Popcorn Hour Networked Media Tank; A-110 Review

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Product: A-110
Manufacturer: Popcorn Hour
Supplied by: Popcorn Hour
Price: 215USD/RM789
Launch Date: NA

Looking for a media player to play all kinds of digital video, audio and photo on your home theater system? If yes then you may probably interest with this device; A-110. Popcorn Hour A-110 is a "Networked Media Tank" which is a standalone device to play the digital files flawlessly. Let us go through together to find out what this machine can do for you.

Company Profile

Popcorn Hour aims to bring end-users, enthusiasts and professionals the latest cutting-edge Digital Media Streaming products. Via direct online purchasing, we strive to make this product affordable and easily available.

Popcorn Hour is a product brand for Syabas Technology's own Digital Media Streaming device. Syabas Technology is a leading software and middleware solution provider in wired / wireless Digital Home as well as Digital Signage applications.

Specification

Connectivity
• Bonjour
• UPnP SSDP
• UPnP AV
• Windows Media Connect
• Windows Media Player NSS
• SMB
• NFS
• HTTP servers: myiHome, WizD, SwissCenter, MSP Portal, Llink, GB-PVR
• BitTorrent P2P
• NAS access : SMB, NFS, FTP

Web services
• Video : YouTube, Veoh, Videocast, DLTV, Cranky Geeks, Bliptv, PodfinderUK, Vuze, Break Podcast, Revision 3, CNN The Larry King Podcast, CNN Anderson Cooper 360, The CNN Daily, CNN In Case You Missed It , NBC Meet The Press, NBC Today, CBS Face the Nation, NBC Nightly News, Mevio
• Audio : Live365 Radio, iPodcast, Radiobox, ABC News, BBC Podcast, CNN News , Indiefeed, Jamendo
• Photo : Flickr, Picasaweb
• RSS feed : Bloglines, Yahoo! Weather, Yahoo Traffic Alerts, Traffic Condition, Cinecast, Yahoo! News, MSNBC News
• Peer-to-peer TV : SayaTV
• Internet Radio : Shoutcast

Media files supported
• Video containers:
o MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V)
o MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG)
o MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS)
o VOB
o AVI, ASF, WMV
o Matroska (MKV)
o MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
• Video codecs:
o XVID SD/HD
o MPEG-1
o MPEG-2
 MP@HL
o MPEG-4.2
 ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC
o WMV9
 MP@HL
o H.264
 BP@L3
 MP@L4.0
 HP@L4.0
 HP@L4.1
o VC-1
 MP@HL
 AP@L3
• Audio containers:
o AAC, M4A
o MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA)
o WAV
o WMA
o FLAC
o OGG
• Audio codecs:
o Dolby Digital
o DTS
o WMA, WMA Pro
o AAC
o MP1, MP2, MP3
o LPCM
o FLAC
o Vorbis
• Audio pass through : DTS, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR, Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus
• Photo formats : JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
• Other formats: ISO, IFO
• Subtitle formats : SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA
DRM
• Cardea DRM (WMDRM-ND)
Chipset
• Sigma Designs SMP8635
Memory
• 256MB DDR SDRAM, 32MB Flash
Audio/Video outputs
• HDMI v1.3a (up to 1080p)
• Component Video (up to 1080p)
• S-Video
• Composite Video
• Stereo Analog Audio
• S/PDIF Optical Digital Audio
Interface
• 1x USB 2.0 slave
• 2x USB 2.0 host (placed at front and back panel each)
• SATA
• Hardware Reset Button
Network
• Ethernet 10/100
Power
• 12V DC, 3A
Dimension
• Width 10.5"(270mm) x Depth 5.25" (132mm) x Height 1.25" (32mm)
Weight
• 2.2 lbs (1Kg)

Package & Contents

Popcorn Hour A-110 comes with a fairly good packaging where besides the shinning outer cardboard box, it also come with a black bag which is a really nice to have item. The packaging box of Popcorn Hour A-110 doesn't come with much information like features and specification but just with some brief introduction of this device.

