The Popcorn Hour

Johnny Bitte

MediaTank wrote: »

FAT32 and NTFS only apply to the USB external disk. As Linoge said the internal disk in an NMT is formatted as EXT2/3 because the NMT is based on Linux. If you are attaching an external disk via USB make sure it's formatted NTFS otherwise you'll run into the 2GB file size limit for your movie files. I recommended the eGreat beacause it has double the RAM of other players and has USB slave functionality.

MT

Thanks MediaTank, I have been reading threads about this through the board and you seem to really know your stuff. I ll be going with the EGreat. Now all I need to decide is where to buy and what size disc.:D

meob

I use 3 eva8000's - they are great!

full 1080p (up to 4 reference frames), got a batch tool that will transcode files down to 4 reference frames so the eva can handle it.

1080p looks superb along with the 5.1 / dts ect.

great companion to my ReadyNAS PRO 6B NAS ;-)

BernardMc

Hi all - long time reader, first time poster

I've been reading up a lot on PCH A-110 in recent days and (literally) dreaming about buying one - quite simply I am dying to get my hands on one but have a few niggling questions to ask - hope someone can help!

Where is the best place to buy the Popcorn Hour? I was thinking of buying it from the official US site as its cheapest (don't really care about the import duty).

Also, re: the power connection - would it work OK w/ Irish plugs if I ordered from the official US site? Just by using a standard converter?

Any help is appreciated,
cheers, B

BernardMc

Btw: The Popcorn Hour A-110 will shortly be going on sale at this UK website:
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/newsdesk_info.php?newsdesk_id=184

MediaTank

BernardMc wrote: »

Hi all - long time reader, first time poster

I've been reading up a lot on PCH A-110 in recent days and (literally) dreaming about buying one - quite simply I am dying to get my hands on one but have a few niggling questions to ask - hope someone can help!

Where is the best place to buy the Popcorn Hour? I was thinking of buying it from the official US site as its cheapest (don't really care about the import duty).

Also, re: the power connection - would it work OK w/ Irish plugs if I ordered from the official US site? Just by using a standard converter?

Any help is appreciated,
cheers, B

Buying from the official site can be slow as there is under supply. eBay can be good, as is mpcclub.com if you join up. Alternatively, you could opt for another manufacturers model e.g. iStar, eGreat etc. I own an iStar for example.

These devices are actually German because that's where Syabas are based.

All of the manufacturers ship the appropriate power cables based on the country of delivery.

BernardMc

I just bought the A-110 model with a 500bg SATA HD for €330 (incl delivery):
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?currency=EUR&cPath=23&products_id=3519&amp3sid=ahs3kc2ihkcqqhovq86eprmbs2

Delivery is immediate so no hanging around waiting for three weeks from the official site! Can't wait to get my hands on this!

vectra

The_Goose135 wrote: »

Thanks MediaTank, I have been reading threads about this through the board and you seem to really know your stuff. I ll be going with the EGreat. Now all I need to decide is where to buy and what size disc.:D

I bought the Egreat through MediaTank's reccomendations as well and am thrilled with it.
The one thing i will say is that I have my harddrive formatted to NTFS and get quite a bit of "Judder" on playback.
MediaTank explained to me that this is due to the fact of the HD being NTFS.. It needs to be EXT2 so as it can create a small partition for a swap file and thus would basically eliminate the Judder.
Waiting on another harddrive to arrive for this purpose .
Will post back when it arrives.
Even if it does not improve things.. i am already thinking of buying more Egreat's for the bedrooms :cool:
Highly reccomend them

eire2go

Hi all,


Long time boards.ie reader but this is my first post.

I want to but a multimedia storage device that can store my windows media audio, photos and movies and play them back on my AV AMP (ONKYO TX S805) using HDMI or component connectors which provides full 1080p upscalling to my panasonic AE1000 projector. My computer is running Windows XP also want to playback on my old standard def TV still holding pride of place in my sitting room through RGB or scart. I've been looking at at the popcorn hour a110, egreat, DVico and the like and I don't know which one to go for.

THe popcorn hour looks great but all that linux talk terrifies me, my Hard drive on the PC is an IDE drive, Can I connect a Sata drive through USB.


I also have a Sony HDD Rcorder (RDR HX950) and PS3 but have not yet been able to transfer any video to either using USB, the recorder can only show pictures or play audio from the UDB port and the PS£ always says no media found, can anyone help. I have been able to transfer movies from DVD to the HDD on th recorder but not through USB.

Thank you in anticipation guys

MediaTank

eire2go wrote: »

Hi all,
THe popcorn hour looks great but all that linux talk terrifies me, my Hard drive on the PC is an IDE drive, Can I connect a Sata drive through USB.

Don't worry about the Linux stuff - it's all hidden from the end user (you) if you go for an NMT with USB slave funtionality e.g. eGreat or HDX. Yes you can connect a SATA drive through USB and also install one in the unit.

