Topic: Xtreamer vs. Popcorn Hour A200 vs. WDTV Live

[Trevor]

Trying to decide which one is better, should be feature rich, excellent UI and ofcourse "future proof" . Hoping for everyone's valuable input. TIA!

[HD_MOVIES]

if budget is not constraint - i suggest the pch a200. 

[streetsmart]

if budget is not constraint - i suggest the pch a200. 

+1. Best UI, particularly navigation

[Trevor]

Yikes no idea yet on PCH and WDTV live prices! You guys know?

[Trevor]

How does xtreamer and pch a200 flares with mede8er?

[ditoy_eagle]

Sir Trevor just go to the various models in the NMT section.  Rule of thumb, the higher the price the better and more advanced it is.  There are a lot of threads discussing all of these already.  You can't compare those with different price points.  Even the cheapest player will give you endless hours of enjoyment

With regards to PQ and sound, the difference is minimal as seen in our NMT shootout.

[anya618]

+1  sa a200, madalas nauuna pa ito pag me firmware update 

[keeper]

for your consideration:

i bought Xtreamer as my first NMT, changed it PCHA200 coz it cant support Hi-Def Audio and PCHA200 has YAMJ. PQ, hard to differentiate between them. loading/boot up time, mas mabilis ang Xtreamer.  

[Trevor]

Narrowing down my option between PCH and Xtreamer. Thanks for all your inputs guys will be buying one tomorrow na kasi. In case there are distributors of these two device here, please feel free to pm me your best price. Id like to bundle a 1TB HD as well.

Thanks much!

[ditoy_eagle]

annot sells both Xtreamer and Popcorn A-200, check out sa video section in the marketplace. pati hard drives complete they have, and deliver too

[Trevor]

Wow thats cool! Thanks ditoy

[Clondalkin]

Question:  Pagbili mo bukas kelan mo gusto mag-upgrade?

[Trevor]

What do you mean? Am i making the wrong choice here? Id like to hear your recommendation.

[Clondalkin]

I wouldnt buy any media player without a fully functional remote.  A tiny remote is  cool and cute, BUT better think carefully how you want to control the playback.    What are your viewing habits sa DVDs?

I would choose the media player that plays the best.  That would be the A200 among your choices - but it's really ugly on the outside.   Very very fugly.

You should check the Mede8er too.  Very fast, very stable with reasonably matured FW.  Cant do all the tricks of the A200, but its 2K cheaper.  Is that 2K premium worth it?  I'd personally say yes but the added playback capabilities of the A200 may not at all be relevant to you.

File Management:  The PC is unmatched.  Pasasakitin mo lang ulo mo if you use the media player.

File Access:  Network access is cool and convenient...but expensive to set-up and run (save energy).

HD Audio pass-through:   Dont buy NOW if you really want this feature. Perhaps later this year.  Maybe next year.  Who knows for sure.  



Future proof: Myth

UI: Same same lahat halos.  Puro promise palang ang mga super rich GUI...potential and promises - Yes.  When? - Who knows...and you actually have to spend a lot of time if you want to do any kind of movie jukebox with your media player, and make the GUI more eye-candy.  Do you have time for that?  Would you rather organize or would you rather watch?    Anyway, you can possibly tweak the UI of practically any player right now - but its not exactly easy.

Feature Rich:  What other functions do you need?

So think it over well whichever player suits your needs the best.  Pag nagkamali ka, early upgrade mangyayari sa yo - unless ok lang sa yo mangolekta ng katakot takot na player.  

[newwaveboy]

A200 definitely - if you have the spare money. Last I heard, it's 10.5k SRP.

 

[cire6]

sa akin lang, kung masyado kang detalyado sa gusto mo malamang mag handa ka ng malaking budget.
pero pag limitado ka o yung tama lang na gusto mong mag karoon ng nmt bumili kana at sigurado namang
mag eenjoy ka with your family. ako kasi limited ang budget at hindi masyadong demanding sa detalye ng
gamit kaya enjoy ko na yung mga gears ko. xtreamer nga pala ang nabili ko at ayos naman pong gamitin.

p.s.

lagi pong may lalabas na bagong model o brand o kung ano ano pa at kung mag hihintay pa kayo ng mga mas
bago baka matagalan kayo sa pag bili kasi walang katapusan ito....

[pchin]

If budget permits, I'd certainly go for A200

[gaol]

I've tried the WD TV (1st gen), HD Pro, WD TV Live, Xtreamer, and Popcorn Hour A200. I use the A200 now over the others.

[comecum]

A200!

[Trevor]

Hmm... 11k vs. 15k

[Clondalkin]

If you dont need Seamless Branching BD rip playback with Dolby TrueHD downmix to Dolby Digital, then the 8K Mede8er is more than enough and passes all the tests.   Only the A200 is capable of that kind of playback at the moment.

If you need DTSHD/MA and Dolby TrueHD bitstreaming, MAYBE the A200 would become capable within 2010. PERHAPS.    COMING SOON since the day it was born...hehehe
Mede8er - practically no chance.
Xtreamer - topic of litigation - hehehe  
Xtreamer PRO - DAW.
In other words, dont take this feature too seriously yet.  


