Author Topic: Popcorn Hour A-100 (Read 77573 times)

obsi · « **on:** May 12, 2008 at 09:05 AM »

Just received a Popcorn Hour A-100. Any recommendations of what hard disc to install? I've read that 3.5hdd would be too hot and noisy, while a 2.5hdd would necessitate a socket adapter. Or should I just skip all the heat and noise issues altogether and just use a portable usb WD passport 320gb instead? TIA

uvax · « **Reply #1 on:** May 13, 2008 at 11:45 AM »

Get a Western Digital Green Power 3.5 HDD. These are now available in 500G and 1T variants. These are low noise- and low heat-generating drives which makes it a good fit.

obsi · « **Reply #2 on:** May 14, 2008 at 10:25 AM »

Are these WD GP 3.5hdd IDE or SATA? Unfortunately the A-100 is IDE only. Already got a 320gb WD Passport for now, so I just simply plug into the pc for fast data transfer, then plug into the A-100 to watch, works flawlessly so far. But I'm sure that it will fill up soon enough

. I also found a 3.5 IDE to 2.5 adapter to use if I can't find a cool & quiet internal 3.5hdd. After a video marathon yesterday, I did not notice any heat nor noise issues from either the A-100 or the Passport.

uvax · « **Reply #3 on:** May 14, 2008 at 11:39 AM »

The WDs are SATA unfortunately. In your case I think I'd go with 2.5" notebook drives as these are designed for lower heat dissipation because of the space constraints in laptops.

Jermi · « **Reply #4 on:** May 14, 2008 at 02:31 PM »

where did you get this player and how much?

gren · « **Reply #5 on:** Jun 12, 2008 at 01:32 AM »

Hi guys,

We have this unit available for demo. For more information on where or what we are, do visit our website: www.ehome.com.ph

I edited this post to remove the clutter. As I'd rather that we keep this thread as a resource, than a marketplace. Just PM me for inquiries.

gren · « **Reply #6 on:** Jun 12, 2008 at 01:37 AM »

Some good resources for you guys to read up on:

http://www.networkmediatank.com is the definitive information source for Sayabas related products, particularly the PCH and its cousins. try the wiki for more info http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/

http://www.mpcclub.com/ is a good information site for media players. Hi-Jack has a lot of info on competing products.

For related products, I recommend the following:

http://wiki.dns323.info/ We use the DLink DNS 323 NAS drive as our primary source of video files. This wiki site provides information on hacking your DNS 323

http://www.dd-wrt.com We use Dlink DIR-300 routers/switch/Wireless Access Point and this site provides excellent information on hacking your router -- your warranty will be voided

gren · « **Reply #7 on:** Jun 12, 2008 at 01:39 AM »

BTW, WD drives are not recommended as their mounting screws are not aligned against the slots provided by the PCH A-100 unit. Use Seagates instead, though Samsung Spinpoints are highly recommended (quieter).

I used an IPOD as an external drive but the performance is sub par, with scenes off a small sized/low bit rate 720p file (2-3gb) skipping every so often.

I'm not sure if the WD caviar would do good as a source, but we'll probably test this one.

ericag_ph · « **Reply #8 on:** Jul 02, 2008 at 10:52 PM »

Thought I'd share this email from popcorn....in case anyone wants to buy it overseas...from Malaysia

Dear Customer,

Thanks for enquiry popcornhour, the media Tanker playback Blu Ray, 1080p
HD, BT downloaded, Servers, & Internet TV build in! We get a very good
Review for MPC Club in Europe.

We do have stock now. We do have HDD option on 500Gb & 750 GB. Popcornhour
Hardware Warranty One year & Seagate HDD carry 3 ~ 5 years warranty.

For the international market, The mail order price is USD 179 + EMS POS
freight USD 45. Kindly provide your Full address, Country, Post Code,
Telephone in order to issue Invoice. FYI Singapore has 7% of GST & some
Insurance charges & the courier charges. For Australia & Philipines there
is TT Charges of USD 22 ~ 26 !

For Internet order, Payment will be Bank TT in advance. We going to ship
as soon as conformation from bank. FYI, We do not take Oversea credit card
& Paypal at this moment.

There will be One year hardware warranty on popcornhour A-100. There is
Unlimited Firmware update! For update Firmware just go to your setup,
mintenance & updated the firwmare using your A-100 remote control. Or
there is a lot of discussion Forum world wide you can get the idea there.

