# Boxee Box device



## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

I have been thinking about purchasing a Boxee Box unit for months now.

Do any of you have this unit?
Is it worth the about $200.00 price tag? 
Does all streaming formats work on it? 
Can it catch a virus?


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

HarpoonIPA said:


> I have been thinking about purchasing a Boxee Box unit for months now.
> 
> Do any of you have this unit?
> Is it worth the about $200.00 price tag?
> ...


I just picked up a Boxee Box a couple weeks ago and love it. It all depends on what you want to do. IMO, at this time it is the best _combination_ of local streaming and internet streaming via apps. My desire was local streaming and nothing else I have, comes remotely close to what Boxee can handle.

While I can't speak for a lot of formats, it has handled what I throw at it flawlessly. I have taken to ripping all my BluRays and HDDVD's and select DVD's to MKV files INCLUDING the high def/lossless audio tracks and it handles them without issue and outputs the HD audio stream to my receiver without issue. If you name your files correctly, it will automatically get the movie/show info and graphics from IMDB and display them. I put my files on a LAN connected drive, but the Boxee can handle 2 USB drives and also allow them to be accessed by other things as well(essentially turning them into a NAS type drive)

It has a LOT of streaming internet channels too, more than Roku, although it doesn't have some important ones in Amazon or Hulu+(Hulu+ is coming according to Boxee). However it does have VuDu(something Roku doesn't have and a personal favorite of mine) and Netflix, along with MLB/NHL and I think NBA apps. You can also add what are called repositories, which are user made channels.

It isn't without it's bugs tho. There is a firmware update coming either late this month or early next month and according to their bug tracking system(Jira) they have addressed many of the bugs.

My advice is to pick one up at a place like Best Buy. This way if you don't like it, you can return it easily enough.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> I just picked up a Boxee Box a couple weeks ago and love it. It all depends on what you want to do. IMO, at this time it is the best _combination_ of local streaming and internet streaming via apps. My desire was local streaming and nothing else I have, comes remotely close to what Boxee can handle.
> 
> While I can't speak for a lot of formats, it has handled what I throw at it flawlessly. I have taken to ripping all my BluRays and HDDVD's and select DVD's to MKV files INCLUDING the high def/lossless audio tracks and it handles them without issue and outputs the HD audio stream to my receiver without issue. If you name your files correctly, it will automatically get the movie/show info and graphics from IMDB and display them. I put my files on a LAN connected drive, but the Boxee can handle 2 USB drives and also allow them to be accessed by other things as well(essentially turning them into a NAS type drive)
> 
> ...


Thanks
I have been wanting to purchase one for some time now. Can you hookup a mouse to it?


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

HarpoonIPA said:


> Thanks
> I have been wanting to purchase one for some time now. Can you hookup a mouse to it?


I don't know. I haven't tried it. You may want to look at the Boxee Forums. There is a forum specifically for the box. Keep in mind, that forum also deals with the PC version as well.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> I don't know. I haven't tried it. You may want to look at the Boxee Forums. There is a forum specifically for the box. Keep in mind, that forum also deals with the PC version as well.


Thanks, I am most likely getting one in the next few days


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

I just ordered my Boxee Box from Amazon, looking forward to using it.


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

HarpoonIPA said:


> I just ordered my Boxee Box from Amazon, looking forward to using it.


Nice. Good luck with it. It really is a nice device and the boxee team seems very didicated to it.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> Nice. Good luck with it. It really is a nice device and the boxee team seems very didicated to it.


Thanks, it's been a long time coming. I am looking forward to watching tons of streaming on my big screen


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

HarpoonIPA said:


> Thanks, it's been a long time coming. I am looking forward to watching tons of streaming on my big screen


It's funny cause I had a bunch of BluRays that I had bought over time and never really found the time to actually watch them LOL. Over the last couple weeks I have not only ripped all my Blu-Rays but even my older HDDVD's. I had been wanting to view my HDDVD's again like the Bourne Trilogy and especially The Game, which they don't even have a US BluRay version of. Since my HDDVD player is disconnected, it was going to be a hassle to get it back in the mix. So now that I have everything ripped, it's like having my own on-demand library to view. I have been watching some of the BluRays I just hadn't watched in the past. I've also ripped selected DVD's(I have too many to do them all) that I like to watch now and again(Back to the Future trilogy, Johnny Dangerously...). It is great.

I have also ripped all my daughters movies and put them under an ID for her. So she doesn't have to hound me to put in the Hanna Montana movie or whatever she wants to watch. She can just pull it up and play it herself now.

Another bonus was when I ripped the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, was able to combine both disks into one media file, so it is now one continuous movie, instead of having to change disks midway thru.

