----------------------------------------------------------------A new player in town, how does this compare to the well established Patriot Box Office 1080p High-Definition Media Player PCMPBO25 (Black) which costs almost half the price (after the rebate) and the similarly priced Western Digital WD TV Live Plus 1080p HD Media Player. Is it a flawlessly made product ? is it a the holy grail of media player ? if you currently own a PBO is it worthy the upgrade ? if you are about to purchase WDTV Live+ is it worthy to reconsider ? Read on and judge for yourself ...
Packaging:
Nicely double backed, high end looking design with flashing logos thrown on every side of the box.
Unboxing:
How much would a 3' HDMI cable add to the cost of this box ? around the same price of any of the included cables ;)
Manual is exceptionally well written for this class of devices.
There is a quick installation guide too, which *interestingly* claims a USB webcam support !! :-0
The Device:
Nice metal casing, not flashy and would easily fit within a typical home theater setup.
LCD screen ? such a disappointingly tiny display especially with such an empty front (which contains nothing beside the power button). You could easily fit a 2/3 lines display on the front of this player.
The box is considerably big (due to the supported 3.5" HDD), see pictures for how it compares to a PBO and a standard slime external drive.
Remote control:
This is most thing I hate about this box. Not only isn't unjustifiably big, but also the button placement makes absolutely no sense, compare with the PBO to envy the PBO owners ;)
And whats with the unused buttons ?! the manual said the 4 buttons are for the DTV model. Why they heck should a remote for a device has buttons for some yet to be release device, especially that the remote is not a universal one.
Firmware:
I wont elaborate that much into this, there has already been one firmware released beside the one that is shipped with the box. There is also a new firmware that is promised tomorrow. So I will just highlight two main points and keep the full review for the new firmware.
1. BR-ISO (50GB) works beautifully over GB network (resides on a modest DNS-321), no stutter, pauses, smooth as silk and full menu support too.
2. (Didn't test bitstreaming) But DTS-MA does work from the ISO, but doesn't work on MKV (though the display button shows DTS-5.1 for both files). This must be a bug, as the firmware setting menu has an option for DTS-HD (7.1/5.1 core).
3. Logitech wifi mouse worked without a problem.
4. The LCD doesn't display mm:ss but only hh:mm (so you got 00:mm for the first hour), it also doesn't work on anything but local video files (doesn't work on audio files, online contents whether video or audio)
To put it in a nutshell (IMHO) for those who already own a PBO, here is where the AIOS shines:
If you have many ripped BRs (direct copy), the PBO will only play the longest track unless you go and individually select the streams. This is a worthy upgrade.
If you have an HDD that you want to load, you can now load "over the network" in reasonable rates. This is a worthy upgrade.
If you think the GUI 2.0 on the ACRBO is cool but too laggy for your taste, GUI 2.0 is very smooth on the AIOS. This is a worthy upgrade.
If you are stuck with SD (composite) on your EDTV with the PBO, the AIOS has component port for your EDTV (480p). This is a worthy upgrade.
If you want to watch YT-XL or have interest in logging to facebook from your big screen TV.
If you are like me an early PBO adopter and hate your inability to bitstream HD-Audio, AIOS can bitstream HD-Audio without a problem. This is a worthy upgrade.
If you are sick of PM support (or lack of) for the PBO, pivos is a new player with a single product to sell, so currently that's their bread and butter, so its not unreasonable to expect some serious development (on the firmware side).
Here is somethings to take into consideration:
The hacking possibility of this box is still undetermined, one thing I found so far (after disassembling the whole player) that there is no easy way for serial recovery (this is what makes the PBO brick proof), I am yet to open up the firmwares (AIOS and the ones from ACR and Mede8er) and see how tightly locked they are (unlike the PBO the AIOS does have a standby button to force panic recovery though).
Again, I hate the remote, they must have paid someone to purposely mess it up, there is no way you can do so many placement mistakes in any single remote control (beside tossing a coin for button functionality assignment).
