# Popcorn Hour A100 Review: Any questions?



## eugovector

Hi folks. I have a Popcorn Hour A100 in for review:

http://www.popcornhour.com

What does it do? Short Version, it plays every single video file you can think to throw at it, up to 1080p. Plays from a networked server, or a local thumb/hard drive, USB CD/DVD Drive. Think AppleTV, no file type restrictions, less polished interface, no content delivery system (yet).

So, I'm finishing up the first phase of the review, and will have an unboxing video up by the end of the week, with the full review up early next week. The unit will be shipped back shortly there after.

My question: While I have this for another week, does anyone have any specific functionality they want me to test out, or any specific video clips they want me to test out. Like I said, it plays most anything you throw at it, but I have found some clips (High Bitrate VC-1 especially) that stutter a little.

Just thought I'd offer before I ship it off. Frankly, this unit is pretty exciting to me, I just don't know if I want one yet...


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## Sonnie

Does it play HD-DVD and BD?


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## eugovector

Short answer: Discs, no. Media Files, yes (with limited audio support)

While it will play unencrypted DVDs from a USB drive, it will not play CSS protected DVDs (could certainly be worked around, don't tell the MPAA). It will play VOB and ISO files, so you could easily set up a library on a central server and serve your movies around the house to these units.

Now, on the HD side. It will play H.264, VC-1, and Mpeg-2, the formats used in HD-Discs (with VC1 and H.264 being the most popular of course). It will play these in MKV, TS, and a variety of other containers as noted on their specs:

# Video containers:

* MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V)
* MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG)
* MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS)
* VOB
* AVI, ASF, WMV
* Matroska (MKV)
* MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4

# Video codecs:

* XVID SD/HD
* MPEG-1
* MPEG-2
o [email protected]
* MPEG-4.2
o [email protected], 720p, 1-point GMC
* WMV9
o [email protected]
* H.264
o [email protected]
o [email protected]
o [email protected]
o [email protected]
* VC-1
o [email protected]
o [email protected]

So on the Video side of things, if you can get the video off your disc and onto a server (easier on HD-DVD than Bluray...right now), you are in business. however, on the audio side of things, things don't look so good. The A100 is only HDMI 1.1, so no passing compressed DD+, DTHD, or the DTS variants to a receiver to decode. 

Could they be decoded in the A100 and sent as PCM? Not right now, and it's unlikely that Dolby and DTS would allow them to. The A100 passes DD and DTS just fine, though, so they can be decoded in your receiver. So the short version is that currently, you can get DD and DTS, but no Advanced Audio codecs.

Hope on the horizon?

Word is that FLAC support will be forthcoming in the next firmware. Would it be possible to, when preparing the media to be put on the server, encoded DD+ and DTHD as 4 streams of FLAC (7.1)? Time will tell as I'm not sure the A100 has the processing power to decode Highbitrate VC1 along with 4 streams of FLAC, in fact, I would be surprised if it did.


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## eugovector

Here's the... Unboxing of the Popcorn Hour
The Full Video Review will be up on Metacafe in a few short days, audio in the next Podcast.


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## eugovector

The Full review is up, give me your honest opinion:

Popcorn Hour A100 Review,


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## Guest

Thanks for your great review of the popcorn hour a100. Did you say that it plays divx? I don't see it on the spec. Another question, have you tried the popcorn with the latest firmware from March? I was thinking of getting the D-Link DPG-1200 but I'm seriously considering the PopCorn after watching your review. Any plans on reviewing the DPG-1200? Thanks again.


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## eugovector

I'll review whatever I can get my hands on. I contacted the DLink folks about their DSM-750 media streamer last year (a few months before it was supposed to be out). That product still has not hit the shelves, to my knowledge, butthey did email me about a week ago. I emailed them back, but nothing as of late. I'll email them again about the D-Link DPG-1200.