PQ:  HTPC still looks best...but that's another story...hehehe

[renton]

Went with PCH A200 as well. Seems it is the stable choice with the right features.
Though it would be nice to have the two drive bays of the Xtreamer Pro.
The fugly  look of the PCH is bearable a it is black and just sits in the corner.
Maybe ill get a popbox http://popbox.com when it comes out.

Re: HTPC route, I guess my dream will be to get a new Mac Mini, run Boxee or some other software on top.
More for managing music and photos and iTunes content.

Regarding storage, it would depend on how much media are you hoarding.
How many movies do you really love to watch over and over ?

I think one must look into that combination as well.

So far Im stuck with 1 Tb internal and 1.5 Tb external. Maybe Ill just get another 2 Tb drive.
Is eTrayz a good option / combo with the PC A200 ?

[Verbl Kint]

If you honestly want a future-proof player, then you would have to go with the HTPC option.

If budget is not an issue, get the DVICO TIVX. You won't go wrong with either the 6500 or the 6600, they are probably the best media tanks available today. Playing BD-Rips with menu access is a great feature to have.

If you're a guy who's not into spending too much on watching downloaded mkv's and avi's then the basic Xtreamer should be more than enough.

HTPC: can be built for ~12k to as expensive as you want
DVICO TIVX: us$300 to us$450 w/o shipping
Xtreamer: Php 5k

I find the A-200 a bit of a deviant in terms of price and features; for me, alanganin, ika nga. It's a little expensive but looks cheap. The features are not too compelling, imho, for the 11k asking price, since I could spring a little extra and get a TIVX (puwede naman siguro maghanap ng kakilala sa SG hehe) or just build a low-powered 1080p capable htpc. This holds true for me for NMT's over 10k in price.

Just my $0.02.

[Verbl Kint]

Just found out that the Xtreamer Pro is P7,400 na lang pala. Better value, imho, than the basic Xtreamer.

Kuha ka na lang ng 2TB na Seagate na P6,740. Btw, you can fit 2 of these in an X-Pro (4TB in all).

http://www.tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=6276691

[scifi-fan]

Clarification lang.

If the media player doesn't have Java (as indicated in media player specs), it only supports Simple BD or BD lite.

BD lite is NOT the same as full BD playback.

Full BD playback means the media player will perform as if a disc is put in a standalone bluray player with menus from the manufacturer of the disc not from the manufacturer of the player which is limited to changing audio/subtitles/chapters. BD-Live will also NOT work.

[raptor]

If you honestly want a future-proof player, then you would have to go with the HTPC option.

If budget is not an issue, get the DVICO TIVX. You won't go wrong with either the 6500 or the 6600, they are probably the best media tanks available today. Playing BD-Rips with menu access is a great feature to have.

If you're a guy who's not into spending too much on watching downloaded mkv's and avi's then the basic Xtreamer should be more than enough.

HTPC: can be built for ~12k to as expensive as you want
DVICO TIVX: us$300 to us$450 w/o shipping
Xtreamer: Php 5k

I find the A-200 a bit of a deviant in terms of price and features; for me, alanganin, ika nga. It's a little expensive but looks cheap. The features are not too compelling, imho, for the 11k asking price, since I could spring a little extra and get a TIVX (puwede naman siguro maghanap ng kakilala sa SG hehe) or just build a low-powered 1080p capable htpc. This holds true for me for NMT's over 10k in price.

Just my $0.02.

If you want the best, TVIX is the best but most expensive ...this probably is the real future-proof NMT ... the promised Jukebox, BD full menu playback, and HD Audio Passthrough (TrueHD, DTS-MA, Dolby Digital Plus) all works on TVIX M6500 ...you may refer to the TVIX M6500 topic on this forum ... my unit is almost 2 years, but a lot of its features have not been made available to the newer NMTs ...only downside is the slow boot time compared to the newer NMTs, but I won't exchange it for 2 brand new A200

by the way, I also own an Xtreamer as a second unit - PQ is at par with TVIX, only the full BD rips are my issue ...but this is good enough if you're not much into HD Audio and full BD rips

 

[Clondalkin]

by the way, I also own an Xtreamer as a second unit - PQ is at par with TVIX, only the full BD rips are my issue ...but this is good enough if you're not much into HD Audio and full BD rips

Hi Raptor.

Palitan mo yung Xtreamer ng A200 and Id put you much into BD rips for free.   Ikaw lang meron Tvix na kilala ko so I hope you'd be able to compare the A200 vs the 6500 one on one.   Im pretty impressed with the A200 even without the HD audio you know...hehehe...Deal?

Back to regular programming.

[Trevor]

Settled for Xtreamer sidewinder na muna, upgrade na lang later if bitin Thanks annot for the great deal!

Got a 1TB WD Elements na din so ready to set-up na ko! Thanks much bro HD Movies for the huge discount

[ASuL]

but the dvico tvix m6600 is now selling for as low as $220 in the US which is more or less as much a the A200.

which would you guys choose?

[Beefy]

OF the three choices, I'd pick PCH a200.. Given an open budget and granting that all media players are available locally, I'd pick the c200