Popcorn Hour C-200 - Possible new user

[JawsThemeSwimming428]

I have been watching the Popcorn Hour line of media center devices for a few years now. I originally went with another solution over the A110 and am not 100% sold on it yet. With the C-200 coming out I wanted to find out how the new Popcorn Hour could compare and possibly surpass my previous choice. The device I chose over the A110 was the Neuros Link (http://www.neurostechnology.com/neuros-link). Although the Link is a very impressive device, I am not convinced it is the solution for me yet. At this point in the Link's evolution it is more targeted toward hackers and tinkerers to get it working the way it should. I would prefer a more everything works out of the box solution. Here are a few of my issues with the Link (if possible could you please discuss how the Popcorn Hour fairs with these):

1. The Link does not power on by Remote control. You have to physically push the power button on the box to turn it on (although there is early talk on the Neuros forums of this functionality coming in the future).
2. When you power the Link on, you see the BIOS screen as well as the GRUB screen (briefly). Once it boots, you see the beginnings of the Gnome desktop before XBMC finally loads and presents you with a proper media center interface.
3. So far, I have had a lot of issues playing network video in XBMC. I have a Vista machine that is sharing a drive which contains .iso movie files. When I try to stream these from the share to the Link in XBMC it plays the first 3-6 minutes of the video and freezes. The only thing I have mad sense of is it says it lost the connection to the Vista machine but it happens every time and the Vista machine is still on and available.

Some benefits of the Link are that it is pretty powerful (3GHz CPU I think, 1GB RAM), it's very customizable, it allows for a lot of flexibility because it is running a full but tailored version of Ubuntu, and it has the Firefox web browser. Also, the Neuros.TV service provides a good medium for web video (Hulu, Fancast, Joost, etc). I know previous Popcorn Hours have allowed for Hulu and Netflix (two of my main concerns) via PlayOn. Will this be available for the C-200 as well? Does the Popcorn Hour C-200 have a built in Web Browser?

I would appreciate if anyone would be willing to answer these questions as it relates to the Popcorn Hour C-200 (or A-110 if you think that would fit my requirements better). Thanks!

[dc11ab]

1. AFAIK reading the specs, yes, the C-200 powers on/off with the remote.
2. Where's the question in this statement? I have not seen the boot splash of the C-200 but I'm assuming that it'll be just that; no boot messages from kernel etc, just a boot splash and then you get the UI.
3. This could happen for a number of reasons; could be your network: do you used wired/wireless? Encoding issues? etc.
I play iso from my NAS to my A-100 regularly, both wired and wireless, without issues. I don't expect the C-200 to perform less.

If PlayOn works for the A-generation, it will most likely play the C-generation too, although that is my assumption. The C-200 is not released yet so I can't say for sure. But this new product introduces components and licenses that all speak in the favour or streaming content from Internet. So I keep my hopes high.

[JawsThemeSwimming428]

(07-05-2009 09:32 PM)dc11ab Wrote:  1. AFAIK reading the specs, yes, the C-200 powers on/off with the remote.
2. Where's the question in this statement? I have not seen the boot splash of the C-200 but I'm assuming that it'll be just that; no boot messages from kernel etc, just a boot splash and then you get the UI.
3. This could happen for a number of reasons; could be your network: do you used wired/wireless? Encoding issues? etc.
I play iso from my NAS to my A-100 regularly, both wired and wireless, without issues. I don't expect the C-200 to perform less.

If PlayOn works for the A-generation, it will most likely play the C-generation too, although that is my assumption. The C-200 is not released yet so I can't say for sure. But this new product introduces components and licenses that all speak in the favour or streaming content from Internet. So I keep my hopes high.

Thanks, I appreciate your response! Regarding number 2, it really wasn't a question, I just wanted you to discuss the issue as it relates to the Popcorn Hour and you did. Thanks! My home network is fairly simple. It consists of a Linksys WRT54G wireless router, a Vista desktop, a Xp/Ubuntu dual boot laptop, and currently my Neuros Link. The desktop is wired and the Link and my laptop are wireless. Not really sure why the video in XBMC freezes but that is not an issue for this forum (as it relates to the Link sorta). I just wanted to see if I would have this same issue with the Popcorn Hour or not. I really appreciate your answers and am anxious to see what others have to say!

[dc11ab]

As you have a partial wirless environment, that could be a likely cause of "freezes". Wireless networks are simply not reliable and if you put HD bitrates on top of that it will have hickups and freezes. But SD content generally should be fine on wireless.

A simple test would be that you wire up your Link and make sure you have wires from source to extender, so to speak.

[JawsThemeSwimming428]

(07-05-2009 11:11 PM)dc11ab Wrote:  As you have a partial wirless environment, that could be a likely cause of "freezes". Wireless networks are simply not reliable and if you put HD bitrates on top of that it will have hickups and freezes. But SD content generally should be fine on wireless.

A simple test would be that you wire up your Link and make sure you have wires from source to extender, so to speak.

I agree, at first I thought it was likely related to the wireless. However, there have been a few things that have led me to believe otherwise. First, it is strange how it is so consistent on when it freezes (when I say it freezes, I mean the video stops on the screen mid-picture and NEVER resumes). I have tried about 5 different .iso files and each one freezes anywhere from 3-6 minutes into the movie, none have ever made it past 6 min. Also, when this happens I am still connected to the Internet and am able to access via a File Browser on the Link, my network shares on my Vista machine (which leads me to believe that network is fine). They .iso's are standard DVD quality (No Blu-Ray or HD). However, I still think it is a good idea to test this wired, as soon as I can find a network cable long enough I will post back and let you know my findings. Thanks for the help! Can't wait to here what others have to say about the C-200.

[cheaper_popcorn]

Since you say the freeze occurs at fairly regular intervals it could mean it is due to a recurring process that happens somewhere in your network... do you use dynamic IP addresses (DHCP server)? If so, have you tried setting manual IP addresses instead?

[JawsThemeSwimming428]

(07-06-2009 11:19 AM)cheaper_popcorn Wrote:  Since you say the freeze occurs at fairly regular intervals it could mean it is due to a recurring process that happens somewhere in your network... do you use dynamic IP addresses (DHCP server)? If so, have you tried setting manual IP addresses instead?

Hadn't thought of that! My Vista machine (this is the machine the shares are on) does have a Static IP. However, the Neuros Link is using DHCP. Not sure if that would matter or not but I will try that as well and post here with results. Thanks!