As for the popcorn hour, DIVX is essentially Mpeg-4, and is supported, in HD, by the popcorn hour. I have used the latest firmware, but most of the changes have been bug fixes (with the notable exception of adding FLAC support). Still, music and picture playback aren't any fun, video is really where it's at.

If you are willing to put up with the cludgy interface and wired-only networking, I don't know of anything that can beat the popcorn hour for video playback.


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## basementjack

This is similar to the klegg media playback device they sell in the USA at Frys.

I've got one and I'll try and post a review of it soon.


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## Guest

eugovector - Excellent review! Nice job going through things other bigger sites tend not to review.

I did a non-vid one of setup screens. Funny, we found out many of the same good and bad things:

http://mattapps.com/2008/05/03/review-popcorn-hour-a-100-part-1-setup


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## eugovector

Looks good Matt,

I've actually run into a network bug with mine. It appeared suddenly after the last firmware, but rolling back to previous firmware didn't solve it, so I'm not sure what the solution is.

Here's a post detailing the problem, and a potential solution which I haven't tried yet (and may not be able to until a few days from now, been getting killed at work, 12+ hour days for a couple weeks now.)

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/viewtopic.php?p=31329#31329


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## Guest

nice review!

a couple of questions: 
- there was only a glimpse inside the box in the video.. can you confirm that it indeed does not have any fans and is 100% noiseless?

- how does it handle videos that are not perfectly scaled to the output resolution? can you zoom in and out to make them fit/fill screen nicely?

- (probably not pertinent to the review) you seem to do a bunch of these reviews.. what are the best other competitors when looking for a completely diskless and noiseless box to play back music/vids off a network drive? 1080p is not a must, the other criteria are.

thanks!


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## eugovector

W/O a hard drive it is 100% noiseless. With a Hard Drive, you have the noise of the Hard Drive.

Zoom options: original size, fit to screen (will zoom until one dimension meets the output resolution, i.e. fill screen while maintaining aspect ratio), fill screen (regardless of original aspect ratio, zooms to fill entire screen resulting in wide faces on 4:3 content and 16:9 TV).

The Tvix folks have been making Multimedia boxes for years. Poor support, but a good user base. Popcorn Hour wins here, but check out Tivx or Mvix if your curious. If you don't mind asking Steve for permission to watch you media, Apple TV is the best experience by far, but are not diskless (but are quiet). Windows Media Extenders are coming soon (they promise this time), but require vista media center edition to run. Still, a good experience.

I can't recommend anything more highly than the Popcorn hour for video, as long as you are not turned off by the interface, and having to do a little config work. For music, I can't recommend the PH. Go with the Apple TV or Win Media Extender.


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## Guest

Marshall, As many have said, thanks for the great review. A couple of questions for you. Up until now I had been considering the SageTV, STX-HD 100. My goal is to find a top notch option for playing Video_TS files from my PC. I don't really need the place shifting ability that SageTV provides, but it is an added bonus. I'm curious if you have or plan to do a review of this device. 

The A-100 seems to do the #1 priority of playing back video extremely well. However, I would like a device that provides me with the ability to playback music and possibly play lists (not sure if the STX-HD 100 does this well either). Have you heard if the Popcorn Hour will improve upon this in the future? (I know there are other extender type devices that do this well, but none that I know of that playback video_ts files. Also, have you or anyone else on the forum for that matter heard if the folks over at the Popcorn Hour are going to be coming up with a more slick GUI. I agree with you that a smooth playback experience and being able to chose what formats you want to use rather than "Steve" choosing for you is paramount. However, I would like to see the addition of cover art rather than scrolling through dozens if not hundreds of file names. Has anyone heard whether this will be a possible feature in future firmware?


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## eugovector

I have not been in contact with the Sage folks, but I'll look into it. I haven't seen any reviews with photos of the music interface.

I wouldn't hold my breath on the Popcorn Hour getting a better native music interface. There hasn't been much discussion of it, the closest thing was this post made 4/6/08:
_
[PH] Syabas will assign engineering resource in music playback improvement on mid April. This may takes about few weeks to develop._

You could spend a lifetime catching up to Apple in th music department, it's a Fool's Journey. Syabas is focusing on what they already do better than anyone out there: play video.