Kindly take note We have a Service Center at JB in order to service
Singapore & Johor customer promptly. The address you can get it fro
www.popcornhour.com.my.

If you need more info on Network Media Tank, pls feel free to contact me !

Regards

Chang
Marketing

Weng! · « **Reply #9 on:** Jul 03, 2008 at 01:38 PM »

Quote from: ericag_ph on Jul 02, 2008 at 10:52 PM

Thought I'd share this email from popcorn....in case anyone wants to buy it overseas...from Malaysia

Dear Customer,

Thanks for enquiry popcornhour, the media Tanker playback Blu Ray, 1080p
HD, BT downloaded, Servers, & Internet TV build in! We get a very good
Review for MPC Club in Europe.

We do have stock now. We do have HDD option on 500Gb & 750 GB. Popcornhour
Hardware Warranty One year & Seagate HDD carry 3 ~ 5 years warranty.

For the international market, The mail order price is USD 179 + EMS POS
freight USD 45. Kindly provide your Full address, Country, Post Code,
Telephone in order to issue Invoice. FYI Singapore has 7% of GST & some
Insurance charges & the courier charges. For Australia & Philipines there
is TT Charges of USD 22 ~ 26 !

For Internet order, Payment will be Bank TT in advance. We going to ship
as soon as conformation from bank. FYI, We do not take Oversea credit card
& Paypal at this moment.

There will be One year hardware warranty on popcornhour A-100. There is
Unlimited Firmware update! For update Firmware just go to your setup,
mintenance & updated the firwmare using your A-100 remote control. Or
there is a lot of discussion Forum world wide you can get the idea there.

Kindly take note We have a Service Center at JB in order to service
Singapore & Johor customer promptly. The address you can get it fro
www.popcornhour.com.my.

If you need more info on Network Media Tank, pls feel free to contact me !

Regards

Chang
Marketing

just a heads up. better buy it locally here thru ert. i already ordered from them due to the available 750gb hdd pre-loaded with HD contents. expect to pay extra US$25 TT charge from bank in malaysia + TT charge from your bank in the phils (HSBC US$22) + tax from DHL. its not worth it. or better order it directly from popcornhour website, you can pay thru credit card and no extra TT charges. haay wrong mistake

ericag_ph · « **Reply #10 on:** Jul 03, 2008 at 06:01 PM »

what's ert?

how much locally?

nerveblocker · « **Reply #11 on:** Jul 03, 2008 at 08:10 PM »

Does this upscale 480p videos to 1080p via component video or hdmi connections?

Javoy · « **Reply #12 on:** Jul 03, 2008 at 08:42 PM »

Hi! I just got my unit from eHome last week! Have been loving it so far.
I tried various 720p and 1080p content as well as DVD ISOs and
it plays everything without a hitch.

Although the price is slightly more expensive than getting it direct from
US or Malaysia, I feel that it is still worth it considering the local (1 year)
warranty offered with the unit. No need to ship back to Malaysia or US,
just bring it back to the store.

I guess my only complaint at this time is the slow transfer speeds when
copying from my mac to the internal hard drive of the PCH (via ftp). Copying
from an attached USB drive will probably be faster though I still have to try
this out.

leomar · « **Reply #13 on:** Jul 03, 2008 at 08:58 PM »

Quote from: nerveblocker on Jul 03, 2008 at 08:10 PM

Does this upscale 480p videos to 1080p via component video or hdmi connections?

component =)

nerveblocker · « **Reply #14 on:** Jul 03, 2008 at 11:22 PM »

Quote from: leomar on Jul 03, 2008 at 08:58 PM

component =)

Wow! One good reason to purchase this....

gren · « **Reply #15 on:** Jul 03, 2008 at 11:58 PM »

i haven't done extensive research into this but, i think it upconverts to 1080i.

some more pending items in our to-research list would be whether or not a sata->pata converter would work.

do list down your questions here, and I'll try my best to answer your questions (or go about experimenting). of course, you can always come over to the shop (ehome) to demo it for yourself.

