Patriot PBO Alpine review!

[lp_Stealth]

Here is my initial review of the PBO Alpine.

Below is a picture of it on the old PBO as well as a picture of the remote. The Photos aren't Great but you'll get the idea. The picture may not illustrate it but they are lined up to the back right corner.

Alpine:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/lp_stealth/IMAG0064.jpg

Remote:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/lp_stealth/IMAG0058.jpg


The build quality:

Patriot stepped away from the aluminum enclosure of the PBO for a plastic design which I think we all knew and that doesn't really bother me. The remote just doesn't cut it, it is just small and cheap feeling and is missing 0-9 number pad. Thankfully I have a harmony One but for those who use it, it feels awkward and to small.

The software:

I had Extremely high hopes for this media player as I LOVE android on my phone and tablet and maybe with the new firmware coming out and some tweaks I will love this too.

First I set the date and time manually and while testing I turned it of a couple times. both times when I turned it on (all while plugged in) it didn't keep the date and time. the first time it went back to the 10th and skipped ahead ~3 hours and the second time I turned it off and back on the date stayed right but kipped ahead ~5 hours??? I am not sure what to think about that. Today I went out and got a patriot wireless USB adapter and it now keeps the right time but still when I turn it off and back on the time is wrong and it takes 10-20 seconds for it to update to the right time.

Browsing through my media seemed to be a challenge, on my old PBO I was running medebo and I could punch in say 400 and it would skip to the 400th file or I could skip page by page if I so chose. With the Alpine and the limited remote with no number pad I have no way of just skipping to a file and I tried every button and there was no skip page by page. Holding the down arrow also does nothing you have to manually hit the down button 600 times if you want the 600th file. Maybe I am missing something or maybe they just need to add some flexibility in this department because it just feels very restricted and slow trying to brows through a bunch of files.

On to playing a movie, fast forward goes up to 64x which is nice and id does so quickly, and if you leave the movie and come back to it it has the resume feature but again the lack of the number pad is a problem for me on my old one I could just skip to a point say 45 minutes in and now I have to sit there and just fast forward. it also seems to have a problem playing MP4s out of the 5 I tried two weren't synced with the audio while I know they both worked on the old PBO, two basically crashed the box, it would go straight back to the home screen and the last one I tried worked fine so there seems to be a problem here. So far MKVs seemed to work fine.

Youtube seemed to work flawlessly, this is a nice addition and when you chose a video you are prompted to chose which resolution you want depending on what is available for that video. It would be nice you have the netflix app preloaded also.

My Asus Wireless USB adapter didn't work at all so I had to go out and buy a Patriot one. Being constructed out of plastic it would have been nice if Patriot would have added WIFI internally though. I think a 10 dollar price increase it would have been well worth it and a good selling feature too.

Another problem I encountered was twice now I lost all audio both playing movies and in Youtube requiring a reboot to solve it.

I also Miss being able to display information for every movie like I had with Medebo. but seeing the post below me from patriotben it looks like something nice is coming down the pipes in this regard.

I Know it is a brand new device and most or all the quirks will be ironed out but so far I am quite disappointing in this product which has so much potential running android. Hopefully Patriot will come out with an update soon because right now it is basically a $100 youtube player. for now I will stick with the old PBO but I still have my fingers crossed that this will be my media player of the future.

Update: so it still seems they rushed the product to market with little to no testing and it seems I'm not the only one with issues. I still have believe that with the new firmware it can still be a good media player. I do have some good news though now. I just got my mini wireless keyboard. The Rii Touch N7 and I must say it has improved my life in the alpine house. youtube is much easier to type in and navigate. The browser is also much easier to use however without flash I feel like I am in apple land and the pesky onscreen keyboard still showing. It also makes navigating through my vast amounts if files easier with the scroll feature unfortunately the scroll is a little sensitive but I still like it.

Here is a picture:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/lp_stealth/IMAG0078.jpg

[Patriot_Ben]

Hi lp_Stealth,

Thank you for taking the time to review the PBO Alpine. Here are some things we just wanted to address in your initial review and findings...