It's an annoyance, for sure, but you may want to consider an separate, inexpensive solution for music. For $130, I like my Zune with AV dock/remote and wireless sync, but that's certainly a hacked together solution.

Hopefully Syabas will come through with a better native app, or better http server software to address the music interface, bu if you want the video, I wouldn't hold off on buying a Popcorn hour until they do.


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## Guest

Any idea on how this compares to the Playstation 3? I'm getting the PS3 anyway soon (for games and Blu-Ray) but would like a media player for MKV's, AVI's, DVD images and the like. I'm not sure if the PS3 can do this for me. 

Also, what type of HDD does the Popcorn take? I currently have a PixelMagic Mediabox but it's only OK for standard def files, doesn't play MKV's or WMV's.


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## Guest

I went ahead and ordered this, it appears the HDD is a standard internal 3.5" HDD, which is great, I can use the one from the MB200 (linked above).

For the benefit of other users, it appears the PS3 isn't that great as a media centre, which is disappointing. It'll play xvid and divx but no images, VOB's, H.264's or MKV's 

I hope Popcorn include support for wireless pretty soon as the box is way to far away from my wireless router!


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## eugovector

The HDD is a 3.5" IDE or ATA100 or PATA, which ever you prefer.

There is an extensive thread on converting your files for use on the PS3 here:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...ver-media-server-preliminary-setup-tests.html

That's just what the process is, extensive. Now, if you want/have a PS3 anyway, by all means, you should look to use it as a media center. But if first what you want is video playback, then you've made the right choice.

Also: wireless is on the way...http://eugovector.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=337690


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## Guest

Brilliant, thanks for the help. Great to know Wireless support is on the way! The more I research this (post purchase) the more pleased I am, support of this product is excellent


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## Guest

Does anyone know what the base OS of this device is? There own or maybe Windows CE?


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## eugovector

I believe it's their own.


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## Blaser

I have 2 questions:

- How good is the upconerting quality (compared to PS3 for ex.)
- Is the A110 even a better machine?

Thanks!


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## dh2005

Upscaling's good. I'd say it's better than the PS3, but not as good as you'd get if you used a high-end upscaling chip in an AV receiver. I use a good 32" LCD HDTV, and I'm happy with it.

Yes, the A-110's better. It has certain features that make it generally more useful - like a USB slave port, which effectively turns the A-110 into an external USB drive (which makes it easier to get data onto than the A-100)... and the A-110 can downmix DTS audio, whereas the A-100 can't (not because it's not physically capable, but because of licencing restrictions)... there are other differences, but those are the two that mattered most to me.


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## Blaser

WOW!! That is excellent upscaling.... but how do you know it is better than the PS3?? The PS3 is a really good upconverter... and more expensive too!! 
I'd like to know if it is possible to connect more than a hard to the A110 (to have 2 Tb or more...).


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## dh2005

Well, I have a PS3 and an A-110, and I used to use my PS3 for DVD playback. And, personally, I slightly prefer the look that I get out of the A-110.

I have four 1TB drives - one internal, and three external. I only connect my USB drives one at a time (although there are two USB ports, so I expect you can connect two at once).


EDIT: If you have all of your drives in a media server, I believe this can be connected to an A-110. I've not tried it myself, however.


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## Blaser

Can you try to connect 2 external HDs at once and confirm it works? (3 Tb look good to me...).


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## dh2005

Sure, later today. I'll post back here when I've tried.


EDIT: By the way, there are 1.5TB and 2TB drives becoming available now.


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## Blaser

Thanks a lot... does it have any restriction on file size? Or will it just play what you throw in it?


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## dh2005

No file-size limitation, no. Of course, if you use FAT32-formatted external drives then the limit will be 4GB - but that's down to FAT32, not the A-110.

It reads ext2, ext3 and NTFS volumes too. These have no file-size limits.


