DSM330 vs Popcorn Hour
Hi,
I wondered if any one has had experiance using both the DSM330 and the Popcorn Hour machine.
I have a friend who is thinking of investing in a media streamer and i have told him that my DSM330 is good but has a few problems that may take a long while to get resolved.
I've had a look at the specs of the popcorn and the file compatability out of the box seems really good (better than the DSM330) and it seems to offer many if not all of the features that i use the DSM330 for. It also supports a local harddrive so the PC doesn't have to on.
Having said this I have found from bitter experiance that a great specification doesn't always equal a great product (Netgear MP101 and Creative Labs Wireless Music in particular). These products suffer from connectivity problems and simple menu navigation issues that made them far less desirable.
Should I be advising my friend to buy a DSM330 or should I be suggesting that he tries out the popcorn hour? and letting me know if it's any good!
In particular I am interested in how easy the system is to use and how functional the music playback is. I've discovered quite a few problems with my divx connected unit that could only be spotted after long term use, ie track order(>30 tracks), movie file incompatability, stutters at start of music tracks. These are things that I would never have thought to thoroughly test before buying the unit.
I don't want my friend to have similar problems with a popcorn.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Greenman.
Popcorn hour has certainly met a lot of success over the last year. Most of this has been down to the reasonably low cost (though still double the 330's) combined with superb video and audio codec support. As such, the device and community (enviously larger and more active) tend to be heavily focused on the video side of things.
Also, whilst the GUI is not as nice or flashy as the 330's, the community have created new video front-ends eg YAMJ http://mynikonphotos.com/projector/pch/pch-1.jpg (I still hold out hope that this is an area DivX will look at but development thus far makes me believe their priorities lie elsewhere).
On the other hand, there is a bit of work in getting the PCH up and running. There are reports of people with USB hard drive issues and network setup difficulties. With the 330, most novice users tend to be up and running in no time at all. Some firmware updates from Sybabas have also led to 1080p playback issues.
I have 3 DSM-330's reflecting my satisfaction with the device. However, as I make the move to HD coupled with the 330's slow development, the Popcorn hour is certainly tempting (along with Apple TV running XBMC). To get the most out of the PCH however, considerable tweaking is required and bugs are most definitely present. With this in mind, those seeking an elegant + simple out of the box solution (and the all important WAF) you simply can't go wrong with the DSM-330.
Check the AF, AVS and NMT forums for in-depth user experiences on these devices.
It would be great to see a PCH vs Connected comparison from someone who has actually used a Connected device. All posters who have talked up Popcorn Hour have never used Connected, and may have not used Popcorn Hour hour either. They are just spec comparing as you said. I think you will find your bitter experiences of similar products will be mostly confirmed with PCH.
Regarding the issues you have raised with Connected, we are planning a bug fix release for mid June where we can address some of them.
Only a small percentage of users actually updated to the latest firmware and saw the music stutter issues you reported so we could not prioritize the fix until recently.
In the release we are aiming to resolve the track order (30 limit) and stutters at start of music tracks.
Hi,
Thanks for the info and the assurance that some of the significant bugs will be sorted in the next couple of months (or so).
My friend has also noticed the D-Link DSM510 that seems to have a new updated version which is compatible with Windows Media Centre ViiV technology.
Anyone used this device or the Windows Media Centre ViiV?
The frustrating thing about many media streamers is that they simply don't delivery everything that they say they do in a simple user interface.
With regard to the DSM510, I suppose the advantage of a Microsoft compatible device is that it ultimately will have more users and more development than any other media server.
Having said this, I don't user Internet Explorer because it is too slow compared to Firefox, despite having more users than firefox.
Greenman
I have a Divx Connected, and a friend of mine was looking for a similar device. I actually recommended that he purchase the PCH box (mainly because the downsides to the Divx Connected are hard to forgive: no 1080p no mkv support at the time). He loves the PCH and all of its features: plugins, bit torrent support, local hard drive, bulletproof codec support. Although there are few downsides that he doesnt like: the menus have to refresh with the server every time you view them (which can take a while), and the menus are not as nice as the Divx Connected (although I believe there is a plugin that gives you better menus).
To be totally honest, I love my Divx Connected, but I REALLY want 1080p support (I can handle having hacked in mkv support, even though it pwns my server when running). However, I will be in the market soon for a new video streaming device and its going to take a LOT for me to purchase another Divx Connected box with these flaws. If I were purchasing one today I would get a PCH box.
-Kacy