even wrote my own Boxee app and looked forward to getting it onto my HDTV. But much like so many other apps, it does not work well on this "Boxee Box". It works really well on Boxee on my PC but not on the Boxee Box.

I have to say, this hardware/software combination (Boxee Box) is one the worst consumer product experiences that I have had. As much as I would like to be patient and optimistic, there are simply too many issues to turn a blind eye. Unless they come out with the worlds best software patch EVER, this thing will be going back. I guess they don't have much time.

My issues (and I keep finding more and more)...

1 - Sound Cuts out after opening apps (i.e. Chuck TV Show) which opens in the web browser of course.

2 - Many "shows" open in the browser and can not be maximized without doing it by hand with the remote (not a solution).

3 - Many of the apps (and yes I am talking official Boxee lists Apps) do not even show up on the Boxee Interface (i.e. Giant Bomb).

4 - Many of the apps video windows don't come up at all.

5 - Its rather slow to boot, bring up a window, etc. And I have compared it to other streaming servers like PlayOn and its much, much slower for some reason. Just very sluggish in general.

6 - The new interface is less intuitive and much less configurable than the PC version.

7 - The remote is really not good at all. Grey letters on a black keyboard with no lighting? Buttons are flush, feel cheap, and its hard to know where they are. There is very little tactile response.

8 - Just bugs, bugs, bugs, every turn I take. Things don't load, when they do the video does not play full screen, or at all, or with the right aspect ration, etc, etc, etc. Yes there are a few things that work well. But so many things are just not working yet.

Basically, the idea of using the Webkit backend just is not ready for prime time and I wonder if more and more sites will continue to block methods used in Webkit to bring up videos full screen. Seems like many apps and stream sources are already blocked. When will this get better? Maybe these things are working on the PC or maybe they use different methods but its not working yet on the hardware.

What really upsets me is that the Boxee team let this thing be released. There is simply no way this thing is ready. Its more than 50% broken and any review that says otherwise is not a competent review. I know the Boxee team is capable of putting out a good product (Boxee on PC) but I think they just dropped the ball here to get this thing out the door in the same timeframe as Roku, Apple, Google, etc. From what I have seen, these other boxes have serious issues as well but I am nearly at the end of my patience with HTPC/IPTV devices that just don't work. And now we have a new one.

I also find it rather misleading that so many features, streams, and functionality have either been removed or are now completely broken. And I am not talking about Hulu and Netflix. I am talking about the displayed TV shows and Apps that come with the device. My main reason to get this thing was for Web Streaming content of free and add-driven video and for this purpose, its simply not working well enough.

Ok, I will stop my rant. I was just so looking forward to a device that would really bring internet TV into reality. One shining example (even on Boxee Box) is the the Revision 3 App. Of course that is probably because Revision 3 understands how internet TV can work. Until more providers figure this whole thing out, I don't think even the Boxee Box can make internet streaming to your living room a great experience. In the long run, they may just get it right, but I don't think I should spend $200 and wait for it to happen.