The Popcorn Hour has always been a pretty capable little media streamer, but the newest iteration is substantially more robust than most of its predecessors. On the front, you'll find a swappable bay that can accept a hard drive or even a Blu-ray drive should you choose to stick one in there. Of course, it can still handle just about every video format, but it looks like DivX is conspicuously missing from the list for some reason. It has a gigabit ethernet connection for sharing content from your home network (no luck if you're a WiFi only home) and a display on the front for getting around your conent without taking up your main screen.
The package comes with its own remote and an HDMI cable for $299, making it seem like a pretty solid little solution for secondary rooms that aren't already equipped with decent gear. Of course, it would be nice if it could play back video from video_ts folders, but that's just wishful thinking. It's apparently going to be released next month, so any houseguests before then will have to stick to plain old cable in the guest bedroom.
--Stan Horaczek
Comments