# Popcorn Hour Network Media Jukebox Discussion Thread



## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Read the full review HERE

*Rasco’s Wrap:*
I am really enjoying my time with the Popcorn Hour solution and do not look forward to having to send it back. Truthfully, the only thing stopping me from diving head first into this particular solution is that I do not know what the DUNE unit is capable of. We are working on getting one of their units in for review and hopefully that will not take too long. I will absolutely be getting rid of the old Apple setup and moving on to one of these more robust solutions in the very near future.

Overall the system performed as advertised and I would absolutely recommend anyone seriously contemplating a network media jukebox solution to consider this one as an option. Hopefully we will be able to have something to compare the performance and features to soon so we can give our members real apples to apples comparison between Popcorn Hour and Dune. 

Read the full review HERE


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Nice review Dale, it sound like without a bit of computer knowledge, set up will be an issue. I do a bit with computers but not enough to really trouble shoot issues. Kinda scares me off a bit.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Hey Tonto, thanks for reading the review. It really depends more on your level of comfort troubleshooting issues. I made the point about the data switch only because it came up as an issue for me. I may need to clarify in the review that because of my background, I tried to throw a lot at it. I think anyone comfortable purchasing a ROKU HD, Apple TV or the like will be comfortable with the Popcorn Hour.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

From an ISO of a DVD or blu ray, what disc menus does it support?

By the way, you mentioned Dune. I have had a Dune Duo for about 3 years now and it performs well. However, I admit that I use my Netgear Neo TV 550 far more. The menus are better and easier to navigate and the responsiveness is about the same. There have been a couple of instances where the Neo would play an ISO and the Dune would not and vice versa.

The internal hard drives on the Dune are nice, but forget about transferring large files to them with the Dune's 100MB ethernet. At least on this model, the hard drives are easily removable and the Dune supports NTFS. So, the trick is to take the hard drive to a computer for file transfers. I ended up using NAS with gigabit support for both it and the Neo.

The sad thing is that it seems to take more than one player to cover all bases - like a Roku for streaming and something else, such as the PCH or Dune, for NAS playback.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

Wouldn't a HDMI switcher do the same thing... Get the audio and video from your PC to your rooms? I am just trying to think of why another piece of equipment.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

ellisr63 said:


> Wouldn't a HDMI switcher do the same thing... Get the audio and video from your PC to your rooms? I am just trying to think of why another piece of equipment.


Not exactly. The Popcorn Hour is a media streaming device, which means that it can play recorded media (movies, TV shows, music, photos, etc.) stored on a hard drive. A HDMI switcher will only play what the source is playing in real time (DVR, blu ray player, etc.) Really, they are completely different things.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

hjones4841 said:


> Not exactly. The Popcorn Hour is a media streaming device, which means that it can play recorded media (movies, TV shows, music, photos, etc.) stored on a hard drive. A HDMI switcher will only play what the source is playing in real time (DVR, blu ray player, etc.) Really, they are completely different things.


Thank you for the assist Mr Jones! I just got back in and say the questions. In answer to your's about the .iso menu, I really did not try to get back to the main menu of a DVD or Blu-ray. I'll try that out this evening and update you afterward. Great question, not sure why that did not cross my mind.


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## MrAngles (May 1, 2012)

Regarding the network speed issue, I stream full-bitrate Blu-ray rips to my PS3 using a DLink gigabit switch I got from Newegg for $10 a couple years ago, so I imagine that most reasonable switches should work.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

MrAngles said:


> Regarding the network speed issue, I stream full-bitrate Blu-ray rips to my PS3 using a DLink gigabit switch I got from Newegg for $10 a couple years ago, so I imagine that most reasonable switches should work.


That's a great point Mr Angles, I ended up doing an update to the review trying to explain that I really tried to break it to a certain degree by hammering the NAS where the files are stored with large file copies being generated from the same switch as the unit that was streaming the Blu-ray. For the average Joe a D-Link, Netgear or other consumer line product would probably be sufficient.

Thanks for the input!


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

Thanks for the review on this, did they give you the wireless N USB dongle to test? As much as I would love to run gigabit ethernet through my house I think I would try to get wireless to work first. In theory N should be fast enough to stream ripped bluray if you can get a solid connection.

really looking forward to a review on the DUNE system as well.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Unfortunately they did not send the wireless adapter. I would have like to have seen that performance as well. I agree, I did the math and N should be fine for streaming Blu-ray's.


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## paulster (Aug 28, 2012)

These are great media players, but the C-300 (and its smaller brother the A-300) are still blighted by some really annoying firmware quirks even a year down the line.

For my money the older C-200 is running way more mature firmware and, other than a slower user interface and a monochrome rather than colour display on the front, is pretty much the same hardware, so is a comparative bargain at the moment.

The new A-400 that they have just shown at the recent couple of trade shows looks like a big leap forward in terms of what it can do with a significantly enhanced processor (including the well-renowned VXP image processing), although this one won't play Blu-rays with menus or they'd have had to have implemented Cinavia which would break playback of ISOs and other network-stored backups.


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## J&D (Apr 11, 2008)

Thanks for the great review. I have been using an A110 in my HT and another one in my great room for several years now and love them. No snazzy interface as I have not bothered to take the time to install and configure one but even without it they have been excellent devices.

I am really interested in the new A-400 when it becomes available. This should be one very impressive streamer and now that I have a 24-port gigabit switch on the way will be ready to upgrade my trusty A110's.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I have seen in several streaming media forums folks trying to use wireless for streaming HD with varying results - most saying it would not work without re-buffering. The data rate is too high for most wifi connections. Those with success seemed to have the player very close to the router or access point.

Wired is definately the way to go unless there is no way to do it.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Wired would definitely be preferable, but I generally feel that way about any technology.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

I agree about wired as well, in the house that I just moved out of I had gigabit ethernet in all the rooms and I loved it, only using wireless for my phone and tablet but it was a ranch style house with a crawl space that made for very easy wiring. 
My new house is three floors and no easy access to anything. I have my wifi router in the middle of the house and it does a great job with internet but I have a feeling it would choke on HD content. 
I am still a good 6 months off from buying something like this (need a projector first!) so I have time to consider my options (directional external antenna, repeater etc)

That will also give the A400 time to come out and maybe go through a few firmware revisions...


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## WRYKER (Jan 23, 2009)

The C300 just had a firmware update the other day so check that out. I have the A110 and preordered the A400. A few months ago I 'upgraded' my YAMJ from Omerton's skin to the "AIO-Eversion" skin and it is AWESOME!


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

That's great WRYKER, I still have the unit so I will definitely check it out. I was about to try the AIO-Eversion so I am glad to hear it is working well for you!

Thanks!


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## WRYKER (Jan 23, 2009)

Dale Rasco said:


> That's great WRYKER, I still have the unit so I will definitely check it out. I was about to try the AIO-Eversion so I am glad to hear it is working well for you!
> 
> Thanks!


Did you try the AIO skin? I preordered the A400 so I'm counting on it being a great replacement for the A110. I'll move the A110 to either the bedroom or the living room. I have a WDLiveHD in the living room now for the 'lady' of the house to use but she'll probably want the A110.


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