Boxee Box Lives!

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
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Rumor was circulating that because of the constant delays, Boxee Box was actually vaporware. Well it’s real and will be available in November. Available for preorder now.

Though it's been talked about for almost two years, Boxee Box has managed to arrive just in time to compete with both Apple's revamped Apple TV set-top box, and Google's new take on Internet video and TV, called Google TV.
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So the only settop box that was going to use tegra 2 switched to Atom?

Way to go nvidia.

I hope at least it based on Ion.
 
Their site is pretty void of actual technical info.. But if it will support gigabit ethernet speeds and ergo stream my blu-ray content from my NAS without me having to compress the shit out of it then i'll be tossing my Popcorn Hour A-200 in the trash for sure.
 
If you care at all about playing back HD media you have stored on your network (BD backups/TV caps), this is not for you.

Get a real media tank like the Popcorn Hour or one of the hundreds of its clones. Nothing quite like full lvl5.1 1080p support in MKV containers.
 
That's a terrible write-up. What happened was that they found Nvidia Tegra2 to be far too weak and threw it out in favour for some Atom setup. I believe Tegra2 handled 1080p acceleration, which is what we all want, but only up to 10mbps, and now they have what they want.
 
Tegra2 thrown out because it only handled vc1 codec fine, h264 it lacked on which is prob over half the bluray files out there. The intel is able to provide in testing over 90mb versus 10 from tegra. So far, 100mb port is enabled duno if that is software locked down. So far this box is the only piece that actually delivers what it promises on paper. We will see how well firmware updates are handled. So far this will devour the popcorn in everything. I have the a110 and cannot wait to upgrade.
 
hackztor said:
Tegra2 thrown out because it only handled vc1 codec fine, h264 it lacked on which is prob over half the bluray files out there. The intel is able to provide in testing over 90mb versus 10 from tegra. So far, 100mb port is enabled duno if that is software locked down. So far this box is the only piece that actually delivers what it promises on paper. We will see how well firmware updates are handled. So far this will devour the popcorn in everything. I have the a110 and cannot wait to upgrade.
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Hope so, I like my A-200 but it just doesn't pull files fast enough for me to make me happy :( ive tried all differenc combinations of settings and methods but I just can't get my BD content to look good and NOT stutter at the shitty throughput of the PCH Ethernet. On the local HDD it's golden,,, but i want everything on my NAS.
 
I feel like this missed its chance by not releasing earlier, but maybe there's a market for this as well...I'm just not sure I'm part of it anymore.
 
Do you need to adhere to some random x264 encoder settings to play files on this thing? I don't really know how most of my files were encoded. If I were to buy this thing is is going to be like 1/2 my movies might not play? Typical 8-12GB/movie@1080p mkv files.

Using laptop + hdmi + wireless mouse works but it'd be nice to have this thing to free up the laptop.
 
Stoly said:
So the only settop box that was going to use tegra 2 switched to Atom?

Way to go nvidia.

I hope at least it based on Ion.
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No, its based on Intel's SOC. tegra just crapped out at 1080p and flash. itels chip does both nicely according to reports.

the egg is def on Nvidia's face here, they had to push their production way back having to scrap tegra at the last minute.
 
Poor nVidia. You have AMD Fusion and ATI's Sandy Bridge coming out....and now it seems Tegra2 can't even do full-hd video playback at a reasonable bit-rate/bandwidth.
 
WBurchnall said:
Poor nVidia. You have AMD Fusion and ATI's Sandy Bridge coming out....and now it seems Tegra2 can't even do full-hd video playback at a reasonable bit-rate/bandwidth.
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I think Intel will sue if the ressurected ATI do their own sandy bridge (which is the stupidest name ever). Tegra can do full HD playback, just not all codecs.
 
I downloaded the software version and been playing around with it and so far I really like it. My main quistion is if a video file plays in the software version does that mean it will play it on the hardware version. If it does than I will be adding this to my Christmas wishlist. I have been wanting to get a NAS for my media files and this is just another reason to do so. Would be nice to watch a video on My TV without having to go thru my computer.

So many quistions so little time :D
 
PS. I love the Remote, will have to see how it works in real life however!
 
Sweet Lord! What is up with all the misinformation on this thread? Have any of y'all actually used Boxee before?

First of all, Anandtech's article explains this way better than the crappy CNet link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3912/boxee-box-the-inside-story


But if it will support gigabit ethernet speeds and ergo stream my blu-ray content from my NAS without me having to compress the shit out of it then I'll be tossing my Popcorn Hour A-200 in the trash for sure.
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According to the specs, its got a 10/100 NIC but that should be sufficient to play BluRay quality content from your NAS.

If you care at all about playing back HD media you have stored on your network (BD backups/TV caps), this is not for you.
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I disagree completely. I would argue that if all you care about is playing back HD media over your network, Boxee is EXACTLY what you want! I have had no troubles whatsoever playing HD content to my Aspire Revo running Boxee for the past few months.

