Media Streamers and Hubs Guide

Compare This

Patriot Box Office

28 Feb 2011

The Patriot Box Office is a Full-HD media player that supports most of the popular media formats and allows the installation of a 2.5-inch HDD.

Tags: patriot, media players, patriot box office

Filter by Manufacturers

HWZ's Overall Rating: 7.5

Design:

7.5

Performance:

Features:

7.5

Value:

Good build quality

Compatible with many media formats

Accepts a 2.5-inch HDD

Limited functionality

Bare UI

No Internet services/ widgets

<div id="product-review" class="article">
			<h2 class="header-green">Patriot Box Office - Will It Be a Box Office Hit?</h2>
		<span class="byline">Reviewed by Hafeez Sim on Monday, 21 Mar 2011</span>
		<div class="share">
	<div
		id="addthis_div_519c531d2babd" 
		class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style"
		addthis:url="http://www.hardwarezone.com/review-patriot-box-office-will-it-be-box-office-hit"		addthis:title="Patriot Box Office - Will It Be a Box Office Hit?"	>
		<a class="addthis_button_google_plusone" g:plusone:count="false"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_facebook"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_twitter"></a>
		
		<a class="addthis_button_email"></a>
	</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 		//AddThis thing
		addthis_share = window.addthis_share || {};
		addthis_share.url_transforms = {
			add: {
				utm_source: 'addthis',
				utm_medium: 'referral',
				utm_campaign: 'addthis',
				utm_content: 'Patriot%2BBox%2BOffice%2B-%2BWill%2BIt%2BBe%2Ba%2BBox%2BOffice%2BHit%3F'
			}
		}
		
		addthis_config = window.addthis_config || {};
		addthis_config.data_track_clickback = true;
		addthis_config.data_ga_property = 'UA-166763-1';
		//window.addthis && addthis.toolbox (".addthis_toolbox");
		 
	});
//]]>
</script>		<div class="content resizeable">
						<div id="page-1" class="page">
		 		<h2 class="page-title">Introduction &amp; Design</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">A Boxy Start</h3>
<p>Today, we've a variety of consumer products from TVs to set-top boxes that can manage and play media content. However, the capability of these devices are still a work in progress and it could be a hit or miss affair other than for the most common media formats. As such, most enthusiasts are better off investing in a dedicated media player to handle a variety of formats if you're not the sort to build and maintain a HTPC. Patriot, who's more famous for memory and flash product solutions has interestingly offered the Box Office as their petite media player solution. But does small mean anything when it's the hardware and software inside that make or break the player? We shall see if it is a box office success or flop.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="286" width="494" alt="" title="The Patriot Box Office Media Player." src="/files/images/BO1.jpg" /></p>
<p>As we handled the Box Office, we noted it possesses a plastic facade that is encased in aluminum, giving it a sturdy and expensive feel that would also seem to suggest it costs more than its US$92 retail price. We also wondered if the decision to use aluminum was because the aluminum will help in dissipating heat better than a plastic casing, where plastic is the usual choice for most other media players. In our professional opinion, we think the choice of the aluminum material was more of a need to give the product some class and better aesthetics since it was a seriously simple looking product. Sadly, this minimalism goes beyond just appearances as we shall soon share more with you. There's a single USB port located at the front, while the rest of the I/O ports are located behind.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="319" width="495" alt="" src="/files/images/BO2.jpg" title="Sleek and cool. It's literally cool to the touch with the aluminum casing." /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="236" width="495" src="/files/images/BO3.jpg" title="Simple facade with the Patriot logo and a small logo that the player can tackle full HD content." alt="" /></p>
<p>On the rear of the player, we saw an almost standard set of I/O&nbsp;ports. The ports include composite output, an HDMI port, optical audio output, a USB port, an Ethernet port and surprise, a mini UBS port! We were also surprised to see a power switch located above the HDMI port, which allows you to switch the player off completely if you don&rsquo;t want the unit sapping power while it&rsquo;s in standby mode.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="225" width="500" alt="" src="/files/images/BO5.jpg" title="Besides a standard set of outputs like composite, HDMI, optical output and a LAN jack, a power switch and a Mini-USB port surprised us" /></p>
<p class="rteleft">The accompanying remote is sized nicely; fitting into our palms with no problems and  had a nice, slim feel to it. But the remote does have quite a few  buttons, and some may find it too complex for their liking. On the upside, you will be satisfied to know that the buttons  felt responsive. So far, it seems like the Patriot Box Office is aimed at the entry-level media player market, such as the <a href="/product-guide/view/116889/review/128075" target="_blank">ASUS&nbsp;O!Play Mini HD&nbsp;media player</a>.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="440" width="500" src="/files/images/BO4.jpg" title="A tad too many buttons for some some users who expect media players to be simple and straightforward." alt="" /><br />
&nbsp;</p>			</div>
		</div>
			<div class="pagination" >
		<span class="desc">Page 1 of 4</span>
		<ul>
			<li class="prevnext prev"><a href="/review-patriot-box-office-will-it-be-box-office-hit" class="disabled">&lsaquo; Prev</a></li>
			<li class="skip">
				<form id="PageAddForm" method="post" action="/go"><fieldset style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_method" value="POST" /></fieldset>					<select name="data[Page][url]" class="page-selector" id="PageUrl">
<option value="/review-patriot-box-office-will-it-be-box-office-hit" selected="selected">Introduction &amp; Design</option>
<option value="/review-patriot-box-office-will-it-be-box-office-hit/features-59">Features</option>
<option value="/review-patriot-box-office-will-it-be-box-office-hit/performance-67">Performance</option>
<option value="/review-patriot-box-office-will-it-be-box-office-hit/conclusion-423">Conclusion</option>
</select>					<input type="submit" class="submit" value="Go" />				</form>			</li>
			<li class="prevnext next"><a href="/review-patriot-box-office-will-it-be-box-office-hit/features-59" class="">Next &rsaquo;</a></li>
		</ul>
	</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var container = document.getElement ('#product-review'),
			content = container && container.getElement ('.content'),
			pagination = container && container.getElement ('.pagination'),
			form = pagination && pagination.getElement ('form'),
			menu = form && form.getElement ('.page-selector'),
			links = {
				prev: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.prev a'),
				next: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.next a')
			},
			page = -1,
			desc = 'Page {curPage} of {lastPage}'
		;