The Build Quality:
The goal was to make an entry level, budget sensitive, Android product. We were going for a basic design due to the feedback from the previous remote. We also did program the firmware to work with the old PBO remote too... ;)

The Software:
This is a skinned generic firmware with all of the media playing features, BUT we are developing new firmware for it that will utilize the Android platform much better. Honestly it will be a world of a difference. There will be an Alpha firmware release next week. I would recommend holding on to the unit until you play with the new firmware which looks similar to below:

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq238/Patriot_Phil/Matrixfimwarescreenshotf.jpg

Movie info and a number of other features will be built into this prototype firmware. Basically we’ll have official firmware revisions that resolves bugs and other general items, and then we’ll also have community driven, patriot built firmware with all of the bells and whistles. We can name this prototype firmware "The Matrix firmware" for distinction sake. When it’s community approved and well past beta-stages we’ll roll it out as the official and shipping firmware. Remember, that with the Android-Platform we have a wide array of options and ways to change the product. We hope to build and support this product in a fun and creative matter.

The Hardware:
Please keep in mind that we made a big leap from the Realtek chipset to a Fujitsu based decoder. The picture quality is much better on this compared to the original PBO core, and that’s the most important thing. Fujitsu’s reputation in broadcasting and transcoding is what led us to the decision of using this chipset.

The Future:
We do understand why you would be somewhat disappointed, especially with (Android-based) dual-core phones out there, but keep in mind that this is only a 500MHz media player. For now, we urge you and other users to also take a look at the video quality and allow us the opportunity to show you the next step of this Android-based media player. I think you’ll be quite impressed in the next few weeks when we roll out the Matrix Firmware for Alpha testing. Your feedback would be greatly helpful and appreciated.

Thanks again!

EDIT: Here's a link to the Matrix (Alpha) firmware: http://www.patriotmemory.com/forums/showthread.php?8572-PBO-Alpine-Matrix-Alpha-Firmware

[Geil]

Thanks for your quick review. Some great observations. Gotto really try it out tonight and try that 64x FF :D and more importantly gotto use my PBO Core remote to overcome all the issues related to missing and nonfuncting features.

This was my feedback on another forum:

"OK for $90 I figure I give this a try.
- 1080i/p won't work with the AIO Sony PC/TV that we have here, 720p works fine
- no dedicated TV video mode button to switch the video mode so luckily when I was trying to exchange it (looking like a fool when it worked at NCIX) I ask them to switch it to 720p for me just in case
- info button reverts back to home screen so no video details to be seen
- list view for media again can only show 8 lines at a time
- even having a Harmony One I fear that only the few keys on this remotely thing can be mapped manually so typical buttons like, display, info, goto, zoom, and whatever I don't recall right now and hence may never actually use may just not magically appear with an official PBOA Logitech profile
- 40M free internal storage only, 7M gone already after installing 2 apk that are not working for now (PPS, PPTV)
- have not been able to figure out yet how to install apk onto anything but the internal storage (it must be possible?)
- there is an option under app management to move to SD but it is greyed out even when app is shut down (I am not an android user so I may be missing something ...)
- the one USB mouse we had at work did not work
- browser would default to google page and we simply could not figure out how to use the keyboard to move to the address bar to type in the address directly and had to revert to entering the address into the search window
- when typing on a USb keyboard the on-screen keyboard still pops up and blocks 1/3 of the screen

This is what I have observed so far having played with it earlier today during lunch for 30min "

[lp_Stealth]

OK so after more playing around I update my original post.

Thanks Patriotben for stepping in I am looking forward to the new firmware. please go over my OP again and see some of the new problems I was having and see if some of these can be addressed in the new firmware.

it seems all the buttons on the remote have to be repeatedly pressed even turning the volume down I can just hold down I have to keep pressing it to turn it down one notch at a time and with scrolling through vast amounts of files it is nearly impossible and frustrating.

Ill be standing by for next weeks release.


Ken

[Patriot_Ben]

690
Thanks for your quick review. Some great observations. Gotto really try it out tonight and try that 64x FF :D and more importantly gotto use my PBO Core remote to overcome all the issues related to missing and nonfuncting features.