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## Blaser

Sounds like a winner :yay2: I'm ordering that thing very soon!


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## dh2005

Yeah, I'm a big fan. But my recommendation is not without caution...

... these things require a couple of days of work to get them set-up properly. And although Syabas, who manufacture them, are releasing firmware updates all the time, there are still bugs that can be slightly irritating.

That said, it's so good at DVD-playback that I've ripped (nearly) my entire collection and sent all of my discs into storage. Sure, a few of my rips don't run perfectly, but we're talking less than 5%.

The A-110 is excellent, but it can try a person's patience sometimes...! Nonetheless, I recommend it.


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## Blaser

As far as it has no problem with file size, FF / RW it is cool.

can you change between DD and DTS ... if both tracks are recorded?
What type of bugs did you encounter?


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## dh2005

Yes, you can change between audio tracks. And subtitle tracks, and special features, and everything. You just need to rip the disc in its entirety (using something like DVD Shrink, with AnyDVD to decrypt the protection...), then it behaves exactly as the disc would. It boots to the menu, then you choose from the usual options; "play movie", "scene selections" etc.

The bugs I've encountered are few, but annoying. Some rips don't work (four of my 304 films don't run, for no apparent reason...), and a handful of them have slightly choppy playback. But I swear, 95% of them run perfectly, exactly as they would as if were being played from the disc - better than perfectly, in fact! You don't need to get out of your seat to change movies...!


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## Blaser

That's it! I'm in :T


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## dh2005

As for FF and RW, everything is entirely "cool". The chapter markers stay in place, so you can skip chapters as you would if it were a disc. And within chapters, you just press the ">>" and "<<" buttons - they run at x2, x4, x8, x16 and x32 speeds, according to your needs. The A-110 does everything that a DVD player does, only from a hard drive.

Sincerely, I think you should get one. I'd advise *anybody *with an interest in home theatre technology to get one. They're great fun. I didn't stop ranting about how awesome mine was for weeks.


EDIT: ... but feel free to seek the opinion of others before investing, by all means. Certainly, I've never regretted it.

EDIT EDIT: I've just connected two 1TB USB drives to my A-110 at the same time. And yes, they're both accessible. Along with the internal drive, that makes 3TB accessible from the comfort of my chair...!

In fact, if you get a powered USB hub, I suppose it would be possible to have many drives connected at once.


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## Blaser

At this price point, I don't really call it an investment...so I have nothing to lose... but a lot to gain! Thanks again!


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## dh2005

No worries.

I agree - I think it's very reasonably priced. Which is something that a lot of users forget, when they moan about the machine's bugs on the official forum... which you should check out, by the way:

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=65


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## shorins

I would like to know how to get a refund or get PHC to get off their butts and retune the defective product. I saw great reviews on this product, wow, this thing does everything. I order it, get it in, plug it up and nothing, don't work no way no how. so what does one to do. Well PHC don't have a phone number to call, they just have their silly support fill out thing. 

so I fill it out. they try to have me do all this stuff like move jumpers, update firm ware, gee,, I just order this thing, one would think that all of this would have been done. 

so I do all of the stuff they asked. no dice, so I send this item back in at my cost I might ad, now PHC has had this thing for over two weeks and nothing, not an email saying hey we are working on it or anything. so I email them, the answer i got was we are working on it. 

What does a customer to do with a company like this. poor service and poor product..

Again, where is my refun or exchange.


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## dh2005

Dude... what _exactly _are your problems with the machine?

If it's broken, you can get a new one - no debate. If it's not broken, but you lack the patience to configure it, that's your own problem. Don't expect Syabas to offer you any assistance. There's an online community for that.

Read my previous posts - and read *any *other authoritative commentary on PCH media players on the internet, for that matter. You'll find it's common knowledge that these things don't work 'just like that', straight out of the box. If you want _that_, buy an Apple TV. They're more expensive, play very few codecs, and are generally awful... but hey! At least they work straight out of the box, right...?!

