Patriot Black PBO Core Box Office All-in-one 1080p Full HD Media Player with HDMI PCMPBO25

Pros: It plays everything I give at it. Doesn't take up space. USB front ports. Use this over my PS3 as a media player and Roku for netflix

Cons: No downsides. It's been solid for almost 2 years of ownership.

Pros: * Great Interface
* Internal HDD

Cons: * Wire and Wireless LAN Connections are SLOW
* Will not work with modern TVs (HDMI)

Other Thoughts: This unit has "handshake" issues with modern TVs and HDMI. You will see the boot screen, a message saying "connecting" then the screen will go blank. Composite still works, but who wants to watch Composite on their HDTV.

Patriot Support is no longer existent for this product. They have left support in the hands of the community. No official firmware upgrades since 2010.

Stay away.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

I am sorry to hear that you experienced some issues with our Box Office. Rest assured that we still support the product. Please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail and we'll be glad to assist you in resolving any issues you may have.

Thank You for choosing Patriot Memory

All of the Best,
Joe
Patriot Memory Customer Care
Support@Patriotmem.com

Pros: Everything is very good, remote control, easy setup, can put an HDD!!! and Play almost very files.

Cons: sound... is my 2egg lost. Wish it have a decent SPDF output.
connected to my 15k Hifi audio... it's worst than my PC connection.
just dont use it for ur new TV 46" and more.. cuz picture is soso.

Other Thoughts: i will pay 100$ more if they include a decent audio output.
like a Wofson chip or something.
WD live. sound better .

Pros: It performs better than I even expected. It plays stuff that my computer won’t play, LET ME SAY. I am not a nobee, I have been doing this kind of stuff for many years, and I have all the codacs on my computer to play almost anything I run thru it. Again, It will play it. I am sorry that I didn’t buy a few more when the price was $54.00 like when I bought it. But like all of you, I didn’t want to do this until I tested it first. You don’t have to take my word for it, I am not paid by Patriot for this E-Val, I just want to put out the word that this is a great little box….. Good luck Guys, and Gals, hope this helps you to make a smart decision to buy this product.

Cons: None so far, but time will tell. If I should run across any I will update this post.

Other Thoughts: Buy It.... It is a wonderful product.

Pros: I may be somewhat hasty in my review of the PBO but I was so incredibly impressed with this device I felt compelled to leave my feedback after only one day of use.

In hooked this device up to my 7.1 channel system last night in just 10 minutes. Upon turning the PBO on I instantly seen my 3TB WD external USB harddrive and all of the folders containing my movies in the onscreen navigation.

We watched two movies in a row from the PBO and there was zero lag and stuttering. Flawless playback from start to finish and all in Dolby SS. Picture looked awesome on my LED TV as well.

Another thing that impressed my was that while scrolling through the movies if you stop on one the device displays the movie in a PIP box so you can refresh your memory of what the movie was about.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: Would be great t see USB 3.0 supported on this device in the future. I would buy another one just for that option.

Pros: As advertised, small footprint, plays all kinds of files I copied to the hard drive I installed in the PBO box. Purchased to give to someone so they don't have to use DVDs for exercise programs and works great for that! It is easy to drag and drop files to the HD...
Patriot has a winner (and now, so do I). Thanks Patriot and newegg for incredibly FAST shipping!!!

Cons: It is much easier for me to drag and drop files. I tried to copy files going through the PBO box but found it much easier to drag & drop.

Other Thoughts: I had a laptop hard drive so I didn't have to buy one.

Pros: Plays all formats including ISO. Connects to network drives and works well with wired network. Have not tried with wireless. Remote is easy to use and well laid out.

Cons: Does work with internet based apps and add ons are available. It becomes hard to navigate through the layers of the sites. I think this would be ths same for all players. Netflix was a nightmare.

Other Thoughts: The current price (after rebate) of under $60 makes this a great deal.
I purchased a second one so that I can use on another TV from the network.

Pros: It works ok but they need to keep updating the firmware
if the boot code is 18 or higher your ok

Cons: they need to keep up with the firmware, mine is bootcode 18 , so mine works ok, It still needs a few fixes as for getting dvd or bluray menus to show and let you select. if the bluray disc has more then one episode it just see's the first one not giving you a chance to play episode two...

Other Thoughts: If you have one of the first ones out, its a good chance its a Boot Code 16, then its a bummer.
My buddy recomened it to me and he cant get a update for his boot code 16, I told him to contact them, but they should know already. maybe keep looking around the dune HD player is about the best thing out there. google it

Pros: -Plays anything I can throw at it.
-1080p 24 hz mode
-Good remote
-Network storage
-Upgradable (See below)
-Price
-Come with everything you need (these days that is saying a lot)
-Uses Linux!(Pro for me)
-Installable/Upgradeable HDD

Cons: -ummmmmm
-Linux can be hard to use for some(everything is GUI based so you won't know it's Linux)
-Factory Firmware-Network storage settings were a little difficult to configure(See below)
-No Wifi included, dongle can be purchased (not really a con for me)
-Apps are lacking eg. No Twitter, facebook, pandora.....

Other Thoughts: This product is outstanding, I bought is on a whim, and it has been one of the best purchases I have made in a while. As stated above, it plays anything. Let me repeat: ANYTHING.
Here is a list of files I have played on it:
.mp4 .m4v .mkv .avi .mp3 .ogg, Blueray dumps(unencrypted!!) dvd dumps, plus this list is nowhere near complete.

-Not once have a seen a glitch in any of my 1080p blue ray dumps, or any high def video for that matter.
-1080p 24hz, not sure how well this works (I don't have "True Motion" feature on my plasma)
-Picture/sound quality is 10/10 (I can't say this enough)
-Sound options are great, HDMI, analog, TOS link
-If you take the time you can upgrade the firmware, to the firmware that is used on PLAY ON! and functionailty/apperance improves drasticly
-Supports SMB (Windows Share), NFS and FTP for file sharing
-Very Linux friendly
-Also as stated above: It comes with everything you need:
Remote
HDMI cable
Great Software

Last, It is a g

Pros: This is the best for playing any file format i have thrown at it. it does all formats even a .M2TS blue ray format wich is clearer than a blue ray disc if you ask me. I have bought around 12 of these units no joke for family and friends and we all have now 900 gigs of movies inside on the hard drive we put in it.

I even maade a youtube video and uploaded it about this media player. So what it doesnt stream NetFlix but i have the wireless dongle and now play music and pictures on my TV from my Iphone over the PBO's upnp option it has as well. Very nice and feel free to as me all questions about this awesome thing. I like it so much that i am wrting this review. So much to do. We take it to every hotel and plug it into the car no more carrying tond of dvd's for the kids and getting them lost or scratched.

Best thing since sliced bread. Look me up on youtube user name Alterego667 and see my video and ask any questions. Plays all my pictures as a slide show too.

Cons: The only con, if you lose the remote you have to buy another one to work it. It has no buttons to select anything or do anything without the remote.

Other Thoughts: Update it so maybe you can have a couple buttons on it. Or even update the firmware for those who must have a stream net flix. It already allows you to sync up to your home PC and play anything from yuor wifi router.