This was my feedback on another forum:

"OK for $90 I figure I give this a try.
- 1080i/p won't work with the AIO Sony PC/TV that we have here, 720p works fine
- no dedicated TV video mode button to switch the video mode so luckily when I was trying to exchange it (looking like a fool when it worked at NCIX) I ask them to switch it to 720p for me just in case
- info button reverts back to home screen so no video details to be seen
- list view for media again can only show 8 lines at a time
- even having a Harmony One I fear that only the few keys on this remotely thing can be mapped manually so typical buttons like, display, info, goto, zoom, and whatever I don't recall right now and hence may never actually use may just not magically appear with an official PBOA Logitech profile
- 40M free internal storage only, 7M gone already after installing 2 apk that are not working for now (PPS, PPTV)
- have not been able to figure out yet how to install apk onto anything but the internal storage (it must be possible?)
- there is an option under app management to move to SD but it is greyed out even when app is shut down (I am not an android user so I may be missing something ...)
- the one USB mouse we had at work did not work
- browser would default to google page and we simply could not figure out how to use the keyboard to move to the address bar to type in the address directly and had to revert to entering the address into the search window
- when typing on a USb keyboard the on-screen keyboard still pops up and blocks 1/3 of the screen

This is what I have observed so far having played with it earlier today during lunch for 30min "

Hello Geil,

We posted a quick how to on navigating through the browser here:
http://www.patriotmemory.com/forums/showthread.php?8520-How-to-Navigate-through-PBO-Alpine-Browser-%28Using-Remote%29&p=50927#post50927

To open the text field for URL press the subtitle button.

We will look into the compatibility issue with the Sony TV.

We have submitted our codes to Logitech to be included in their Harmony Series remotes.

In regards to the apk files, we will look into why this is the case. Check out these apk files for now (rar compressed, see top before quote^) while we get the PPS and PPTV to work.

What make and model mouse do you have? Here are some we managed to get to work:
Logitech M-BJ58, Logitech Mk-120, Razer Mamba, Microsoft M20

The unit should also work with the current PBO Core mouse. If the volume button is an issue we'll be glad to get this to you. Please send an e-mail to rma@patriotmem.com with your full name, address and phone number. We tested this and verified that holding down the volume works on this.


OK so after more playing around I update my original post.

Thanks Patriotben for stepping in I am looking forward to the new firmware. please go over my OP again and see some of the new problems I was having and see if some of these can be addressed in the new firmware.

it seems all the buttons on the remote have to be repeatedly pressed even turning the volume down I can just hold down I have to keep pressing it to turn it down one notch at a time and with scrolling through vast amounts of files it is nearly impossible and frustrating.

Ill be standing by for next weeks release.


Ken

Ken,

Thanks for your patience. We are taking a look at the issues you have mentioned, such as the time and date stamp not sticking and hope to get this addressed soon.

As far as the mp4 songs not working, do you have a dropbox account you can send a sample to? We'll be glad to take a look at the file(s) you have. Please advise. We're actually uploading a firmware within the next few days that addresses MP4 issues. You can try this first and if this does not work we can take a look at the file.

Also if having to press the volume button repeatedly is an issue, we'll be glad to get you an extra PBO Core remote. Please send an e-mail to rma@patriotmem.com with your full name, address and phone number.

[Patriot_Ben]

Ken,

We have uploaded the firmware that addresses MP4 issues.
http://patriotmemory.com/software/alpine/Alpine.Firmware.20120330.zip

Please try this and let me know if this helps.

[lp_Stealth]

Hi Ben,

that was quick. I noticed it up last night and tried it out. it did help i have tried 7 files now and the one that would crash it are working now but the 2 that the sound was off are still off. I have tried both on my computer and the PBO core and they both work on those. unfortunately they are to big to upload for you to check them. a couple other observations I have made is the WIFI signal is weak. I put my tablet with known WIFI issues on top of it and I still get a signal of -50 to -55 db.

I also set up my harmony one remote. I made it learn all the commands manually so as not to cause any other problems. it just doesn't seem to work. it works and then all of the sudden it will just go to the home screen it does this maybe every 5-10 button presses. I realize this may not be an issue with the media player however i am reluctant to say tat as it has worked flawlessly with the tv, AV receiver, cable box, my old PBO core as well as my old old wd live media player for a year and a half now. I would like to see what Geil has to say on this.

I am really getting frustrated with this, I would recommend it as a paperweight but it cant even do that well with its light weight. I know that the media player isn't the heart of patriot and I use patriot memory as well as have purchased 5 PBO cores for family members which all work flawlessly. This one just seems like a lemon.