To sum up, the AIOS is one step up the PBO in every single direction, but whether it would make a difference for you depends on your current usage. For those who don't own a PBO and are willing to pay $89.99 for WDTV Live+, better think twice
Thats all for now, more to come after the update.
Update 11/3:
Hacking unleashed, google for the AIOS WIKI.
Pivos released multiple firmwares since release each dealing with "some" of the reported problems, while not yet quite there but they are certainly on the right grades.
Update 11/25:
Semiofficial firmwares dealing with several bugs (adds metafeeds and nzbget).
DTS-MA in MKV still doesn't work (apparently Realtek was notified and they are still waiting for a fix from them).
Java (BD 2.0) menus not supported (and wont be), remember to switch BD menus to "simple" from setup if the disc have Java menus else the longest track will be picked up and played.
Community managed to provide a replacement skin (yay).
Arabic and Hebrew srt subs not working, they are working on a fix, but meanwhile one can use txt2vob to convert the srt subs to idx/sub files compatible with the AIOS.
Update 1/7:
Latest semiofficial firmware (R15) adds movie jukebox (check uploaded pictures).
Official firmware has working poster/coverart view mode as well a new NFS server scanner.
Arabic and Hebrew srt subs are now supported.
Pivos released bootcode update (B18) to fix scrambled bootup splash screen, this is very beneficial as we can now monitor firmware updates of HDMI.
Price went down to $88 (in Canada) including wifi N adapter during the boxing week, customer base is certainly getting wider with these deep discount sales.
Update 2/1:
it was reported on AVS that HD bit streaming (DD TrueHD and DTS-HD MA) works now on both in ISO and MKV containers (base firmware 2.8.3.2)
Update 2/25:
new firmware release 3.0.1.7 which fixes that playon UPnP server bug, this is important for those who want to stream netflix, hulu or amazon vod to the AIOS.
Update 3/24:
if you haven't checked already semiofficial R18 is already out, be sure to check the extended internet streaming feeds (literally hundreds of new channels, access to Justin.tv among many other additions).
Update 5/14:
R19 is out, with updated IMS contents and more bugfixes and features.
Update: 5/31: Remote control:
The original disastrous remote (check the pictures) is now updated, the one getting shipped with the AIOS now has glow-in-the-dark buttons, better button placement and extra unassigned buttons are now removed.
Update 7/8:
R20 is out, with updated IMS contents, new jukebox and a web enabled remote control.
Update 8/29:
R21 is out, too many updates to list here, most notably, improved network performance, reworked home menu and advanced cover view mode.
Update 3/31 (2013):
R22.1 is out, music jukeboxes, more customization for home screen, downloadable themes and updatable internet media services.
Enough about WDTV, AIOS is working flawlessly for me after firmware update to v.2.8.0.5. Tested with full BR rips with TrueHD and DTS-HD[MA] (leave default DTS-HD = 7.1) works, no lip sync issues. 1080/24p works. The vendor is actively supporting the product. I like GUI simplicity, direct access to Audio, Subtitles, Zoom, GoTo (my favorite one), list mode navigation and etc. Unit offers rich functionality for very reasonably price point. I will continue to test it and post any findings later on. Overall the unit is a A+ rated job, cudos to folks who designed it.My main goal in getting a new media player is to be able to play my HD movie collection via ISO format and play audio through my surround sound home theater system. I own a first generation Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player and was pleased how it was able to play most video, music and picture formats. However it was no longer able to decode some of the newer DTS and Dolby Digital audio codecs. I'm familiar with some of the XBMC-based systems out there but didn't really want to spend the money (or time) buying and configuring a full-blown HTPC system. This AIOS HD Media Center, Full HD 1080p, Gigabit Network, USB 3.0 data, Flash Reader, 3.5" SATA 2 system seemed interesting to me in that it has USB 3.0 support, an internal SATA drive bay, digital audio coaxial output (good for audiophiles), SD card slot and network capabilities things I didn't have with the original WDTV. I purchased, received and installed the AIOS after reading all the positive reviews. After encounter video and audio problems on the AIOS, I also decided to get a NETGEAR NeoTV 550 NTV550 Ultimate HD Media Player for comparison. Here is what I have discovered so far between the two products:
