D-Link Updates Boxee Box, Makes Web-To-TV Easier
Our impression of Boxee Box was mostly good, and many of our issues can be chalked up to user preference and factors out of D-Link's immediate control, such as inconsistency of content-provider UIs or an abundance of ads. On the whole, testers found the Boxee experience to be a solid one from setup and installation to daily use as a local media player, a conduit to social networks and as an overall gatherer of Internet content. For resellers with an existing relationship with D-Link, Boxee can broaden that reach and might help elevate their pricing tier.
Setting up Boxee Box could not have been easier. When first powering up, Boxee Box displays huge arrows in the upper left and lower right corners of the screen, with an invitation to move the arrows (using the remote) so Boxee Box can discover the screen size. This foolproof process adjusts the screen resolution without asking about pixels; brilliant for its simplicity.
Next Boxee Box lists any Wi-Fi networks it finds and prompts for a password if necessary. There's also a hard-wire network port, if preferred. Next is user log-in. Creating a new user requires an e-mail address, from which it auto-creates a user ID and sends an e-mail to the address for confirmation. Multiple users can occupy Boxee Box, each with his or her own preferences. An update to internal software follows, if needed.
Boxee Box then asks whether it will be used mainly to display Web content or as a player for local media files. It adjusts the interface accordingly and brings up the home screen. Along the top are links to Friends, Shows, Movies, Apps, Files and Watch Later, which displays content that has been previously tagged. Taking up most of the area below that is a single, scrollable row of large thumbnails that link to various content that Boxee Box believes "is worth checking out," according to the . The user has no apparent control over this relatively large amount of real estate.
Boxee Box does an adequate job of displaying most other types of media, however. Flash-based Web sites automatically play content; some jump to full-screen mode. When Boxee Box displays a Web page (which is any time you're displaying most content), the arrow keys operate the on-screen cursor and the enter key is the equivalent of clicking. Sometimes there is a delay when scrolling beyond the bottom of the screen, which was confusing at first and annoying when the Atom processor caught up because it sometimes scrolled too far all at once.
An optional full-size keyboard might be a good idea, particularly for us older-generation Facebook users, who had to break out the reading glasses to see the tiny keyboard. The included two-sided remote is otherwise useful and well laid out. The keys that will be used most -- for direction, menu/back and enter -- are cleverly arranged so there's no need to look at them most of the time; they can be located by feel. We might have added dedicated mute and/or volume keys for quick access during commercials or when the phone rings.
Someone will come up with the perfect formula for merging TV and the Internet in a way that's easy, useful, intuitive and seamless. Boxee has the easy and useful parts down, but would do well to offer a full-size keyboard option. Except for the sites it doesn't control, its interface is mostly intuitive. It's the seamless part that needs the most work. There's still a heavy line between Boxee's content and that of live television, and the inability to access shared iTunes libraries is a serious void.
But at $199 list, Boxee is still at least $100 cheaper than most entry-level PCs, and the Test Center recommends it for use as a dedicated appliance for interacting with social networks, playback of local files and funneling free Internet media. And D-Link resellers can rely on the company's solid reputation for sales and support in the channel.