Originally Posted by
rossdret
So everyone seems to talk about how the Boxee Box should be combined with other boxes to make the perfect box.
How does the Boxee Box compare to other Boxes on the market?
A few things that I found is that:
1) Boxee Box seems to be the only box that connects your HD antenna for live TV.
I believe this is true, however how big a deal is this really? It really doesn't add any great functionality you can't already do with your present TV. Most new TVs will do a better job then the dongle anyway as they can pickup both analog and digital channels.
2) Boxee Box has numerous TV media apps (minus hulu plus)
Yes it does
3) Boxee Box has Media Server capability DLNA (although is it working or not??)
Doesn't work at all since version 1.2 (or so)
4) Boxee Box is a digital recording device.
No it isn't. It's just live TV. No DVR functionality like play/pause, record, etc.
I don't see another box out there with this combination. They have almost consolidated everything and you would only have to keep your TV or Receiver on one Video Source. The only problem is that it's buggy to all hell, and Hulu Plus doesn't seem to ever be coming to Boxee.
Yes it has some bugs but it's still a strong little box. I personally wouldn't get caught up on having everything on one input source. Nothing wrong or hard with having live tv on one input (via antenna or cable/fios) and your online/local media on another input to the TV.
Is there even another product out there that competes? And has HD antenna hook up for live tv, TV media aps (mainly netflix and hulu) and Media Server capability DLNA, and DVR capability?
With the exception of the Live TV the 3rd generation WD Live TV box is also a good purchase. As already mentioned it's $99 list. Here are what I'd consider the major Pros and Cons of the WD Live TV compared to the BB.
Pros
It Plays every movie type I've thrown at it just as the BB does. It typically plays movies a bit smoother then the BB does.
It has better Wifi support. Files that are to big for the BB and cause lots of buffering on the BB play just fine on the WD Live TV box over Wifi.
Does not require talking back to the "server" like BB does. All information is stored locally.
Movie and TV Show information is stored locally on the local drives. It makes editing if needed extremely easy. You can completely control what is shown. You can also add your own "info" for home movies, etc.
If you have multiple WD Live TVs they also share the same "database" since it's file based.
Has working DLNA. This allows you to run programs on a PC like PlayOn which can add further content to your little box and allows scraping of content. Can also use DLNA to access a Plex server or any other DLNA server.
Allows you to change the theme used. There are 6 or so built in ones. Most are better then the plain looking default with the "grass theme". Can also d/l user created themes.
Has better audio and picture support as this has for the most part been abandoned by Boxee. (not a big deal to me).
Lots less bugs then Boxee. The WD Live TV just works and works well compared to the Boxee.
Cons
Interface is OK but not as nice as the BB is. BB has a nice User Interface.
It doesn't have the scrapers built in like BB does. In other words you won't have a built in media library for movies and TV shows like on the BB for ONLINE content. Or have the ability to have the box automatically add the latest "Big Bang Theory" episode to your library before you download it (not a big deal for me).
Has decent amount of APPs but you can't d/l from repositories and add 3rd party apps. (see dlna/playon above)
Wrap Up
The WD Live TV is a strong contender and maybe even a better choice for many. What it gives up with lack of apps it gains by having a good working DLNA system which allows you to use software like PlayOn which can be setup to gather a whole lot of content.
You have more control of your media since everything is file based so you can use external scrapers to download movies and shows and add them to your local library with meta info and cover art.
Depending on how you layout your local libraries the WD Live TV can be better. For example if you have a drive setup like this:
Movies -all movies/films go here
Classic Movies
Favorite Movies
TV Shows (sub directories for shows)
Home Movies
Kids Movies
Kids TV Shows
Recorded Shows (assuming you have a DVR setup like Beyond TV, SageTV, etc)
Then when you go into the videos you get that structure. I like this because all movies aren't in one spot. For example you can easily get to kids movies and only have kids movies or keep them out of your "typical" viewing menu structure so as an adult you aren't tripping over them.
You can do the same building directories for Classic movies (ie Wizzard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, etc). Stuff you don't mind having but don't want to get in the way during daily use. Same with Favorite movies. If you have movies your family tends to watch over and over you can add them to a directory to make them quick to find.
So each of these boxes has pros and cons and each can be setup to do what you want for the most part with a little thought. IMHO the WD Live TV is the only other box at present worth considering for the "average" person.
Carlo
Last edited by cayars; April 18th, 2012 at 07:48 AM.
Devices Boxee Box: March 5th release, Ethernet / WD Live (Gen 3) via 802.11n
Internet: Verizon FIOS and Comcast Internet (both active)
LAN: Wired Gigabit and Netgear, Verizon, Belkin Wireless Routers
Storage: WD NAS(s) & Windows Server(s) (2012) 10TB
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