AIOS vs NeoTV COMPARISON:
* AIOS is slightly less expensive than NeoTV. Advantage: AIOS
* NeoTV has an eSata port while the AIOS doesn't. Advantage: NeoTV
* AIOS has a coaxial output while the NeoTV doesn't. Advantage: AIOS
* NeoTV has a more sophisticated UI than AIOS. Advantage: NeoTV
* AIOS has a USB 3.0 support, NeoTV only has USB 2.0. Advantage: AIOS
* AIOS has 10/100/1000 Ethernet, NeoTV only has 10/100 Ethernet. Advantage: AIOS
* AIOS has FTP/CIFS server and CIFS client support. NeoTV has CIFS server CIFS/NFS client support. Both have UPnP/DLNA client support. Advantage: Tie
* AIOS has HTML5 web browser. NeoTV has no browser. Advantage AIOS
* AIOS has a metal case construction. NeoTV is mostly plastic. Advantage: AIOS
* AIOS requires USB for updates. NeoTV can be updated from network. Advantage: NeoTV
Despite the AIOS having better hardware specs on paper, the NeoTV worked better and functioned more properly by being able to play BD-ISO files with working digital audio and menu support. AIOS wasn't able to display the BD menus correctly, skipped video frames, played the wrong chapter for certain movies and my surround processor wasn't able to detect digital audio from the AIOS no matter what I did. Even though I set both HDMI and SPDIF output to RAW, my surround processor only played audio in Prologic mode from the AIOS. It could be that my surround processor (B&K Reference 30) may be a little older than others but I paid good money for it awhile back and not about to replace it that easily. On the other hand, the NeoTV played Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound fine through my processor in comparison. That is why I am keeping the NeoTV and returning the AIOS.Very attractive little box, with a subdued display that doesn't distract the viewer. I must have got some older stock as the remote that came with mine isn't the new one which is glow in the dark. Once I had flashed it with the Xtraios 3.0.12 (google it, it's easy to find) firmware the front end is a lot more aesthetically pleasing, the AIOS orange screen is likely to damage your retinas!
When flashing with Xtraios 3.0.12 you need to use the emergency recovery system. Download your firmware and unzip the install.img file to the root directory of a FAT32 formatted flash drive, with the unit powered down insert the flash drive into one of the USB ports, to follow the install process you should connect up the yellow RCA video out to your TV, the updater doesn't output an HDMI signal. With the system switched off at the rear switch hold in the front power button for 5 seconds then switch the rear switch on and continue holding the front power button for a further 5 seconds, the updater should then start, DO NOT POWER OFF THE MACHINE, when the update is complete the unit will reboot. Functionally Xtraios offers a bit more than the AIOS firmware. Be aware if you install this FW your internal HD will show up as sda1 under the USB icon. Mapping network shares is relatively straight forward although with the AIOS firmware I found I had to enter the actual IP numbers of the PC. Streaming from shares is faultless and I've yet to find a format it wont play. The audio jukebox in Xtraios is particularly attractive. UPnP works faultlessly and I found my self quite effortlessly streaming web content from my Playon server from CBS, ABC and indeed from Amazon Prime VOD :-). The XtraAIOS (and indeed the AIOS) will show up on your network as a UPnP render device, quite how to utilize that I haven't figured out. If anyone has, let me know in comments.
The transfer speeds across the Gb network interface are far from Gb performance (I was getting about 6MB/s compared to about 60MB/s I usually get), having investigated this it seems this is down to a combination of factors, the Gb interface itself is probably being throttled by throughput to the internal HD interface, and this in turn is throttled if your HD is not formatted in ext3. To alleviate this you should install a bare HD, i.e. no partitions and use telnet to format in ext3 (if you haven't a clue what I'm talking about then I would just use the AIOS internal formatting utility), the AIOS will do so this in NTFS. If you're not interested in transferring files by LAN then you can just use the USB interface on the unit or load up the HD prior to installation. USB 3.0 will get you speeds up to 90 MB/s, alternatively install the drive temporarily in your PC and do it over SATA. Having said all this about the Gb interface, as far as streaming is concerned it is well up to the task as there is no involvement of the internal HD.
