Popcorn Hour's A-100 media streamer gets official, has waiting list

For those that can bring back wish lists from last October, you'll undoubtedly remember the totally promising Popcorn Hour Networked Media Tank. Now, it seems the device has received somewhat of a facelift since our initial sneak peek and hasn't lost a bit of its popularity. The A-100 media streamer enables users to stuff an HDD within and transfer files via BitTorrent when not dishing out all sorts of media or acting as a NAS. Additionally, it supports 1080p output and plays nice with just about every format imaginable, including: MPEG1/2/4, MP3, AVI, ASF, WMV, MOV, H.264, XviD, AAC, WAV, JPEG and lots, lots more. Sadly, this $179 gem is currently backordered, and requires some sort of fancy sign-up process just to get in line. Still, with specs like these, the wait is probably worth it.

[Via BoingBoing]

[TheCow5 @ Feb 22nd 2008 5:54PM]

Old news, I've been on the waiting list for over a month now and two weeks ago payed for mine which will be here next week.
A friend today got her email telling her she can now buy hers.

[ohmr @ Feb 23rd 2008 2:20AM]

I'm just happy they didn't use http://iCantThinkofBetterName.com to name their product...and you know how many companies do that now a days.

[Karl @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:00PM]

I've had mine since last November. Brilliant product.

-kd

[Matt Nocifora @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:02PM]

I have owned the popcorn hour for about 1 and a half months now. Quite a good product compared to my dsm320. A good and much needed upgraded to keep up wtih technology.

My favorite parts...mapped FTP server to share files with friends. Bittorrent client and online features such as youtube, rss, and more. Running an internal 500gb drive and sharing from main pc. This things gets software written for it all the time for custom functionality as well...great community over there.

Negatives - only IDE hard drive compatable.
No wireless as originally advertised.

[porath @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:07PM]

i've had this for a while now. the interface still needs a lot of improvement. lots of jaggies and the text looks pretty bad on big screens. the subtitles also aren't very attractive. simple functions like fast foward and rewind don't really work that well. but i suppose there hasn't really been any standalone device that has good rw/ff other than a tape deck. it plays back most of what it says it does, with a few glitches on some formats. it's good for the price but if you can drop a few hundred more, just build an HTPC. it's worth it.

[jackchance @ Feb 23rd 2008 3:34PM]

Can someone comment on the quality of the 1080p hdmi output versus 1080p component output?
Does it upconvert all video to 1080p?

[Gremlin @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:12PM]

What?! Do my eyes deceive me? Is that matroska (mkv) video support? It can't be...

[porath @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:15PM]

it does support mkv including soft subs, but seeking does not work that well.

[Gremlin @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:15PM]

So my first question is, does the HDD need to be FAT32 or do they support NTFS? This is big 'cuz all of the 720p and 1080p matroska rips floating around out there are rarely smaller than 4 gigs.

[Dioxide @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:27PM]

I'm usually not interested on this kind of devices, but if they added Vorbis support, I'd be 100% sold. DivX + Vorbis = .MKV FTW.

[LunchMoney @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:38PM]

@porath: seeking MKVs has worked fine for me. granted it not quite fast forward (it skips ahead in 30sec increments) but it works.

@Gremlin: the system formats the hdd into ext3 (I believe) when you install the system apps. anything/any formatting you have on the drive will be wiped when you install it.

[mark @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:13PM]

worst name ever.

[KangMin @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:25PM]

could have been 'Naho Hour' or 'Popcorn 2000'

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:07PM]

I like the name. It fits what is the main use of the thing: play movies.

It somewhat reminds me of the 90's.... I like the 90's more than the 00's... now everything seems so cold :-(

[Jon Doe. @ Feb 23rd 2008 2:14AM]

Well then its a good thing that no one, other then you, gives a shit about the name. Put a sticker on the front of the thing and call it the Apple iCorn if you will make you happy. the rest of the known world will focus on the features of the thing.

[Enduro @ Feb 23rd 2008 3:26PM]

I think the logo is worse than the name.

[Jon @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:47PM]

how is Vob Playback ? does is do subs ? menus ? How does dvd playback look ? i have the HP media sever with like 3tb of dvd's backed up .. i have been changing them over fo MPG for Xbox360 .. would this be better for me ?

[dave @ Feb 23rd 2008 6:30AM]

mega yes. i might be mistaken but i think vob files are better quality and still have the 5.1 sound track.

[Sean O @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:17PM]

Careful what you wish for. I'm all for media players that support every format. But having a built-in torrent client - that's really asking for it when we've reached a point where casual software piracy has taken the shape of a commercial hardware product. It's gotten out of control. This reminds me of the final days of Naptster (before it went legit). I expect the hammer to come down on torrents soon. The content industries are always trying to make a case for ISPs to filter content. This device makes their case much, much stronger. That's bad for everyone.

[tekdemon @ Feb 24th 2008 8:59PM]

lol, but why would a legit product need to support formats that are used almost exclusively for piracy?

[Sean O @ Feb 25th 2008 2:04AM]

To support open formats like Matroska, and open source in general. Instead of using proprietary commercial formats from Microsoft, Apple, and Divx who collect licensing fees and tend not to support *nix OSes.

[michael @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:26PM]

Looks very similar to XP Media Center.

http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=xp+media+center+UI&form=QBIR

[AJ in the East Bay @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:19PM]

The Patriots, ha-ha!

