A Closer Look
The exterior of the PBO Core is sleek and low profile. Its outer-shell is a brushed metal painted black with the PBO Core logo on each side. The bottom of the unit has four rubber feet and the unit’s serial number. On the front, you’ll notice spots for all of the LEDs and one of two USB 2.0 ports. Turning a 180°, the backside has composite video, optical out, HDMI 1.3, mini-USB, USB 2.0, 10/100 Ethernet, and the power plug.
The outer shell easily comes off after removing two screws. Once inside, you’ll notice a space for an internal hard drive, and the PBO’s cooling fan. You can add a 1TB 2.5″ internal drive. While that doesn’t seem like too much, Patriot allows you to hook up a 2TB external drive, and of course you can theoretically have unlimited space via network attached storage.
I’ve been using the PBO for over a year now, and I love it. The fact that it doesn’t play FLV files is of no matter. Picture quality is great, and there’s a neat piece of software called “Thumbgen” that you can download for free to create custom thumbnails for your movie collection. This shows up in the same folder as your movies.
I’ve been using the PBO for over a year now, and I love it. The fact that it doesn’t play FLV files is of no matter. Picture quality is great, and there’s a neat piece of software called “Thumbgen” that you can download for free to create custom thumbnails for your movie collection. This shows up in the same folder as your movies.
I’ve been using the PBO for over a year now, and I love it. The fact that it doesn’t play FLV files is of no matter. Picture quality is great, and there’s a neat piece of software called “Thumbgen” that you can download for free to create custom thumbnails for your movie collection. This shows up in the same folder as your movies.
I’ve been using the PBO for over a year now, and I love it. The fact that it doesn’t play FLV files is of no matter. Picture quality is great, and there’s a neat piece of software called “Thumbgen” that you can download for free to create custom thumbnails for your movie collection. This shows up in the same folder as your movies.
I agree, the PBO is a good product. I was just surprised to see it have trouble playing FLV when it was able to play everything else. While I was reviewing the PBO, I was thinking of how it would stack up against an Xbox 360, PS3, or a HTPC with XBMC installed. Overall the PBO does a pretty good job, it has better native video support than the Xbox 360 and PS3. And for the PBO’s price, it offers great value compared to a HTPC with XBMC.
I agree, the PBO is a good product. I was just surprised to see it have trouble playing FLV when it was able to play everything else. While I was reviewing the PBO, I was thinking of how it would stack up against an Xbox 360, PS3, or a HTPC with XBMC installed. Overall the PBO does a pretty good job, it has better native video support than the Xbox 360 and PS3. And for the PBO’s price, it offers great value compared to a HTPC with XBMC.