// Tag as Javascript-enabled
		pagination.addClass ('js');

menu.addEvent ('change', function (e)
		{
			var curPage = this.selectedIndex + 1,
				lastPage = this.length,
				url = this.get ('value'),
				pageContent = container && container.getElement ('.page')
			;

// Disable controls
			menu.set ('disabled', 'disabled').blur ();
			if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', .5);

new Request.HTML ({
				'url': url,
				'method': 'get',
				'link': 'cancel',
				'update': content,
				'onSuccess': function ()
				{
					// Update controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					links.prev
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage > 1)? curPage - 2: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage > 1)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					links.next
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage < lastPage)? curPage: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage < lastPage)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					pagination.getElement ('.desc').set ('text', desc.substitute ({ curPage: curPage, lastPage: lastPage}));

captureIntraLinks ();
					new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement (container);
				},
				'onFailure': function ()
				{
					// Restore controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', 1);
				}
			}).send ();
		});
		$$([links.prev, links.next]).addEvent ('click', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			if (!this.hasClass ('disabled'))
				menu.set ('value', this.get ('href')).fireEvent ('change');
		});
		form.addEvent ('submit', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		})

// Capture all intra-page links and hook to js
		function captureIntraLinks ()
		{
			content.getElements ('a[href^="#"]').flatten().each (function (link)
			{
				var target = link.get ('href').substr (6).trim ();
				if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length)
					link.addEvent ('click', function (e)
					{
						e.stop (); this.blur ();
						menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
						menu.fireEvent ('change');
					});
			});
		}
		captureIntraLinks ();

// Trigger initial pagination state
		var target = location.hash && location.hash.substr (6).trim ();
		if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length && target != page)
		{
			menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>
				<div class="footer">
		
<div class="tags" style="">
	<span class="label" style="">Tags:</span> <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/398-patriot">patriot</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/1745-media-players">media players</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/1803-patriot-box-office">patriot box office</a></div>
		</div>
				</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var section = $('tab-product-content-review'),
			dropdown = section.getElement ('#reviews-list'),
			tId = 0
		;

if (section && dropdown)
		{
			var list = dropdown.getElement ('ul'),
				links = list.getElements ('li a')
			;

dropdown.addClass ('js');
			list.set ('morph', { 'link': 'cancel' });

$$(dropdown, list).addEvents ({
				'mousemove': function ()
				{
					$clear (tId);
				},
				'mouseenter': function ()
				{
					list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 1 });
				},
				'mouseleave': function ()
				{
					tId = function () { list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 0}); }.delay (1000);
				}
			}).fireEvent ('mouseleave');

links.addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				//unescape the 'alt' prooperty
				var o = new Element('i', { 'html': this.get ('alt')});
				new Request.HTML ({
					'url': o.get('text') + '&as=ajax',
					'method': 'get',
					'link': 'cancel',
					'update': section.empty().grab(new Element('div')
						.addClass ('waiter')
						.grab (new Element ('span', {
							text: 'Please wait while we load your article ...'
						}))
					)
				}).send ();
			})

section.getElements ('.footer .comments a').addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($('tab-product-details'));

var href = this.get ('href').match (/#.+$/), target = href && href[0];
				if (target)
					(function () { new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($(target.substr (1))); })
						.delay (3000);

$('tab-product-comments').getChildren ('a')[0].fireEvent ('click');
			})
		}
		if( $$('.image-caption-container').length < 1 )
		{	
			$$('.article .content img[title]').each (function (img)
			{
				// skip if title is empty
				if (!img.get ('title')) return;
			
				new Element ('span', {'class': 'image-caption-container'})
					.addClass (['left', 'right'].contains (img.get ('align'))? img.get ('align'): '')
					.set ('width', img.get ('width'))
					.replaces (img)
					.grab (img)
					.grab (new Element ('div', {
						'class': 'image-caption',
						'html': img.get ('title').trim ()
					}))
				;
				img.erase ('align');
			
				var link = img.getParents ('a');
				if (link) link.addClass ('captioned');
			});
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>

Media Streamers and Hubs Guide

Patriot Box Office

Filter by Manufacturers

You may also be interested in...