As for RMAing the remote for the volume not "scrolling" well it doesn't for the core remote either.

On the positive side it does have a noticeably better picture quality as you stated above but when the popcorn gets eaten before even choosing a movie to play it just doesn't cut it as a media player. It looks like it is going to sit in its box until the new firmware comes out. Its to bad that other media player showcased at CES wasn't out maybe I would have had better luck with that one, it seemed beefier.

[Patriot_Ben]

Hey Ken,

Since the wifi is embedded on a tablet this could be the reason why the signal is stronger, where as the PBO Alpine needs a separate adapter running through it's usb adapter. We'll see if we can strengthen this.

As of now, we are still in the process of getting codes to work on Logitech's side. It could be a while for them to update the programming to support our Alpine.

The Core Remote doesn't scroll up or down when pushing up or down? Hmmm... let me look into that. We tested it and were sure it had a scroll lock. In any event our RMA Department would simply just send you the remote, you wouldn't need to 'RMA' any existing ones.

Edit: Ken you're correct. The remote still does not scroll lock with the Core Remote. We're going to see if we can address this in a future FW update. However we'll be more than happy to get a spare PBO Core Remote out to you if the included Alpine Remote is harder to use.

[lp_Stealth]

well like I said I have had good luck with my other patriot devices So I will cross my fingers and hold out.

with the remote yes it is one press one action for up down left right and volume. it is just terribly slow trying to go through 1000+ files. also in the video on youtube from CES showcasing the Alpine the guy said that a different remote would ship, what happened ?

On a side note is there any new information about the CoreXT?

[The_Original_Modifier]

I don't mean to intrude on a review, but since it's off topic....

I have a few questions:

1. will it stream from a network drive like my trusty PBO original (how I love that little machine). I have the drive connected to a router that both the PBO, my laptop and even my Blackberry Playbook can access along with a printer.

2. Where can I purchase one of these new units locally (North of Toronto Ontario, CANADA)?

3. Are there any recommended apps the you would say are a must have for this unit?

I don't want to replace my original PBO- btw they're getting harder to get a hold of day by day here from www.CanadaComputers.com :( I would however like to purchase one to test since the media player that I purchased HERE (http://www.pandawill.com/x1-mini-android-tv-box-4gb-telechip-8902-4gb-hdmi-1080p-android-23-black-p49624.html) to test but it does NOT function properly unless you save the entire file to a card in order to play it Hence question #1 I have tried numerous times to get it to stream from the network drive like the PBO, but is seems like its "playing" in fast forward- audio and all. It is about 1/3 the size of the PBO but is totally USELESS.:mad:


TIA,
Mod:cool:

[Tonytoronto]

New player? No thank you.
Patriot gave up on the "old" player long time ago, they stopped firmware updates. Funny thing is, with Mede8er firmware the little box quite good. With its firmware disgrace. Instead of supporting and fixing bugs you guys decide to bring another half ass experiment to market.. well, like i said--- No thanks.. You can keep them all.
For less money there are tons of better choices. If i sound bitter, well after getting 5 units for me and friends, i think i earned that right!

[ledan]

Hi. Just got the new alpine and I am disapointed.
Remote is garbage.
Just swapped my WDTV live to the alpine but cannot connect to network share.
There is no video in media server which took 15 minutes to be seen.
Switched back to WDTV and no problem...

The software isn't ready yet and the remote will always be garbage.

[Patriot_Ben]

I don't mean to intrude on a review, but since it's off topic....

I have a few questions:

1. will it stream from a network drive like my trusty PBO original (how I love that little machine). I have the drive connected to a router that both the PBO, my laptop and even my Blackberry Playbook can access along with a printer.

2. Where can I purchase one of these new units locally (North of Toronto Ontario, CANADA)?

3. Are there any recommended apps the you would say are a must have for this unit?

I don't want to replace my original PBO- btw they're getting harder to get a hold of day by day here from www.CanadaComputers.com :( I would however like to purchase one to test since the media player that I purchased HERE (http://www.pandawill.com/x1-mini-android-tv-box-4gb-telechip-8902-4gb-hdmi-1080p-android-23-black-p49624.html) to test but it does NOT function properly unless you save the entire file to a card in order to play it Hence question #1 I have tried numerous times to get it to stream from the network drive like the PBO, but is seems like its "playing" in fast forward- audio and all. It is about 1/3 the size of the PBO but is totally USELESS.:mad:


TIA,
Mod:cool:

Hello Mod,

To answer your questions:

1) Yes, the unit does have network streaming capabilities.