Wrong attitude. These machines require configuration. It doesn't take forever - I'm no computer genius (in fact, I suck at computers), but after a couple of weeks I had mine working perfectly.

I'd be happy to help you, so please feel free to send me a PM - I'm a Senior Member on the official forum. But for exactly the same reason, I will not stand for you or anybody else posting trashy, non-specific complaints about these players. They work very, very well. My Popcorn Hour is a thing of profound beauty that has changed the way I watch movies *for the better*. I don't want to be without one ever again - DVD players annoy me, by comparison.

I await your reply. If you post more general abuse, I shall consider you a troll and ignore you.


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## shorins

let me tell you what trash is, trash is something that you buy from a online company like PCH and it arrives dead. Trash is a company that will not respond back to you until you threaten them that you will contact the BBB if they don't do something about a dead product. Trash is is a product that comes back from their RMA factory still broken, plug the wireless N USB device in and no activity. 

One more thing about trash is a company that says send the product back and get a refund but I will have to pay a 15% restocking fee.. So if you you only allow post on here that shows the PCH in a great light then this is not a real forum. A true Forum is a place that people can post good and bad things. 

I already sent this trash back to the company you seem to bless on so much. I’m happy yours works great. I sure wish mine did. I would more likely think the same way as you do right now. 

now I await your response.


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## dh2005

No need to await it. I'm right here.

If you paid a restocking fee, they clearly think there's nothing wrong with the unit you sent back. I know of several members on the official forum who have sent their broken units back and got replacements for free.

I have a Popcorn Hour A-110. Be specific. Tell me what you did with yours, one step at a time, and then tell me what you saw - again, be specific. Then I can offer you advice. All you've done right now is tell me that Popcorn Hour players are "trash", which anyone can do with absolutely no knowledge or experience.

I'm _trying _to help you, here...


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## dh2005

... see, here's my issue:

You've been online for the last fifteen minutes and posted nothing. Maybe you're away from your desk at the moment, in which event, fair enough. But if you don't post something constructive, and specific, in reply ASAP, I'm gonna have to conclude that you're just a troublemaker. Because, frankly, you've produced nothing of any substance, so far...


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## dh2005

... now it's been half an hour.

I thought you were "awaiting" my response?


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## dh2005

Forty-five minutes. Still nothing.

Come on, pal. If you're so angry, surely you can tell me what you're angry about...?


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## dh2005

I waited online for an hour and a half, and you posted nothing. Then, given that it was after 3AM, I went to bed.

This is the same kinda childish garbage that we on the official forum have to put up with everday from people who *don't do their research*. They buy a Popcorm Hour machine, get it home, open the box, plug it in, then puke everywhere when it doesn't behave like an iPod. What a bunch of crybabies...

... if you'd actually _told me what your problems were_, rather than simply spouting abuse, I could've offered you some advice. It's not like I haven't tried. But given that you didn't, notwithstanding several requests that you do so, I don't see why I should waste another second on you.

If you feel like growing-up, send me a PM. I will not respond to you on this thread again.


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## JimP

Looks like you missed post 37.


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## bobgpsr

JimP said:


> Looks like you missed post 37.


I don't think he did. He (DH) is waiting for a response to his post #40 which was a response to post #39 of shorins.

Sorry that shorins could not get their PCH to work. I've seen posts over on the PCH forum of many user's getting their unit exchanged or fixed. Mine (a PCH A110) worked as expected -- but with many quirks which have gotten to be fewer and fewer with various firmware updates.

"Trash" is a bit of an extreme word for one user's experience when many/(most?) others have been able to get a PCH to work as expected. Like DH said, it is only fair to charge a re-stocking fee if the unit itself was ok and not broken.

My biggest wish for my A110 is for it to do WMA lossless which HDGiants (former MusicGiants) uses for their download music sales.


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## JimP

I saw in the news the other day that 4 guys who formed the file sharing business that supports the file format used for HD video got busted. Is this a big deal when it comes to playing hd on popcorn hour?


