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Syabas Popcorn Hour A-110 Networked Media Tank review

in Network media streamers

Verdict

Not the cheapest, nor the slickest media streamer available, but comes up trumps when it comes to power and versatility

Review Date: 20 Aug 2009

Reviewed By: Sasha Muller

Price when reviewed: £146 (£168 inc VAT)

Overall Rating
5 stars out of 6

Features & Design
6 stars out of 6

Value for Money
5 stars out of 6

Details
Part Code A-110
Review Date 20 Aug 2009
Price ex VAT £146
Price inc VAT £168
Overall rating 5 stars out of 6
Features & Design 6 stars out of 6
Value for Money 5 stars out of 6
Display
Display type None
Screen size N/A
Resolution N/A
Software and OS support
Operating system Windows 7 supported? yes
Operating system Windows Vista supported? yes
Operating system Windows XP supported? yes
Operating system Mac OS X supported? yes
Physical
Dimensions width 270
Dimensions depth 132
Dimensions height 32
Dimensions 270 x 132 x 32mm (WDH)
Audio format support
MP3 support yes
WMA support yes
AAC support yes
OGG support yes
FLAC support yes
ATRAC support no
WAV support yes
ASF support yes
AIFF support no
Video format support
DivX support yes
XviD support yes
H.264 support yes
WMV-HD support yes
WMV support yes
AVI support yes
MP4 support yes
Other video codec support MOV, RMP4, M4V, VOB, ISO, IFO, MKV, TS, M2TS, PS
Ports and communications
Remote control? yes
UPnP media server? yes
802.11a support no
802.11b support no
802.11g support no
802.11 draft-n support no
Ethernet interface yes
Wired adapter speed 100Mbits/sec
RCA (phono) outputs 2
3.5mm audio jacks 0
Optical S/PDIF audio output ports 1
Electrical S/PDIF audio ports 0
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User comments

I've had one of these for a while

It's pretty good - I've yet to find a media type that it won't play. One slight annoyance is that it won't connect to the BBC iPlayer service (when alternative media players and even the XBox will).

By PaulOckenden on 21 Aug 2009

Best gadget in my home

I love this piece of kit. Plays virtually every format and up to 1080p. Streams Online HD content really well (i.e. Revision3).

By atharh on 21 Aug 2009

Media players for BBC iPlayer ?

What media players will connect to iPlayer (apart from XBox) ??

By nickhouston on 22 Aug 2009

Not perfect but still great

I used to have an XBOX generation 1. with Media Center (XBMC) and it played everything even ISOs and RMVBs. Due to dated processor speed it would struggled with even 720P. Then i bought Popcorn Hour. this solved the MKV and 720 and 1080 problem, but ISOs work but take a very long time to load. and RMVB have to be streamed through a software media stream host app. and sound is out of sync. They need to release a new firmware that lets you adjust the sound syncing. but is excellent for Divx's and MKV's. internet radio is good too... search program needs work.

By y8uEy on 27 Aug 2009

There is a successor coming out soon with an external drive bay and support for DVD or Bluray disc playback.

By simbr on 30 Aug 2009

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