There are two partitions inside the packaging box for the A-110 device and remote control while the rest of the accessories are placed under of them. Accessories that are bundled together with Popcorn Hour A-110 are USB cable, HDMI cable, power cord with adapter, remote control and 2 x AAA batteries.

A very brief quick reference guide is provided which shows the step by step of software setup but hardware installation isn't mentioned at all. However there shouldn't be any problem for the hardware setup because everything is straightforward and basically we weren't aware of such document isn't provided until we completed the testing and start to write the review.

Since Popcorn Hour A-110 can support 3.5" HDD which means an external power adapter is required. The power adapter of Popcorn Hour A-110 is a bit bulky compare with other similar device. HDMI extension cable is provided in case user needs it and a USB type A to type B cable is included which is widely used for printer and scanner.

Popcorn Hour A-110; Networked Media Tank

Popcorn Hour A-110 is a latest and improved version of previous model; A-100. In term of physical outlook, both of these Networked Media Tanks are quite similar but there are improvements or add on features over the predecessor. Those add on features are change from IDE interface to SATA, support 2.5" HDD, USB slave functionality and HDMI has been updated to 1.3a spec.

The main function of Popcorn Hour A-110 is to allow playing all kind of digital files on home theater setup and those supported file of this device can be found at the specifications section. Besides that Popcorn Hour A-110 also serve as a NAS and BitTorrent peer to peer downloader where there will be a significant electrical power saving since this device consumes less power than a PC. The rest of the web services are internet radio, peer to peer TV, RSS feed and etc.

The dimension of Popcorn Hour A-110 is ~ 270 x 132 x 32mm (W x D x H) which is pretty slim and small for a standalone networking device which support 3.5" SATA HDD. For the weight, it is around 1Kg just for the solo empty enclosure. The top, bottom and front surfaces of Popcorn Hour A-110 come with mylar to protect its surface from being scratches.

There is a big "Popcorn Hour" logo in the middle of the top panel and you may feel weird why they chose Popcorn Hour; for our opinion this networked media tank is used to entertain the users like in the cinema so popcorn is favourite item; doesn't it make sense? For both sides of Popcorn Hour A-110, there are plenty of small air vents which are used to dissipate the heat of this device as Popcorn Hour A-110 doesn't have any active cooling so these air vents are playing very important role.

For the front panel of Popcorn Hour A-110, there are only one USB 2.0 port and a reset key on the left side which is used to reset the device to factory default. The front panel has a very glossy surface but the attached pictures above are still come with the mylar; it is required to open up the enclosure in order to tear down the mylar easily.

At the back of the Popcorn Hour A-110, there are quite numbers of connector; ON/OFF switch, component video, s-video, composite video, S/PDIF, HDMI, USB-PC, USB, Ethernet and a power port. Everything are well described but the composite and component video cables are not included. The HDMI port of Popcorn Hour A-110 is upgraded from v1.1 to v1.3a for allowing full support of HD Audio pass-through for DTS HD-HR, DTS HD-MA, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD. If a DVI or DP is included then it will be much perfect for those are using high end computer LCD for their home theater setup.

There is a piece of regulatory information at the bottom of the Popcorn Hour A-110. Besides that there are plenty of holes which we thought it is for the ventilation but after opened up the enclosure then only realized that these holes are used for fastening the HDD on the enclosure. For the enclosure stand, Popcorn Hour uses four clear rubber feet to hold the device securely on the surface.

The top panel of Popcorn Hour A-110 is fastened with the enclosure with these four chromed screws. It is a thumb screw so no tool is required in order to remove them. However we will prefer a hexagon screw as it will able to fasten the top panel on the enclosure much better than using our thumb.

It is quite spacious inside Popcorn Hour A-110, only a small PCB on the left side. Such design is good as user just needs to plug in the HDD straightaway without doing other adjustment or installation. There are two steel bars right on top the bottom panel where HDD is placed on top of them; both 2.5"/3.5" SATA HDD are supported.