If they can just get Hulu+ and possibly Amazon added, this would completely replace my Roku. I still have my Roku on one TV just for Hulu+ and sometimes Amazon(I'm a prime member).

I was on the fence for quite some time with this thing, but I can say this has been well worth the purchase so far(unlike my all but useless, at this point, Google TV device).


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> It's funny cause I had a bunch of BluRays that I had bought over time and never really found the time to actually watch them LOL. Over the last couple weeks I have not only ripped all my Blu-Rays but even my older HDDVD's. I had been wanting to view my HDDVD's again like the Bourne Trilogy and especially The Game, which they don't even have a US BluRay version of. Since my HDDVD player is disconnected, it was going to be a hassle to get it back in the mix. So now that I have everything ripped, it's like having my own on-demand library to view. I have been watching some of the BluRays I just hadn't watched in the past. I've also ripped selected DVD's(I have too many to do them all) that I like to watch now and again(Back to the Future trilogy, Johnny Dangerously...). It is great.
> 
> I have also ripped all my daughters movies and put them under an ID for her. So she doesn't have to hound me to put in the Hanna Montana movie or whatever she wants to watch. She can just pull it up and play it herself now.
> 
> ...


How hard is it to rip DVD's then convert them to what ever video the Boxee Box can read from a hard drive?


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

HarpoonIPA said:


> How hard is it to rip DVD's then convert them to what ever video the Boxee Box can read from a hard drive?


A piece of cake. Get MakeMKV. It will decrypt and convert DVDs and BluRays to MKV Files that are readable by Boxee. Handling DVD's will always be free in MakeMKV, however handling BluRays is CURRENTLY free while the program is in beta. When it leaves beta(whenever that is, no date set and it's been in beta for a long time) it will be $50.

MakeMKV will NOT reencode the stream. It will leave it as is, so no quality will be lost, however that also means the files will be pretty big. A DVD with just the video and one audio stream(DD) is about 5gig. A BluRay with just the video and one audio stream can range from 15gig to 30gig.

There is a program call HandBrake which will reencode the stream into a smaller files size and only lose a little quality. The problem is, it is EXTREMELY SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWW! There is a thread on the Boxee forums about what settings to use in Handbrake for Boxee. I tried doing one disk and it was going to take like 10hrs!!!! No thanks. I just went the MakeMKV route, which takes about 30 minutes to 1 hr for a BluRay and about 15-25 minutes for a DVD, depending on the speed of your drive and computer. I have a 2tb ethernet connected drive(Seagate GoFlex) and a 1tb USB drive connected to my router, so they are both accessible via the lan and they hold my collection with room to spare.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> A piece of cake. Get MakeMKV. It will decrypt and convert DVDs and BluRays to MKV Files that are readable by Boxee. Handling DVD's will always be free in MakeMKV, however handling BluRays is CURRENTLY free while the program is in beta. When it leaves beta(whenever that is, no date set and it's been in beta for a long time) it will be $50.
> 
> MakeMKV will NOT reencode the stream. It will leave it as is, so no quality will be lost, however that also means the files will be pretty big. A DVD with just the video and one audio stream(DD) is about 5gig. A BluRay with just the video and one audio stream can range from 15gig to 30gig.
> 
> There is a program call HandBrake which will reencode the stream into a smaller files size and only lose a little quality. The problem is, it is EXTREMELY SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWW! There is a thread on the Boxee forums about what settings to use in Handbrake for Boxee. I tried doing one disk and it was going to take like 10hrs!!!! No thanks. I just went the MakeMKV route, which takes about 30 minutes to 1 hr for a BluRay and about 15-25 minutes for a DVD, depending on the speed of your drive and computer. I have a 2tb ethernet connected drive(Seagate GoFlex) and a 1tb USB drive connected to my router, so they are both accessible via the lan and they hold my collection with room to spare.


Thanks for the great info
Speaking of the Boxee forum was that you that answered on my thread over there with the Mod?


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

HarpoonIPA said:


> Thanks for the great info
> Speaking of the Boxee forum was that you that answered on my thread over there with the Mod?


Yes it was


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> Yes it was


Thanks I thought so, but why no W at your end of your user name over their


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

HarpoonIPA said:


> Thanks I thought so, but why no W at your end of your user name over their


It has to do with the naming conventions DBSTalk wanted people to use. Since this is related, I decided to stay with that name here.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Chuck W said:


> It has to do with the naming conventions DBSTalk wanted people to use. Since this is related, I decided to stay with that name here.


I've been wanting to change my name over there for a few years now. Over there at DBS I'm oldschoolecw


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## bsanf31367066122 (Mar 17, 2011)

HarpoonIPA said:


> Thanks
> I have been wanting to purchase one for some time now. Can you hookup a mouse to it?


I use keyboards and mice with my Boxees sometimes.


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