The Patriot Box Office is a media server that could potentially become the centerpiece of your entertainment center - if it wasn't for a major shortfall. The Box Office plays several types of music, photo, and video files including .mpg, .avi, .flv, .mp3, .mp4, .jpg, and .wmv9.  Not only can it stream media files from any device in your LAN or select online media such as podcasts, it can also play files from portable hard drives or flash drives connected through USB or from an internal hard drive (hard drive is not included).  The unit is designed to be connected through hardwire ethernet cable or wireless through an optional wi-fi dongle. It is a very sturdy and well-constructed device.  It gets warm but doesn't seem to overheat no matter how long it has been left on. It can play most of the files I throw at it, but for some reason, I sometimes find supported files that don't seem to play.  For example, some of my avi files play fine while other avi files do not. I have had this device for almost a year and I've found that the firmware updates keep working out the bugs and continue to add features to the device.  However, Patriot has still not offered a firmware upgrade that supports media from online services such as YouTube, Hulu, Pandora, and the ever more popular Netflix.  Apparently, it is possible to get Netflix support by buying and installing 3rd party software - but in this day and age when almost every media server and bluray player out there supports Netlix right out of the box, it's not acceptable that Patriot's Box Office, which is on the pricey side, does not. This lack of support makes a great media server only decent.  Patriot:  firmware upgrade please.

bascoboy

San Jose, CA