NOT WORTH THE F****** HEAD ACHE. EVERYTIME I WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE I HAVE TO DOWNLOAD SOME UPDATE FOR ONE ,TWO , OR THREE OF THE PROGRAMS I HAVE TO USE TO PLAY MY HD CONTENT... IF I'M LUCKY. for anyone thinkin ab it just spend the extra $ and buy a blayray/hd player or ps3 . or maybe i'm speaking too soon what are you guys using?? i'm going back and forth between powerdvd8 (w hddvd hack) and tmt and after doing some recent updates i can't get either to play any of my hddvds.

10/23/2008 5:11:56 AM

http://www.popcornhour.com

10/23/2008 7:31:02 AM

Quote :

"NOT WORTH THE F****** HEAD ACHE. EVERYTIME I WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE I HAVE TO DOWNLOAD SOME UPDATE FOR ONE ,TWO , OR THREE OF THE PROGRAMS I HAVE TO USE TO PLAY MY HD CONTENT... IF I'M LUCKY."

10/23/2008 7:37:57 AM

^^you still need a blu-ray player with that. i have it and love it, but i am having a hard time letting go of my htpc that has a blu-ray player built-in.

to the OP, google how to turn off updates. i have no problems with VMC that haven't been resolved with 5-10 of searching for the solution.

[Edited on October 23, 2008 at 11:30 AM. Reason : .]

10/23/2008 11:22:09 AM

if the htpc is so superior maybe you can sell me the popcorn hour

10/23/2008 6:08:02 PM

well the popcorn hour is far superior in all other regards, but there's no way to watch HD DVD's on it unless they are unencrypted (in which case you can just plug in a USB external DVD drive, but I have yet to see any Blu-ray/HD DVD that isn't encypted. so with the popcorn hour you are forced to rip a copy to your hard drive, not very convenient as just popping in a disk and hitting play

10/23/2008 6:53:44 PM

I'd take a HTPC over popcorn hour anyday.

http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

Mediaportal works great on windows and even tags all your files with IMDB thumbnails/info.

Also popcorn hour can't play games. My htpc doubles as a console. I've got the guitar hero guitar, and wireless xbox 360 controllers hooked up to it so when i'm playing pc/360 games you can't really tell whether it's coming from an xbox or a pc.

10/23/2008 10:06:33 PM

Quote :

"even tags all your files with IMDB thumbnails/info"

what program DOESN'T do this anymore?

ok, so HD DVD's and games. that's still about the only things i can think of that's superior to the popcorn hour.

10/23/2008 11:09:28 PM

Mac OS X + Apple TV = stress free

10/23/2008 11:58:54 PM

^^Windows media center doesn't imdb tag to my knowledge. Oh and you've got a computer hooked up to your tv? I think this is an advantage over popcorn hour. I can't run my n64 emulator on popcorn hour.

^The Apple website says Apple TV has a 5mbit/720p limit on h.264 files. This would eliminate pretty much everything i have. Plus it won't play any games. Apple TV would probably be the worst choice possible.

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 3:54 AM. Reason : .]

10/24/2008 3:52:57 AM

Yeah, the 720p on AppleTV was the limit BEFORE the HD patch, I'm not certain if the new images can go to 1080p, but I'm fairly certain they can. *Does google search*

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 6:12 AM. Reason : Can't find it via Google.De ugh, damn out of country searches]

10/24/2008 5:55:31 AM

playing a pc game in your living room on an hdtv was obviously trolling bait. that has never NOT sucked. yes, i have ::shudder:: tried it before.

playing blu ray is your only stable grounds for keeping the 90W idle, 200W loaded loud monster next to the TV.

10/24/2008 7:16:13 AM

^

plus, everyone has their own relatively unique list of must haves in their home theater. There is no single appliance that's going to meet everyone's needs.

10/24/2008 7:31:11 AM

neodata686's life revolves around playing games. You'll see him post about it in every thread.

If I didn't already have a 360 and an HTPC, I'd definitely get a Popcorn Hour. I've read a lot of good reviews and god knows I'd love to not have deal with an HTPC anymore. They're always a great idea, but have a tendency to suck in practice.

10/24/2008 9:03:44 AM

except for being able to function as a dvr, my old original xbox modded with xbmc has been a god send for an htpc type device. in the last year or so, I had to shelf it because it couldn't handle 720p+. Now with my ps3 I can stream 720-1080p to it and it's the perfect accent; bluray, games, etc.