Since Popcorn Hour A-110 is a standalone working unit, it must come with a chipset and memory. Sigma Designs SMP8635 (under the heatsink) is used which provides highly integrated solution for HD MPEG-4.1, SMPTE 421M, WMV9, MPEG-4.2 and MPEG-2 decoding. For the memory portion, Popcorn Hour A-110 is equipped with 256MB DDR SDRAM and 32MB flash.

Popcorn Hour chose Realtek RTL8201BL which is a 10/100 Ethernet; sadly to tell that Gigabit is not supported. Wireless networking is not integrated as well but USB wireless adapter can be supported. Another major chipset will be Silicon Image Sil9134CTU which is a HDMI 1.3 transmitter designed for next generation Blu-Ray and HD-DVD plater/recorders that require HD audio and deep color capabilities.

A remote control is included for Popcorn Hour A-110 which is a full size controller with 51 keys. This full key controller is very useful for media player so that user can relax on their sofa and control it thoroughly. The base of the Popcorn Hour A-110 is made by soft rubber which is good for handling and 2 AAA batteries are required to power up this remote control.

Installation, Testing & Performance

Popcorn Hour A-110 installation is as easy as piece of cake where user just needs to remove the top panel and slot in the SATA HDD either 2.5" or 3.5" into the SATA/power connector. After that the whole enclosure with HDD need to be turned over and fasten the HDD on the enclosure with four provided screws. The final step is to install back the top panel on the enclosure with thumb.

Everything is pretty easy and the whole process should only take around 10-15 minutes for an average user. However if 3.5"HDD is used, user needs to hold the HDD with the enclosure when turn over the enclosure as the 3.5" HDD is quite heavy and may accidentally break the onboard SATA/power connector. Before Popcorn Hour A-110 is ready to be used, audio/video, network, power cable need to be connected accordingly. For the video connectivity, it will depend on the user's home theater setup.

Let us brief some software setup for this Popcorn Hour A-110. The first screen above is for user to select which source he/she want to stream the content from; hard drive, network, flash drive and etc. Web services will allows user to access internet based services like Media Service Portal, BitTorrent client and other customizable URL.

Those setting can be fine tuned for Popcorn Hour A-110 are display, network, media server, torrent, maintenance and some general setting. Media and Server are only available with HDD and NMT application installed. Samba Client is a software that allow the NMT to access the shared files/media from other PCs on the same network.

BitTorrent is a great add on feature of Popcorn Hour A-110 and it can be managed by either clicking the Web Services or using a web browser on user's PC. myiHomeMS UPnP AV Server is a standard UPnP AV Server for streaming media directly from the NMT HDD. FTP Server allows easy remote access and management of the NMT HDD.

For the testing of Popcorn Hour A-110, we have tested it for couple of day with some HD videos (MPEG4, WMV formats) that downloaded by using built in BitTorrent client. All these videos were played smoothly, clear and easy for controlling, setup without much problem except some trial and error setup/testing. For the stability, we don't see much problem at this moment; we are still enjoying it very much. This device from Popcorn Hour is running silently except some HDD spinning noise as it is only using passive cooling.

Conclusion

Popcorn Hour A-110 is a nice device for entry to mid range home theater setup without much investment and comes with plenty of great features. Popcorn Hour A-110 is able to play all types of media files that we have dump in which is absolutely fantastic as user no needs manually convert the file to other supported format in order to be played by this device. Missing wireless connectivity is a disadvantage here although Popcorn Hour does bundle WN-100; 802.11n USD WiFi adapter with A-110 at 250USD (2USD saving) while the standalone device of Popcorn Hour A-110 is 215USD.

Pros:

* Stylish design
* 2.5"/3.5" SATA HDD supported
* Silent; passive cooling
* Easy hardware & software installation

Cons:

* Wireless isn't integrated
* Lack of information & guide

Thanks to Popcorn Hour for providing this sample for us to review.