[TIMMAH! @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:37PM]

"Careful what you wish for. I'm all for media players that support every format. But having a built-in torrent client - that's really asking for it when we've reached a point where casual software piracy has taken the shape of a commercial hardware product. It's gotten out of control."

Lawsuit-in-a-box! LOL! Now if it's a bitorrent client with a TOR network, then you might have my interest. Just begging for IPS bandwidth throttling though.

[rudy @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:59PM]

I've got one of these and so far it's played all the HD MKV content i've thrown at it. And the softsubs are improving you can change color, location and size now I think.

[AJ in the East Bay @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:20PM]

Have you tried ISOs yet? How about using it as a NAS?

[rudy @ Feb 22nd 2008 11:34PM]

ISO play fine no problem with them. NAS havn't tried yet. It's mostly bee playing stuff from my external drive or the internal drive.

[buzzterrier @ Feb 26th 2008 7:14PM]

I have one, and it is hooked up to a Thecus 5200Pro NAS -SWEEET! VOB, ISO.

[Johan @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:27PM]

Had the A-100 since late november. Its the best you can get for 179$. x264 mkv's in 1080p with DTS is so nice! buy if you can find those precious mkv's in the internets...

[nobody @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:29PM]

Yes, praise those fucking gpl violators !

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:32PM]

What do you suggest then?

Get a crappy and DRMful overpriced box?

[Mark @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:45PM]

If this could support Vobs, I would be putting money on it in an instant.

[rodalpho @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:47PM]

I was looking into this a couple of months ago, but they're incredibly hard to get and still have some seriously rough edges. I built a HTPC with xbox media center for linux instead for just under twice the cost instead, which works _perfectly_.

[lafis @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:50PM]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=bd8477080adeb47ac9de272a35a0111f&f=39
you can get more info.

[pcmike @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:39PM]

But does it play VC1? x264 is nice, but VC1 is where its at now in days...

[Ryan @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:49PM]

It plays it perfectly.

[Ryan @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:48PM]

I received my pre-order invite a few weeks ago and placed my order immediately. With this I can finally play 1080p x264s on my HDTV. It also plays HDDVD and Blu-ray rips (the very large 40gb+) ones, which place some stress even on my Q6600. They've been going on eBay the past few months for over double retail as the demand is through the roof.

[Franco @ Feb 22nd 2008 10:16PM]

what about real media like RM and RMVB. It is very popular in china and some asian country.

[rudy @ Feb 22nd 2008 11:44PM]

Sorry no rm or rmvb support.

[Tyson @ Feb 22nd 2008 11:54PM]

I have had one for months now and I have no complaints. It plays everything I need it to with no problems.

[Serge @ Feb 23rd 2008 4:02AM]

I have had one for 2 weeks now... It is simply brilliant. I can finally rip all of my son's DVDs and play them back from a NAS. I have played back 720p and 1080i content without a hitch. HDMI + HDMI audio support is very practical.

Not prefect, but brilliant.

Orders from sweden seem to go fast, waited 1.5 weeks for mine only.

Bought mine on dustinhome.se but webhallen.se have it as well. I think ABTech ships to the EU http://www.abtech.se/ItemInfo?itemId=79986690 as well.

[rejctchoir @ Feb 23rd 2008 4:04AM]

This thing is legit. I have it, and dollar for dollar it's one of the best tech buys I've ever had. For 720p/1080i videos (which is all my TV can handle), this thing plays everything I've ever downloaded (assuming you have a receiver cable of decoding DTS). Awesome, get in line now (all that means is you sign up for the mailing list or whatever on the main website)

[Raul @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:06AM]

looks interesting... but still wll wait out for slingcatcher.

[Nick @ Feb 23rd 2008 6:06PM]

Well, having used the XBMC for quite some time, and having gone through three different HTPC builds (and spent a ridiculous amount of money doing so - but hey, it's a hobby), I was hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

Playback of 720p/1080p content is close to flawless. Seriously, stop reading here and go get one - if you can find one.

Setup and interface leaves a lot to be desired. I would rather view this as a hardware proof-of-concept, and I doubt that future firmware revisions will add the thing I feel it lacks the most: An intuitive interface with a smooth flow. But for this price I am not going to complain, and who knows... these guys may surprise us down the road.

Unboxing pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickandcatta/sets/72157603906724839/

[Marshall Guthrie @ Feb 24th 2008 12:19AM]

It definately lives up to the hype, although, commentary about a rough fit and finish is dead on. The 1080p playback works so well, it makes me wonder why my A3 is bigger than an electric griddle and need a loud fan to keep it from frying like one.

Unboxing Video Here:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1087626/popcorn_hour_a_100_media_streamer_unboxing_review_to_follow_fr/

Full Review with video of interface (as soon as it gets content approved):

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1118284/popcorn_hour_a100_review/

[palehorse @ Feb 25th 2008 2:35PM]

I'm on the waiting list for one of these things, and I'm looking forward to playing with it.

Quick question: I have approx. 500 DVD's that I need to RIP to softcopy... is ISO format the best choice? If not, which is better?

Second Question: Anyone want a part-time job ripping my damn DVD's? LOL...

[Brandonlau @ May 16th 2008 11:25PM]

Wait a few months or maybe end of year. It will be just that much better on the next release, loose ends and all. Internal SATA support would be good. Which makes me wonder, could you use a SATA to IDE conveter cable to use a 1TB SATA HDD, or would that be a tight fit? basically i want to replace my external hdd which i only use for movies and mp3s with this.