10/24/2008 10:27:43 AM

who the heck DVR's anymore (unless you have tivo), anyone with an internet connection and a torrent site can get all the latest episodes via the internet in like an hour after the show is done in HD, edited, sans commercials, without DRM. or watch the show from itunes, or via any of the major news media's web sites, or through hulu, etc.

to be completely honest i have a Hauppauge 1800-MCE card in my HTPC and i've used it like twice, even the FM tuner is getting dated with the latest implementation of internet radio these days.

this is the list of what all the popcorn hour offers JUST for web services alone:

Quote :

"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 "

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 12:16 PM. Reason : .]

10/24/2008 12:13:51 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, the 720p on AppleTV was the limit BEFORE the HD patch, I'm not certain if the new images can go to 1080p, but I'm fairly certain they can. *Does google search*"

I don't know. Here's what the Apple website says:

Quote :

"H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): Up to 5 Mbps, Progressive Main Profile (CAVLC) with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 1280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps, 960 by 540 pixels at 30 fps) in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats MPEG-4: Up to 3 Mbps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 720 by 432 pixels at 30 fps) in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats"

A 5Mbps h.264 and 3Mbps MPEG-4 limit kinda sucks. (if that's still the case)

Quote :

"neodata686's life revolves around playing games. You'll see him post about it in every thread."

lol i actually don't play that many games. Just started playing Far Cry 2, and it's about the only game i've gotten into this semester. It's more of an every now and then kinda thing. Too much school work.

Quote :

"playing a pc game in your living room on an hdtv was obviously trolling bait. that has never NOT sucked. yes, i have ::shudder:: tried it before."

What do you mean?
Ok so lets say i'm playing Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Or Guitar Hero 3 on my HTPC. Once i boot them up they're identical to the xbox 360 versions. You really can't tell whether it's coming from a PC or an Xbox 360. How does this "suck"? Plus an HTPC is about the only good option for emulators. Project64 with wireless 360/ps2 controllers works great. You can do emulators with xbox xbmc, but i don't know about any for the 360.

Quote :

"playing blu ray is your only stable grounds for keeping the 90W idle, 200W loaded loud monster next to the TV."

Yeah now that bluray drives have dropped below 100$ i might have to invest in one. But what about folding? Games? Emulators? Plus it's a freaking computer. I haven't played with a popcorn hour yet, but i can't imagine how the interface would be THAT much better than HTPC options like mediaportal.

10/24/2008 1:20:56 PM

it's not the interface, it's the fact that it's a low-power, low-cost, small size, front end for playing content (LOTS of content), and ridiculously easy to use for those who don't want to mess with a full PC, i mean it does about 80% of what a HTPC does for about 1/3 the cost, 1/4 the power, 1/10 the size

i mean the truth of it is, it's just a different implementation.

some people do the server/front-end approach, some do the HTPC approach...

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 1:48 PM. Reason : .]

10/24/2008 1:46:42 PM

Ok that makes sense. I see the appeal. I just also want what an htpc can offer me, so i see no real need for one. I mean i don't game THAT much, and don't have a console. So when i do play games it's on the PC, and i want the option to also play those games on my HTPC with a 360 controller. The games that do come out on both pc/xbox look the same and feel the same on the HTPC, so i'm happy with it for the amount of gaming i do.

10/24/2008 1:49:34 PM

Quote :

"^The Apple website says Apple TV has a 5mbit/720p limit on h.264 files. This would eliminate pretty much everything i have. Plus it won't play any games. Apple TV would probably be the worst choice possible."

Apple Tv actually supports 1080p now. And can't play any games, why would I want to play games on my apple tv when I have an xbox360 for that?

I did the whole Media Center PC + extender thing for several years since Media Center Edition...and frankly it was too much hassle, not nearly enough features. Apple TV supports HD streaming which is exactly what I was looking for. Don't get me started on the iTunes store through Apple TV...that alone made it worth it.

neodata686

not going to quote all your posts but everything you posted from Apple's website applies to their content you purchase and download from iTunes. It is not the device itself. You can watch any h.264 hd video of your own through the apple tv. Just import it into your iTunes library and it syncs with apple tv or streams (depending on your settigns).

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 2:39 PM. Reason : .]

10/24/2008 2:36:02 PM

^True. If i had a 360 i probably wouldn't need the HTPC as much.

Quote :

"Apple Tv actually supports 1080p now."

So i assume the apple website is just outdated then? From what i understand the HD from the iTunes store is very low bitrate. Around 3-4mbit. Have you actually tried a say, 10mbit HD file?