This unit replaced an Argosy HV335T which died a couple of weeks ago, it was about thirty dollars cheaper than the Argosy was some 3 years ago and so far out performs the Argosy in everything I have tried. I was quite sad when the Argosy died but now I am very happy that the AIOS is such a great replacement. The existence of a very active hacking and modding community which is to a certain extent encouraged by pivos is a great help and also makes this little device all the more attractive.
Update on the remote, I contacted Pivos Group by email and they responded within a couple of hours, on a Saturday no less, I was asked for a copy of my receipt and the SN of the AIOS and then told that I would be informed when stock of the new remote was in and I would be sent one if I returned my old remote. They apologized for the inconvenience and pointed out that they didn't have control of the stock of their distributors. Pretty satisfactory!
Update on Xtraios, now replaced with semiofficial firmware (R20) which is much more aesthetically pleasing and functionally much nicer.For about a week now I've been messing around with my new Pivos AIOS player, installing different firmwares (the latest versions of the official, semi-official, and XtrAIOS), and customizing the player to my liking. I've explored the strengths and weaknesses of each firmware and settled on the semi-official R18 firmware. I do understand the positive and negative reviews, why some users enjoy the player, while other hated it. Let me start with the bad.
BAD:
1) Although the player is operational out of the box, the factory installed firmware needs to be reflashed to the latest one to improve the performance and GUI appearance. This update is essential as bugs get fixed and the hideous orange menu system is replaced by other options.
2) Setting up and modifying the AIOS past the basics is a pain. The most simple set up changes can be done through the settings menu, but other more sophisticated customization, like bookmarking and setting up the jukebox, are a real pain and require software, skills, and knowledge not typically familiar to the average user. Hence, a steep learning curve applies.
3) The button layout on the remote control is very odd. For example the mute button is at the top of the remote, while the volume buttons are in the middle. The play/pause button is small, near the bottom of the remote, and not easily accessible by the thumb. There is no MENU button, and to get to the menu of a DVD, one needs to press the OPTIONS button and make the selection to access the DVD menu from there. That's an unnecessary extra step. Other important buttons are also scattered around the remote following limited logic. (I'm surprised the numbered buttons are in order.) But I've programmed my Harmony One remote to control the player, and I stashed the original remote in my drawer.
4) The player doesn't display the names of my local hard drives. It only identifies them as C:, D:, E:, etc, in either the thumbnail or filename display setting. I had to generate a custom thumbnail for each drive to display the name, and I'm displaying my content in the thumbnail view. What an unnecessary hassle.
5) The manual is basic and unattractive, with several typos and grammatical errors in it. I just don't understand why a company can't pay an American a few bucks and have the manual proofread. But the unprofessional manual isn't as bad as some of the crazy attempts at English I've observed from other Chinese companies.
GOOD:
1) The case and hardware appear to be solid and not bad looking. The player doesn't come across as a cheap, plastic box. I especially like the easily accessible internal HDD bay and the illuminated power button.
2) With the latest semi-official (R18) firmware, my player is very stable. As soon as I hooked up the new player to my TV, I first upgraded the firmware to the latest official one, and finally to the latest semi-official (R18) version. The unit has not froze or crashed on me yet, and I have yet to hard-reboot it. I can't speak for the early versions of the firmware, since I have not messed with them, but because my player is so stable with the latest firmware it appears most, if not all, of the past bugs have been worked out. The AIOS may finally be ready for the market, six months after its release.
3) The AIOS plays everything I've thrown at it, which are MKV's, DVD rips, AVIs, FLVs, etc.
4) The player recognizes MKV and DVD chapters and subtitles. The user can adjust the size, color, and location of the subtitles.