MT

eoghand

Does anyone know when the popcorn hour a110 is available to get and where is the best place to get it perferably with a internal hard drive?

MediaTank

It's aviable from the offiicial web site - www.popcornhour.com and through www.mpcclub.com and various eBay stores. You need to buy the hard drive separately, though some eBay stores may preinstall one for you. The official site is not the best as you can only preorder there. If your heart is set on a PCH then try the above, alternatively the other NMT devices on the market have better availability.

Basq

My brother (in Portugal) bought from here, but they'll pre-install a drive for you.

They charge €35 shipping to Ireland though.

MediaTank

No VAT or import duty to pay from Spain though, so that could be well worth checking out.

Basq

MediaTank wrote: »

No VAT or import duty to pay from Spain though, so that could be well worth checking out.

Yep, that's exactly it.

Worthwhile to avoid the VAT or import duty.

Linoge

eoghand wrote: »

Does anyone know when the popcorn hour a110 is available to get and where is the best place to get it perferably with a internal hard drive?

The hard drive is a piece of miss to install though. Just make sure you buy a SATA drive (I bought the Samsung Spinpoint F1 750GB from komplett €94 delivered)

There are just fours thumb screws at the top, lift up, slot in hardrive and fix in place with screws. lid back on. Go to setup menu on player to format hard drive. You might save yourself some money.

eoghand

Thanks for all that, will go with the Portugal website http://www.popcornhour.es/en/tienda and might add the hard drive to it. As there is no wi-fi with this would you recommend getting the optional USB-WiFi Atheros AR9001U-2NG as well?

vectra

eoghand wrote: »

Thanks for all that, will go with the Portugal website http://www.popcornhour.es/en/tienda and might add the hard drive to it. As there is no wi-fi with this would you recommend getting the optional USB-WiFi Atheros AR9001U-2NG as well?

As far as I know you cannot stream Hi Def properly via Wireless

I have the Egreat with a 500 gig samsung drive and it is excellent

MediaTank

vectra wrote: »

As far as I know you cannot stream Hi Def properly via Wireless

As it's Wireless N theoretically you can, and there are also a few problems with the Atheros WiFi card. These will be (fingers crossed) resolved in future firmware.

More importantly the card is USB which will use the only USB port on the device, meaning you can't have a USB drive attached at the same time.

BernardMc

basquille wrote: »

Yep, that's exactly it.

Worthwhile to avoid the VAT or import duty.

Try getting it here for cheaper than the Portugese site with hard drive pre-installed, works out at about €330 delivered. They're expected stock in on November 21st...
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?currency=EUR&cPath=23&products_id=3519&amp3sid=ahs3kc2ihkcqqhovq86eprmbs2

Basq

My brother got his A-110 along with about 7 friends at work (they bought in bulk), 5 of his friends have had hardware problems with it and sent them back.

The company they bought them off offered them an Egreat EG-M31B as a replacement.. his is fine but he said 5 out of 7 units failing is not comforting.

Velcrow

Just to say I'm joining this popcorn club - got mine here http://www.planetgizmo.co.uk/ and am awaiting delivery.

Is there a definitive wiki for this piece of kit?

Thanks Velcrow

MediaTank

Here you go http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Velcrow

Great -

and specifically for the A110

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

Thanks MT

emerald007

Hey,

Does the A110 tank only support the Popcorn Hour WN-100 USB dongle? I've an old belkin wireless dongle that i'd like to use, and before i wreck my head trying to get it work i'd like to hear if anybody else has got this working.

Regards

MediaTank

emerald007 wrote: »

Hey,

Does the A110 tank only support the Popcorn Hour WN-100 USB dongle? I've an old belkin wireless dongle that i'd like to use, and before i wreck my head trying to get it work i'd like to hear if anybody else has got this working.

Regards

Only the PCH one is supported and even this has problems. THe chances of getting the Belkin one working are close to zero.

MT

Velcrow

Might be of help

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showthread.php?tid=3808

Velcrow

Popcorn hour with yamj was my best buy of 2009 (so far !)

DinoBot

Hi,

I have only come across this product in the last few days, looks very good.

So, I am wondering as a setup is it better to use the Wifi WN-100 adaptor or an ethernet plug to connect to network ?

Also, can you download movie files to the hard drive over the Wifi ?

Thanks

MediaTank

DinoBot wrote: »

Hi,

I have only come across this product in the last few days, looks very good.

So, I am wondering as a setup is it better to use the Wifi WN-100 adaptor or an ethernet plug to connect to network ?

Also, can you download movie files to the hard drive over the Wifi ?

Thanks

Ethernet cable works best especially if you are interested in hidef content. Yes the PCH (if you install a hard disk in it) has a BitTorrent and an NZBget client that you can use to download content.

DinoBot

MediaTank wrote: »

Ethernet cable works best especially if you are interested in hidef content. Yes the PCH (if you install a hard disk in it) has a BitTorrent and an NZBget client that you can use to download content.

Thanks,

Which plugs are best to use or are they all pretty much the same ?