Quote from: leomar on Jul 03, 2008 at 08:58 PM

component =)

leomar · « **Reply #16 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 11:23 AM »

sample pic para may evidence na may component 1080p

nerveblocker · « **Reply #17 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 01:46 PM »

Quote from: leomar on Jul 04, 2008 at 11:23 AM

sample pic para may evidence na may component 1080p

very nice!

gren · « **Reply #18 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 02:21 PM »

could you confirm playback resolution ng dvd isos?

the tv we're using does not provide resolution info kasi, maybe yours does.

Jairus · « **Reply #19 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 02:43 PM »

Quote from: gren on Jun 12, 2008 at 01:39 AM

BTW, WD drives are not recommended as their mounting screws are not aligned against the slots provided by the PCH A-100 unit. Use Seagates instead, though Samsung Spinpoints are highly recommended (quieter).

I used an IPOD as an external drive but the performance is sub par, with scenes off a small sized/low bit rate 720p file (2-3gb) skipping every so often.

I'm not sure if the WD caviar would do good as a source, but we'll probably test this one.

Hi,

Would you recommend an external HD (like Buffalo or WD) for this?

HD_MOVIES · « **Reply #20 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 03:19 PM »

Quote from: Jairus on Jul 04, 2008 at 02:43 PM

Hi,

Would you recommend an external HD (like Buffalo or WD) for this?

i use western digital mybook to play my collection of *.MKV's..

gren · « **Reply #21 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 03:23 PM »

as quoted from the Sayabas Wiki (http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page#What_streaming_speeds_should_I_expect_from_the_various_network_connection_methods.3F)

Quote

SMB: ~25Mbps
NFS: ~33Mbps
HTTP: ~42Mbps (same clip peaks at 47Mbps)
USB HDD: ~ 42Mbps
USB DVDROM (8x): ~42Mbps
Internal HDD: ~42Mbps

do mind these are "quoted" speeds, meaning, they're mostly ideal conditions and whatnot. for example, when i plugged in my ipod (5.5g, 80gb) to the usb slot, 4gb 720p movies played with a bit of jerkiness -- this might be because of the speed of the ipod's hdd.

i'd recommend external hdds on several counts:
- external -- won't contribute to heat
- portability -- can plug in and remove at will, and can be used with other devices in turn

but of course, its a bit messy to look at, having all those wires and whatnot. i'd only use them (personally) as an interim solution -- if i don't have an ide hdd or if i have an external hdd on hand, i'd get this initially. then i'd wait for the wireless N stick to connect the pch unit to my network wirelessly (this assumes you do have a network).

Quote from: Jairus on Jul 04, 2008 at 02:43 PM

Hi,

Would you recommend an external HD (like Buffalo or WD) for this?

Clondalkin · « **Reply #22 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 03:35 PM »

Quote from: gren on Jul 04, 2008 at 03:23 PM

but of course, its a bit messy to look at, having all those wires and whatnot. i'd only use them (personally) as an interim solution -- if i don't have an ide hdd or if i have an external hdd on hand, i'd get this initially. then i'd wait for the wireless N stick to connect the pch unit to my network wirelessly (this assumes you do have a network).

Are you guys seriously thinking of streaming 4.5GB - 30GB high bit rate contents wirelessly and expect good results out of it???

gren · « **Reply #23 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 03:44 PM »

most downloaded mkvs are about 4gb or 8gb (set to fit dvd 5, dvd 9 media). 4gb mkvs stream across 54 mbit wireless g's without much of an issue. you can stream 2 streams simultaneously without much hiccups. granted we are doing this via pcs with wireless usb adapters, and i think pcs have bigger buffers and can afford signal drops more than the pch.

we are still waiting for the wireless N stick (20mbps i heard) for the pch, but i've tried wirelessly bridging the pch (via dd-wrt flashed dir-300 in pseudo wireless bridging mode, will get buffalo access points so we can do real-deal wireless distribution system type setup) and the results were pretty okay.

do mind that when i say 'okay' its hardly critical viewing (di tutok :>) but for most parts, it should provide adequate viewing.

Quote from: Clondalkin on Jul 04, 2008 at 03:35 PM

Are you guys seriously thinking of streaming 4.5GB - 30GB high bit rate contents wirelessly and expect good results out of it???