5) The unit has a frontal digital display, which displays the clock when a movie is not playing, and the time-elapsed when a movie is played. The display is a bit small and in unattractive orange color. But hey, better than nothing.
6) The AIOS is very customizable. The user can choose to use it as a basic player out of the box, he can set up the simple movie wall with movie posters (which is what I did), or he can go all the way and set up the jukebox. The reason I didn't go the jukebox route was that it required additional modifications via telnet (I don't have the time learning new techniques), and once the jukebox is set up, any new movies added to the list will require updating the jukebox database to have the additions show up in the jukebox database (I don't have the time to maintain my jukebox.). But I'm very happy with the movie wall and the movie posters. The free ThumbGen program is helpful at generating the thumbnails and posters, and any new movies can easily be added to the movie wall with a few clicks within the ThumbGen and dragging and dropping the movies into my HDDs.
7) The AIOS has an internal 3.5" HDD slot, which allows for the cheaper and larger capacity drives than some units that have room only for 2.5" drives. Some other players don't even have a slot at all, which means you have to haul around the player and the external drive if needed to transport the player to, let's say, a backyard projection party. The internal and external drives can also be shut down through the player and removed while the player is running.
8) When the player is off, the power button illuminates in red. When the player is on, the power button illuminates in blue. Several players out there have only one LED which illuminates as long as power is going to the back of the unit, regardless whether it's on or off; that's pretty useless. The AIOS also has a physical switch in the back to completely cut off power to the player.
9) The angle of reception and the distance of the remote signal is pretty wide and long, unlike some reviewer(s) have noted. The only issue I noticed is that my player, which is located nearly 6' above the floor, has a problem receiving signal from my sitting position. I need to raise my arm to about 3' above the floor, which is about 3' below the player, for the signal to be received. I'm sitting about 10' from the player.
10) The user has the ability to use a wireless keyboard (I tried the Lenovo mini keyboard N5901) and mouse with the player. The experience of navigating with the wireless desktop isn't as simple as on a PC, but typing into highlighted fields is simpler than using the on-screen keyboard. Some players don't have this luxury.
11) The unit has three USB 2.0 inputs, two in the back and one on the side, nearly at the front. I have two USB drives hooked in the back and the wireless desktop receiver in the front port. The rear USB 3.0 port is for the connection between the player and a PC.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
1) The AIOS has no problem detecting my USB or internal drives (1.5Tb, 2TB and the 3TB split into two partitions). All the HDDs were NTFS formatted several months ago in Windows 7 and are filled with files. The unit detects all the drives, every time, without an issue.
2) The player is able to automatically connect to my shared computer without any adjustments to my network. The wired network setting on the player was automatically enabled and configured as soon as I plugged the LAN cable into the back of the unit. I did not try a wireless adapter, nor did I mess with NFS or UPnP. I just manually navigated to my wired computer. The LAN port on the AIOS is a gigabit, but I've not measured any speed readings.
3) There are several websites out there with strong AIOS forums, like the official Pivos website, AVS, and pivos-aios wikidot. If you have any questions, chances are they have already been asked and answered.
4) There are several options for firmware out there. You can choose the official, semi-official, or the Xtreamer version (XtrAIOS) modified for the AIOS. I'm guessing that the Micca EP350 firmware may also be flashed on the Pivos, since the units are so similar, but I did not try it, so I'm not 100% sure if that's possible. The XtrAIOS firmware is beautiful, but a couple of issues prevented me to stick with it, so I switched to the semi-official R18.
5) The player's power plug is the typical 12V used for 3.5" external drives. I sometimes use a power supply for my USB drives with the AIOS, but I've noticed that not all of my 12V bricks generate enough amps for the Pivos.
Overall, I'm happy with the player. Since all my other media players are some of the first players that hit the market a few years ago, I can not compare the AIOS to any other modern player recently released. I guess the lesson with this unit is not to buy a fresh and untested device and let the others do the testing for you. Had I bought the unit back in fall, I would have shipped it back. But now that the bugs have been worked out, it's a very competent and competitively priced player. Because it is a bit of a headache setting up the player to get the full potential out of it, I can only recommend the player to more technical users, although for the current price of under $100, it is still priced right just as a regular player with an internal HDD dock. I'll post any updates as the weeks go by.
