A streamer that is replacing the need for discs (Popcorn Hour A-100)

Member Name: chiefo

Product:	Popcorn Hour A-100
Date:	13/05/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plays pretty much all video and sound codecs.

Disadvantages: No WiFi.

This media centre has given me and I am sure many others a solution to watching High Definition Media on their LCD/Plasma TV sets. It is a "Streamer" that can stream content up to 1080p. This is done through HDMI on my set, but the back of the unit has the following connections. Ethernet, HDMI in, S/PDIF out, stereo RCA and composite video, S-Video and component video out.

I haven't had any problems and installed in mine I have a 500GB Western Digital which is loaded with movies from my personal collection. Music and Photos can also be put onto the hard drive and views on the TV. The popcorn hour hasn't had a problem with any of the files I have tried to play on it so far. I've been using the .mkv container with h.254/aac3/dts and they have worked flawlessly. Xvid and Divx have also run fine.

To get files across onto the machine I have it plugged into my router where I can drag and drop files straight on to it. It doesn't take long and saves me a lot of time of not having to unconnect the machine and plug it directly into the PC. It is a very flexible machine and you can tell it is a quality product straight away after opening the box.

It also has a BitTorrent client built into it so you can download your legal torrents straight to the box bypassing your PC. This is a very useful feature if you want to get the latest movie trailers on to it to view on the big screen.

Picture quality is excellent as is sound, the option of it being able to play full DTS with full 5.1 surround sound is a bonus that letter media players can't do.

There is also a huge community that is constantly providing firmware updates so that you are able to stay up to date with the latest codecs such as FLAC.

It is a great player and if it is within budget I would highly recommend it. The option of being able to put USB pendrives into it as well is a real bonus.

Summary: A high definition streamer that lives up to the hype.

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