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## dh2005

Well, not for _me_... I don't steal any of my content. I own it all on disc.


On reflection, maybe I was a little too quick to give shorins a kicking. But the fact is that I asked several times for a detailed description of what the matter was, and all I got was bile, foot-stamping and "trash". And I don't have time for that. I have dozens of people asking me politely for constructive advice every week. I'd rather speak to someone like that.

Shorins - if you're still around and you want detailed advice on what may've been wrong with your PCH, send me a PM. If you don't, as far as I'm concerned, you either:

a). prove yourself to be a troll, or
b). stay angry, and gain no understanding.

Up to you.


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## nova

shorins said:


> So if you you only allow post on here that shows the PCH in a great light then this is not a real forum. A true Forum is a place that people can post good and bad things.


This is not quite accurate. You are more than welcome to post your experience with any piece of equipment, good or bad. You may also post your experience with any company or manufacturer, good or bad. One caveat... you must follow the Home Theater Shack forum rules when doing so. 

Specifically;
Please be polite, courteous and respectful of other members, as well as all products and services discussed.

There is no need to be condescending or overly critical, not everyone will be as smart as the next person.

Personal attacks of any nature are strictly prohibited. These forums are no place for negativity of any kind.

We can not emphasize enough the importance of keeping the bickering, arguing, flaming, bashing... "and things like these" ... away from here. 

NO bashing of manufacturers and/or products will be tolerated. You may explain that you prefer product A over product B and justify your differences, but do not deliberately bash a product just because you do not like it or just because you had a bad experience with it. Others may own that product and may be offended that you are bashing and trashing their choice of products. 

If you have a beef with a manufacturer, take it up with them outside of these forums, and/or take the whining and complaining somewhere else. Having a problem with a product and asking for help with it is fine, but do not bash the manufacturer and/or the product while doing so. We do have a Manufacturers Service and Support forum for helping individuals resolve issues, but be sure you read the guidelines for that forum prior to posting.

Please abide by our forum rules and let's not let this thread get out of hand.


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## dh2005

Thank you for that clarification.

I, myself, acknowledge that I may've got my knickers in a twist a little too quickly. I suppose, as I've already alluded, when I have the option of speaking to someone who'll address me politely and co-operate in the problem-solving process, or someone who won't, it's a no-brainer.

I understand consumer frustration - my A-110 didn't work perfectly immediately (they just *don't*... ask _anyone_!), and I was pretty cross about it. But I didn't start spewing - I posted questions here and on the official forum, and waited for Mods and Senior Members to get back to me. Which really didn't take that long - we PCH owners are delighted to assist newbies in setting up their units, because we've _all _been through it and we know how great these players are, once they're working... which is why we react indignantly to comments like "trash... trash... trash...".

For my part in this, I apologise.


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## nova

Completely understandable DH,... we all get a little riled up now and then. 

Perhaps, if shorins returns, we can help him resolve his problems; if he tells us specifically what they are and not just generalizations.


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## eugovector

emartdec said:


> Hi friend,
> 
> Hope you have a good time with popcorn hour. I just imagine how much it is enjoyable.
> 
> could tell me it also play Blue Ray Disc.
> 
> _________________________________
> 
> The A110 will play the video files with Dolby True HD via Bitstream, the new c200 will give you complete Bluray menus as well.


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## Wilberfaust

Marshall, the landscape of media Players' functionality is rapidly changing. Check-out the new Dune HD Pro, which integrates 4Home's Technology.


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## eugovector

I saw the press release yesterday: http://dune-hd.com/news/147-dune-hd-pro.html

Noticeably absent is the price which will have to be released before I start getting excited. I just hope that they focus on the media playing aspects first and the home automation second. That tends to be the problem with multitasking devices, they do a lot of things, and none of them well.

I do applaud Dune for pushing the tech to the next level however. In 5 years, I think the days of being locked into physical discs and walled gardens like iTunes is going to be pretty laughable.


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