The Popcorn Hour C-200 media streamer makes its way into the wild
It looks like Popcorn Hour's C-200 media streamer is making its way into end-users' hands, so prepare yourself for a flurry of reviews. Our friend Brent over at GeekTonic should be jumping into the fray soon, and has kicked things off with a preview. Yeah, the C-200 is bigger than its sibling A-100, but it brings so much to the table that we'd say Popcorn Hour has packed in just as much -- if not more -- goodness per cubic inch. With space available for a hard and/or Blu-ray drive, wired and wireless networking, and USB ports to round out the input connectivity, the C-200 then adds a smorgasbord of codec support just to make sure your bits will survive the translation back into entertainment. With the "it plays anything" kind of capability the C-200 is promising, we've got a feeling that a positive review or two might be the only thing standing between us and a $300 dent in our credit cards.
[Via ZatzNotFunny]
[Via ZatzNotFunny]
























Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jon @ Sep 19th 2009 8:03AM
Mine is sitting right next to me .. Its a big machine but it looks great .. Much faster then the A series .. But i will not pass judgement until the next firmware comes out .. Yes it does play BD .ISO and BD Folder w/ Menus etc ... But the first Beta firmware is buggy .. PCH is great at updating machine so i am excited anyhow
kcmurphy88 @ Sep 19th 2009 2:58PM
First firmware buggy? Who would have thought? The A100 firmware still has limitations.
How well does it handle MKV format MP4? Can you pause, rewind, fast forward, etc, without noticeable jumps and lags?
ohpleaseno @ Sep 19th 2009 8:48AM
I'd like to see how it acts as an extender for GB-PVR. If the experience is at all enjoyable on the DVR front, then this thing could be a killer device.
BH @ Sep 19th 2009 6:03PM
If it ran boxee, it would be a dream machine.
Money Mike @ Sep 20th 2009 12:52AM
So this device, when a Blu-ray drive is connected, will play discs? The A100 that I have won't play HD DVD discs or even regular DVDs using the Xbox360 HD DVD add-on... or any other DVD drive. I was surprised to learn that the A100 can't play DVDs because of the copy protection, even though a legitimate DVD drive is being used (apparently PCH would have to license the ability). The only way to play DVD discs is to first rip them, remove the DRM, and re-burn it to a new disc. I do love that I have the ability to rip a disc to a HDD and keep all the menus and features... and to be honest, I didn't get the PCH to play DVDs. It would have been nice, though, if the PCH could completely replace my DVD player and be my "do-it-all" device that it wants to be.
I know this sounds like a rant, but it's not. I love my PCH. I just want to know if this new version can actually play Blu-ray discs and not just Blu-ray rips (which I believe my A100 can already do) and I thought it would help if I explained in detail.
Jon @ Sep 20th 2009 9:01AM
yes it can play both
Jon @ Sep 20th 2009 9:01AM
no HD-DVD
JPOPUSA @ Sep 20th 2009 11:51AM
Where is DivX playback? The C200 has every other codec. Maybe it will be added in the future
Yes, we know the PCH C200 has XVid support.
It could have not been cost. Other than adding a little message on the video output and a little sticker on the front of the unit. Kind of like everyone can use the PC Windows Player for free.
The PCH has way more features that the Netgear 9150. The PCH looks to be a great NMT.
I'm hoping mine will be here in a week or so.
As far as BlueRay retail disk playback. The answer is yes. But you will either need a 2GB usb thumb drive installed along with a BRD Player. Or you can install a 2.5" HDD along with the Player. This is to handle buffering.
The C200 does not provide region free playback. Part of the setup procedure requires you to set the region code to A,B or C for BRD and the DVD region code's from 1 to 5.
Every 18 months or so. You will be required to update the C200 Firmware to continue to use Blueray disks.
You can find many answers to your questions at the WIKI
Such as:
http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/C-200_Compatibility_Lists
or
http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Getting_Started
JPOPUSA @ Sep 20th 2009 12:05PM
In addition. There is a something floating around that you may also be able to play retail Blue Ray disks from a networked PC though the C200 if that PC has the application called "AnyDVD HD" So in this case you would not have to install any Blue ray Player into the C200.
No, The C200 does not play HDDVD's.
terminator2366 @ Sep 21st 2009 4:38PM
http://www.lge.com/us/tv-audio-video/video/LG-blu-ray-dvd-player-BD390.jsp
i prefer this - yes you cant hook a hard drive up to it - but a portable drive works& it plays back all formats in the usb and with the network ability it plays back MKV files - did one last night and it streamed perfectly
terral @ Sep 22nd 2009 12:12AM
let's see...no monthly firmware updates like the PCH devices, doesn't play BD isos, pixelization on high bit rate files, doesn't reliably find the network resources, no smb shares, region locked
SIGN ME UP!
seriously folks, if you want a full featured streamer that will play anything you throw at it and have a huge multi-terabyte media collection, get the C-200 (or even the A-110) - don't waste your time with these devices that do something else first and are a streamer second
GWolfman @ Sep 22nd 2009 3:14PM
Can someone please answer these questions:
1) Can it mount/play my Blu-ray backups (.iso)?
2) Can it do it with copy-protection still there or does it need to be removed?
3) Can it mount/play from a windows share on another computer?
4) If #1 is yes, can it bitstream DTS-MA and DD TrueHD to my receiver from the backups?
Thanks!