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Patriot Box Purchase

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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Bobby » Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:27 pm

Bob wrote:That is very tempting.

The ISO play feature is particularly attractive. I've got a DVD collection in excess of 600 dvds many of which are multiple disc sets.

Could you please confirm that this is an upscaling converter.

If you can't run a cable, another alternative to wireless is a powerline ethernet adapter.


Can't get to it tonight; best bet to answer your question Bob would be to download the manual from the Patriot website.

The powerline adapters work pretty well - I have installed a couple. I never had to do one with multiple lines (where you have to configure them), but the single ones I have put in were no problem. The boxes do get a little hot...

All I have to do is punch through the common wall between my entertainment center and my PC center - piece of cake.

Let's see - 600 images at 4-5GB each is: a whole lot of storage!
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Bobby » Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:55 pm

Bob, I had a few minutes and downloaded the manual - no help - just setup stuff.

I send an email off to tech support to ask the upconvert question. Stay tuned...
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Dave McElderry » Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:02 pm

Bob wrote:
If you can't run a cable, another alternative to wireless is a powerline ethernet adapter.


Really? Tell me more.
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Ron » Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:29 pm

Bob wrote:Could you please confirm that this is an upscaling converter.

What's an upscaling converter and why would it be needed/wanted?

Edit: I think I'm asking the question wrong. I kind of know what upscaling is, but doesn't this box play the native iso format and output them as required (rhetorical). Are you asking if the box takes SD and up-scales to HD?
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Bobby » Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:11 pm

Dave, there are a number of powerline Ethernet adapters out there - Belkin makes one, for example.

Basically it comes with two cubes, each with an a/c plug and an Ethernet socket. You plug the cubes into the wall at each end and run the Ethernet cables from the cube to where the normal Ethernet cable goes. The cubes send a signal via the a/c wiring to simulate a regular Ethernet cable.

For example, if you have a PC remote from your router you put one cube in the wall by the router and run an Ethernet cable from the router to the cube. At your PC, you plug in the other cube and run an Ethernet cable from the PC to the cube.

Your PC (and router) will think it is a standard wired connection.

No configuration is required unless you have more than one PC to connect, and then you have to assign addresses for each cube.

Pretty slick, but not cheap. See

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F5D4071-Po ... 526&sr=8-4
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Bobby » Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:13 pm

Ron wrote:
Bob wrote:...Are you asking if the box takes SD and up-scales to HD?...


Yes, I think he is. A sensible question. If it did not upconvert, then using a DVD in a normal upconvert DVD player would be superior. But I am quite confident the Box does upconvert.
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Dave McElderry » Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:24 pm

Pretty nifty. I can't believe I've never heard of it. So what's the downside, other than being on the pricey side? Heck, there are a lot of wireless switches in the same price range. It says up to 85 Mbps. If that's true it's virtually as fast as CAT 5.
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Bob » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:16 am

Dave McElderry wrote:... So what's the downside, other than being on the pricey side? Heck, there are a lot of wireless switches in the same price range. It says up to 85 Mbps. If that's true it's virtually as fast as CAT 5.


If you think 85 Mbps is fast, for a little more $ you can buy 200 Mbps units. And, you can get them with a builtin ethernet switch. For example, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FB684E is a 200 Mbps kit with a single port module and a 4 port switch. Pretty much all the major networking players make powerline adapters . You can also get 14 Mbps units. But, don't mix and match. Keep to the same speed and manufacturer.

Downsides: Besides the cost, you need to plug them directly into the wall outlet - they won't work through a powerstrip or surge protector that contains a noise filter. Some appliances can generate noise in the power circuits that can reduce data rate. And, if you have smart lighting or appliances that can send/receive control signals through the wiring, you can interfere with the operation of the lighting/appliance or see degradation in the connection speed. Some of the adapters come with LEDs to indicate the connection speed and often just switching to a different outlet can take care of the problem.

And, yes, Bobby was right about the upscaling question.
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Re: Upscaling Question

Postby Bobby » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:18 am

The email I sent to Patriot (support@patriotmem.com) was rejected for incorrect domain. But it was a click on their website - need to find a better email ID.
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby ed » Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:55 am

I'm thinking of getting Boxee for my daughter when the hardware comes out in the near future. It's from one of the orignal guys of the College Humor/Vimeo sites. The hardware is being made by D-Link. http://www.boxee.tv/
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OK - First Blush!