2) In Canada, they are currently available at NCIX.

3) As far as apps… we haven’t tested too many yet. As posted by snappy46,
http://www.patriotmemory.com/forums/showthread.php?8534-Finding-apk-application-for-your-PBO-Alpine

…the current mass production firmware is slightly modified.

Here are a few that we have played around with: 690

We have another firmware team building our “Matrix” firmware that will be built on the native Android 2.2 that will be much more app-friendly with traditional Android Devices, and will be compatible with traditional App sources such as Google Play.

[Patriot_Ben]

New player? No thank you.
Patriot gave up on the "old" player long time ago, they stopped firmware updates. Funny thing is, with Mede8er firmware the little box quite good. With its firmware disgrace. Instead of supporting and fixing bugs you guys decide to bring another half ass experiment to market.. well, like i said--- No thanks.. You can keep them all.
For less money there are tons of better choices. If i sound bitter, well after getting 5 units for me and friends, i think i earned that right!

Hi Tonytoronto,

It was never our intention to halt support for the PBO Core, nor have stopped supporting our PBO Core and customers. Our PBO Core is now EOL, but we are still working with providing some bugs fixes and firmware for it. With that being said, the PBO Core was our first Media Player and entry device to this market. Our firmware for PBO Core is built and supported by a third party firmware team from Taiwan. Because of this, things can tend to take a bit longer to program and test for.

With the PBO Alpine, everything is completely designed in the US. Furthermore, we have more options and support for the product being built on the Android Platform.

[tim711]

Hi Patriot_Ben,

My apline unit will NOT rewind video playback using the remote and it will only fast-forward 2x not the 64x lp_Stealth had mentioned. Reasons why?

I am also frustrated with this miniature remote, too small, hard to use, hard to feel the button feedback, impossible to use in the dark, and begins to hurt your fingers. I find it very difficult to use this remote, if possible could you please provide me with the original bigger PBO remote?

Thanks,
Tim

[Patriot_Ben]

Hi Patriot_Ben,

My apline unit will NOT rewind video playback using the remote and it will only fast-forward 2x not the 64x lp_Stealth had mentioned. Reasons why?

I am also frustrated with this miniature remote, too small, hard to use, hard to feel the button feedback, impossible to use in the dark, and begins to hurt your fingers. I find it very difficult to use this remote, if possible could you please provide me with the original bigger PBO remote?

Thanks,
Tim

Tim711,

What kind of media files are you playing? What are the files being played from? Does this happen with every file you play?

As far as the remote, we'll be glad to get you a larger remote. Please forward your mailing address and proof of purchase to RMA@Patriotmem.com and our RMA department will be glad to ship out the larger remote for your unit.

[tim711]

Ben,

The files were as follows:

1080p mkv
video ....... x264 @ 8080 kbps
resol ....... 1920 x 816
audio ....... DTS 1509 kbits

720p mkv
video ....... x264
audio ....... 5.1


The files are in my shared folder on my Windows 7 Pro SP1 desktop.
I will try with more files tonight... I just received the media player last night so those were the only ones tested at the time.

Thanks,
Tim

[tim711]

Ben,

So, I tested a HD .wmv sample video that comes with windows 7, same issue.

What I did discover is that any one of these files placed on a flash drive and inserted into the media player will rewind and fast-forward 64x. Is it possible to look into fixing this rewind / fast-forward issue with network drives? win7 issue?

Thanks,
Tim

[Patriot_Ben]

We definitely will... so the issue appears to be rewinding while playing on a network share?

Another question, are you connected via lan or wireless?

If wireless, what kind of router and wifi adapter are you using?

We'll try to replicate it here first so that we can resolve the issue.

[tim711]

Both PC & media player on Lan (wired to router)

Network Drive: No rewind at all, only 2x fast-forward
Flash Drive: Rewind works, 64x fast-forward (FINE)


Also, for some reason I can only see my shared (default window shares) folders that windows has setup. My folders / files I select and make shared (no password) will not show up on my Apline... only the windows default ones... even after rebooting both PC & Apline. I didn't have much time last night to fiddle with this much more.