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UPDATE 04/05/2012:
BAD:
Navigation between thumbnails and posters in the movie library is a real pain. You have to strictly follow the associated commands, which often aren't what your common sense will tell you, because if you do not, you'll get penalized. For example, while in the thumbnail view you press the PLAY button to view the movie poster and then while in the poster view you unwillingly start playing the movie because you pressed any button on the remote except for the RETURN one, you're done for. When you abort the play by hitting STOP or RETURN, you're kicked out to the first movie's thumbnail, forcing you to scroll through the dozens/hundreds of your movies' thumbnails to your desired spot. The player does not remember the last played movie. Or again when in the poster view and your common sense tells you that pressing the RIGHT or LEFT buttons would lead you to the next or previous movie's poster, tough luck; RIGHT and LEFT buttons start playing the movie, and you have to press STOP and be kicked back to #1 movie's thumbnail. The only way to navigate in the poster view is to actually select the poster view via the BLUE button on the remote, but in that view it can take minutes to get to the end of your library, because you always start at movie #1 poster and you can't jump from the first movie to the last one. The player's navigation through the movie library lacks common sense and makes the experience unnecessarily difficult and frustrating.
GOOD:
The movie picture quality is awesome. I left all the video settings at the factory default of 50%, and the colors are just perfect, if not a bit vivid, on my Panasonic Viera plasma TV. I watched a movie which takes place in the tropics, and all the scenery came through very beautifully. The movie colors are more beautiful than through my HD cable box, which is also hooked up via HDMI.
OTHER:
The player startup is pretty average. It takes about 30 seconds from the time I press the player's power button to be able to navigate in the main menu. At 50 seconds into the startup, the internal HDD is detected. At about one minute into the startup, the USB drives are detected, but that time frame may vary from one USB drive to another.
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UPDATE 04/09/2012:
BAD:
I have my Pivos hooked up to my 100Mbps switch via a LAN cable. When copying files to the Pivos, the average speed I get is about 1.5MB/sec, which is pretty slow. Hence it takes me about 45 minutes to transfer a 4.3GB DVD. When transferring a DVD between two of my 100Mbps LAN wired computers, the process takes about 10-15 minutes. I may have to hook the Pivos to my gigabit switch and see what those rates will be like.
GOOD:
1) I enabled the Samba protocol in the Pivos' SETTINGS/NETWORK menu, so I could see the player's HDDs and copy files to the player from my computer via my network. I did not turn on the Samba Security feature, which would require a passworded login when connecting to the Pivos. The Samba protocol was very simple to turn on, with one click, and after I detected each drive by typing \\AIOS_IP_ADDRESS or \\aios in the Windows File Explorer, I mapped the Pivos' drives on my computer. I then renamed each mapped drive to my liking. Now I can just drag and drop new movies into each mapped drive without having to move the media drives between the player and my computer.
2) I streamed a 720p MKV movie from my computer via the 100Mbps LAN wire. The movie started right up and played without a buffering pause. But when I started to skip chapters, the player needed to be manually paused with the PLAY/PAUSE button for a couple of seconds to let the stream buffer some of the movie and avoid the playback from frequent bursts of pausing.
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UPDATE 05/11/2012:
GOOD:
Since I wanted to have three external HDDs hooked to the Pivos, and the front USB port was occupied by my wireless desktop dongle, I had only the two rear USB ports left for the drives. I therefore hooked a cheapo, no-name-brand unpowered USB hub into one of the rear USB ports and connected two of the three drives to the player via the hub. The Pivos detects the drives at every startup and plays movies from the two drives without any issues. I would have to verify this by actually timing the new startup time, but it appears it now takes slightly longer to detect the drives than when only two drives without the USB hub were connected to the Pivos. Regardless, I'm thrilled I can add more drives to the Pivos in this manner.
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