Do you need to adhere to some random x264 encoder settings to play files on this thing?
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It should play pretty much anything you throw at it. Ive played all sorts of content, mostly 1080p mkv files all with all sorts of different bit rates and settings used when I ripped them. They've all worked just fine.
 
I was really looking forward to this product some months ago, hopefully it will live up to its billing and be worth it...might make a nice christmas present :D
 
Yep I think I will be using these as satellite devices for my parents home and then a HTPC on the main tv and a NAS or WHS serving teverything. Boxee has a really nice front, but I will make my final decision when it is finally out.
 
DeathPrincess said:
I think Intel will sue if the ressurected ATI do their own sandy bridge (which is the stupidest name ever). Tegra can do full HD playback, just not all codecs.
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I think that was a misquote. AMD/ATI has a fusion chip, intel has sandy bridge. and tegra being able to do 1080p under a limited set of conditions doesn't count as being able to do for something like Boxee. in short Nvidia could not deliver on their claims and Boxee was stuck dumping them right before mass production. http://www.anandtech.com/show/3912/boxee-box-the-inside-story
 
Stoly said:
So the only settop box that was going to use tegra 2 switched to Atom?

Way to go nvidia.

I hope at least it based on Ion.
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Do your homework.. Tegra is meant for ultra low power embedded uses... not for powercorded set top boxes. Of course Tegra, which is designed to give you battery life in a mobile phone, won't be as powerful as a processor that is designed to feed off a wall socket..
 
BlueStorm said:
Do your homework.. Tegra is meant for ultra low power embedded uses... not for powercorded set top boxes. Of course Tegra, which is designed to give you battery life in a mobile phone, won't be as powerful as a processor that is designed to feed off a wall socket..
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One of the reasons D-Link just dropped Tegra2 was because of power draw.


Phone, indeed.
 
jeremyshaw said:
One of the reasons D-Link just dropped Tegra2 was because of power draw.


Phone, indeed.
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The only reason it was dropped was because it couldn't do h.264 high profile.. it isn't fast enough *BECAUSE* it's a mobile processor.

There was no mention of power.. why do you say that?
 
BlueStorm said:
The only reason it was dropped was because it couldn't do h.264 high profile.. it isn't fast enough *BECAUSE* it's a mobile processor.

There was no mention of power.. why do you say that?
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wow, you're fast, lol. Sorry.
 
jeremyshaw said:
wow, you're fast, lol. Sorry.
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lol yup.

I think their discussion was basically "well we have this low power processor in there meant for mobile use with low power draw.. but our device is plugged into a wall and we are limited on the processing power because of the processor's intended use.. so let's step it up to an Atom level of power draw to get the decode rate we want to support...

Just a different class of device. Nothing wrong with either of them... in order to use decoding on Ion they would've had to have a separate CPU anyway which would add cost. So they probably wanted either a CPU or a CPU with a free GPU built in.
 
BlueStorm said:
lol yup.

I think their discussion was basically "well we have this low power processor in there meant for mobile use with low power draw.. but our device is plugged into a wall and we are limited on the processing power because of the processor's intended use.. so let's step it up to an Atom level of power draw to get the decode rate we want to support...

Just a different class of device. Nothing wrong with either of them... in order to use decoding on Ion they would've had to have a separate CPU anyway which would add cost. So they probably wanted either a CPU or a CPU with a free GPU built in.
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Yeah, I can see a pure decoding/network ASIC wasn't enough for tham, lol.

IMO, as of right now, MS has a perfect chance to get the xbox running, and Sony has a perfect chance to get the PS3 running. CoreAVC already shows that software codecs on the CPU can work, and both the xbox 360 and PS3 are no slouches when it comes to the CPU.
 
aaaaaaannnnnndddd.... I am way off topic, again.

Would this device be good as a general websurfing machine? If so, it's replacing my ancient Via C3 ITX comp I have attached to my TV. I know it's supposed to have at least enough browing capability to get to major media sites, but can it go further? Like use it's remote/KB to post on forums, for instance?
 
BlueStorm said:
lol yup.

I think their discussion was basically "well we have this low power processor in there meant for mobile use with low power draw.. but our device is plugged into a wall and we are limited on the processing power because of the processor's intended use.. so let's step it up to an Atom level of power draw to get the decode rate we want to support...

Just a different class of device. Nothing wrong with either of them... in order to use decoding on Ion they would've had to have a separate CPU anyway which would add cost. So they probably wanted either a CPU or a CPU with a free GPU built in.
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Well the rub here may be that they were told it would work. this implies it at any rate. I have to wonder though, you think they would have known the limitations from the start
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3912/boxee-box-the-inside-story/2
 
BlueStorm said:
Do your homework.. Tegra is meant for ultra low power embedded uses... not for powercorded set top boxes. Of course Tegra, which is designed to give you battery life in a mobile phone, won't be as powerful as a processor that is designed to feed off a wall socket..
Click to expand...

Tegra IS designed also for set top boxes. even 1st gen tegra was targeted for it, but no one used it.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra_internet_tv.html

Next time you do your homework,at least do it right. :D

BTW nvidia still list the boxee box as using Tegra lol.
 
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