Do you know best place to get PCH, I was looking to buy from the states but unsure how much excise duty is.

MediaTank

Standard Ethernet cable, RJ45 connectors. There is a place in Spain, check this thread for details.

Velcrow

Hi I got mine from here -

http://www.planetgizmo.co.uk/popcorn-hour-a-110-networked-media-tank.html

No problems, and the exchange rate is good with sterling.

Might be able to get it cheaper on ebay or from MediaTanks reference above.

rai555

just bought my from here : https://www.ripcaster.co.uk/node/329

they claimed 0.00 postage to Ireland and i'm looking forward to hear from them or the PC to arrive

DinoBot

Just got mine today, no sound from HDMI :mad:

Anyone else have trouble like this ????


Got it, I had my DTS set to Analog, should be set to Digital (raw).

All is good with the world again

Standard Toaster

@DinoBot

Do you have your hdmi going into a seperate first or just your TV??

Think I'll buy one this weekend.

MediaTank

The_Edge wrote: »

@DinoBot

Do you have your hdmi going into a seperate first or just your TV??

Think I'll buy one this weekend.

Must be a separate as he referred to DTS sound.

Standard Toaster

Thought as much. Cheers

Thumpette

Apologies for the totally non technical- ness of my post!

I just got one of these as a pressie and I want to get the terrabyte drive with it too. I am totally bamboozed after trying to google though.

Would anyone be able to provide me with a link to a hard drive that is in or will deliver (within a week) to Ireland that would fit this?

I would be mighty grateful

JohnDigital

Thumpette wrote: »

Would anyone be able to provide me with a link to a hard drive that is in or will deliver (within a week) to Ireland that would fit this?

Here you are. I have a 500Gb version of this disc in mine and I've not had a moments trouble.

https://komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=391606

Its the same one listed second on the compatible drives listed here so there wont be any issues with that one http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/HDD_Compatibility

vectra

Thumpette wrote: »

Would anyone be able to provide me with a link to a hard drive that is in or will deliver (within a week) to Ireland that would fit this?

I would be mighty grateful

Here you go >> Samsung F1 I have this particular one and the 32mb cache made some diffference over 16mb ones

Linoge

vectra wrote: »

Here you go >> Samsung F1 I have this particular one and the 32mb cache made some diffference over 16mb ones

I have the 750gb version in my one and I defo agree. Samsung from Komplett is one of the best prices you are going to get.

Thumpette

Hi All, Had ordered one of these through expansys with the hope that it would arrive this week for a pressie. They have now come back looking for all sorts like utility bills, passport copies etc, which i think is a bit crazy!

Was also looking at their reviews and they seem to be mixed to say the least.

Would anyone know of a Dublin based shop in the real world where you can buy these off the shelf or another quick delivery place?

Thanks muchly!

vectra

Thumpette wrote: »

Hi All, Had ordered one of these through expansys with the hope that it would arrive this week for a pressie. They have now come back looking for all sorts like utility bills, passport copies etc, which i think is a bit crazy!

Was also looking at their reviews and they seem to be mixed to say the least.

Would anyone know of a Dublin based shop in the real world where you can buy these off the shelf or another quick delivery place?

Thanks muchly!

Ebay?? HERE <<

Or buy an Egreat? Ebay again <<

Keedowah

you can order it on komplett.ie and pick it up in Blanchardstown.

The PCH is the best thing I have brought in years!

K

Thumpette

Hiya, thanks for the suggestions. Ive just been looking at Komplett.ie and they dont seem to have it.

JohnDigital

I got mine from Ripcaster.co.uk I'm not aware of any Irish outlets where you can get it. They are very obliging and I'm sure they could arrange an express post or something to get it to you quicker if you give them a call.

Standard Toaster

JohnDigital wrote: »

I got mine from Ripcaster.co.uk I'm not aware of any Irish outlets where you can get it. They are very obliging and I'm sure they could arrange an express post or something to get it to you quicker if you give them a call.

Ordered mine last week. What kind of del times can I expect?

JohnDigital

The_Edge wrote: »

Ordered mine last week. What kind of del times can I expect?

Mine took about 5 days, but that was just regular parcel post.

Standard Toaster

Cheers

Kur4mA

I got my Popcorn Hour A110 from ripcaster also and have been setting it up today. I've installed a 1TB drive into it and just transferring a tons of vids over to it now. For anyone transferring large files via the wireless dongle I'd advise you to use FTP. For me at least, it's been the most stable and the fastest speed I've gotten.

Also, if you haven't installed the NMT Community Software installer yet, I'd advise you to do so asap as there's some brilliant additional custom software that you can get including a nice download manager for those pesky rapidshare links.

vectra

kyub wrote: »

For anyone transferring large files via the wireless dongle I'd advise you to use FTP. For me at least, it's been the most stable and the fastest speed I've gotten.

I slaved my 1tb drive off my PC and transferred my files that way.
Now it is FTP foir topups