Postby Bobby » Wed Feb 10, 2010 6:14 pm

The Box cane today. I had also ordered a 5:1 HDMI switch (Masscool brand) and a couple of inexpensive 3' HDMI cables.

First job was to connect up the switch and I found that the wiring behind my current stuff was a real mess. I had a friend come over, and we laboriously untangled it all. I had to give something up, but more on that later.

The switch was the first thing I put online, and it seemed to work fine. The only issue I might have with it in the future is that it auto-switches depending on valid HDMI input. So if you turn off a device, it will auto-switch to another valid input.

The next step was to program my Harmony 880 remote for the switch. Unfortunately it was not in their database, so I had to use the IR learning capability to program it. But I got that done, and all is OK, switching-wise.

I then cabled up the Box and went through the setup - very straightforward. The next step was to put a DVD image (not ISO, the raw files) on my portable hard drive and take it over to the Box. It recognized the drive quickly and the menu system to browse the drive was pretty standard. I navigated to the DVD image folder and unfortunately had to actually drill down to the VIDEO_TS folder and manually select the .IFO file (and the box does show previews) and then his Select to play.

After that, it was just like putting a DVD in a DVD player - all the standard controls and menu worked fine.

Next step: create a HiDef image and put it on the hard drive.

What I lost: The stupid cable box has HDMI out with audio, digital audio out, and analog audio out. Unfortunately, you can select digital out only to either HDMI or digital out, but not both. To get around the problem, I cabled the analog out to the TV and set the digital out to the main receiver. But using the HDMI switch, now all the audio must come through the HDMI. So I had to switch the cable box back to HDMI digital out and for now set up the output to the receiver manually. But I will find a way...

One answer in the future is to get a new receiver will full HDMI switching capability. Then I would just ditch the switch I bought. But that is in the future, dollar-wise.

More soon...
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We Have HiDef!

Postby Bobby » Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:13 am

Success :yh:

This morning I found out that the Box remote was in fact in the Harmony remote database and except for one minor error looked good.

I went over to my trusty video PC then took an existing project (was HD) and exported it using the H.264 preset. That took a long time to render, so I need to check alternatives and settings. It created a .m2t file, but on taking it to the Box is wouldn't show in the folder list. Going back to the manual it seems to only accept .mt2s. Rename the file and...

WE HAVE HD :yh: :TU: ::CLAP:

Considering that my input is .mt2 files from my HV-30, does anyone have a recommended Share preset that would not be overkill for the input (GIGO, as we say in the computing field)?
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Bobby » Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:25 am

Bob, can you tell me how to create an ISO file from a DVD image folder (VIDEO_TS, etc.) using Nero? Just not sure of the right settings.

I will then give it a try on the Box.

I searched the Patriot website user forums but can't find anything on upconvert.
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Ron » Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:41 am

I'm not Bob, but I can answer your question.

Use Nero Burning ROM.

Select the Image Recorder from the menu "Recorder".

File >> New >> DVD-ROM (ISO)

Drag the files you want to create the image (VIDEO_TS folder) to the browser.

Burn - select "iso" from the drop-down -- save.

I can attest that ISO files work great (SD so far) - even over the network. I'm testing a USB Flash drive now.

If you run into "copy protection" issues (commercial DVDs), then give AnyDVD (not free) a try - works a treat.

You'd probably also want to look into PlayOn and/or TVersity servers. Nice additions to this box. I'll leave it at that for now.
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Re: Patriot Box Purchase

Postby Ron » Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:22 am

I can confirm that it will play DVD ISO from a Flash drive (again, SD so far). It will also play a physical DVD in the drive on your computer (also shared). It has difficulty playing a copy protected DVD in the computer drive - mystery. But, ripped to ISO and it plays fine.

It won't play a Playlist on the network - must be a proprietary path problem. But, it will play any Playlist locally (flash drive or external drive) as long as the Playlist path is local - this includes movies, music or images.

I've decided against installing an internal drive (for now) for the fan issues. Makes the box nice and quiet otherwise.
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