^Well i don't know. It seems pretty clear on the website. The supported video is:

Quote :

"H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): Up to 5 Mbps, Progressive Main Profile (CAVLC) with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 1280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps, 960 by 540 pixels at 30 fps) in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats"

and the videos from the itunes store:

Quote :

"iTunes Store purchased video: 320 by 240 pixels, 640 by 480 pixels, 720 by 480 pixels (anamorphic), or high-definition 720p"

The website seems to make a distinction between what video is supported, and what video is supported from the itunes store. What's the highest bitrate movie you've tried on it?

From what i can find online, AppleTV has a 5mbit limit. Everything i have is over 5mbit.

(which makes sense because AppleTV is catering to people wanting to stream an HD movie, so it needs to be low bitrate)

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 2:58 PM. Reason : .]

10/24/2008 2:43:18 PM

^read the rest of my post.

10/24/2008 2:44:05 PM

Quote :

"it's not the interface, it's the fact that it's a low-power, low-cost, small size, front end for playing content (LOTS of content), and ridiculously easy to use for those who don't want to mess with a full PC, i mean it does about 80% of what a HTPC does for about 1/3 the cost, 1/4 the power, 1/10 the size i mean the truth of it is, it's just a different implementation. some people do the server/front-end approach, some do the HTPC approach... "

Agreed.


The beauty in it is it uses almost no power (its passivly cooled inside it cant be more then 10W-15W) , can hold a hard drive which will be available for all PCs on the network, can download bit torrents, and isnt a tower with a keyboard and mouse dangling off of it. You may be able to watch a video without the invitee's roommate's friends sister asking you to fix her computer the next week.

different strokes. i don't own one so i cant speak from experience. depending on if i can run an Ethernet cable to it in my current home I will be.

10/24/2008 5:05:39 PM

no way an embedded processor can munch h264 mkv's with 15w worth of cpu

10/24/2008 10:39:08 PM

L4.1 maybe

10/25/2008 12:35:40 PM

^^

not sure what the actual numbers on power consumption are, but it definitely handles 1080p mkv's

10/25/2008 1:39:24 PM

They couldn't afford to use much more then 15W-20W before thermal would be an issue.

It's passively cooled and holds a hard disk.

10/25/2008 1:54:47 PM

bump

9/18/2011 4:47:49 PM

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/budget-htpc-august-2011/

Some good stuff on there. Uses:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157247

9/18/2011 5:15:30 PM

Quote :

"^^you still need a blu-ray player with that. i have it and love it, but i am having a hard time letting go of my htpc that has a blu-ray player built-in."

No you don't. The popcorn hour ultimate has a blu-ray combo player in it.

9/18/2011 5:42:03 PM

Noen, I wrote that 3-years ago when there wasn't.

9/18/2011 5:52:56 PM

So I had never even heard of the term "HTPC" until, like, a week ago. I'm about to buy a new house, and also put together a nice home audio setup. I need to buy a new computer, too, and plan on buying 27" iMac, but I don't know that I want it in my living room, so I'm open to buying/building a dedicated HTPC, too.

I'm also interested in getting rid of cable/satellite altogether. I only watch a few channels: news networks, Discovery, History, Nat Geo, Speed, Comedy Central, and some occasional ESPN and sports. I pretty much don't watch any shows (maybe South Park every once in a while on Comedy Central).


Can some of you break down the capabilities and different options available? I probable don't need it spoon-fed by the numbers like you're explaining it to your grandmother, but I don't need it in geek-speak, either.

9/18/2011 6:04:14 PM

I bought a boxee box.

I built a HTPC, that houses 5 1TB drive, and 2 2TB drives.
I have Windows 7 ultimate on there, you could use ubuntu...whatever for file sharing...but I like Win7 and I had free licenses
8GB of ram.
I have a Q9550 CPU. Mostly built with good parts...still sub-500 dollars.

I use my boxee box, to stream my content I rip from DVDs, Blu Rays...and other sources.
I use the boxee box to play netflix, pandora, other shit.

It's no replacement for watching sports, or 95% of the content on cable/sat...unless you pirate stuff...

[Edited on September 18, 2011 at 6:52 PM. Reason : c]

9/18/2011 6:51:20 PM

Prospero: Shit dude, I didn't even look at how damn old this thread is. My bad man I was like when I read it, I thought maybe I actually got one up on you. I should have known better

9/19/2011 6:42:40 AM

hulu+ will probably have (almost) all the content you're looking for besides sports. if you put a tuner card in the pc (I have one for sale cheap ) you can use it for over the air hd content which gets you a lot of sports. also, speed2.com has almost all motorsport coverage that matters. not sure if there's an app front end for it but an htpc will have a browser.

9/19/2011 9:19:46 AM