Purchasing a BB this weekend...can I avoid current version problems?

[BrianP]

Hi,

I was planning on picking up a BB this weekend. But I've seen recent reviews on BestBuy.ca that it's not working properly and people seem unhappy with their purchase. I've also seen here in the forums that the problems seem to be from the latest update.

Based on the BB software I've been trying on my macbook I like it very much. I will be using it mostly to watch popular TV shows. I'm not interested in using in with other content like USB drives and streaming from other computers.

So...my question is will it work for me? Will I need to manually install a specific update other than the latest to make it work? I'm ok with that, just need to know which one.

Thanks for your help.
Brian

[jebise]

How are you planning on watching the TV Shows, download them or just go to the TV show from the library and watch it on the content owners site?

If you want to watch it on the network that airs it it really on depends on them, when they release the show on the site, what flash player they are using and also that is if they don't block Boxee.

[Ronald]

Hi,

I was planning on picking up a BB this weekend. But I've seen recent reviews on BestBuy.ca that it's not working properly and people seem unhappy with their purchase. I've also seen here in the forums that the problems seem to be from the latest update.

Based on the BB software I've been trying on my macbook I like it very much. I will be using it mostly to watch popular TV shows. I'm not interested in using in with other content like USB drives and streaming from other computers.

So...my question is will it work for me? Will I need to manually install a specific update other than the latest to make it work? I'm ok with that, just need to know which one.

Since the latest firmware version works fine for me, there is no reason to assume it will fail for a new user like yourself. But also, since some others do have a problem with this version, you too might need to revert to an older version.

That is not at all hard to do, and has been addressed a large number of times before in these forums. So if/when you find you have a problem with the current (or a future) firmware, there is plenty of advice available on how to avoid such problems by using another version.

Best regards: Ronald

[BrianP]

How are you planning on watching the TV Shows, download them or just go to the TV show from the library and watch it on the content owners site?

Yes just from the library.

Thank for the replies everyone.

Brian

[jdarnold]

Just remember - you usually only read about complaints in forums or on review web sites, never the many that it "just works" for. And I'll bet the latter number is still way higher than the former one.

[jasmeet_9sb]

First of all buy it from Futureshop, if there is one in your area, coz they have 30 days return policy as opposed to 15 days at Bestbuy. If you're not going to use it for streaming on network, you must be fine with latest update, other than some flash player update problems as the current firmware doesn't have latest version of flash and some websites are using that.
However a major fw update is scheduled for next month or so, which would solve major bugs and possibly a new UI, so I'll say go ahead buy it and see if it's upto your expectation If you encounter any issue, post it here !!

[jebise]

Yes just from the library.

Thank for the replies everyone.

Brian

Yes so it all depends on the content owner, and frankly that's what i bought the BBox for also but don't find myself viewing them on the content site because of these issue and things like not able to pause using the remote button or fast forward or rewind etc.

Yes they work on some sites and when it does it works well.

[twistybox]

Based on the BB software I've been trying on my macbook I like it very much.

The Box might as well be a completely different product. Don't base your opinion on the old desktop software.

I will be using it mostly to watch popular TV shows. I'm not interested in using in with other content like USB drives and streaming from other computers.

If I'm being honest, you should probably get a different product, like perhaps a Roku, which is designed, and priced, for the small feature set it offers. Personally I think the Roku is overpriced, but it's still quite significantly lower priced than a Boxee Box.

So...my question is will it work for me?

This product is truly one that fits into the old saying, "Your Mileage May Vary." You won't know until you try it at your location. Follow the advice to buy from a store that has a generous and no-questions asked return policy.

There are a great many issues that can be worked around by changing local settings and files, but nonetheless pretty much everything you see that has a Jira ticket signifies a real issue with the Boxee software. Many people are not affected by the issues, or not bothered, but they exist and they've been confirmed by a large percentage of the customers in the forum and generally by Boxee staff.

The Boxee Box is still the best product of its kind. And its biggest strength is most definitely playback of local media (that which you have on your local drives/network).

[judgeschambers]

Just remember - you usually only read about complaints in forums or on review web sites, never the many that it "just works" for. And I'll bet the latter number is still way higher than the former one.

I'd have to agree. I've been testing boxee PC and now bbox for a total of 3 yrs now. I've had some things not work right in the veeeeeerrrry early days and even then it was isolated due to a specific file or odd ass codec or something. Not at its root. Though, there are some functionalities that users have experienced with file types or configs that do give it less than desirable results... but again....not at it's root.

On that note, my BBox, even my early one has worked pretty damn good. So, with the H264, avi and mkv files "I USE," I've had no real issues.