Weng! · « **Reply #24 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 04:11 PM »

Quote from: ericag_ph on Jul 03, 2008 at 06:01 PM

what's ert?
how much locally?

click link below

http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?topic=80085.0

Clondalkin · « **Reply #25 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 04:11 PM »

Quote from: gren on Jul 04, 2008 at 03:44 PM

most downloaded mkvs are about 4gb or 8gb (set to fit dvd 5, dvd 9 media). 4gb mkvs stream across 54 mbit wireless g's without much of an issue. you can stream 2 streams simultaneously without much hiccups. granted we are doing this via pcs with wireless usb adapters, and i think pcs have bigger buffers and can afford signal drops more than the pch.

we are still waiting for the wireless N stick (20mbps i heard) for the pch, but i've tried wirelessly bridging the pch (via dd-wrt flashed dir-300 in pseudo wireless bridging mode, will get buffalo access points so we can do real-deal wireless distribution system type setup) and the results were pretty okay.

do mind that when i say 'okay' its hardly critical viewing (di tutok :>) but for most parts, it should provide adequate viewing.

Ok. Bilib talaga ako sa Pinoy.

Sabagay, if you have say a 4.5GB file to stream in 2 hours, you only need to stream about 0.625Mb/sec.

In my home network, I'm using a Buffalo 300Mbps wireless LAN (WZR-G300N series). Both my laptops have 300Mbps rated PCIM cards, the main desktop is wired and the Xbox360 is fully wired as well. I have streamed the 8GB 1080p LOTR avi to the Xbox360 (wired obviously) and observed some stutter. Unfortunately, the Xbox360 does not play mkvs yet. My ISP is 100Mbps fiber-optic but I still wouldnt dare stream my huge files wirelessly. But that's just me I guess.

Do keep us updated how the PCH performs wirelessly. Thank you.

Weng! · « **Reply #26 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 04:13 PM »

Quote from: Javoy on Jul 03, 2008 at 08:42 PM

Hi! I just got my unit from eHome last week! Have been loving it so far.
I tried various 720p and 1080p content as well as DVD ISOs and
it plays everything without a hitch.

Although the price is slightly more expensive than getting it direct from
US or Malaysia, I feel that it is still worth it considering the local (1 year)
warranty offered with the unit. No need to ship back to Malaysia or US,
just bring it back to the store.

I guess my only complaint at this time is the slow transfer speeds when
copying from my mac to the internal hard drive of the PCH (via ftp). Copying
from an attached USB drive will probably be faster though I still have to try
this out.

hi sir,

how much is the popcorn unit from eHome? or yet pm me if you don't want to post it. a friend of mine is interested kasi.

leomar · « **Reply #27 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 04:15 PM »

Quote from: gren on Jul 04, 2008 at 02:21 PM

could you confirm playback resolution ng dvd isos?

the tv we're using does not provide resolution info kasi, maybe yours does.

sorry i can't, i only have HD ready panel so i can't use it for 1080p files... also it can't downscale 1080p to 720p $:-\$

milken · « **Reply #28 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 04:47 PM »

[

Quote from: GneW on Jul 04, 2008 at 04:13 PM

hi sir,

how much is the popcorn unit from eHome? or yet pm me if you don't want to post it. a friend of mine is interested kasi.

P12,000.00. He has a post here in Pinoy DVD. http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?topic=81230.0

Quote from: leomar on Jul 04, 2008 at 04:15 PM

sorry i can't, i only have HD ready panel so i can't use it for 1080p files... also it can't downscale 1080p to 720p $:-\$

Ganun ba? Hindi ba i-downscale ng Popcorn Hour yung 1080p rips to 720p? I have a HD Ready Plasma and most of my collection are in 720p although I'm starting to build 1080p collections. I'm planning to get one but if it really can't play 1080p rips in my HD Ready Plasma, sayang..

leomar · « **Reply #29 on:** Jul 04, 2008 at 05:35 PM »

Quote from: milken on Jul 04, 2008 at 04:47 PM

Ganun ba? Hindi ba i-downscale ng Popcorn Hour yung 1080p rips to 720p? I have a HD Ready Plasma and most of my collection are in 720p although I'm starting to build 1080p collections. I'm planning to get one but if it really can't play 1080p rips in my HD Ready Plasma, sayang..

kaya from 1080p to 720p given na 720p ang output ng pch... kung 1080p ang output ng pch, hindi kayang idown-scale ng tv ko yun so malamang black screen ang result