box office

Patriot Box Office 1080P High Definition Media Player PCMPBO25 (Black)
$139.99
I bought the Patriot Box Office and was very impressed as soon as I took it out of the box. This unit is equipped with a stylish brushed black anodized steel case, indicator lights with USB connector in the front and the back of the unit is complete with an 10/100 Ethernet port, USB port, HDMI port, optical (audio) port and composite ports (audio and video). I got even more excited when I discovered another box underneath the unit contained a complete set of accessories including:
- fully functional remote control (with batteries)
- 1 HDMI cable (SCORE!!!)
- AC adapter
- composite cable
- usb cable
- quick set up guide
- CD that contains the device manual

I immediately hooked the Box Office Unit up to my Samsung 46" 1080P LCD TV using the HDMI cable, connected the Ethernet cable and powered up the unit. The built in GUI looked pretty mediocre yet easy to use and navigate. I'd rather have a simple GUI that does the job rather than a fancy looking one that takes a rocket scientist to operate IMO.

Configuring the settings was seamless and was very user friendly and self explanatory. It took me only a few minutes to get the Box Office connected to my network and immediately identified my PC's media files under the UPnP menu. I was able to view the pictures, music and movies that were loaded on the Windows Media Player and was amazed how the Box Office played them without a single stutter or a "black cat deja vu" experience.

So far, I'm super impressed by the Box Office performance. The only thing that I was bummed about was when I was streaming my movies from my PC, the quality was sub-par and they came out slightly pixilated. That's only because I was playing compressed movie files (designed to view on a 17" notebook display) on a 46" LCD TV display. I was eager to test out how the Box Office handles HD movies so I decided to download the Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 HD trailers from youtube and was I blown away!!! I am now fully convinced that my hard earned cash was not wasted on this product. *patting myself on the back*

I continued to test the Box Office and installed the wireless USB adapter (free during promo period) to the back of the unit but noticed that the USB plug would only go in half-way. The case of USB drive was hitting against the Box Office case preventing the USB from doing a full connection. So I decided to connect the wireless USB to the front of the Box Office instead and it fit fine. Again, set-up was super easy. The Box Office was wirelessly connected to my N-router in seconds after punching in the SSID and the WEP key. I began playing back the same movies from my PC and the video playback quality and performance were excellent as if it was streaming through a wired Ethernet cable.

There are several other features available on the Box Office including playback from a USB Drive, an internal 2.5" SATA hard drive or SSD (optional), and access to the "NET" feature on the menu. I haven't been able to figure out how to access through the NET because it kept asking me to enter my NET user ID and password which RTFM doesn't help me either. I decided to post this on Patriot Memory's forum and hope to get an answer from the members or from the technical support reps soon.

Here are the "pros and cons" summary of the Patriot Box Office

PROs
-High Audio and Video Quality streaming via wired and wireless connection
-Offers several ways to access your media files, physically and virtually
-Very User friendly GUI
-Super easy to configure and set up
-Fully Functional Remote Control (similar to most DVD remote controls)
-Stylish Design. A nice addition to your Media Center that won't look atrocious or out of place.
-Comes with an HDMI cable!! Saved me a trip to the liquor store to get one ;)
-Plays most or all media file formats including ISO (access to DVD menu screens)

Cons
-"NET" feature not compatible with Windows 7. Can't bypass the NET login name and password
-I need another one for the TV in my bedroom. Too bad they don't have a BOGO Free Sale.

Fit-Anywhere Digital Safe Box for Home, Office, Boat/RV - 550 Cu. In.
$79.99
This is a nice product for the money. I'm completely satisfied and it'll make a great Christmas present for my wife.

Super Mario Brothers Super Show!: Box Office Mario
$6.99
The Mark of Zero - Mario and Luigi come to El Desertland's rescue against the evil Captain El Koopa by donning black masks and capes to become the legendary heroes: Zero and Zero Plus One.
The Unzappables - Mario and his friends travel to Mobsterland where they discover the city is being terrorized by the notorious gangster Al Koopone.
Karate Koopa - Our heroes return to the oriental city of Sayonara where they combat Karate Koopa and his Ninja Ninjiis with the material of Plumb-Fu.
Mario Meets Koopzilla - Koopa has eaten Dr. T Garden's secret weapon and has been transformed into the huge monster, Koopzilla who is terrorizing the city of Sayonara.
Mario of the Apes - Mario loses his memory in the middle of the jungle and is adopted by two apes who rename him Marzan.

Box Office Poison
$29.95
Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson is probably the most complex graphic novel I have ever read. It reads like a true novel with several different story lines going at once. The novel tells the story of a handful of twenty-somethings living in New York City in the 1990s.

The characters are all nicely well-rounded and have the feel of real people. Sherman the unpublished writer who hates his job as a bookstore clerk is as likable as they come. I found myself rooting for Ed, a socially awkward young comic book artist, who takes it upon himself to try and right a long ago wrong for the once successful, but now impoverished comic book artist he works for. Love stories and everyday struggles are rendered in a very readable combination of words and images.

At times funny, at other times heartbreaking, Box Office Poison, was one of those books that made me keep making excuses to read just one more chapter.