[lopaka]

I'm only getting the 2x fast forward too. Just hooked up the alpine last night and played 2 mkv videos. I couldn't get more than 2x FF which makes it very difficult to resume a long movie if you're past the halfway mark. The remote is really bad (too tiny) and I on 1 MKV video the box booted me out of the movie back to main menu half way through and since I can only FF at 2x I switched to watching something else. The videos are confirmed working with my other media players.

I saw that the Alpine is supposed to work with the original PBO so I uploaded that remote software to my harmony but it doesn't work. I manually programmed the harmony remote but it only "sorta" works. You have to double or triple press the directional buttons to get any response. All other buttons seem to function normally.

Also with 500MHz processor I'm assuming flash support isn't happening? I was hoping to crossload netflix. I love android in general but am a bit disappointed so far. I was hoping for a media player that could do everything well. I'll wait for a couple firmware updates before I give up though.

[lp_Stealth]

Update: so it still seems they rushed the product to market with little to no testing and it seems I'm not the only one with issues. I still have believe that with the new firmware it can still be a good media player. I do have some good news though now. I just got my mini wireless keyboard. The Rii Touch N7 and I must say it has improved my life in the alpine house. youtube is much easier to type in and navigate. The browser is also much easier to use however without flash I feel like I am in apple land and the pesky onscreen keyboard still showing. It also makes navigating through my vast amounts if files easier with the scroll feature unfortunately the scroll is a little sensitive but I still like it.

The post above this. I have been booted to the home screen but it seems to only happen on the harmony remote and I too programmed all the buttons manually. can you confirm?

Here is a picture:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/lp_stealth/IMAG0078.jpg

I also would like to give a shout out to Patriot_Ben for his quick responses and help so far through all of this.

[ledan]

Although my WDTV was working behind my gigabit switch, found that the alpine do not.

Rewind or forward 2x only is on media server mode. 64x is working on network share mode.

[Tonytoronto]

Hi Tonytoronto,

It was never our intention to halt support for the PBO Core, nor have stopped supporting our PBO Core and customers. Our PBO Core is now EOL, but we are still working with providing some bugs fixes and firmware for it. With that being said, the PBO Core was our first Media Player and entry device to this market. Our firmware for PBO Core is built and supported by a third party firmware team from Taiwan. Because of this, things can tend to take a bit longer to program and test for.

With the PBO Alpine, everything is completely designed in the US. Furthermore, we have more options and support for the product being built on the Android Platform.
As i'm sure you aware, the latest "fixes" like u call it, were more year ago. Gone are also the promise of Netflix, "was in testing" i recall one of you saying. Don't want to sound negative but sure hard to be positive about anything from you guys. I must thank you for the hardware, they are all still working with Mede8er software in them. There's more support from 3rd party than Patriot itself, thats pretty sad.

[lopaka]

I'll map network shares to fix the 2x FF for now, not a big deal. I'm used to using the media server from a ReadyNAS NV+ with all my other players, but can do the share for now. :D

[lopaka]

Update: so it still seems they rushed the product to market with little to no testing and it seems I'm not the only one with issues. I still have believe that with the new firmware it can still be a good media player. I do have some good news though now. I just got my mini wireless keyboard. The Rii Touch N7 and I must say it has improved my life in the alpine house. youtube is much easier to type in and navigate. The browser is also much easier to use however without flash I feel like I am in apple land and the pesky onscreen keyboard still showing. It also makes navigating through my vast amounts if files easier with the scroll feature unfortunately the scroll is a little sensitive but I still like it.

The post above this. I have been booted to the home screen but it seems to only happen on the harmony remote and I too programmed all the buttons manually. can you confirm?

Here is a picture:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/lp_stealth/IMAG0078.jpg

I also would like to give a shout out to Patriot_Ben for his quick responses and help so far through all of this.

I got booted once watching an MKV movie from media server. Also got booted back to main menu using the programmed harmony remote 3 times that first evening. I've been using the tiny remote because of that. Hopefully once logitech updates the harmony support for alpine, I can use it without issues